Ex-Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said: I hope the recently further-enriched Mr Drax pays some attention to polite representations from the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission. [23] After Braverman was eliminated, he supported Liz Truss. Its time for action! His great-uncle was the celebrated writer and playwright the 18th Lord Dunsany, and his maternal grandfather was General the Lord Weeks. By Richard Sandomir. He did this after we asked Companies House about his finances. [31], Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, Last edited on 12 February 2023, at 22:40, July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, "He's the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. Drax since married Norwegian-born Elsebet Bdtker and has four children in total. Barbadian authorities value the plantation and buildings at Bds$12.5m (4.7m). They are demanding that South Dorset MP Richard Drax, who now owns the estate, must pay a vast sum to compensate for the historic sins of his forebears. His properties stretch from North Yorkshire to Dorset, where he lives in a Grade I-listed stately home with some 14,000 acres and his estimated worth is 150 million. EXCLUSIVE: Revealed: Prison reform boss who drunkenly beat her husband every day after downing white wine Are you allowing your bank to rip you off? Why did this happen? The South Dorset MP, 63, started replacing entries after our enquiry in January. The "new" Drax killed Lunatik and one of the Blood Brothers. Though Drax Hall is advertised as a holiday attraction, one of his descendants is the target of an increasingly vindictive campaign, orchestrated by civil rights activists backed by the ruling Barbados Labour Partys special envoy on reparations and economic enfranchisement. Sir Hilary Beckles, chairman of the 20-state Caribbean Communitys (Caricom) Reparations Commission and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, estimates that as many 30,000 slaves died on the Drax plantations in Barbados andJamaicaover 200 years. I've never done it before and never done it since but it was a real moment of thoughtlessness and it won't happen again. Details: Leeds Mercury, 30 June 1887. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous Politician. They should pay reparations.. Daily Mirror, 5 May 2010; Dorset Echo, 6 May 2010. One firm, ACF Co Holdings Ltd, has new accounts showing its subsidiary Abbots Court Farm (Charborough) had made 577,563 profits, and had capital and reserves of more than 1.5m. [22], Drax endorsed Suella Braverman during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. On the marriage, Sawbridge assumed the name of Erle-Drax. [16] Drax praised May's successor, Boris Johnson, for achieving a trade deal in December 2020,[17] but in February 2021 expressed concern over the Northern Ireland Protocol and disruption to trade in Northern Ireland. Dont they have a responsibility as well?. . Male birth control gel you rub on your SHOULDERS could be available within a decade as scientists claim What lack of sleep REALLY does to your face: Expert reveals the warning signs your skin is suffering. CITING THIS RECORD:'Edward Drax', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146643067 [accessed 2nd March 2023]. [4] Drax was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1980,[5] before being transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers after active service on 9 December 1983, ending his first period of full-time military service. Sir Hilary Beckles, a prominent Barbadian historian of slavery, said Drax must acknowledge the wealth brought to the family by slavery. Left his estate, including the plant and stock of the Hall Drax estate, Barbados, and his properties, furniture and other contents to his nephew, Wanley Ellis Sawbridge. Drax since married his third wife, Norwegian-born Elsebet Bdtker, and has four children in total. 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. Richard Drax is the Conservative MP for South Dorset, and has been an MP continuously since 6 May 2010. The Barbados taxpayer subsidises the price and set it last year at about Bds$150 per tonne. David Comissiong, Barbadoss ambassador to Caricom, says of the Drax family: You cant simply walk away from the scene of the crime. Black African people did that, but Ive never heard anyone say they should be held responsible. "Black life mattered only to make millionaires of English enslavers. Drax kills Thanos. The MP for the nearby corrupt borough of Wareham, Dorset, he appears to have never said anything in the Commons save for asking the Speaker that a window be opened (though this story may be apocryphal). It was built by Richard Drax's ancestor, John Sawbridge, who married into the Drax dynasty, and who was able to finance the build following a recent windfall from his sugar-cane estates in the Caribbean - although the money came not from his sugar, but from his slaves. CITING THIS RECORD:'John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle-Drax', Legacies of British Slavery database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2246 [accessed 2nd March 2023]. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The latest figures show an average family is paying 400 more a month for. Voting to increase curbs in 2013, he said:I believe, as do many of my constituents, that this country is full.. Richard Drax's net worth For attempting to overthrow their plantation owner, in 1692, 42 slaves were castrated at the hands of a woman named Alice Miller, who received ten guineas for her service. About Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor, MP. Drax lives in his family's ancestral seat, Charborough House a Grade I listed manor house in rural Dorset. Slavery was the business of buying and selling. The Draxes built and designed and structured slavery. (LogOut/ I rushed in and rushed out. He should not be denied credit for setting in train one of the great social policy changes of the 20th century.Terry PhilpotLimpsfield Chart, Surrey. . Six were burnt alive, and 11 beheaded. Richard Drax MP was one of the first MPs to call for the criminalisation of trespass. Should individual Danes be forced to compensate the United Kingdom for the rape and pillage of Viking invasions? The current owner is Richard Drax, a British member of parliament, who inherited the property after the death of his father, Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1928-2017), a former High Sheriff of Dorset. Drax married his second wife; Eliza, daughter of Commander James Dugdale RN (related to David Cameron) in 1998. Since his wealth is based on murder, kidnap and theft, the least he can do is return his plantation in Barbados to its rightful owners, the people who live there now. A year after becoming a republic, Barbados pursues damages for sins of its colonial past Ministers call on Richard Drax, the UK owner of the largest former slave estate on the island, to atone. (LogOut/ (LogOut/ Drax was born on 29 January 1958 in Westminster. Richardmarried Christian Drax (born Falos (Fullas or Faloys))circa 1366, at age 29 at marriage place. He owns the Drax Hall sugar. But to hold a wholly innocent man to account for the evils of his distant ancestors seems utterly preposterous. EXCLUSIVE: Richard Drax replaced a decade of accounts for four farming firms revealing hundreds of thousands of pounds of undisclosed business. In 1827 he married Jane, the daughter of Richard Erle-Drax Grosvenor and a member of the Drax family which was so prominent among the slave-owners of Barbados. Christianwas born circa 1341, in Yorkshire, England. They have a responsibility now to make some effort to help repair the damage. Drax was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1980, before being transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers after active service on 9 December 1983, ending his first period of full-time military service. and on. The Buff Bay plantation was a sugar estate next to the Buff Bay River, south of Charlestown in Jamaica. It has a Reparations Commission, whose chair is Sir Hilary Beckles. [18], During the 2019 UK General Election Drax apologised after his Land Rover, with a campaign poster on the vehicle, was photographed parking across two disabled parking spaces outside his campaign headquarters. Living in Britain from the mid-1830s until her death in 1873. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. He then gestured towards a disused windmill made from slabs of limestone hewn from a nearby quarry. Early life [ edit] Drax was born on 29 January 1958 in Westminster, London, into a landowner family. He also owns a 4.5m holiday villa on nearby Sandbanks, which is rented out at up to 6,734 a week in peak season. On his familys side he inherited Olantigh, near Wye, Kent in 1851. Sir Reginald Drax, younger son of the 17th Lord Dunsany thereby being in remainder to the ancient Barony of Dunsany (cr. Drax rarely comments on his ancestors history of slave owning. [24], He endorsed Boris Johnson in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. 