{"id":20552,"date":"2023-09-23T16:46:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T15:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/?post_type=events&p=20552"},"modified":"2025-07-22T18:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T17:51:16","slug":"the-rise-and-fall-of-edward-colston-the-real-story","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-rise-and-fall-of-edward-colston-the-real-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise and fall of Edward Colston – the real story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n\n

In November 2014 the Bishop of Bristol, preaching to school students, claimed that \u2018speculation\u2019 about the \u2018business roots\u2019 of the city\u2019s philanthropic icon, Edward Colston, was merely \u2018speculation\u2019. These incendiary words inspired complaints, protests and new historical research into Colston\u2019s slave-trading activities and his role as a \u2018City Father.\u2019 They also led to the formation of the campaign group Countering Colston which challenged both the physical commemoration and memorialisation of his legacy.<\/p>\n

This talk by those involved in the campaign will expose Colston\u2019s significant role in the transatlantic slave-trade and his reinvention as an icon in the Victorian period. It will then outline the successful tactics of Countering Colston who through protest and argument in the public domain confronted the elite institutions in Bristol that had ideological, historical and financial interests in his legacy.<\/p>\n

These elements were to play a critical part in public debates and a series of victories by campaigners, culminating in the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston by Black Lives Matter protestors in June 2020.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Colston Hall name change protest banner (2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In November 2014 the Bishop of Bristol, preaching to school students, claimed that \u2018speculation\u2019 about the \u2018business roots\u2019 of the city\u2019s philanthropic icon, Edward Colston, was merely \u2018speculation\u2019. These incendiary words inspired complaints, protests and new historical research into Colston\u2019s slave-trading activities and his role as a \u2018City Father.\u2019 They also led to the formation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[198,194],"tags":[1449,868,904,1331,905],"class_list":["post-20552","events","type-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-slavery-resistance","tag-church-of-england","tag-edward-colston","tag-slave-trade","tag-slave-trader","tag-society-of-merchant-venturers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe rise and fall of Edward Colston - the real story - Bristol Radical History Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-rise-and-fall-of-edward-colston-the-real-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The rise and fall of Edward Colston - the real story - Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In November 2014 the Bishop of Bristol, preaching to school students, claimed that \u2018speculation\u2019 about the \u2018business roots\u2019 of the city\u2019s philanthropic icon, Edward Colston, was merely \u2018speculation\u2019. These incendiary words inspired complaints, protests and new historical research into Colston\u2019s slave-trading activities and his role as a \u2018City Father.\u2019 They also led to the formation […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-rise-and-fall-of-edward-colston-the-real-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/126960655805\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-22T17:51:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Colston_must_fall.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BrisRadHis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The rise and fall of Edward Colston - the real story - Bristol Radical History Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-rise-and-fall-of-edward-colston-the-real-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The rise and fall of Edward Colston - the real story - Bristol Radical History Group","og_description":"In November 2014 the Bishop of Bristol, preaching to school students, claimed that \u2018speculation\u2019 about the \u2018business roots\u2019 of the city\u2019s philanthropic icon, Edward Colston, was merely \u2018speculation\u2019. 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