Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories

Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories

Explore Exeter using the trail and visit sites linked to historic figures associated with the transatlantic slave trade.

The stops on this trail connect to places in the city that University of Exeter students refer to in their alternative plaques, created as part of the ‘Global Lives: Multicultural Geographies’ module. Linked to RAMM’s In Plain Sight exhibition (29 Jan to 29 May 2022), the trail aims to make visible the legacies of slavery which can still be seen in Exeter today.

The plaques are the students’ own work and are not part of any official blue plaque scheme. The views expressed are those of the students and do not necessarily represent the views of ECC, RAMM or our partner organisations.

Continue

 

Global Lives Trail Map

William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban

William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban

William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban
(stop 1 of 10)

RAMM's first curator, William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban, was a distinguished naturalist, writer and collector. Although he did not own enslaved people, several of his close relatives did. Profits from sugar plantations and slave compensation payments helped him establish a privileged place in local society, allowing him to pursue his passion for natural history studies.

Start this trail in RAMM's Finders Keepers gallery, where some of D'Urban's collections can be seen.

Sir Thomas Modyford (1620-79)

Sir Thomas Modyford (1620-79)

Sir Thomas Modyford (1620-79)
(stop 2 of 10)

Thomas Buckland's plaque was inspired by artefacts at RAMM which came from a house bought by a former Mayor of Exeter, John Modyford, in 1620. His son, Thomas Modyford, was a trader in enslaved people, governor of Barbados and Jamaica, and architect of the 'Slave Codes'.

These laws characterised enslaved humans as 'chattels' – (property to be bought and sold without human rights) and contributed to the development of the trade throughout the Caribbean and the Americas.

Jasmine Jump, 'Sir John Colleton (1679-1754)'

Jasmine Jump, 'Sir John Colleton (1679-1754)'

Jasmine Jump, 'Sir John Colleton (1679-1754)'
(stop 3 of 10)

Jasmine Jump created this plaque on Sir John Colleton, who was celebrated for bringing the Magnolia flower from Carolina to Devon. The flower is held by shackled hands to acknowledge the family's links to the slave trade. They owned plantations and enslaved people in Barbados and South Carolina.

Jasmine aimed to highlight that Colleton was only able to introduce the Magnolia flower because of the wealth created by owning enslaved people.

Julia Wolfle, 'The Baring Dynasty'

Julia Wolfle, 'The Baring Dynasty'

Julia Wolfle, 'The Baring Dynasty'
(stop 4 of 10)

Julia Wolfle's plaque shows the local Baring family's connections to both the slave trade and East India Company. The longevity and success of their internationally-renowned Barings Bank (which collapsed in 1995) was partly built on profits from these connections.

The plaque demonstrates that, as bankers, merchants, and politicians, the family left numerous physical, economic and cultural legacies in the city.

Megan Wilkinson, 'William Kellitt Hewitt'

Megan Wilkinson, 'William Kellitt Hewitt'

Megan Wilkinson, 'William Kellitt Hewitt'
(stop 5 of 10)

William Kellitt Hewitt owned enslaved people across three plantations in St. Elizabeth in Jamaica, which were inherited by his wife and children in 1812. This memorial (rather than plaque) gives an alternative English translation to Hewitt's Latin original in Exeter Cathedral, which makes no reference to his connection to slavery.

By copying the original, Megan Wilkinson aimed to make hidden links visible and challenge established histories.

A.K., 'Thomas (1785-1862) & Henry Phillpotts (1778-1869)'

A.K., 'Thomas (1785-1862) & Henry Phillpotts (1778-1869)'

A.K., 'Thomas (1785-1862) & Henry Phillpotts (1778-1869)'
(stop 6 of 10)

This plaque focuses on the stories of Henry Phillpotts – Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to 1869 – and his younger brother Thomas. Thomas owned 778 enslaved people across nine different Jamaican estates and received significant compensation after they were freed.

This plaque was created to highlight the point that not all Christians showed opposition to the slave trade.

George Wooldridge, 'Sir John Hawkins (1532-95)'

George Wooldridge, 'Sir John Hawkins (1532-95)'

George Wooldridge, 'Sir John Hawkins (1532-95)'
(stop 7 of 10)

This plaque focuses on Sir John Hawkins, a Devon-born naval commander and privateer for Queen Elizabeth I. Hawkins violently seized hundreds of Africans from Portuguese ships and was the first Devon trader to profit from the Triangle Trade, selling his captives to Spanish colonies in the West Indies and bringing back exotic goods for sale.

The Ship Inn in Exeter was a pub said to be frequented by Hawkins' close companion and cousin, Sir Francis Drake. It aims to challenge the notion of historical heroes.

