Celebrate Black History Month in Wimbledon!
11am, Saturday 26th October
Meeting at the War Memorial, Wimbledon Village High Street, The Green, Wimbledon Village SW19 5NA
Learn about the slaveowners who lived and prospered in Wimbledon during the 18th and 19th century including their spokesperson Joseph Marryat MP
Led by local historian Peter Walker
If you intend on coming, please e-mail Peter at peter@vistaevents.co.uk
There is no charge for this short walk. It will last 40 minutes. Enquiries: please phone Peter on 07715 749 373
Joseph Marryat MP – Wimbledon resident 1812-1824 and slaveowner
Marryat has two roads in Wimbledon commemorating him.
Marryat owned over 1,000 slaves and was the spokesperson for West Indian slaveowners in Parliament opposing the abolition of slavery, according to the memorial written after his death in 1824, by West Indian slave owners.
Marryat “ zealously and ably espoused their cause asserted their rights …from the calumny and misrepresentations of their enemies.”
Marryat owned and lived in Wimbledon House Wimbledon from 1812 – 1824
According to records he owned 1,466 slaves and his family received the equivalent of £8.5M in compensation when slavery was abolished in 1833
Marryat was an important figure in the West Indians defence of slavery in both Parliament and through the West India Committee.
He produced leaflets and made speeches defending the slave owners and their plantations in the West Indies
He was also Agent for Trinidad 1805-15, Grenada 1815-1824; and was chairman of Lloyd’s 1811-1824.
Marryat was the MP for Horsham and in May 2023 Horsham council removed his portrait from the town museum “over his links to the slave trade.”
Here in Wimbledon the local council continues to commemorate Joseph Marryat the defender and owner of his 1,466 slaves by naming two roads after him: Marryat Road and Marryat Crescent SW19.
