Lecturer exposes slave trade links

A series of investigations into UK public fgures with ancestral links to the slave trade have been headed up by City lecturer Dr Paul Lashmar alongside journalist Jonathan Smith.

In an article published 4 February 2023 in The Observer, Dr Lashmar and Mr Smith spoke with members of the Trevelyan family. The family discussed their journey to the Caribbean, where they publicly apologised on behalf of their ancestors for owning over 1000 African slaves in the mid-1700s.

The Trevelyans are not the frst well-known name Dr Lashmar and Mr Smith have reported on regarding ancestral involvement in the slave trade. In November 2022, the duo wrote a piece on Conservative MP Richard Drax, who they discovered was still legally the owner of a plantation in Barbados.

When speaking about the impact of publishing the Drax exposé, Dr Lashmar, the former head of City’s journalism department, said: “What’s been most interesting

Image: Dr Paul Lashmar is that when I’m talking to people who perhaps are not aware of what I do, when the name Drax comes up they go, ‘Oh is that the man who owns the slave plantation?’ And you think, actually I’ve had an impact.”

Dr Lashmar said the story has garnered a number of responses from both sides of the political spectrum.

He explained: “You’ve got the liberal tendency, people who are trying to work out the families who have had a history in slavery, those who feel they should do something.

“On the other side are those who, perhaps represented by Richard Drax, have been very reluctant to even talk about it, let alone commit to any action that would be considered to be reconciliation or reparation.”

Dr Lashmar said his investigative work into the slave trade is far from over. He is in the process of publishing a book on the Drax family.

Emily Smith