A wealthy Tory MP is facing demands to pay reparations for his family’s 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.
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. His father died in 2017. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members’ interests.
Last week, leading figures in the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) Reparations Commission described the Drax Hall plantation as a “killing field” and a “crime scene” from the tens of thousands of African slaves who died there in terrible conditions between 1640 and 1836. The Draxes also owned a slave plantation in Jamaica which they sold in the 18th century.
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. His father died in 2017. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members’ interests.
Last week, leading figures in the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) Reparations Commission described the Drax Hall plantation as a “killing field” and a “crime scene” from the tens of thousands of African slaves who died there in terrible conditions between 1640 and 1836. The Draxes also owned a slave plantation in Jamaica which they sold in the 18th century.
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. The estate’s finances are largely opaque to the public gaze and involve at least six trusts and other disconnected financial entities.
In Barbados, the imposing plantation house, Drax Hall, built around 1650, still stands – the oldest house in the western hemisphere – and sugar is still grown on the plantation.
On Friday, Drax said: “I am keenly aware of the slave trade in the West Indies, and the role my very distant ancestor played in it is deeply, deeply regrettable, but no one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago. This is a part of the nation’s 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. They should pay reparations.”
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. They should pay reparations.”
Drax Hall, St. George, Barbados
Built in the 1650s by the Drax family, it is thought to have been constructed either by the brothers William Drax (1607-1691) and Colonel Sir James Drax (1609-1661), or by Sir James’ son, Colonel Henry Drax (1641-1683). Drax Hall is the oldest of only three Jacobean mansions remaining in the western hemisphere. Barbados is home to two of the three, the other being St. Nicholas Abbey while Virginia has Bacon's Castle. The Barbados Tourism Authority lists Drax Hall as one of the “Seven Wonders of Barbados,” but unlike St. Nicholas Abbey it is not a cultural centre and is not open to the public. It remains the property of the Drax family and certainly up until very recently they continued to make an annual visit to the still operational sugar plantation....
The estate still produces sugar to this day and it is still owned by - though not home to - the Drax family. The previous owner, Henry Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1928-2017), lived at Charborough House, Dorset, and made a point of visiting the plantation every year. Both Drax Hall and Charborough (that came into their family through Mrs Henry Drax, granddaughter-in-law of Sir James Drax) are now the property of his son, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (b.195
who, continuing a long family tradition, was elected to the British House of Commons in 2010. Unlike St. Nicholas Abbey, Drax Hall is not a cultural centre and it is not open to the public. Nonetheless, the exterior is certainly worth seeing to gain an insight into Barbados’ long and rich heritage.
who, continuing a long family tradition, was elected to the British House of Commons in 2010. Unlike St. Nicholas Abbey, Drax Hall is not a cultural centre and it is not open to the public. Nonetheless, the exterior is certainly worth seeing to gain an insight into Barbados’ long and rich heritage.
