EC2 Barbican, Bishopsgate, Clerkenwell, Liverpool Street, Moorgate, Shoreditch
Slave owners in the Guildhall |
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William Beckford was an MP and twice Lord Mayor of London. He was allegedly the first millionaire in the City but many people are unaware of where his wealth came from. |
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In the 1700s he owned thousands of acres of Jamaican plantations and became extremely wealthy at the the expense African people who were forced to work for him. |
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He used some of his wealth to build monuments such as Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. |
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In the Guildhall today an imposing statue of him still stands but there is no mention of the source of his wealth and many people are totally unaware that Beckford, like many other city traders, depended on slavery to make themselves and their country rich. |
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