NEW ROMNEY1818 - 8 Feb. 1819Family and Education b. Mr Whitehead pointed to a clearing, shaded by tamarind and sandbox trees, where the slaves slept in wooden huts. But after he began experimenting with new methods of sugar production using techniques and equipment gleaned from the Dutch and Portuguese who cultivated it in Brazil his fortunes were quickly transformed. Until 2008 the plantations covered some 880 acres, but the Draxes have sold more than 200 acres, some for housing development. We shouldnt be asking anyone for money. In reviewing the entries I realised an agricultural property transferred from my mother to me after my fathers death had not been included on the register. Published: 00:53 GMT, 3 December 2022 | Updated: 02:01 GMT, 3 December 2022. As a writer who abhors racism in all its forms, I find it uncomfortable to defend Mr Drax, an old Etonian former Coldstream Guard on the right of the Conservative Party. (LogOut/ Warning chocolate lovers ultra-processed foods might make you depressed, study claims, Can YOU guess the book? 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. Will Huttons assertion that we are a country to be plundered by old and new rentiers alike (As Airbnbs shares go through the roof, we need to challenge the Big Tech monopoly, Comment) is amply demonstrated in the tourism sector, not just by Airbnb but by another parasitic behemoth, Tripadvisor, which contributes nothing to the industry but can still rake off up to 20% of an accommodation bookings value in its fee. Richard Rider (Nova). Beckles says Richard Drax should: One: apologise to African people and the people of the Caribbean. The Draxes built and designed and structured slavery. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Once that process is completed, I will of course register it in proper accordance with the rules. In 2009, Drax faced criticism from political rivals for 'hiding his aristocratic roots' by not using his full quadruple-barrelled name. . For, around 370 years ago, he also pioneered the importation of African slaves to cultivate his lucrative crop. If Richard Drax was in front of me now, I would say: Mr Drax, the people of Barbados and Jamaica are entitled to reparatory justice., Beckles, the chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, said: Today, when I drive through the Drax Hall land and its environs, I feel a keen sense of being in a massive killing field with unmarked cemeteries. The Drax fortune includes vast expanses of land and property in England but, as our investigation reveals, the familys role as plantation owners inBarbadosappears to remain key to the MPs wealth. On Friday, the MP said he 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. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members interests. 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. Sir Reginald Drax, younger son of the 17th Lord Dunsany thereby being in remainder to the ancient Barony of Dunsany (cr. "Black life mattered only to make millionaires of English enslavers. Pictured:Richard Drax. His great-uncle was the celebrated writer and playwright the 18th Lord Dunsany, and his maternal grandfather was General the Lord Weeks. He also admitted that he had never given Mr Drax a second thought until he was contacted by Dorset-based members of Stand Up to Racism. That is for Third World countries. There is precedence for compensating descendants of slaves. The Barbadian revolutionary David Denny thinks otherwise. Drax lives in his family's ancestral seat, Charborough House a Grade I listed manor house in rural Dorset. Since then, we've grown to have approximately 12,000 offices throughout the United States and around the world. The Drax Hall Plantation in Barbados was added to the Register of Members Interests on December 11 days after we told the MP we were running a story. [1], Drax is the eldest son of Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (19282017)[27] JP DL and The Hon. 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). Campaigners demanded Mr Drax, 62, pay reparations for harm caused by his familys slave trade. He cant be allowed to get away with this, Mr Denny told me this week. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Come on, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, pay up, pay up and redeem your name!Duncan TomsMachynlleth, Powys. Paul Lashmar and Jonathan Smith write, Hes the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. half brother. Richard Draxs family profited on the backs of black slaves for many generations. [18], During the 2019 UK General Election Drax apologised after his Land Rover, with a campaign poster on the vehicle, was photographed parking across two disabled parking spaces outside his campaign headquarters. Drax since married his third wife, Norwegian-born Elsebet Bdtker, and has four children in total. [21], In May 2022, Drax criticised the decision by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas firms to fund economic support for the public during the cost of living crisis, accusing him of "throwing red meat to socialists". The Barbados taxpayer subsidises the price and set it last year at about Bds$150 per tonne. "[19][20], In June 2020, Drax wrote an article in the Dorset Echo suggesting that rioters linked to the Black Lives Matter protests had been responsible for desecrating The Cenotaph war memorial in London. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. When he first stood for parliament in 2010, he was asked by the Daily Mirror about his historical responsibility. The Drax wealth may be hidden by a great wall of secrecy and unanswered questions away from prying eyes. In the Chinese capital, there is even a Barbados development office, these days. He retained the rank of lieutenant with seniority from 10 September 1981 to reflect the three years he had served. The fact that he was able to summon a *police helicopter* when peaceful trespassers entered his 13,000-acre estate yday shows you how landowners would use this new law . Drax married his second wife; Eliza, daughter of Commander James Dugdale RN (related to David Cameron). Selected as a Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate in July 2006, at the general election in May 2010 Drax defeated the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament for South Dorset, Jim Knight, later Lord Knight of Weymouth. [29], A 2020 investigation by The Guardian found that Richard Drax still owns and grows sugar on the same Drax Hall Estate in Barbados that made the family's fortune. Even before Stand Up To Racism trained their sights on Mr Drax, a pan-West Indian movement had been agitating for Britain and other European nations to pay vast settlements. 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. Richard Drax has replaced a decade of accounts for four farming firms revealing hundreds of thousands of pounds of undisclosed business. On 5 February 2013, Drax voted in the House of Commons against a Second Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 that legalised marriage for same-sex couples. 