Facing Our Past
At the National Trust for Scotland, we’ve begun a new project to address the legacies of slavery. We now know that many National Trust for Scotland properties, including the birthplaces of Robert Burns and Hugh Miller, have a link to slavery. This is part of a wider black history in Scotland, and we’re committed to expanding knowledge and supporting our staff and volunteers to address Scotland’s role in enslavement where this is associated with our places.
With our very large and varied portfolio – from museums like Culloden and grand historic houses to humble cottages, gardens and landed estates – we have a unique opportunity to realise this ambition across Scotland.
To begin, we’re carrying out a review of our buildings and monuments, and we plan to highlight the links to slavery to the millions of people who visit our places each year, as part of the historical interpretation. These properties include Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Pollok House in Glasgow and Glenfinnan Monument, erected in tribute to the Jacobites who died in the 1745 rising. The monument sits on the Glenaladale estate, once owned by Alexander Macdonald, who made his fortune from plantations worked by enslaved people in Jamaica.
Our two-year research and public engagement project will address these narratives alongside many more, as Jennifer Melville, project leader, explains: ‘Curators across the world are very aware that they must look honestly at collections, properties and estates and reveal all the narratives relating to them. It is over ten years since our first project on slavery but we are keen to increase this work and embed a thoroughly researched understanding of it into the visitor experience.’
Dr Melville adds: ‘The National Trust for Scotland is in a unique position to address this complex history as owners of estates, gardens, buildings and collections that have been created, improved or funded through the suffering of others – we can bring these truths to life.
‘Working collaboratively with several universities, both in Scotland and abroad, as well as with artists and creative practitioners, will enable us to deepen our knowledge and understanding of our connections with slavery, and show how the properties now in our care were funded and enhanced through the enslavement of peoples by Scots. A vital part of the project will be public engagement, and we’re committed to hearing from people whose lived experience has been directly shaped by colonialism and historic slavery.’
Phil Long, Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland says: ‘The Trust has for many years been uncovering the stories of people behind our properties, increasing knowledge of how they came into existence, their relationship with communities, with the land and with wider society. Such histories are as much a part of the heritage we are responsible for – and have a duty to explain – as our duty of care to the physical heritage we are entrusted with. It is an indisputable fact that many of the properties belonging to the Trust have an association with colonialism and slavery; researching into this is therefore important work for us to undertake, as part of the broader research we do in many fields, to look after, understand and explain the heritage in our care.’
Frank Black, former Country Operations Director of the African Development Bank and Head of the Special Liaison Unit (UN/UNCTAD Affairs) in the Secretary-General’s Office of the OECD, described the project as ‘fascinating and extraordinarily timely given what is happening’.
Professor Karin Wulf, Executive Director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture, William & Mary University in Virginia, described it as ‘immensely exciting and important’.
Related stories
Changing history
We take a look at the role that the slave trade played in the histories of Scotland and some of the Trust’s most-loved properties.
Africans at the court of James IV
It’s often assumed that African people arrived in Scotland in the 18th century, or even later. But in fact Africans were resident in Scotland much earlier, and in the early 16th century they were high-status members of the royal retinue.
Was there a Jamaican man at the Battle of Culloden?
We take a closer look at an embroidered picture on display in the visitor centre at Culloden, which was thought to depict a West Indian man on the Jacobite side at the battle of Culloden in 1746.
Throwing new light on difficult histories
Jennifer Melville gives a talk that explores the more difficult and deeper aspects of our property histories, and sheds new light on them through the delivery of textured, varied and truthful stories.
Colonial power and profit at Leith Hall
We take a look at the Leith-Hay and Leith families of Leith Hall, and their links to the West Indies.
High Water at Glasgow Bridge
A unique clock at Pollok House provides a clue to the 18th-century commercial interests of the Maxwell family.
A tale of two champions: the fight for freedom
Regional Curator Sarah Beattie takes a closer look at the lives of Tom Molineaux and his trainer, Bill Richmond, and their experiences as black boxers in Britain in the early 1800s.
Facing Our Past at Fyvie Castle
As part of our Facing Our Past project, we take a look at the Forbes-Leith family and their American connections.
Facing Our Past at Malleny Garden
As part of our Facing Our Past project, we take a look at the Scotts of Malleny and their connections to the West Indies.
An eventful honeymoon: Lord and Lady Aberdeen of Haddo House
As part of our Facing Our Past project, we take a look at Lord and Lady Aberdeen and their links to Egypt.
An eventful honeymoon: Lord and Lady Aberdeen of Haddo House
