Memorial to a Merchant, The Edward Colston Monument, Bristol
Colston's statue was put up in 1895 and was designed by John Cassidy. The plinth is of Portland stone with bronze dolphins to each corner. The statue is bronze. Edward Colston was a Bristol merchant who made money from the slave trade. He used his wealth charitably including founding schools, hospitals and almshouses. His name is very common in Bristol as streets and buildings have been named after him. Since the 1990s he has become the focus for Bristol’s historic involvement in the slave trade. There had been on-going debate about the removal, or at least the rewording of information on the statue to highlight the negative impacts of his role in society as well as the positive ones. A lack of action by authorities to make any changes led to much frustration amongst the local population, which resulted in the toppling of the statue by Black Lives Matter protesters on the 7th June 2020. The statue was then rolled into the nearby Bristol Harbour. It was recovered from the Harbour by Bristol City Council on the 11th of June and placed in storage.
Location
Bristol BristolPeriod
Victorian (1837 - 1901)Themes
