As part of the Black Lives Matter campaign in 2020, many of Glasgow's streets in the Merchant City area - named after the Tobacco Lords - were unofficially renamed by anti-racism protesters. Registered in England No. Laura says there is no acknowledgement of where their fortunes came from and the exploitation that went with it. However, the servant was later painted out, perhaps due to anti-slavery sentiment in 19th Century. Sources. The name also hints at the darker side of Glasgow’s history - many local merchants made their fortune by exploiting slave labour in the plantations of Jamaica and the West Indies. Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean Sea. Glasgow slave trade streets 'renamed' by anti-racism campaigners The campaigners have erected new street signs with changes including Buchanan Street 'renamed' George Floyd Street. Glasgow city council has commissioned the first study of its kind by a local authority in the UK to examine how the selling of slaves involved in the tobacco, sugar and cotton trade transformed the city’s fortunes and features. Starting in the Merchant City, Laura took a short tour for BBC Scotland's The Social that went past streets named after four plantation owners. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Tobago Street, Glasgow. The owning of personal slaves was banned in Scotland in 1778 and The Glasgow Anti-Slavery Society was formed in 1822. Please, Some buildings, including the original Mitchell Library, are already known to have been built with slavery fortunes. Glasgow’s history is just that: history. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. The Truth About Glasgow and Slavery - Stephen Mullen; Glasgow Street Names - Carol Foreman; Scotland and the Slave Trade. "Nobody tends to talk about it," Laura says. 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Slavery names may face axe in Glasgow The city’s buildings and streets with links to slave labour could get new titles as a result of first study of its kind in UK Jason Allardyce Raising awareness amongst all of us in the business community is the main aim of Scotland Against Modern Slavery. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Close to the gallery is Glasgow's main shopping street, Buchanan Street. Ingram also made his fortune with slave-owning tobacco plantations in the east coast of America. From street names to monuments to reparations, Scots confront the country's legacy of slavery in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Glasgow Punter 19 May 2014 at 21:33. dailyrecord The principle export was sugar from British plantations. As a mixed-race Scot, whose grandparents were from Jamaica, Laura Cripps thinks it is time for Glasgow to own up to its "dark secret". ", US issues national terror alert after transition. Elderslie Street, Glasgow. Glasgow street names linked to the slave trade come under scrutiny following the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests on June 9, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland.The Scottish city has played a key role in... Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images The stain is real enough. magazine.dailybusinessgroup.co.uk › 2019 › 03 › 05 › glasgows-street-names-a… In Glasgow, so many streets are named after plantation owner who, in turn, owned hundreds of slaves. Glasgow’s global reputation remains tarnished by its legacy of profiteering from the Atlantic slave trade. 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Their names such as John Glassford are immortalised in the names of Glasgow streets. It is understood that a public consultation will be held based on the findings of the study in which names … The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. From 1740 to 1790, Glasgow was the leading entrepôt of tobacco in the world. "I've walked less than a mile and I've had to walk past street names and buildings that are named after five plantation owners," Laura says. At the end of 2019, Glasgow City Council launched a major academic study into Glasgow’s historic links to transatlantic slavery and the role the city played in the slave trade.. The findings of the investigation will lead to a consultation with the public that could result in some of the most controversial names associated with slave labour being removed from buildings and streets in the Merchant City. It was legal to own a slave in Scotland until 1778. The 26-year-old entrepreneur starts on Glassford Street which is named after John Glassford, a wealthy tobacco baron who owned plantations in Virginia and Maryland. Nowhere is that more evident than in Glasgow and the city is sorely needing public acknowledgement of this fact in some way. A detailed audit will be carried out into historic bequests made to Glasgow Town Council, to see if there are any connections with transatlantic slavery. Often overlooked however, is the near total reliance on slave… Some of Glasgow’s best-known streets and landmarks could be renamed as a result of a new investigation into how black slave labour helped the city flourish as Britain’s second city of the empire. Glassford is buried in Ramshorn Cemetery on Ingram Street, which is named after his brother-in-law Archibald Ingram. Many of the famous names celebrated in the city centre are those of tobacco lords and other businessmen who owned plantations in America and whose enterprise was underpinned by the trading of slaves and their transportation from Africa. Who's behind the recent killings in Iraq? In Glasgow, activists began renaming streets with names linked to slave trade by installing their own street signs. Many of the most prominent street names in Glasgow's city centre are named after 18th Century slave owners who made their fortunes on tobacco plantations. Anti-racism campaigners have plastered alternative names underneath Glasgow slave trade street signs. It was firstly an English colony from 1655, and after the Act of Union in 1707, a British colony until its independence in 1962. I'm just saying the slaves' names should be up there with them. 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act - Scottish Executive The final stop of Laura's short tour of Glasgow city centre is Dunlop Street, named after another family of tobacco barons. It Wisnae Us. Who's behind the recent killings in Iraq? https://www.bbc.com › news › uk-scotland-glasgow-west-52950006 Further I suggest all the street names that have a direct link to slavery have a black/red symbol printed on them to make people notice that these streets are actually named after people who have since been condemned by the United Nations itself of partaking in a crime against humanity. "What they've tried to paint out is a black slave.". It was a status symbol. Nats trade minister Ivan … Changing street names will not relieve the human misery that is happening today in our society. Black Lives Matter protesters have replaced street names with the names of prominent black figures; Glasgow city centre features streets that have been named after slave … Sauchiehall Street haatpraat01@gmail.com . "CRERs concern about changing names is it would be an easy way to erase the history and the legacy of racial hierarchy and racism these people used to justify their greed. It was Buchanan that created Virginia Street, one of the city centre streets named after slave-owning areas where the 18th century merchants made their fortune. Signs renaming streets in Glasgow … This is the shame of Modern Slavery. Slavery in Scotland. Buchanan Street, whose namesake was plantation owner Andrew Buchanan , … "Some may argue it was different time, and yes it was, but should they have their names immortalised in the street names and the places that they built with slave money?". Before then it was seen as fashionable for wealthy families to have their own “black boy or girl” to attend to their needs. Reply Delete. The employment of black servants was very fashionable among rich Glaswegians, who brought them over from the slave-worked plantations of the American colonies and the West Indies. All in a street name. Anti-racism campaigners have renamed streets in Glasgow city centre that have links to the slave trade.In several streets, signs with a black background and white font have appeared alongside the At the bottom of Ingram Street, but actually on Queen Street, is Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art. Many streets in Glasgow city centre are named after slave-owning plantation owners. A change.org petition calling on Glasgow City County to change the names of streets linked to the slave trade has so far received more than 12,000 signatories. Andrew Buchanan was one of the first Scots to have tobacco plantations in the New World, with major holdings in Virginia. 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