Companies House said failure to keep records updated could result in action. People whose experiences and knowledge of the islands history lend their opinions far more validity than mine. By 1680, he had 327 black chattels and just seven whites. . A wealthy Tory MP is facing demands to pay reparations for his familys part in the Caribbean slave trade after the Observer revealed that he now controls the plantation where his ancestors created the first slave-worked sugar plantation in the British empire almost 400 years ago. By 1839, the estate was 840 acres. Moreover, how far back do the woke brigade expect the reckoning to go? For if blameless distant relatives are held responsible for the slave trade or indeed any other long-ago transgression where might all this stop? However, Cohen ignores a major Powell speech that has had a long-lasting, permanent and wholly benevolent impact. In 1827 he married Jane, the daughter of Richard Erle-Drax Grosvenor and a member of the Drax family which was so prominent among the slave-owners of Barbados. Richard Drax has replaced a decade of accounts for four farming firms. The shame and despair of being physically attacked by your own child, Do not sell or share my personal information. Annihilation. So, how much is Richard Drax worth at the age of 64 years old? It has a Reparations Commission, whose chair is Sir Hilary Beckles. The MP for South Dorset, Richard Drax, has inherited the 250-hectare Drax Hall plantation in Barbados from his father, inquiries by the Observer have established. The Erle family had owned Charborough House, Dorset, since the C16th and through the marriage, Drax took possession of it. We have estimated He is said to have spent money prodigiously [Matthew Beckett] on both Olantigh and Charborough Park, including on the building of the celebrated brick wall surrounding the estate which is said to use about 2 million bricks. Conservative MP for South Dorset Richard Drax, Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission. But the shadow of slavery hangs over the gilded life of Richard Drax, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Drax Hall is an imposing, grey stone residence built for a 17thcentury entrepreneur who revolutionised the Caribbean sugar industry, and in so doing helped make Britain the wealthiest nation on earth. He aired his views before marching in an impressive ceremony marking Barbadoss 56th anniversary of independence, and its first year as a republic, at the Kensington Oval cricket ground in Bridgetown. On the marriage, Sawbridge assumed the name of Erle-Drax. He retained the rank of lieutenant with seniority from 10 September 1981 to reflect the three years he had served. Ukrainian soldier takes out five Russian tanks and three armoured vehicles in ONE DAY using US-supplied Ukraine's first lady condemns Putin for 'mercilessly firing at civilians' as 'deliberate missile strike' on 'Big Brother' AI robot is unveiled as government adviser that will monitor the public's opinions in Romania, Wife is shocked after husband of 15 years asks for permission to have an affair: 'I don't know what to do', My Daily Horoscope: What does March 2nd hold for MY star sign? Men such as Barbados army veteran Pedro Hall, 72, a cousin of the great West Indian fast-bowler Wes Hall. In 1961, when minister of health, he spoke of setting a torch to the funeral pyre of the long-stay mental illness asylums, which he pictured as isolated, majestic and imperious. This article was amended on 13 December 2020 because an earlier version referred to the Caribbean Reparations Commission (Caricom) To clarify: Caricom is the Caribbean Community, an organisation of fifteen states and dependencies throughout the Caribbean. The Drax wealth may be hidden by a great wall of secrecy and unanswered questions away from prying eyes. Genealogy for Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor (Grosvenor), MP (1762 - 1819) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. But he is responsible for what he does now. In June hesaid of the Black Lives Matter protests: The desecration of the Cenotaph by rioters two weeks ago, on the actual D-Day anniversary, was beyond ironic. He is vociferous on immigration, too. The Buff Bay plantation was a sugar estate next to the Buff Bay River, south of Charlestown in Jamaica. Now he could be on the hook for reparations", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Drax&oldid=1139014260, This page was last edited on 12 February 2023, at 22:40. We revealed in December Mr Drax had failed to register in Members Interests a Barbados sugar plantation he ran. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members interests. Reputedly the richest landowner in the Commons, his portfolio of companies includes farms that grow poppies to make opium for the NHS and hops for craft breweries. I've never done it before and never done it since but it was a real moment of thoughtlessness and it won't happen again. The Drax family did it longer than any elite family.. