If not for his obstructions, the slave trade would have been abolished in Britain in 1972, rather than in 1807. "It will be finalised and installed at the foot of the Melville Monument as soon as possible. One of the most prominent memorials in Edinburgh, it commemorates Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, whose statue surmounts the column. HIS name was usually only known to students of Scottish history and researchers in the slave trade. The decision effectively achieved emancipation of every slave in Scotland, except for enslaved colliers and salters who had to wait until the end of the century for emancipation. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Lecture on the Slave Trade", "George Floyd protests: The statues being defaced", "Sir Geoff Palmer: 'Don't take down statues – take down racism, "Henry Dundas descendant defends ancestor's record", https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rewording-of-henry-dundas-plaque-bad-history-says-sir-tom-devine-2bc5f3jw8, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nrpb#:~:text=Scotland%2C%20Slavery%20and%20Statues%20The%20Melville%20Monument%20in,follows%20the%20debate%20over%20how%20controversial%20politician%20, https://books.google.ca/books?id=3PXNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA99&dq=Henry+Dundas+obstructed+end+slavery&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi11YHjoPHrAhXIXM0KHXpDCRkQ6AEwAHoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Dundas%20obstructed%20end%20slavery&f=false, https://www.thenational.scot/news/18506771.henry-dundas-scotsman-kept-slavery-going/, https://books.google.ca/books?id=sS_gDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23&dq=Henry+Dundas+GRADUAL+slavery&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiklu-crPHrAhXiUd8KHUs5D8wQ6AEwA3oECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Dundas%20GRADUAL%20slavery&f=false, https://nationalpost.com/news/world/who-was-henry-dundas-and-why-do-two-cities-no-longer-want-to-honour-his-memory, https://books.google.ca/books?id=D1t9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA244&dq=Henry+Dundas+obstructed+end+slavery&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBsIrbnfHrAhWJPM0KHcQbB2MQ6AEwAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Dundas%20obstructed%20end%20slavery&f=false, https://books.google.ca/books?id=xkAm6BKNU9MC&pg=PT112&dq=Henry+Dundas+obstructed+end+slavery&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBsIrbnfHrAhWJPM0KHcQbB2MQ6AEwAnoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Dundas%20obstructed%20end%20slavery&f=false, https://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotCS/1778/Hailes020776-0472.pdf, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melville_Monument,_Edinburgh&oldid=996781103, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 December 2020, at 16:02. Nicola Sturgeon's wildcat independence referendum plan shows how dangerous voting SNP really is – Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, Stricter quarantine measures to be introduced in Scotland depending on UK Government announcement. [2], The leading proponent of the movement to denounce Henry Dundas is Sir Geoff Palmer, a human rights activist and retired science professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The statue was added in 1828. He was the Scottish Lord Advocate and an MP for Edinburgh and Midlothian, and the First Lord of the Admiralty. By the late 20th century his reputation had been restored. The agreed wording for the Dundas statue said: “On the plinth at the centre of St Andrew Square stands a neoclassical column with a statue at the top. The plaque at the base of the statue says the monument was paid for by officers and men of the Royal Navy. Demonstrators believed Dundas had caused a 15-year-delay in Parliament voting to abolish the slave trade. Benjamin Carey, a direct descendant of Dundas, has demanded a narrative be written below his ancestor’s statue to reveal the truth about his controversial advocacy of slavery. Dundas used his influence as the Home Secretary to frustrate efforts to abolish the trade, setting the move back 15 years. The move comes after the statue, known as the Melville Monument, was vandalised on Sunday (7 June) amid the Black Lives Matter protests in the city. Henry Dundas, the First Viscount Melville, has a statue in St Andrew's Square and protesters also want streets bearing his name changed. Edinburgh’s city council added a plaque to a monument to Henry Dundas, a former home secretary, describing him as a “contentious figure, provoking controversies that … [4] [5], However, other historians such as Diana Paton and Stephen Tomkins argue that Dundas was privately opposed to abolition of the slave trade. The statue is specially designed, with many of the facial features exaggerated so the sculpture has an impact from a distance. “This represents Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742 – 1811). We should make many more. A statue of Henry Dundas towers over Edinburgh's St Andrew Square (Image: Alamy Stock Photo) Read More Related Articles. He argues that because Henry Dundas proposed an amendment to a motion before the House of Commons in 1792 to achieve abolition gradually, rather than immediately, he delayed abolition of the slave trade by 15 years. Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, was a Scottish advocate and Tory politician, who entered the Cabinet in 1791 as Secretary of State. He is commemorated by one of the most prominent memorials in Edinburgh, with his statue added to the top of the 150 ft Melville Monument in St Andrew Square in 1828. ", This website and its associated newspaper are members of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). A statue depicting Henry Dundas in Edinburgh, Scotland has also been targeted by protesters and was covered with graffiti over the weekend. "Son of slaver and Colonialist Profiteer," reads a tag … Dundas earned the nickname “the great tyrant” during his political career, and is known for his role in delaying the abolition of slavery in Britain, amending the anti-slavery bill to make outlawing the practice “gradual”. read "We also need to address and talk openly about those moments in Scottish history where people have been killed, enslaved or discriminated against simply because of their race. The statue of Henry Dundas stands in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh (Picture: PA) Sir Thomas Guy outside Guy’s Hospital in London which he founded. "I'm pleased to say that we've come to a form of words on a plaque at the statue of Henry Dundas - and this will be published tomorrow [10 June]". By 1900, however, historians were harsh, denouncing him as the epitome of corruption and oppression who had sold out Scotland to the English. “I do not believe any of my cousins would object to the truth being told.”. The statue of Henry Dundas 1st Viscount Melville on top of a 150ft column, known as the Melville Monument, stands in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh 3 comments I DINNA often agree wi Tam Devine, but he is right on the impossibility of achieving the abolition of slavery during the 1790s (Scottishness and the growth of the British Empire, October 27). The Melville Monument is a 150-foot high monumental column. “The statue in St Andrew’s Square and various streets named after him falsely glorify Henry Dundas and suggest that he has a respectable legacy and should be idolised - … Protest, the Times Scottish Lord Advocate and an MP for Edinburgh and Midlothian, and the First of. 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