It is day two of October Squares, and also Black History Month. So I thought I’d take you for a walk in the grounds of Stourhead in Wiltshire. It is rather marvellous, and at this time of year a family favourite for walks. The estate and current house was created by Henry Hoare I, of Hoare Bank. He was known as ‘Good Henry’ of the Hoare family, and it was he that named the estate Stourhead in the 18th century. The garden, house and estate remained in the care of the Hoare family until 1947, at which point it passed into the hands of the National Trust.

Some of you are probably wondering, and the answer is yes! Stourhead is one of the 93 National Trust properties that has connections to slavery and colonialism.

The Hoare Bank, which Henry Hoare I led, invested in the South Sea Company, a public-private partnership that had the monopoly on supplying slaves to islands in the ‘South Seas’ and ‘South America’. In just 64 voyages the South Sea Company transported 34,000 enslaved African people to the Spanish colonies. ‘Good Henry’ was clearly not as good as his descendants would like us to think, although he was good at finance. Most investors in the Company lost their money during the infamous South Sea Bubble in 1720, however the Hoare family and their bank made their money during this crisis as they bought stock in the company when the price was low, and sold when the price rose. So not the kindest family or business.

Knowing the story doesn’t put me off visiting Stourhead, it has simply added to my understanding of the history and legacies of our country houses. I want to know the full story, not just the bits that look good in costume dramas. For far too many years we have allowed our history and interpretation of country houses to be limited or even worse ‘airbrushed’. Consequently the servants tales, the history of black presence in the UK, and the sources of the wealth have been ignored. Finally though these tangible legacies of British colonisation are being properly researched, and our shared stories are being told from multiple perspectives. It can only be a positive step forward, and one we should all take kindly to.

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  10. How very interesting February is our Black History Month. I wonder if there were any periwinkles on the grounds?. Slaves planted them to mark burial sites. I’m involved in creating a periwinkle memorial on our church grounds.
    Another thing WordPress has taken away my classic template for posting and I find the new Block thingi impossible I could even label my pingback!
    http://lightwords.blog/2020/10/02/my-favorite-kind-of-tomatoes/
    I know you did a tutorial can you pass on the link please
    What an Odd day to wake up to

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    2. Ah no periwinkles here. We had very few slaves actually in the UK, we were just “experts” at transporting enslaved people. 😔

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        2. Possibly . . it did though take me a few weeks to get used to it. It is unfortunately one of those things which has a painful stage to get through. Promise it is worth it

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  11. This is a beautiful property. Black history is really devastating. I’m reading a novel from the 1850’s time period right now. It’s helping me with my novel, even though I haven’t picked it up in months to write. I got discouraged when the rioting started up, but I was reminded by my friends that maybe this is the perfect time to get this book finished and published. 🙂

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      1. I’m getting back to ideas. As soon as I get all my Christmas products on the site, I hope to get back to writing again. I’ve only got the first 2 chapters written, but have my outline almost complete. 🙂

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        2. Thanks! I’m trying to be. Just have to concentrate on the Christmas items so I can get them done and be able to write next month while getting orders out. 🙂

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        2. Ok, busy in work at the start of a new school year and still a prospect of more lockdowns and pupils having to learn from home 🙂

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        4. Thank you, it’s a little crazy at the moment. I’d say luckily enough I am in an office and not a teacher but the amount of admin at the moment trying to be prepared in case of more home learning seems to be increasing everyday but I suppose I should be grateful I still have a job.

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  19. Not sure I’ve ever been in the house at Stourhead, but I used to like visiting the grounds. Not as many flowers as many gardens, but such a lovely place to wander. Growing up, history lessons always presented us with these larger-than-life heroes and skipped the unsavory bits so we ended up with an entirely unrealistic understanding of how things worked and what people were really like. Hopefully, these days, it’s a little more honest, not that that seems to make much difference to a lot of people. They’d rather be misled. Here’s my first post for this month’s squares: https://grahamsisland.com/2020/10/02/spotted-coral-blenny-2/

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      1. Oh, I wouldn’t doubt it. Boris must be happy to have Trump around. It makes him seem somewhat competent by comparison!

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