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. Official documentation shows the MP now controls Drax Hall Plantation. But the shadow of slavery hangs over the gilded life of Richard Drax", "Election 2010: Sweeping victory for Tory Richard Drax", www.publications.parliament.uk: The House of Commons 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 201213, "Richard Drax hits out over name change claims", "Tory MP Richard Drax says he made a mistake voting for Theresa May's Brexit deal", "South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, praises Brexit trade deal", "Brexiteers failed to take UK out of EU as single country, Tory MP admits", "Tory candidate left his campaign vehicle across TWO disabled parking spots", "Column: A wave of intolerance has swept this country", "Dorset MP Richard Drax criticises new windfall tax announcement", "MP Richard Drax backs Attorney General Suella Braverman to become Johnson's successor", "Next Tory Leader. Pippa Middleton's seven-month-old daughter Rose 'has been christened at her local village church in Nightmare! Produce from Draxs firms all with offices on his Charborough estate in Dorset includes barley for brewers and opium poppies for NHS morphine. James Drax first landed in Barbados in 1627. Brother of Henry Drax (-1790) and father of Sarah Frances Drax who married Richard Grosvenor (who became Richard Erle Drax Grosvenor [q.v.]). Men such as Barbados army veteran Pedro Hall, 72, a cousin of the great West Indian fast-bowler Wes Hall. Erle-Drax's two daughters pre-deceased him. Drax is only the first target, he told me, evidently fired up for this great new crusade. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members interests. Once we have made him pay, we are coming after the Royal Family.. A Tory MP whose family made millions through slavery is facing calls for an investigation into his company records. Mr Drax worth about 150million could also face a parliamentary probe. Richard, who inherited the estate in 2017 on the death of his father, Walter, is the seventh family member to sit in the Commons. Ukrainian soldier takes out five Russian tanks and three armoured vehicles in ONE DAY using US-supplied Ukraine's first lady condemns Putin for 'mercilessly firing at civilians' as 'deliberate missile strike' on 'Big Brother' AI robot is unveiled as government adviser that will monitor the public's opinions in Romania, Wife is shocked after husband of 15 years asks for permission to have an affair: 'I don't know what to do', My Daily Horoscope: What does March 2nd hold for MY star sign? As a writer who abhors racism in all its forms, I find it uncomfortable to defend Mr Drax, an old Etonian former Coldstream Guard on the right of the Conservative Party. Powells was a constructive and humane challenge to the entrenched attitudes of psychiatric and nursing professionals. He is a member of famous Politician with the age 64 years old group. The Erle family had owned Charborough House, Dorset, since the C16th and through the marriage, Drax took possession of it. Richard Drax MP's 150m personal fortune was extracted on his ancestors' network of Caribbean plantations, where 30,000 slaves lost their lives. Tax Justice Network chief Alex Cobham said of Mr Draxs new records: Its difficult to see how this error could have been made in a way that was neither knowing nor reckless.. Pamela Weeks (19312019) and a grandson of Admiral The Hon. But it is Richard Drax MPs inheritance in Barbados, amassed over centuries by his ancestors ownership and appalling treatment of African people which drags him into the spotlight. Drax also owns some 125 Dorset properties personally or through family trusts and could be worth as much as 150m. Campaigners demanded Mr Drax, 62, pay reparations for harm caused by his familys slave trade. They called us Little England, and in a lot of ways we still are.. Yet are we to suppose that China, with its ruthless suppression of the Uighurs and Covid lockdown protesters, is morally superior to the unenlightened slavers of Stuart and Georgian England? After being flogged relentlessly for days, his ears were cut off and roasted, and he was forced to eat them. Chinese labourers (paid less than the Barbadian minimum wage) construct yuan-funded roads and buildings. His great-uncle was the celebrated writer and playwright the 18th Lord Dunsany, and his maternal grandfather was General the Lord Weeks. Cut in half, fill with potting compost, insert one seed in the centre, lightly cover and keep moist. To provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere. Mr Whitehead pointed to a clearing, shaded by tamarind and sandbox trees, where the slaves slept in wooden huts. Never miss a moment by signing up to our newsletter here. Lynne added, "Richard Drax is immensely wealthywith wealth exceeding 150 million. Drax worked at York's Evening Press as a reporter in 1991, before joining BBC South where he appeared on both radio and television media, including the daily television news programme South Today. Such was Sir Jamess wealth that in 1650 he built the plantation house Drax Hall that still stands today and in which he lived, according to an eyewitness, like a prince. Its like making my great-great-great-grandchildren pay for my wrongdoings not that slavery was considered to be wrong back then. A Tory MP whose family made millions through slavery is facing calls for an investigation into his company records. Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, Elsebet Drax (m. 1998), Zara Drax (m. 19851997). Furthermore, he has been publicly criticised for failing to file his company accounts on time and omitting to declare his ownership of the Barbados plantation in the parliamentary Register of Members Interests. Its always intrigued me that Drax Plantation is still functioning. 207-11 (entry for John Samuel Wanley Drax-Erle Sawbridge of Charborough). Drax Hall is an imposing, grey stone residence built for a 17thcentury entrepreneur who revolutionised the Caribbean sugar industry, and in so doing helped make Britain the wealthiest nation on earth. Nurses leader: we dont have enough staff to keep all our patients safe. [25], Drax lives in his family's ancestral seat, Charborough House a Grade I listed manor house in rural Dorset. They had 7 children: John Drax, Richard Draxand 5 other children. 1462): the second oldest title in the Peerage of Ireland. Tricky emoji quiz will put your knowledge of childhood classics to the test. Clearly there are some glaring contradictions to all this. A wealthy Tory MP is facing demands to pay reparations for his familys 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. It sounds a comparatively modest sum, but by then their 200 years of profits had been invested in English properties and businesses. Mr Drax, 63, is believed to be the wealthiest landowner in the House of Commons, with 5,600 hectares of farmland and woodlands, and is worth about 150million. But this was only by comparison with other plantation bosses. But he is responsible for what he does now. Copyright Legacies of British Slavery - UCL Department of History 2023. He cant be allowed to get away with this, Mr Denny told me this week. In June hesaid of the Black Lives Matter protests: The desecration of the Cenotaph by rioters two weeks ago, on the actual D-Day anniversary, was beyond ironic. He is vociferous on immigration, too. Selected as a Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate in July 2006, at the general election in May 2010 Drax defeated the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament for South Dorset, Jim Knight, later Lord Knight of Weymouth. We've been true to that purpose since brothers Henry and Richard Bloch founded our company in 1955. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. [29], A 2020 investigation by The Guardian found that Richard Drax still owns and grows sugar on the same Drax Hall Estate in Barbados that made the family's fortune. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it. Moreover, how far back do the woke brigade expect the reckoning to go? Clive Stafford Smith organised fictional legal proceedings against Richard Drax using 40 pupils aged between 12 and 18, some of whom are from a school within his South Dorset constituency. Harvested sugar cane is no longer processed at the plantations but taken to a central processing plant and then refined for export. His father died in 2017.. The Prestigious school where Princes William and Harry were educated is EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Prince William's potentially awkward visit to homelessness charity. Biography. The department needs to respond to the very real concerns of beleaguered NHS professionals.Neil MacehiterGreat Shelford, Cambridge. Asked about its absence on the Parliamentary Register of Members Interests, Drax said on Friday that he is still acting as executor of his fathers will and does not yet legally own the Barbados holdings as these are still going through the probate process and have not yet transferred to my name. Drax was born on 29 January 1958 in Westminster. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 62 years old? He holds the lordship of the manor of Longburton[citation needed] and is the largest individual landowner in Dorset, owning approximately 13,870 acres (5,610ha), equivalent to 2% of the land in Dorset. Though institutions such as Glasgow University, All Souls College, Oxford, and brewers Greene King have opted to pay compensation for their links to slavery, surely the same onus shouldnt pass down the genealogical tree of every family involved? If he espouses the same cause that so many Tories champion, that it does people good to learn to stand on their own two feet, he would surely welcome the introduction of wealth and land taxes.Brian WoollandSalisbury, Wiltshire, Richard Drax cannot be responsible for what his ancestors did 400 years ago. This is a part of the nations 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. Richard Drax (Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax) was born on 29 January, 1958 in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, is a British politician. Something went wrong, please try again later. It was suggested the then leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, had asked wealthy Conservative candidates to shorten their names to appear more in touch with normal people. Tweet. But he is responsible for what he does now. A Tory MP has finally