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. ). Clearly there are some glaring contradictions to all this. Never miss a moment by signing up to our newsletter here. Asked about its absence on the Parliamentary Register of Members Interests, Drax said on Friday that he is still acting as executor of his fathers will and does not yet legally own the Barbados holdings as these are still going through the probate process and have not yet transferred to my name. The Drax Hall plantation is not referred to in Richard Draxs Register of Members Interests declaration, and we could not find any family document referring directly to the plantations in the public domain since his great-grandmothers will in 1916, when the Baroness Dunsany bequeathed her estates and plantations in Barbados to her son, Richards grandfather. By Richard Sandomir. He'd neglected to mention it on the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests until 29 December 2020, despite the estate being in his family for more than 400 years. Others countered that, while the deeds of the Drax dynasty could never be condoned, they had already done much to benefit the community. Drax was reinstated on the Active List on 10 September 1984, beginning his second and final period of regular service. Richard Drax registered the details as the Sunday Mirror revealed his ancestors past and how he still makes a packet from the business. Change). Brother of Henry Drax (-1790) and father of Sarah Frances Drax who married Richard Grosvenor (who became Richard Erle Drax Grosvenor [q.v.]). The Sawbridge and Erle-Drax families had estates in Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Yorkshire (including Ellerton Abbey), Lincolnshire, Surrey, Suffolk and Barbados. Christianwas born circa 1341, in Yorkshire, England. Richardmarried Christian Drax (born Falos (Fullas or Faloys))circa 1366, at age 29 at marriage place. On the marriage, Sawbridge assumed the name of Erle-Drax. They justify this by claiming the psychological, social and economic damage caused by slavery continues today. There has been speculation about whether the Drax family still owned the Barbados estate as absentee landlords, especially after Richards father Henry Drax died in 2017. Over 200 years, 30,000 slaves died at this and the other Drax plantations, according to Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chair of CARICOM's Reparations Commission. This is a part of the nations history, from which we must all learn., The Barbadian historian Beckles, however, told the Observer: It is no answer for Richard Drax to say it has nothing to do with him when he is the owner and the inheritor. Pictured:Richard Drax. In recognition of this, a road has been named after Sir James Drax, and the islands oldest school was established, in 1695, with a bequest from his grandson, Colonel Henry Drax. My parents died in short succession and administration of both estates is ongoing. Once we have made him pay, we are coming after the Royal Family.. Those who survived this so-called Middle Passage were paraded, naked and in chains, at an auction in Bridgetowns main square. 207-11 (entry for John Samuel Wanley Drax-Erle Sawbridge of Charborough). Something went wrong, please try again later. I'm a Feng Shui expert and these are the three things I will never allow in a bedroom. He is a privileged person to have this in his gift.Angela SingerCambridge, It is perhaps to be expected, but nevertheless disappointing, that after generations of his family enjoying so much more than their fair share of the fruits of nature and the labour of others, including slaves, Richard Drax seems unable to rise above himself and take some responsibility, as a few more honourable others have done, for the cost to his fellow humans, past and present, of his inherited property, accumulated wealth and self-serving politics. Paul Lashmar and Jonathan Smith write, Hes the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. For full article, see https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/12/hes-the-mp-with-the-downton-abbey-lifestyle-but-the-shadow-of-slavery-hangs-over-the-gilded-life-of-richard-drax. Drax denied the accusations, saying that he only used the shortened version of his name because of the "logistic mouthful", while Cameron's comments were a "throw away joke". He did this after we asked Companies House about his finances. Its like making my great-great-great-grandchildren pay for my wrongdoings not that slavery was considered to be wrong back then. EXCLUSIVE: Richard Drax replaced a decade of accounts for four farming firms revealing hundreds of thousands of pounds of undisclosed business. If he espouses the same cause that so many Tories champion, that it does people good to learn to stand on their own two feet, he would surely welcome the introduction of wealth and land taxes.Brian WoollandSalisbury, Wiltshire, Richard Drax cannot be responsible for what his ancestors did 400 years ago. Sugar and Black Death went hand in glove. