Bristol: Countering Colston

The name ‘Colston’ is synonymous with Bristol. There is a Colston Street, a Colston Tower, and a Colston’s girls’ school, all named after Edward Colston, the 17th century slave trader. Colston gave huge amounts of money to Bristol, helping to build the city into what it is today. However, his role as a prominent slave trader has been a source of contention amongst citizens in Bristol, many of whom have called for every trace of Colston to be wiped from the city.

Last week, a step was taken in the right direction when it was announced that the concert venue Colston Hall will be reopened in 2020 after its refurbishment with a different name. Louise Mitchell, CEO of the trust that runs the venue, commented that, ‘It’s very important to us as a progressive forward-looking arts organisation that we include everybody, and people felt uncomfortable entering the building because of the perception that it had in some way profited from the slave trade.’

Whilst this last part is not technically true – Colston Hall itself was built 150 years after Colston’s death and so did not actually profit from the slave trade – the building does still bear Colston’s name and can thus be construed as a memorial to him. For Katie Finnegan-Clarke, an activist in the Countering Colston campaign, any kind of positive reference to Colston is morally wrong and a distortion of history:

He was one of the most powerful slave traders in Britain: 85,000 Africans were kidnapped and enslaved while he was running the Royal Africa Company. I think by honouring him, that’s airbrushing history."

However, many people in Bristol do not support the decision to change the name of Colston Hall. A poll by the Bristol Post found that people opposed renaming the venue two to one. One argument put forward by those in opposition is that by eradicating traces of Colston, we are trying to erase the past and mask Bristol’s links to slavery. They say that by leaving Bristol’s links to Colston in the public eye, we can ensure that slavery is not forgotten. The problem with such an opinion, however, is that naming buildings, roads or schools after a person is typically a way of honouring and celebrating that person; why should Colston be remembered in such a privileged way?

As mentioned, Bristol is filled with references to Colston, as well as others who benefitted from the slave trade – such as the tobacconist Henry Overton Wills, after whom the University of Bristol’s Wills Memorial Building is named. The Countering Colston campaign and others are determined to ensure that the renaming of Colston Hall is not where the progress ends. It will be interesting over the coming months to see if this will be the case, or will the backlash against Colston Hall’s new name prevent any further changes?

Talia Robinson