admitted to Parliament he owns a former slave plantation where his family made millions. ), became owner of Drax Hall. By 1839, the estate was 840 acres. He retained the rank of lieutenant with seniority from 10 September 1981 to reflect the three years he had served. After 10 years as a backbencher he has become increasingly prominent among Tory rightwing Brexiters driving the governments hardline position on Europe. Yet his passport still bears his quadruple-barrelled name: Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax. From the very early stages of the familys involvement in slavery and the sugar trade, through the career of Sir James Drax in Barbados during the 17th century, the Drax dynasty were able to generate extraordinary wealth through the cultivation of sugar by enslaved Africans.. He also admitted that he had never given Mr Drax a second thought until he was contacted by Dorset-based members of Stand Up to Racism. For the Drax family see entries for Richard Erle Drax Grosvenor and John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle-Drax (q.v.). The two firms on his Register of Members Interest declaration were registered as dormant. He's the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. As it has changed little since the mid-1600s, one could imagine the appalling misery of the men, women and children who once worked here. Richard Rider (Nova). [1], The Barbados Government is seeking reparations from Drax for his ancestors' involvement in slavery. The lineage of Richard Erle Drax Grosvenor and the Drax family was: That is for Third World countries. Thus the descendants of a much wronged people can benefit from a new hospital, a well-equipped school or some well-planned housing. Three: we would like to talk to you about how [you should repay these debts]. Its perpetrators lived like princes. But then, as I have learnt while investigating this story very much of-the-moment, in a week when the British royals are mired in another race furore it is a saga rife with dubious reasoning and double standards. Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (born 29 January 1958), known as Richard Drax, is a British Conservative politician, journalist, landowner and former British Army officer, serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset since 2010. In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". The Estate has been in existence since 1086 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book and . A visiting priest described watching the punishment meted out to a slave who had stolen a pig to feed his starving family. This might sound controversial coming from a black person, he began, but there are many parts to the slavery story. The mainly 17th-century mansion with its 120ft folly tower is the model for Welland House in the Thomas Hardy novelTwo on a Tower. I have enjoyed a bountiful carrot harvest, having duped carrot fly by planting seeds in lavatory roll holders. The shame and despair of being physically attacked by your own child, Do not sell or share my personal information. "He could donate his inheritance to the island on which it stands and still have plenty of property left.. Once that process is completed, I will of course register it in proper accordance with the rules.. The move means voters have been denied details about his business interests, and under S106 of the Companies Act it is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make misleading statements. This was a crime against humanity and we impose upon him [Mr Drax] and his family a moral responsibility to contribute to the effort to repair the damage.. He aired his views before marching in an impressive ceremony marking Barbadoss 56th anniversary of independence, and its first year as a republic, at the Kensington Oval cricket ground in Bridgetown. He holds the lordship of the manor of Longburton and is a major landowner in east Dorset. The strongest-looking men could fetch 20 3,500 in todays money; lusting plantation officers would also buy young girls for their harems. Come on, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, pay up, pay up and redeem your name!Duncan TomsMachynlleth, Powys. The Dutch also gave him the idea to replace the indentured English and Irish servants who worked his land with imported Africans, whom he deemed able to do the work of three white men. In 2013, the BBC noted that his ancestor John Erle-Drax, who had an estate in Barbados, was recorded in a database created by University College London as having received 4,293 12s 6d in compensation for 189 slaves when slavery was abolished. Enjoying a few Independence Day drinks outside the Old Brigand pub, some locals suggested their absentee English estate owner (Richard Drax visits his estate only once a year and has never lived there) should be made to help needy families.

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