Bristol bishop defends views on slave trader

The Bishop of Bristol has backed comments he made in a sermon to children on Monday, in which he appeared to offer a defence to the business dealings of one of the city’s most famous slave traders, Edward Colston.

The Right Reverend Michael Hill spoke to a gathering of pupils from Colston’s School, Colston’s Girls’ School and the new Merchants’ Academy in Withywood on Monday at Bristol Cathedral for the annual Merchant Venturers’ Charter Day Service.

During the service, recorded by Bristol journalist Tony Gosling, Hill said there was “speculation” over Colston’s business roots in Bristol.

“And I think of Edward Colston. I think he was a man who lived a life of significance, and I’ve found there may be still some speculation however, on some of the circumstances around his business roots right here [in Bristol]. It is speculation,” he said.

(Warning: poor audio quality on video)

Much of Colston’s wealth was generated by the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries, but he spent much of it on altruistic purposes.

He founded almshouses in King Street and on St. Michaels Hill, endowed Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital school and helped found Colston’s Hospital, a boarding school which opened in 1710, leaving an endowment to be managed by the Society of Merchant Venturers for its upkeep.

Responding to accusations that his sermon had said Colston’s slave trade connections were speculation, Hill released a statement this morning.

He said there were “ambiguities” throughout history in which people made money from “ill-gotten gains” but had used that money for the common good.

He added he wanted to continue “working with all who see the big picture of a bigger world where all human beings can flourish”.

The bishop’s statement in full:

On Monday I spoke at the annual Charter Day service in Bristol Cathedral to a gathering of young aspiring people. Some of my words about Bristol Merchant Edward Colston have been seized upon, particularly regarding the morality of Colston’s business dealings.

I stand by what I actually said at the Merchant Venturers Charter Day service yesterday, but not by what some have inferred from what I said.

I am equally clear that I am against all forms of slavery, both at the time Edward Colston made his money and today. To suggest otherwise is both untrue and unkind.

As we have seen in recent years, capitalism carries with it all kinds of moral ambiguity. This is self-evidently true today and has been so throughout its history. This means that some earnings are certainly ‘ill gotten gains’. With the benefit of hindsight, those moral ambiguities become clearer.

At the same time, it is difficult to see why people seemed oblivious to their complicity in wrongdoing, which seems so clear to us today.

The ambiguity lies in this. The many who are deemed to have derived their money from immoral systems, such as slavery, child labour, greedy banking and the sex workers industry, often use those monies to serve the common good. This remains true today.

I am committed to addressing these ambiguities and, as I said at the Charter Day service, working with all who see the big picture of a bigger world where all human beings can flourish.

Picture: antb / Shutterstock