Could Picton be next to get his historical comeuppance?

Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton was the most senior British officer to be killed at the Battle of Waterloo. He remains the only Welshman to be buried in St Paul’s Cathedral.

But he also a brutal governor of Trinidad, making a fortune from the slave trade and convicted of ordering the torture of a 14-year-old girl.

Soon after the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue in June, a painting of Picton that used to be the sign for the former General Picton pub on Picton Street was covered; and his legacy could further be questioned with his monument in St Paul’s one of hundreds now under review in a project to identify potentially offensive statues.

According to a report in the Times, the monument in St Paul’s to Picton, which is surrounded by angels and a lion, “is likely to be identified as one of the most contentious in its pantheon of 19th-century art”.

The National Museum of Wales remembers Picton, who lived from 1758 to 1815, as the Tyrant of Trinidad or the Blood-Stained Governor, calling him “a controversial figure”.

“Historically he has been hailed a public ‘hero’, but his governance of Trinidad and his treatment of slaves marks him out as a particularly cruel leader.”

An old pub sign commemorating General Picton was on display above 6 Picton Street until earlier this year – photo: Google

The memorial to Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, by Sebastian Gahagan at St Paul’s Cathedral – photo: Wikimedia Commons

Some scholars are concerned that the investigation at St Paul’s, conducted by the University of York, will lead to calls for the cathedral’s collection of more than 500 monuments to be broken up.

The dean has declined to rule out whether any of its statues could be removed, stating only that it is unlikely.

The outline for the project, entitled Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral, states that it is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, with Colston’s statue toppled in Bristol during a BLM march through the city.

Professor James Stevens Curl, author of the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, told the Times that he was concerned that the investigation would lead to “widespread destruction” and that it was wrong to judge 19th-century figures by 21st-century standards.

In a statement, St Paul’s said: “The Pantheons Project is a three-year research project which should help visitors and the cathedral understand and interpret the memorials for the 21st century.”

Alex Lucas’ artwork can be seen across Montpelier, including here on Picton Street – photo: Martin Booth

The Bristol suburb of Montpelier grew as Picton was still hailed as a war hero, with other monuments to him including an obelisk in Carmarthen paid for by public subscription, and later a marble sculpture of Picton in the Heroes of Wales series at Cardiff City Hall.

“But public memorials, though built to remember, are often designed to forget,” write Museum of Wales curators.

“And that which has been forgotten in the glorification of individuals like Thomas Picton is the violence and atrocities of our colonial past.

“Picton, like many others, directly profited from slave trade activities. More than this, he was renowned for his ruthless treatment of slaves and others as the first British governor of Trinidad.

In 1803 he was brought to trial in London for authorising the torture – by hanging from a scaffold for an hour, with her weight supported by an upturned wooden peg – of 14-year-old Louisa Calderon, who had been accused of theft.

During the trial, Picton was also investigated for torturing, decapitating and burning alive slaves accused of sorcery, witchcraft and necromancy.

He was convicted, but the verdict was later overturned, with Picton arguing that Trinidad at the time was under Spanish law, which sanctioned torture.

As well as Picton Street, Montpelier is also home to Picton Lane and Picton Mews – photo: Martin Booth

Main photo: Martin Booth

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