Statue of Edward Colston

Common card · No. 351252

The statue of Edward Colston is a bronze statue of Bristol-born merchant and transatlantic slave trader Edward Colston (1636–1721). It was created in 1895 by the Irish sculptor John Cassidy and was formerly situated on a plinth of Portland stone in a public space known as The Centre in Bristol, until it was toppled by anti-racism protestors in 2020. Designated a Grade II listed structure in 1977, the statue was the subject of controversy due to Colston's role in organising the Atlantic slave trade as a senior executive of the Royal African Company. From the 1990s onward the debate on the morality of glorifying Colston intensified. In 2018 Bristol City Council proposed to add a second plaque to better contextualise the statue and summarise Colston's role in the slave trade, but this was delayed by disputes over the wording of the plaque. On 7 June 2020, the statue was toppled, defaced, and pushed into Bristol Harbour during the George Floyd protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement...

Read on Wikipedia · Image John Cassidy, CC0