For me the issue is not only compensation (impossible, from my perspective,
to individuals) but the re-writing of the history of the 'clean' White
Brits.... Time more of the 'dirt' - ie, ealities - were uncovered.
n Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:13:26 +0000, Alex Pascall <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi Arthur
>
> The grave is beginning to release its secrets, who say that the dead
don't
> talk? It appears that there a endless ghosts coming alive from the rich
> yields of the graveyards.
>
> The point is, of what value does this serve if compensation is not
> forthcoming?
>
> The latter may be a good question for Dr. Napier to respond to.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Alex
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: arthur torrington <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Monday, 21 September, 2009 10:47:54
> Subject: BANKERS & SLAVERY: ROTHSCHILD & FRESHFIELD
>
>
> FYI
>
> On 26 June 2009, the Financial Times published an article titled:
> Rothschild and Freshfields founders had links to slavery, papers reveal.
> They are t wo of the biggest names in the City of London . In the case of
> Mr Rothschild, the documents reveal for the first time that he made
> personal gains by using slaves as collateral in banking dealings with a
> slave owner. This may surprise those familiar with his role in
organising
> the loan that funded the UK government’s bail-out of British slave
owners
> when colonial slavery was abolished in the 1830s. It was the biggest
> bail-out of an industry as a percentage of annual government expenditure
> – dwarfing last year’s rescue of the UK's banking sector.
>
> Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the banking family’s 19th-century patriarch,
and
> James William Freshfield, founder of Freshfields, the top City law firm,
> benefited financially from slavery, records from the National Archives
> show, even though both have often been portrayed as opponents of slavery.
> The banking magnate organised a loan to the government of £15m, out of a
> total of £20m it spent in the 1830s on bailing out the slave owners
after
> abolition. At the time, this huge sum represented almost half the
> government’s annual expenditure – by which measure it dwarfs
today’s
> efforts to shore up the country’s financial institutions.
> The chief archivist of the Rothschild family papers reacted with
disbelief
> when first told of the contents of the records, saying she had never seen
> such links before.
>
> Dr Nick Draper (UCL) will present some of his research at a Lecture on
> Saturday 10 October 2009 from 2pm to 4pm at the Museum of London
> Docklands, West India Quay, London, E14 4AL,
>
> ADMISSION FREE.
>
> Event organised by The Equiano Society
>
> Further information from: [log in to unmask]
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