Slavery and the British Country House, Madge Dresser and Andrew Hann (eds.)

Elizabeth Murray, Lady Tollemache, later Countess of Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale (1626-1698) with a black servant, by Sir Peter Lely, c1651 Ham House and Gardens, Richmond-upon-Thames ©National Trust Images/John Hammond

Elizabeth Murray, Lady Tollemache, later Countess of Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale (1626-1698) with a black servant, by Sir Peter Lely, c1651 Ham House and Gardens, Richmond-upon-Thames ©National Trust Images/John Hammond

The British country house has long been regarded as the jewel in the nation’s heritage crown. But the country house is also an expression of wealth and power, and as scholars reconsider the nation’s colonial past, new questions are being posed about these great houses and their links to Atlantic slavery.

This book, authored by a range of academics and heritage professionals, grew out of a 2009 conference on ‘Slavery and the British Country house: mapping the current research’ organised by English Heritage in partnership with the University of the West of England, the National Trust and the Economic History Society. It asks what links might be established between the wealth derived from slavery and the British country house and what implications such links should have for the way such properties are represented to the public today.

Lavishly illustrated and based on the latest scholarship, this wide-ranging and innovative volume provides in-depth examinations of individual houses, regional studies and critical reconsiderations of existing heritage sites, including two studies specially commissioned by English Heritage and one sponsored by the National Trust.

In order to improve access to this research, a complete copy of the text is free to download from the English Heritage website >>

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