Rosanna Ormandy, 'Frederick Douglass (1817-95)'

Rosanna Ormandy, 'Frederick Douglass (1817-95)'

Rosanna Ormandy, 'Frederick Douglass (1817-95)'
(stop 8 of 10)

Frederick Douglass – the formerly enslaved American abolitionist, social reformer, writer and statesman – completed a two-year tour of Britain and Ireland in 1845-6 to promote the abolition of slavery. This plaque, created by Rosanna Ormandy, commemorates his visit to Exeter in 1846.

The Royal Subscription Rooms, where Douglass gave a speech about abolition, was located where Boots is now situated on Exeter High Street.

Andrew Noble, 'John Codrington Bampfylde (1754-97)'

Andrew Noble, 'John Codrington Bampfylde (1754-97)'

Andrew Noble, 'John Codrington Bampfylde (1754-97)'
(stop 9 of 10)

The Exeter-based romantic poet, John Bampfylde, was also a passionate abolitionist. He broke away from his maternal ancestors, the Codringtons, who owned sugar plantations in the Caribbean.

Andrew Noble's plaque explores the naming of the street and recognises Bampfylde's abolitionist ideologies. Text from a poem written in support of anti-slavery movements features around the edge.

In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon

In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon

In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon
(stop 10 of 10)

In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon is a major exhibition exploring the museum's and Devon's links with centuries of trading enslaved African people across the Atlantic. The exhibition investigates aspects of the transatlantic slave trade that are all around us, but for some remain 'hidden in plain sight'. Since 2018, RAMM has been working with a network of researchers and experts to shed light on this hidden history.

Using the museum's collections and contemporary sources, In Plain Sight traces the local industries that relied on the trade and the lives of the people who benefitted from its profits. It also features a newly commissioned film which reflects on RAMM's iconic painting 'Portrait of an African' and a new commission by the acclaimed artist Joy Gregory. Gregory has worked with the museum team, the exhibition's advisory panel and local community members to create a work responding to the themes of In Plain Sight.

Scroll left Scroll right

My Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories Notes

Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories

Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories

Explore Exeter using the trail and visit sites linked to historic figures associated with the transatlantic slave trade.

The stops on this trail connect to places in the city that University of Exeter students refer to in their alternative plaques, created as part of the ‘Global Lives: Multicultural Geographies’ module. Linked to RAMM’s In Plain Sight exhibition (29 Jan to 29 May 2022), the trail aims to make visible the legacies of slavery which can still be seen in Exeter today.

The plaques are the students’ own work and are not part of any official blue plaque scheme. The views expressed are those of the students and do not necessarily represent the views of ECC, RAMM or our partner organisations.

The stops on this trail connect to places in the city that University of Exeter students refer to in their alternative plaques, created as part of the ‘Global Lives: Multicultural Geographies’ module. Linked to RAMM’s In Plain Sight exhibition (29 Jan to 29 May 2022), the trail aims to make visible the legacies of slavery which can still be seen in Exeter today.

The plaques are the students’ own work and are not part of any official blue plaque scheme. The views expressed are those of the students and do not necessarily represent the views of ECC, RAMM or our partner organisations.

