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Henry Dundas, 1st<\/sup> Viscount Melville, has been a controversial figure for centuries, from his lifetime to ours. He has been loved and hated, admired and feared. Over time, however, much of his legacy has been forgotten, primarily the bad aspects. For my research project, I examined the historical and contemporary views that people had of him. This came out of the recent debates surrounding Dundas\u2019 legacy, and whether statues of him should be torn down and streets\/places named after him be renamed. My research shows how quickly public opinion can change about a person, how easily information is forgotten over time, and how historians can uncover that information again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Born April 28 1742, died May 28 1811, Henry Dundas was a Scottish politician and lawyer, a British parliamentarian, and an imperial statesman. Throughout his life, he held the offices of Solicitor General for Scotland, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Lord Advocate, Minister for War and Colonies, and First Lord of the Admiralty, among others.[1]<\/sup><\/a> Dundas was a key player in British politics and decisions, and was responsible for the expansion of British influence in India. He was a dominant member of the Board of Control of the East India Company, and in 1793, the position of President was created for Dundas, which he held until 1801.[2]<\/sup><\/a> He was a vital part of expanding the frontiers of British slavery by taking control of French-controlled colonies.[3]<\/sup><\/a> He held several nicknames that illustrated his power, among them were \u201cthe uncrowned king of Scotland\u201d and \u201cthe great tyrant\u201d.[4]<\/sup><\/a> With this power, Dundas committed several atrocities, and made or influenced decisions that negatively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of enslaved people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 2, 1792, Dundas added the word \u2018gradual\u2019 into William Wilberforce\u2019s abolition bill, and three weeks later he submitted resolutions naming 1800 as the date for the final abolition of the slave trade.[5]<\/sup><\/a> He eventually yielded to the majority, who preferred the earlier date of 1796. However, in 1796, Dundas spoke against immediate abolition and refused to put forward his own plans for gradual abolition. This was because he had economic connections to the powerful British West Indian slave-owning lobby.[6]<\/sup><\/a> Dundas also made recommendations on how to improve conditions for enslaved people, which were meant to preserve rather than abolish slavery.[7]<\/sup><\/a> As a powerful politician, Dundas held much influence and he used that to set back the fight against slavery.[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dundas prioritized seizing France\u2019s Caribbean colonies, sending 40,000 troops to fight and die in the Caribbean between 1793 and 1798.[9]<\/sup><\/a> Gaining control of Saint Domingue was his central aim because it was the most profitable slaveholding colony of the time, but he was thwarted there. In 1795, Members of Parliament accused Dundas of allowing British soldiers to commit atrocities against the Jamaican Maroons of Trelawney Town, which was a free black community that had signed a treaty with Britain in 1740. Dundas was defending the interests of Jamaican slave owners.[10]<\/sup><\/a> In Grenada, in the same year, Dundas\u2019 forces \u201cbrutally supressed an abolitionist uprising\u201d, led by enslaved people and a free man of colour, which lasted eighteen months (1795-1796).[11]<\/sup><\/a> Also in 1795, not far away on the island of St. Vincent, after decades of trying to force the Indigenous population \u2013 the Garifuna \u2013 to sell their land, British forces led by Dundas \u201chunted down Indigenous Vincentians across the island, massacring entire villages and destroying Garifuna autonomy\u201d.[12]<\/sup><\/a> Thousands of Indigenous Vincentians were transported to the nearby Balliceaux Island and held as prisoners for months, with roughly half the people dying and the survivors being sent to Central America.[13]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1806, impeachment proceedings were taken against Dundas for misappropriation of public funds while he was treasurer of the British Navy.[14]<\/sup><\/a> He was acquitted and held guilty of formal negligence at most (a result of his family name and powerful friends), but he never again held office.[15]<\/sup><\/a> This most certainly lingered in the public consciousness at the time, and the stain of corruption was never quite removed from his name. However, simultaneously, his name was often celebrated and revered.[16]<\/sup><\/a> Soon after his death, he was praised, but several years after saw his name being dragged through the mud, and then forgotten.[17]<\/sup><\/a> Today, his actions and decisions are being brought back into the light, and what is being revealed has led many people to view him with distaste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In March of 1803, Dundas started burning papers and correspondence that related to his earlier career.[18]<\/sup><\/a> That, coupled with the surviving papers being scattered around the world, in archives and private collections, made compiling information on his life difficult.[19]<\/sup><\/a> Historians have worked hard together to reveal the truth of Dundas\u2019 life, to piece together his actions so that we can re-examine who he was in the networks of the British Empire and the slave trade, and to re-evaluate the impacts his decisions had. My research immersed me in the current historiographical debate surrounding the ways in which imperial figures from the British Empire are remembered. The role of historians is extremely important in uncovering the information that is lost to us or forgotten over time, and in untangling who people were from the popular memories and family memories of them. I wonder how Henry Dundas will be remembered centuries from now, and if this information will be lost to time as it was before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/sup><\/a> Engineering Timelines, \u201cMelville Monument,\u201d Engineering Timelines, http:\/\/www.engineering-timelines.com\/scripts\/engineeringItem.asp?id=823<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/sup><\/a> Sam Gribble, \u201c\u2019Harry the Ninth (The uncrowned king of Scotland)\u2019\u201d, Bachelor of Arts Honours History Thesis, University of Sydney, 2012, 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/sup><\/a> BBCNews, \u201cHenry Dundas\u2019 private papers bought for Scots archive.