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. [22], Drax endorsed Suella Braverman during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Driving around the island, one sees evidence of this everywhere. The South Dorset MP, 63, started replacing entries after our enquiry in January. [8], He relinquished his British Army commission on 9 September 1987, thereby retiring after nine years' service as a Coldstreamer. John Burke, Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland (4 vols., London, Henry Colburn, 1835-1838), IV, pp. His great-uncle was the celebrated writer and playwright the 18th Lord Dunsany, and his maternal grandfather was General the Lord Weeks. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The capsule will disintegrate organically, providing a scent barrier to carrots on the move; chives planted in the same bed are also deterrents.Anne Marie KennedyCo Galway, Ireland, The Conservative MP and landowner could learn to stand on his own two feet, rather than a family fortune built on slavery, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Reparations row MP adds plantation to his register of members interests, He's the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. I think its more of a moral argument, he said, adding that Mr Drax would be well-advised to save his reputation by accepting responsibility, apologising, and volunteering a substantial sum towards opening a slavery awareness museum, or some similar project. On December 13 we told how the MP for South Dorset had taken control of the 250-hectare sugar plantation, which had a slave workforce from 1640-1836. On his familys side he inherited Olantigh, near Wye, Kent in 1851. According to David Denny, a self-proclaimed Barbadian revolutionary, the Tory politician should donate hundreds of millions towards the building of schools, roads, health centres and other community projects. But the shadow of slavery hangs over the gilded life of Richard Drax", "Election 2010: Sweeping victory for Tory Richard Drax", www.publications.parliament.uk: The House of Commons 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 201213, "Richard Drax hits out over name change claims", "Tory MP Richard Drax says he made a mistake voting for Theresa May's Brexit deal", "South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, praises Brexit trade deal", "Brexiteers failed to take UK out of EU as single country, Tory MP admits", "Tory candidate left his campaign vehicle across TWO disabled parking spots", "Column: A wave of intolerance has swept this country", "Dorset MP Richard Drax criticises new windfall tax announcement", "MP Richard Drax backs Attorney General Suella Braverman to become Johnson's successor", "Next Tory Leader. 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. [31], Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, Last edited on 12 February 2023, at 22:40, July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, "He's the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. He is from . They justify this by claiming the psychological, social and economic damage caused by slavery continues today. Moreover, how far back do the woke brigade expect the reckoning to go? It was suggested the then leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, had asked wealthy Conservative candidates to shorten their names to appear more in touch with normal people. Something went wrong, please try again later. Many Barbadians regard the original owner of this eponymous pile, Sir James Drax, as the devil incarnate. Copyright Legacies of British Slavery - UCL Department of History 2023. Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, said: People of Barbados and Jamaica are entitled to reparatory justice. He was promoted captain on 10 March 1986. He served across the world, including Germany, Cyprus, Kenya, Brunei, Hong Kong, the United States, London and three operational tours in Northern Ireland. We have estimated Charborough House, Dorset, Wessex, England, Olantigh, Wye, Kent, South-east England, England, http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2011/01/three-cheers-for-sawbridge-drax/, http://lh.matthewbeckett.com/houses/lh_kent_olantightowers.html, Occupations of enslaved women on Buff Bay Plantation, 1819, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2246. The comments below have been moderated in advance. EXCLUSIVE: Richard Drax replaced a decade of accounts for four farming firms revealing hundreds of thousands of pounds of undisclosed business. About 20m a huge sum was then paid out to compensate slave owners. Medic who doctored his pay and swindled 68,000 from the NHS Nurses are prepared to walk out of A&E and not provide Grinning and bearing it? Drax was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1980, before being transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers after active service on 9 December 1983, ending his first period of full-time military service. Erle-Drax's two daughters pre-deceased him. 1462): the second oldest title in the Peerage of Ireland. Harvested sugar cane is no longer processed at the plantations but taken to a central processing plant and then refined for export. Sir Hilary Beckles, a prominent Barbadian historian of slavery, said Drax must acknowledge the wealth brought to the family by slavery. His grandson Henry concurred. Yet are we to suppose that China, with its ruthless suppression of the Uighurs and Covid lockdown protesters, is morally superior to the unenlightened slavers of Stuart and Georgian England? Richard Drax, the Conservative MP for South Dorset, has inherited the Drax Hall plantation in Barbados after his fathers death in 2017. As one wag quipped, with the sugar industry and West Indies Test cricket team in decline, shes the islands most famous export. He should not be denied credit for setting in train one of the great social policy changes of the 20th century.Terry PhilpotLimpsfield Chart, Surrey. A captain in the East Kent Militia; raised a troop of the Dorsetshire Yeomanry in 1830 to deal with the Swing Riots; patron of five church livings; appointed sheriff of Dorset, January 1840; a deputy-lieutenant of Dorset in the late 1850s. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The Buff Bay plantation was a sugar estate next to the Buff Bay River, south of Charlestown in Jamaica. In the view of Philip Whitehead, 65, who has managed the plantation for 39 years, however, later generations of the Draxs deserve credit for sticking with sugar, through good times and bad. Drax is the eldest son of Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (19282017)JP DL and The Hon. We will update Richard Drax's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible. 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? Tweet. [. REVEALED: Roald Dahl books were neutered by woke consultants aged eight to 30 - led by 'non-binary, asexual, Holiday home owners in Scotland face new SNP tax hike under plans from front-runner to be new First Scotland should just self-identify as an independent country, one SNP member proposed. Daily Mirror, 5 May 2010; Dorset Echo, 6 May 2010. Pamela Weeks (19312019) and a grandson of Admiral The Hon. A cousin is the 19th and present Lord Dunsany. 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