  1. Introduction
    1. These terms and conditions govern your use of our website.
    2. By using our website, you accept these terms and conditions in full; accordingly, if you disagree with these terms and conditions or any part of these terms and conditions, you must not use our website.
    3. If you submit any material to our website or use any of our website services, we will ask you to expressly agree to these terms and conditions.
    4. You must be at least 13 years of age to use our website; and by using our website or agreeing to these terms and conditions, you warrant and represent to us that you are at least 13 years of age.
    5. Our website uses cookies; by using our website or agreeing to these terms and conditions, you consent to our use of cookies.
  2. Copyright notice
    1. Copyright (c) 2024 Global Lives.
    2. Subject to the express provisions of these terms and conditions:
      (a)we, together with our licensors, own and control all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website; and
      (b)all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website are reserved.
  3. Licence to use website
    1. You may:
      (a)view pages from our website in a web browser;
      (b)download pages from our website for caching in a web browser;
      (c)print pages from our website;
      (d)stream audio and video files from our website; and
      (e)use our website services by means of a web browser,
      subject to the other provisions of these terms and conditions.
    2. Except as expressly permitted by the other provisions of these terms and conditions, you must not download any material from our website or save any such material to your computer.
    3. You may only use our website for your own personal and business purposes and you must not use our website for any other purposes.
    4. Except as expressly permitted by these terms and conditions, you must not edit or otherwise modify any material on our website.
    5. Unless you own or control the relevant rights in the material, you must not:
      (a)republish material from our website (including republication on another website);
      (b)sell, rent or sub-license material from our website;
      (c)show any material from our website in public;
      (d)exploit material from our website for a commercial purpose; or
      (e)redistribute material from our website.
    6. We reserve the right to restrict access to areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion; you must not circumvent or bypass, or attempt to circumvent or bypass, any access restriction measures on our website.
  4. Acceptable use
    1. You must not:
      (a)use our website in any way or take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the performance, availability or accessibility of the website;
      (b)use our website in any way that is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity;
      (c)use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software;
      (d)conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent;
      (e)access or otherwise interact with our website using any robot, spider or other automated means;
      (f)violate the directives set out in the robots.txt file for our website; or
      (g)use data collected from our website for any direct marketing activity (including without limitation email marketing, SMS marketing, telemarketing and direct mailing).
    2. You must not use data collected from our website to contact individuals, companies or other persons or entities.
    3. You must ensure that all the information you supply to us through our website, or in relation to our website, is true, accurate, current, complete and non-misleading.
  5. Posting material
    1. To be eligible to post information on our website you must be at least 13 years of age and resident in the United Kingdom.
  6. User IDs and passwords
    1. If you register for an account with our website, we will provide you with a user ID and password.
    2. Your user ID must not be liable to mislead and must comply with the content rules set out in Section 9; you must not use your account or user ID for or in connection with the impersonation of any person.
    3. You must keep your password confidential.
    4. You must notify us in writing immediately if you become aware of any disclosure of your password.
    5. You are responsible for any activity on our website arising out of any failure to keep your password confidential, and may be held liable for any losses arising out of such a failure.
  7. Cancellation and suspension of account
    1. We may:
      (a)suspend your account;
      (b)cancel your account; and/or
      (c)edit your account details,
      at any time in our sole discretion without notice or explanation.
  8. Your content: licence
    1. In these terms and conditions, "your content" means all works and materials (including without limitation text, graphics, images, audio material, video material, audio-visual material, scripts, software and files) that you submit to us or our website for storage or publication on, processing by, or transmission via, our website.
    2. You grant to us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, store, adapt, publish, translate and distribute your content in any existing or future media / reproduce, store and publish your content on and in relation to this website and any successor website / reproduce, store and, with your specific consent, publish your content on and in relation to this website.
    3. You hereby waive all your moral rights in your content to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law; and you warrant and represent that all other moral rights in your content have been waived to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
    4. Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach any provision of these terms and conditions in any way, or if we reasonably suspect that you have breached these terms and conditions in any way, we may delete, unpublish or edit any or all of your content.
  9. Your content: rules
    1. You warrant and represent that your content will comply with these terms and conditions.
    2. Your content must not be illegal or unlawful, must not infringe any person's legal rights, and must not be capable of giving rise to legal action against any person (in each case in any jurisdiction and under any applicable law).
    3. Your content, and the use of your content by us in accordance with these terms and conditions, must not:
      (a)be libellous or maliciously false;
      (b)be obscene or indecent;
      (c)infringe any copyright, moral right, database right, trade mark right, design right, right in passing off, or other intellectual property right;
      (d)infringe any right of confidence, right of privacy or right under data protection legislation;
      (e)constitute negligent advice or contain any negligent statement;
      (f)constitute an incitement to commit a crime[, instructions for the commission of a crime or the promotion of criminal activity;
      (g)be in contempt of any court, or in breach of any court order;
      (h)be in breach of racial or religious hatred or discrimination legislation;
      (i)be blasphemous;
      (j)be in breach of official secrets legislation;
      (k)be in breach of any contractual obligation owed to any person;
      (l)depict violence, in an explicit, graphic or gratuitous manner;
      (m) be pornographic, lewd, suggestive or sexually explicit;
      (n)be untrue, false, inaccurate or misleading;
      (o)consist of or contain any instructions, advice or other information which may be acted upon and could, if acted upon, cause illness, injury or death, or any other loss or damage;
      (p)constitute spam;
      (q)contain pictures of children under the age of 16 years whose parental consent hasn't been completly gained;
