Here at Liverpool Cathedral, we acknowledge that due to our historical connection with the slave trade, elements of our cathedral building have been funded either in part or in full by the slavery economy. We are not proud of this part of our past, and we are working with the Diocese of Liverpool's Slavery Truth Project to identify these connections, scrutinise them and explore reconciling ways of responding to our contested heritage.
Find out more about the work we are doing, here.
Bishop's Cathedra - Richard Watt
Richard Watt was a plantation owner in Jamaica and became a slaving ship owner and transporter and owner of enslaved Africans. He also set up a lucrative trading house in Liverpool for Jamaican goods.
We recognise that via contributions from his descendant Miss Adelaide Watt of Speke Hall, The Cathedra, also known as the Bishop's Throne was endowed.
Lady Chapel building fund - Earle Family
Members of the Earle family were amongst the most active slave merchants in Liverpool. John Earle founded the business but his family dynasty - sons, grandsons and subsequent generations, 'played a significant role in the slave economy.
They owned plantations in British Guiana and Antigua, and financed many slave trading voyages around the trading 'triangle'. The family received £45,000 when slavery was abolished in 1834.
Liverpool Cathedral recognises that generations later, the Earle family made major contributions towards the Cathedral building fund.
Lady Chapel Window - Bryan Blundell
Bryan Blundell was an English Merchant involved in the slave economy. Blundell captained The Mulberry, which transported many enslaved Africans to Virginia. Later, he was the sole owner of the slave ship Tarleton which landed 236 enslaved Africans in Barbados having taken them from the Gold Coast. Liverpool Cathedral recognises that his descendants funded a window in The Lady Chapel.