\u201d BBCNews, July 3 2012. https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-scotland-18687274<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/sup><\/a> BBCNews, \u201cHenry Dundas\u2019 private papers\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/sup><\/a> The History of Parliament, \u201cDundas, Henry (1742-1811), of Melville Castle, Edinburgh,\u201d The History of Parliament, https:\/\/www.historyofparliamentonline.org\/volume\/1790-1820\/member\/dundas-henry-1742-1811<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d; The History of Parliament, \u201cDundas, Henry\u201d; David Leask, \u201cDescendent fights claims that Henry Dundas prolonged slave trade,\u201d The Time UK, July 18 2020. https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/descendant-fights-claims-that-henry-dundas-prolonged-slave-trade-wd2bvbj39<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/sup><\/a> City of Toronto, \u201cResponding to the Dundas Street Renaming Petition\u201d, September 8 2020, 7. https:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/legdocs\/mmis\/2020\/ex\/bgrd\/backgroundfile-156448.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [9]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [10]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [11]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [12]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [13]<\/sup><\/a> Newton, \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [14]<\/sup><\/a> Ernest Hartley Coleridge, The Life of Thomas Coutts, banker <\/em>Vol. II (London: John Lane, 1920), 255. https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/cu31924088024314\/page\/n7\/mode\/2up?q=dundas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [15]<\/sup><\/a> BBCNews, \u201cHenry Dundas\u2019 private papers\u201d; The History of Parliament, \u201cDundas, Henry\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [16]<\/sup><\/a> Gribble, \u201cHarry the Ninth\u201d, 12-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n [17]<\/sup><\/a> Cyril Matheson, The Life of Henry Dundas First Viscount Melville 1742-1811 <\/em>(London: Constable and Co., 1933), 65.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [18]<\/sup><\/a> Gribble, \u201cHarry the Ninth\u201d, 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n [19]<\/sup><\/a> Gribble, \u201cHarry the Ninth\u201d, 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibliography:<\/p>\n\n\n\n BBCNews, \u201cHenry Dundas\u2019 private papers bought for Scots archive.\u201d BBCNews, July 3 2012. https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-scotland-18687274<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n City of Toronto, \u201cResponding to the Dundas Street Renaming Petition\u201d, September 8 2020. https:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/legdocs\/mmis\/2020\/ex\/bgrd\/backgroundfile-156448.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Coleridge, Ernest Hartley. The Life of Thomas Coutts, banker <\/em>Vol. II, London: John Lane, 1920. https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/cu31924088024314\/page\/n7\/mode\/2up?q=dundas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n CTVNews Staff. \u201cHenry Dundas, the Scotsman who delayed slavery abolition, under history\u2019s microscope.\u201d CTVNews, August 19 2020. https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/world\/henry-dundas-the-scotsman-who-delayed-slavery-abolition-under-history-s-microscope-1.4059438<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Engineering Timelines, \u201cMelville Monument,\u201d Engineering Timelines. http:\/\/www.engineering-timelines.com\/scripts\/engineeringItem.asp?id=823<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gribble, Sam. \u201c\u2019Harry the Ninth (The uncrowned king of Scotland)\u2019\u201d, Bachelor of Arts Honours History Thesis, University of Sydney, 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ingram, Edward. Two Views of Britihs India: The Private Correspondance of Mr Dundas and Lord Wellesley. <\/em>Bath: Adams and Dart, 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leask, David. \u201cDescendent fights claims that Henry Dundas prolonged slave trade,\u201d The Time UK, July 18 2020. https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/descendant-fights-claims-that-henry-dundas-prolonged-slave-trade-wd2bvbj39<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matheson, Cyril. The Life of Henry Dundas First Viscount Melville 1742-1811. <\/em>London: Constable and Co., 1933.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National Post Staff. \u201cWho was Henry Dundas and why do two cities no longer want to honour his memory?\u201d National Post, June 11 2020. https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/news\/world\/who-was-henry-dundas-and-why-do-two-cities-no-longer-want-to-honour-his-memory<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Newton, Melanie. \u201cHenry Dundas, empire and genocide,\u201d OpenDemocracyUK, July 30 2020. https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/opendemocracyuk\/henry-dundas-empire-and-genocide\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paton, Diana. \u201cFrench power battle frames Henry Dundas\u2019s role in slave trade.\u201d The Times UK, July 30 2020. https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/french-power-battle-frames-henry-dundas-s-role-in-slave-trade-0cnvzh9k0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The History of Parliament, \u201cDundas, Henry (1742-1811), of Melville Castle, Edinburgh,\u201d The History of Parliament. https:\/\/www.historyofparliamentonline.org\/volume\/1790-1820\/member\/dundas-henry-1742-1811<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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