      (r)be offensive, deceptive, fraudulent, threatening, abusive, harassing, anti-social, menacing, hateful, discriminatory or inflammatory; or
      (s)cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any person.
    4. Your content must be appropriate, civil and tasteful, and accord with generally accepted standards of etiquette and behaviour on the internet.
    5. You must not use our website to link to any website or web page consisting of or containing material that would, were it posted on our website, breach the provisions of these terms and conditions.
    6. You must not submit to our website any material that is or has ever been the subject of any threatened or actual legal proceedings or other similar complaint.
  10. Report abuse
    1. If you learn of any unlawful material or activity on our website, or any material or activity that breaches these terms and conditions, please let us know.
    2. You can let us know by email by clicking here: helen.burbage@exeter.gov.uk
  11. Limited warranties
    1. We do not warrant or represent:
      (a)the completeness or accuracy of the information published on our website;
      (b)that the material on the website is up to date; or
      (c)that the website or any service on the website will remain available.
    2. We reserve the right to discontinue or alter any or all of our website services, and to stop publishing our website, at any time in our sole discretion without notice or explanation; and save to the extent that these terms and conditions expressly provide otherwise, you will not be entitled to any compensation or other payment upon the discontinuance or alteration of any website services, or if we stop publishing the website.
    3. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law we exclude all representations and warranties relating to the subject matter of these terms and conditions, our website and the use of our website.
  12. Limitations and exclusions of liability
    1. Nothing in these terms and conditions will:
      (a)limit or exclude any liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence;
      (b)limit or exclude any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
      (c)limit any liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or
      (d)exclude any liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.
    2. The limitations and exclusions of liability set out elsewhere in these terms and conditions:
      (a)govern all liabilities arising under these terms and conditions or relating to the subject matter of these terms and conditions, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty.
    3. To the extent that our website and the information and services on our website are provided free of charge, we will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.
    4. We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control.
    5. We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill.
    6. We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software.
    7. We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.
    8. You accept that we have an interest in limiting the personal liability of our officers and employees and, having regard to that interest, you acknowledge that we are a limited liability entity; you agree that you will not bring any claim personally against our officers or employees in respect of any losses you suffer in connection with the website or these terms and conditions (this will not, of course, limit or exclude the liability of the limited liability entity itself for the acts and omissions of our officers and employees).
  13. Indemnity
    1. You hereby indemnify us, and undertake to keep us indemnified, against any and all losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation legal expenses and any amounts paid by us to a third party in settlement of a claim or dispute) incurred or suffered by us and arising directly or indirectly out of:
      (a)any breach by you of any provision of these terms and conditions; or
      (b)your use of our website.
  14. Breaches of these terms and conditions
    1. Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach these terms and conditions in any way, or if we reasonably suspect that you have breached these terms and conditions in any way, we may:
      (a)send you one or more formal warnings;
      (b)temporarily suspend your access to our website;
      (c)permanently prohibit you from accessing our website;
      (d)block computers using your IP address from accessing our website;
      (e)contact any or all your internet service providers and request that they block your access to our website;
      (f)commence legal action against you, whether for breach of contract or otherwise; and/or
      (g)suspend or delete your account on our website.
    2. Where we suspend or prohibit or block your access to our website or a part of our website, you must not take any action to circumvent such suspension or prohibition or blocking (including without limitation creating and/or using a different account).
  15. Third party websites
    1. Our website includes hyperlinks to other websites owned and operated by third parties; such hyperlinks are not recommendations.
  16. Competitions
    1. From time to time we may run competitions, free prize draws and/or other promotions on our website.
    2. Competitions will be subject to separate terms and conditions (which we will make available to you as appropriate).
  17. Variation
    1. We may revise these terms and conditions from time to time.
    2. The revised terms and conditions will apply to the use of our website from the date of their publication on the website, and you hereby waive any right you may otherwise have to be notified of, or to consent to, revisions of the terms and conditions. / We will give you written notice of any revision of these terms and conditions, and the revised terms and conditions will apply to the use of our website from the date that we give you such notice; if you do not agree to the revised terms and conditions, you must stop using our website.
    3. If you have given your express agreement to these terms and conditions, we will ask for your express agreement to any revision of these terms and conditions; and if you do not give your express agreement to the revised terms and conditions within such period as we may specify, we will disable or delete your account on the website, and you must stop using the website.
  18. Assignment
    1. You hereby agree that we may assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with our rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions.
    2. You may not without our prior written consent assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with any of your rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions.
  19. Severability
    1. If a provision of these terms and conditions is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect.
    2. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision of these terms and conditions would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.
  20. Third party rights
    1. These terms and conditions are for our benefit and your benefit, and are not intended to benefit or be enforceable by any third party.
    2. The exercise of the parties' rights under these terms and conditions is not subject to the consent of any third party.
  21. Law and jurisdiction
    1. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
    2. Any disputes relating to these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
  22. Our details
    1. This website is licensed and operated by Global Lives: Hidden Exeter Histories.
    2. You can contact us by using by email to helen.burbage@exeter.gov.uk
Close