Dubai Telegraph - UK college requests removal of slavery-linked memorial

EUR -
AED 3.854833
AFN 70.842978
ALL 98.075677
AMD 407.604571
ANG 1.885958
AOA 957.143769
ARS 1057.093376
AUD 1.620899
AWG 1.891723
AZN 1.780812
BAM 1.94671
BBD 2.112785
BDT 125.046132
BGN 1.957086
BHD 0.395588
BIF 3038.30149
BMD 1.0495
BND 1.408994
BOB 7.231373
BRL 6.09738
BSD 1.046384
BTN 88.205468
BWP 14.276611
BYN 3.424545
BYR 20570.19316
BZD 2.109371
CAD 1.474657
CDF 3013.113308
CHF 0.929573
CLF 0.037178
CLP 1025.854536
CNY 7.611024
CNH 7.614136
COP 4620.946964
CRC 534.688137
CUC 1.0495
CUP 27.811741
CVE 110.905837
CZK 25.276517
DJF 186.51722
DKK 7.458647
DOP 63.497795
DZD 140.238373
EGP 52.086037
ERN 15.742495
ETB 129.560857
FJD 2.389133
FKP 0.828388
GBP 0.83452
GEL 2.865435
GGP 0.828388
GHS 16.474638
GIP 0.828388
GMD 74.514077
GNF 9057.182336
GTQ 8.076137
GYD 218.923625
HKD 8.167831
HNL 26.473615
HRK 7.486353
HTG 137.338083
HUF 410.810368
IDR 16706.460195
ILS 3.824209
IMP 0.828388
INR 88.513069
IQD 1375.369293
IRR 44170.817668
ISK 145.104175
JEP 0.828388
JMD 165.238465
JOD 0.744408
JPY 160.427543
KES 135.913134
KGS 91.122843
KHR 4250.473525
KMF 492.162793
KPW 944.549288
KRW 1464.372094
KWD 0.32291
KYD 0.872045
KZT 522.490418
LAK 23052.260115
LBP 93982.693723
LKR 304.721381
LRD 188.726248
LSL 18.933171
LTL 3.0989
LVL 0.634832
LYD 5.137341
MAD 10.530153
MDL 19.12407
MGA 4910.608977
MKD 61.565484
MMK 3408.733928
MNT 3566.199758
MOP 8.387994
MRU 41.890784
MUR 49.148227
MVR 16.214668
MWK 1821.931462
MXN 21.690641
MYR 4.677089
MZN 67.071194
NAD 18.932901
NGN 1776.036553
NIO 38.579727
NOK 11.69151
NPR 141.128351
NZD 1.797468
OMR 0.40405
PAB 1.046424
PEN 3.965272
PGK 4.166377
PHP 61.885324
PKR 291.498726
PLN 4.307694
PYG 8166.02661
QAR 3.820808
RON 4.97683
RSD 116.993003
RUB 110.720688
RWF 1438.864022
SAR 3.943084
SBD 8.805922
SCR 13.772279
SDG 631.27191
SEK 11.53176
SGD 1.411976
SHP 0.828388
SLE 23.826447
SLL 22007.487903
SOS 599.792459
SRD 37.157507
STD 21722.523845
SVC 9.156247
SYP 2636.899209
SZL 18.933076
THB 36.410294
TJS 11.181299
TMT 3.683744
TND 3.324028
TOP 2.458031
TRY 36.374397
TTD 7.114847
TWD 34.024847
TZS 2775.926352
UAH 43.478489
UGX 3876.934664
USD 1.0495
UYU 44.591791
UZS 13465.080764
VES 49.006494
VND 26673.033631
VUV 124.598708
WST 2.929774
XAF 652.920809
XAG 0.0345
XAU 0.000399
XCD 2.836325
XDR 0.800447
XOF 658.559065
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.296216
ZAR 19.09328
ZMK 9446.766437
ZMW 28.855542
ZWL 337.938459
  • SCS

