Global History | Eachdraidh Chruinneil

Location: Kelvingrove Museum

Glasgow’s controversial past is deeply engrained into the physicality of the city and the history of Scotland itself occupies a dual existence on the stage of global history. A view of Scotland has emerged which suggests the nation is ‘economically and politically subservient to the will of its larger neighbour’ when in fact upon further inspection, Scotland’s global history can be recognized as one of both colonized and colonizer^[1]. Glasgow’s place within the slave trade of the seventeenth century has been disputed and a strange sense of denial seems to have emerged from within the city. The main streets of Glasgow such as Buchanan Street, Glassford Street and Ingram Street, all pay homage to the lucrative tobacco merchants who played a crucial role in cementing Glasgow’s position as a worldwide exporter of the main goods produced by slaves, tobacco and sugar. Locating historical objects around the city of Glasgow which shed light upon the city’s role within the slave trade proved to be challenging, so why does Glasgow overlook/disregard its prominent role within the slave trade? In analysing objects of global history, we are able to discover more.

In the early 17th Century, Scotland’s economy was based largely in rural farming, dependent upon exports of foodstuffs, animal produces and the importing of luxury goods. The 1690s came to be known as the ‘Seven Ill Years’ in Glasgow, marking a decade of economic hardship due to harvest failure and grain shortages. As a result, starvation soon spread throughout Scotland. The New World presented itself as ‘a universal cure for Scotland’s economic failings’ which a small group of Glaswegian merchants latched onto. In Scotland’s attempt to gain access to the global market, the nation’s commercial success became built upon ‘shrewd investment, venture capital and the blood and sweat of slaves’^[2]. Scottish slave traders fitted out and sailed the slave ships across the world to gain financially from this extremely profitable business. They often sailed directly to the West Coast of Africa where they obtained men, women, and children. The captured people were then taken to the West Indies or North America to be sold as slaves. This business was a very dangerous process with a huge financial risk therefore ships would often be extremely overcrowded to ensure maximum profit was obtainable. Due to mass overcrowding, the ships were prone to sink whilst travelling back to the United Kingdom. Aside from this, the ships often had a huge mortality rate amongst the captured peoples due to the extensive journey within such confined space and overcrowding often resulted in the spread of disease. Due to the danger of this job, the slave traders required support from rich backers however if their journeys were successful the traders made exceptionally good financial profit. A small group of the traders became the equivalent of billionaires in today’s society through this business. By the 1750s, the city of Glasgow was recognized as one of the most powerful industrial economies of the world.

A family portrait of the prominent tobacco lord, John Glassford, hangs in the People’s Palace in Glasgow Green. Glassford was one of the most wealthy and influential tobacco lords and he purchased the Shawfield Mansion in 1760. Neil Jamieson, the trading agent for John Glassford, was extensively involved in the slave trade in the Carolinas. Glassford’s wealth was tied closely to Glasgow’s role as the second city of the Empire. The portrait displays Glassford alongside his third wife and seven children. It was painted by Archibald McLauchlan around 1767 in the luxurious setting of Shawfield Mansion, once located in todays Merchant City area. A decadent and luxurious lifestyle is expressed through the Glassford family portrait. Interestingly, historians have picked up on the bowl of fruit located in the forefront of the image. This is a sign of international wealth as the contents of this bowl would be deemed an exotic luxury during the time this image was painted. Interestingly the portrait underwent conservation work at the Kelvingrove museum in 2007 where a question emerged that the conservation workers were keen to answer. Behind Glassford there was originally a black servant who appears to have been painted out at some point between the original painting and the time it came into the care of Glasgow Museums. There was much speculation surrounding the figure of this black servant and historians suggested he may have been painted out by the Glassford family during the Abolition movement. Does this suggest some form of guilt relating to the slave trade from within the Merchants of Glasgow?

Use of ultraviolet lights and microscopic inspection determined the black servant had in fact not been painted out, but the painting itself had discoloured due to the processes of time. This testifies to the way in which the preservation of historical artefacts can ultimately affect our understanding of global history. The varnish over the original painting had come to discolour and turn a dark, yellowish tone making the black servant in the image particularly difficult to decipher. Despite the fact the servant had not actually been purposefully removed from the painting, the young man’s positioning in the portrait does signify the role of black figures within the lifestyle of the Glasgow Merchants. Whilst the Glassford family themselves are painted face-on, it is the side portrait of the black servant which exists in the image on the outskirts of the canvas, cutting out the rest of his body. Stephen Mullen suggests the historic role of Glasgow in the business of slavery can be viewed metaphorically in the painting as ‘always present yet obscured from the gaze of society through the years’. 

Opposite the Glassford family portrait in the People’s Palace lies a silver slave collar dated to around 1730. The synopsis reads, ‘Having a black personal servant in Scotland was a symbol of status and success in the 1700s. Some servants wore inscribed collars, making it clear they were owned by a master.’^[3] The existence of this object links closely to the life of the young black man in the Glassford portrait, it demonstrates Scotland’s often disguised yet extremely dominant role within the worldwide slave trade. The lack of objects relating to the slave trade in Glasgow museums is problematic considering the influential role the city played in profiting from the subjugation of human life. Despite the lack of information relating to these objects, as global historians we must utilize the materials available to consider various historical perspectives and in turn unveil the extensive global lives these objects possess.

Consider the following:

Streets relating to the slave trade are Buchanan Street, Ingram Street, Glassford Street, Oswald Street, Jamaica Street and Virginia Street. Does the idea of renaming these streets simply work to disguise Glasgow’s role in the slave trade further or would it be a mark of acknowledgment and respect?

When considering the concept of ‘global objects’, should we include the lives of black slaves?

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First published: 12 October 2018