When You Thought You Couldn't Get More Flabbergasted....

[Khandro]

'British Library adds poet Ted Hughes to slavery dossier for ancestor born 300 years earlier
The British Library has added the poet Ted Hughes to a dossier on links to slavery and colonialism based on the actions of an ancestor more than 300 years before his birth.

Despite the poet having humble origins, curators from the Library's Printed Heritage Collections team have identified Hughes as part of research to find evidence of “connections to slavery, profits from slavery or from colonialism” among the former owners of items.

The offending relative is Nicholas Ferrar, born in 1592, whose family was "deeply involved" with the London Virginia Company set up to establish colonies in North America, the research says.

But his descendant Hughes was not born until 1930, in the West Yorkshire village of Mytholmroyd. His family later moved to Mexborough, a town in South Yorkshire where his father ran a tobacco shop. Hughes ended up at Cambridge on a scholarship'.

The Telegraph (today)

[naomi24]

They need to be careful what they wish for. Today someone else ...tomorrow maybe them.

[Buenchico]

All that the British Library researchers have done is to compile a list of anyone (whose works feature in their collections) who has 'family or associate links' to slavery. There's no suggestion at all within that list that any such people have benefited themselves from such links. Here's the actual Excel spreadsheet that all the fuss is about:
https://tinyurl.com/y4rc97hc

It seems that there are journalists who like to create stories where they don't really exist. (So no change there then!). This is from August of this year:
https://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2020/august/response-to-media-misrepresentation-of-the-british-library

[agchristie]

If tv execs come knocking on me door to appear on 'Who do u think u r' I shall politely decline ;-)

[royfromaus]

All that the British Library researchers have done is to compile a list of anyone (whose works feature in their collections) who has 'family or associate links' to slavery.
____________________

Why?

[naomi24]

I second roy's question.

[Jackdaw33]

Why?

Precisely my question.

[david small]

Twisted news, distorting news, fabricating news. It ain’t news. It’s morally corrupt inventions and extensions sold yes sold to excite and manipulate the un enlightened.
Click bait ad nauseam. Publish and be dammed, they deserve to be.

[agchristie]

See the terrible effects that lockdowns have on some folks ;-)

[Khandro]

//All that the British Library researchers have done is to compile a list of anyone (whose works feature in their collections) who has 'family or associate links' to slavery. //

Oh, is that, ALL!
You obviously think that this is acceptable, do you?

[Peter Pedant]

do you think the Grey family stir their tea in the morning ( no milk Jeeves My grandfather blended that! ) and think - "these proles cdnt vote unless my granddaydee had brought in the Reform Bill"

no I dont think so - - -
just as Neomi bless has - be damned careful what you ask for from me dammit - this lady bites ! ( St Teresa of Avila difft words) anyone!
I say: the evil that men do lives after them the good is often buried with them. Yes I know I am not the first
( shakey - and rather a shakey version)

ponderous and serious for a change huh? me I mean

[Peter Pedant]

poncey and ponderous I meant

[Khandro]

Ted Hughes' antecedents, just like everyone else's over 300 years, equates to say, 16 generations, which means he has 32,768 direct ancestors, (parents, G.parents, G.G. parents etc.) If you were to add to that his 'relatives', that is to say the siblings of those people you would be talking in millions.

Among those people would be Nobility, murderers, slave traders & everything else imaginable. How anyone can find it acceptable for a national institution to single out any one of those people to display on public records is astounding, & no less so of anyone who thinks it is an acceptable thing to do.

[Old_Geezer]

If you think acceptance of slavery in the past is something that needs this kind of action from us now, think what type of action is going to be needed by our descendants, to wipe the acts of witchhunting that's occurring now, from their history books. Best pull down and burn everything now and get it all over with.

[Old_Geezer]

Well at least he's not around to report in at the police station every month for having such an ancestor. You'd think he'd have known better.

[agchristie]

OG,may have bailed out perhaps? ;-)

[bobbinwales]

Seems very odd to go back so far but a think they may just be preparing for possible targets of there statues, museums, displays ect from anti slavery /BLM crusader's who will probly dig as deep as they can to find links. Forwarned is forarmed and all that.
Its sad that some are prepared to go this far back looking to be offended

[Khandro]

EPILOGUE:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1364560/ted-hughes-british-library-woke-wokery-slave-trade-colonialism-poet-laureate-sylvia-plath

Though the unpleasantness of this action will hang in the air, let us hope the BL has learnt a lesson & this nonsensical activity will be terminated.