    -0.1800

    13.54

    -1.33%

  • BCC

    -4.0900

    148.41

    -2.76%

  • BCE

    -0.3900

    26.63

    -1.46%

  • RIO

    -0.9500

    62.03

    -1.53%

  • GSK

    -0.1300

    34.02

    -0.38%

  • JRI

    -0.1300

    13.24

    -0.98%

  • RBGPF

    0.8100

    61

    +1.33%

  • CMSD

    -0.1500

    24.43

    -0.61%

  • NGG

    -0.4300

    62.83

    -0.68%

  • CMSC

    -0.1600

    24.57

    -0.65%

  • AZN

    -0.0400

    66.36

    -0.06%

  • RELX

    0.2400

    46.81

    +0.51%

  • BTI

    0.3800

    37.71

    +1.01%

  • RYCEF

    0.0300

    6.8

    +0.44%

  • BP

    -0.3600

    28.96

    -1.24%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    8.86

    -0.56%

UK college requests removal of slavery-linked memorial
UK college requests removal of slavery-linked memorial

UK college requests removal of slavery-linked memorial

A university college in the United Kingdom is Wednesday to ask a judge to allow the removal from its chapel of a memorial to a historical donor implicated in the slave trade.

Text size:

The hearing, to be held for several days at Cambridge University, comes as calls mount to take down statues and monuments to historical figures linked to slavery and racism.

Jesus College wants to take down an ornate marble plaque commemorating Tobias Rustat, a 17th-century slave-trade investor and major donor to the college, which is fixed to the wall of its chapel.

Rustat, a courtier to King Charles II, was also an investor in the Royal African Company, which transported nearly 150,000 slaves, and took part in running the company.

The college said he "had financial and administrative involvement in the trading of enslaved human beings over a substantial period of time".

It wants to move the plaque, featuring a portrait of Rustat, and display it in an archive room with information giving historical context. Its academics have voted in favour.

Because the memorial is in a religious building, a Church-appointed judge will rule on the fate of the plaque at an ecclesiastic court hearing held in the chapel itself.

The judge will oversee the so-called "consistory court" session, independent civil proceedings that are to include the questioning of expert witnesses.

Such hearings are rare, and usually concern church buildings.

- 'Cancelling' a donor? -

The college argues the monument "represents a celebration" of Rustat, and its current location inside the chapel on its west wall may stop people worshipping there.

Some alumni and descendants of Rustat have however opposed its removal, arguing his donations were not money earned from slavery.

Lawyers representing the college will participate in the court hearing, as will a lawyer representing a group of alumni opposing the memorial's removal.

Some preservationists have criticised the plan to remove the memorial, saying it is believed to be the work of Grinling Gibbons, a renowned sculptor and wood carver.

Historic England, a public body defending the country's heritage, has said removing the memorial would "harm the significance of Jesus College Chapel".

It suggested instead adding a plaque about Rustat's history or moving the memorial within the chapel.

Right-wing tabloid the Daily Mail has criticised the college's proposal as a move to "cancel" a historical donor, a charge the college has denied.

The paper also accused the college of hypocrisy since it has accepted large donations from China.

Rustat gave around £3,230 (some £500,000 or $675,000 in current money) to Jesus College, mostly to fund scholarships for children of clergy. Grants from the Rustat Trust are still available today.

- Benin bronze returned -

Protesters in June 2020 threw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston into the harbour in Bristol in western England. Like Rustat, he was a leading figure in the Royal Africa Company in the 17th century.

Rustat commissioned his memorial years before his death aged 87 and kept it in his house.

It was carried in his funeral procession when he was buried in the college chapel.

The memorial's inscription says Rustat gained a fortune "by God's blessing, the King's Valour and his industry", making no mention of slavery, which Britain outlawed in 1833.

The hearings are expected to take three to four days this week. The judge may announce his decision at the final hearing or in writing afterwards.

Jesus College in 2021 handed back a Benin Bronze sculpture of a cockerel to a Nigerian delegation.

A British expedition looted the sculpture, which has sacred significance, in the late 19th century and it was given to the college.

The college's Master, Sonita Alleyne, was the first black woman to lead an Oxbridge college.

Rustat is also commemorated with a statue in Cambridge, outside a historical library building.

Cambridge University Library says it has made "preliminary enquiries" about removing it.

A.Ansari--DT