Celia Richardson, our Director of Communications and Insight, has written a response to some recent media coverage of our report into colonialism and historic slavery that says that we are denigrating Churchill by including Chartwell, his family home in Kent, in the report. In this blog she highlights the work we are doing to tell the story of this towering historical figure and why Chartwell’s inclusion in the report was essential.
What do we say about Winston Churchill in the report?
Our report features a large number of connections and individuals with links to colonialism and slavery, including places linked to the campaign for the abolition of slavery, and those in political power during colonial administration. The report does not make judgements about people or the places in our care but makes clear the deep and wide ranging connections of colonialism and historic slavery across the centuries at our houses. It is a factual account.
The report’s reference to Winston Churchill says he was one of the longest-serving political figures in British history, he was Prime Minister twice, famously during the Second World War – a period that coincided with the Bengal Famine of 1943. It also references that he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies (1921–2) and helped to draft the Anglo-Irish Treaty at the time of the creation of the Irish Free State. The report states Churchill opposed the granting of Dominion status to India, voting against the India Bill in 1935.
Picture credit: Winston Churchill by Sir John Lavery, 1916