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), The shadow of slavery hangs over the gilded life of Richard Drax, No pickers, no coffee: How Covid threatens Colombias harvest, I believe, as do many of my constituents, that this country is full., https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/12/hes-the-mp-with-the-downton-abbey-lifestyle-but-the-shadow-of-slavery-hangs-over-the-gilded-life-of-richard-drax, Calls for Drax Hall to be opened to public as Barbados becomes a republic | Velvet classic, Barbados plans to make Tory MP pay reparations for familys slave past | Velvet classic, Barbados plans to make Tory MP pay reparations for households slave previous Repeating Islands - Bellejamaica, Follow Repeating Islands on WordPress.com, Centro de Estudios del CaribeCasa de las Americas, Attorney Claims Puerto Rico Was Unlawfully Exposed to Experiments, The white ex-naval officer who fathered Bob Marley was a British captain from Essex, Invasion of non-native reptile species continues in the Lesser Antilles, New Translation"A New Region of the World: Aesthetics I", TODAY! When contacting this Member, they should be addressed as Richard Drax. The TV presenter and historian David Olusoga says: The Drax family are one of the few who were pioneers in the early stages of the British slave economy back in the 17th century and, generations later, still owned plantations and enslaved people at the end of British slavery in the 1830s. But he is responsible for what he does now. Richard enjoyed a variety of activities, ranging from ceremonial duties, such as Trooping . We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Yet to my mind there is something fundamentally unfair about singling out any individual and holding him responsible for the horrors of slavery; a practice that was mercifully outlawed five generations before he was born after an abolition campaign led by Britain. Drax's response questioned his responsibility for "something that happened 300 or 400 years ago", stating "it's not what I stand for", and cited the desperation of his opponents- "all they can do is pick at bits of my family history". His first home was a cave and his early farming ventures failed. Warning chocolate lovers ultra-processed foods might make you depressed, study claims, Can YOU guess the book? This was a crime against humanity and we impose upon him [Mr Drax] and his family a moral responsibility to contribute to the effort to repair the damage.. Copyright Legacies of British Slavery - UCL Department of History 2023. Richard was delighted to re-elected the MP for South Dorset in December 2019. Since then, we've grown to have approximately 12,000 offices throughout the United States and . For attempting to overthrow their plantation owner, in 1692, 42 slaves were castrated at the hands of a woman named Alice Miller, who received ten guineas for her service. The "new" Drax killed Lunatik and one of the Blood Brothers. It was ironic that this had made him a visible target for the reparations-seekers. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. As it has changed little since the mid-1600s, one could imagine the appalling misery of the men, women and children who once worked here. Something went wrong, please try again later. Campaigners demanded Mr Drax, 62, pay reparations for harm caused by his familys slave trade. The Draxes built and designed and structured slavery. The plantation was added to the register only after we told the MP we were running a story. Drax was born on 29 January 1958 in Westminster. Like many of his ancestors, Drax is a Dorset MP and is probably the wealthiest landowner in the House of Commons, with 5,600 hectares of farmland and woodlands. He cant be allowed to get away with this, Mr Denny told me this week. Contact Richard Drax This section contains web, social and other contact information for Richard Drax. Clive Stafford Smith organised fictional legal proceedings against Richard Drax using 40 pupils aged between 12 and 18, some of whom are from a school within his South Dorset constituency. Some new arrivals chose to hang themselves rather than face a lifetime of servitude, believing they would be resurrected and transported back to their homelands. When he first stood for parliament in 2010, he was asked by the Daily Mirror about his historical responsibility. 207-11; Alan J. Miller, 'Three cheers for Sawbridge Drax', Dorset Life, January 2011, http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2011/01/three-cheers-for-sawbridge-drax/ Accessed 18 June 2012; http://lh.matthewbeckett.com/houses/lh_kent_olantightowers.html; Accessed 18 June 2012; London Gazette, 19819 31 January 1840, p. 197; R. J. Richardson, The lower house, or, the peers and aristocracy (London, G. Vickers, 1859), p. 47. In Barbados, production is now subsidised by the government, and heavy rainfall reduced last years yield at Drax Hall to just 7,000 tonnes of raw cane (producing 700 tonnes of sugar). Ex-Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said: I hope the recently further-enriched Mr Drax pays some attention to polite representations from the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission. Pamela Weeks (19312019) and a grandson of Admiral The Hon. The South Dorset MP, 63, started replacing entries after our enquiry in January. But for all his wealth and power, there is a dark shadow hanging over Richard Drax his familys historical links with slavery in the plantations of the West Indies, which are now prompting mounting calls from former Caribbean colonies for reparations. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? If this request is refused, the government intends to take the matter to an international arbitration court. 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