Without slavery, would Abraham Darby have built the Ironbridge?
Without slavery, would Abraham Darby have built the Ironbridge?
It’s only June, but one of the defining news moments of the year will almost certainly be the toppling of Edward Colstons statue from it’s plinth, and angry protestors rolling the bronze effigy down the street and into Bristol Harbour.
There is scant connection between Shropshire and the slave trade. Being painfully inland, and not in America, there is little evidence of direct involvement in this activity locally.
Hence I was most suprised to learn of a connection between Coalbrookdale and the ex-statue.
It was in 1895 when the statue to the Brisol businessman was unveiled. The bronze statue was designed by John Cassidy, an Irish sculptor who trained in Manchester.
The designs were turned into an eight-foot tall bronze by none other than the Coalbrookdale Company.
The Bristol connection with Coalbrookdale is strong, Abraham Darby I lived there for a while while learning his trade, and Richard Reynolds from Bristol was also the owner of the company at one stage, and Alfred Darby II was running the Coalbrookdale Company as chairman, when they cast the statue.
The Darbys were Quakers. The Quakers were the first religious body to oppose the slave trade, but here’s the plot twist. Back in 1713, when Abraham Darby was trying get investment to grow the business, he took a loan from Thomas Goldney II.
Goldney was also a Quaker, but in 1708 had invested in, and profited from, the privateer Woodes Rogers trip to the Caribbean which involved some slave transportation and trading.
So the connection to the slave trade is tenuous for sure, but to think that if that investment had not been made in 1713, we may not have had the Ironbridge, the second most favourite bridge in Telford.
I am most grateful to Donna Byard for the tip off, which set the hares running.
Someone shared to a fb page I follow and was quite surprised!
I am very curious, if Ironbridge is the second most favourite bridge in Telford, what’s the first?
The new footbridge to the railway station – obviously !
I’m so over this, while I strictly oppose racism and slavery. Our heritage cannot be erased. Our works of art no matter who they depict should not be erased. We cannot and should not erase our history and our heritage. But learn from it. Evolve from it. Let it remind us of an era in history when their normal was wrong and look at how we’ve evolved from that cruelty. To mould our future and create new works of art to put beside the old to highlight our evolution and change for the better.
If History and Heritage are so important how about taking all the statues down and putting them up in museums and libraries ?
Oh, Hang on, the Govt are cutting funding and closing down museums and libraries
The transatlantic slave trade is a minor detail in history, the British did not invent slavery!
More important is that this is the birthplace of the industrial revolution from which the death of the natural world from which we are all going to suffer.
“ The slave trade is a minor detail in history.”
Maybe if your grandparents were stolen and forced to be slaves and brutally beaten you might feel differently.
My point was that the transatlantic slave trade was not the only slave trade in history for example the slave trade conducted by Barbary pirates between 1530 and 1780. The victims of which were European.
As I pointed out the real issue with the Ironbridge is that it represents the birthplace of the industrial revolution from which stems irreversible climate and ecological breakdown.
Ehh they did actually. The British were the first to do it. Watch historian David Olusoga’s programmes on iplayer, Black and British a Forgotten History and Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners. Very enlightening and informative for me as a white British person who has not been educated about this side of our history in schools. It’s important for all British people “black” or “white” to learn about this part of our history and how it has shaped our present.
Oh , so the ancient Greeks and Romans did not have slaves then?
I wonder if Mr Olusoga will be doing a programme about the slave trade carried out by the N African Barbary pirates. I would recommend the late Christopher Hitchens in his book” Arguably” who wrote a very enlightening chapter on this issue
I agree that history should not be erased. The statute and monuments should remain to remind us of a history that is shameful, cruel and barbaric. It is a history that cannot be denied. We cannot change what happened in the past, but we can certainly learn from the shameful past to build a better future.
Erasing history is giving an opportunity to those who paint history in bright colours. And those who continue to see good in evil. We all have a responsibility to build a better future. We can only do that by accepting that wrongs though cannot be erased, gives us time to at least think about doing right.
I do believe the poster you’re responding to was referencing race based chattel slavery, which the British did invent. Also, mention of Barbary pirates in a discussion about THE transatlantic slave trade is a dog whistle for pro slavers. It’s irrelevant to the issue.
It; is relevant in that it is just another form of slavery. Sadly people have kept slaves throughout history and indeed are still doing so today.
I do not care if the Iron Bridge was built using money from the transatlantic slave trade; it would still have been financed by other means. My issue is that the real crime of the industrial revolution in the gorge is that against the natural world. I think of the area as natures graveyard!
It’s very relevant. Sweeping it under the rug helps nobody apart from slavers descendants
It’s actually very relevant. Sweeping it under the rug is not helping anybody apart from the slavers descendants like Richard Dawkins for example.