The Diocese of Truro is investigating the installation, without faculty authority, of an additional plaque beneath the memorial to Thomas Corker, a 17th Century slave trader who was a parishioner at the Grade II* church of King Charles the Martyr, Falmouth. The marble plaque and Latin eulogy to Corker were in a prominent position in the church, and are the subject of on-going local and national consultation.

A brass plaque was recently placed underneath the marble memorial stating:

“Thomas Corker was England’s Chief Agent for the Royal African Company on York Island. He oversaw and profited from the kidnap, enslavement and sale of slaves. The Royal African Company shipped more enslaved men, women and children to the Americas than any other trading company in the world.”

The plaque has now been removed; however, there is a photograph of the plaque in an ITV report, and an earlier BBC Report provides further information on the back story.

Background

There are a number of approaches to the treatment of memorials &c falling within the ambit of “contested heritage”, examples of which were given by Janet Berry [1]  in her presentation to the 35th ELS Annual Conference on 10 June 2023 – interpretation/explanation; addition of new material; non-permanent alteration; relocation on loan; permanent alteration; and destruction.

The Third Report of the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice (Summer 2023), reviewed here, included a short reference to the  Corker memorial. This has yet to receive judicial consideration, but the memorial has was referred to in Janet Berry’s presentation (Slides 13 & 17) which cites Magee [2] on the creation of “safe spaces”, and notes the inclusion of a new memorial to Joseph Anthony Emidy in the Falmouth church.

The Third Report comments:

“National support is currently being provided to the parish at Falmouth ….as they consider ways forward for the memorial to Thomas Corker (1669-1700). Thomas Corker was Chief Agent to the Royal African Company and Governor at Fort James in Gambia until his dismissal from the Company for illegal trade in enslaved people…The Cathedral & Church Buildings Division is working with the Racial Justice Unit and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reconciliation Ministry team on a pilot project to support the parish and its local communities to work together towards a long-term solution for the memorials…”.

More recently, the Fifth Biannual Report of the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice, (Summer 2024), reports:

“The ACRJ and Racial Justice Unit also invested considerable effort in visiting the parish of King Charles the Martyr in Falmouth, Cornwall, over the weekend of 27 and 28 January 2024. This is a parish where the local mission of the church has been considerably impaired by the presence within its main worship area of a lavish monument to a locally notorious slave trader. The concern of the Commission was to support the PCC in planning towards re-siting the memorial elsewhere within the church so it could be a focus for education rather than a distraction from worship. The Commission and the Racial Justice Unit are keeping close to developments in Falmouth as the situation there evolves”.

Under a photograph of the monument in the Report is the comment:

The current state of the ‘contested heritage’ monument in the chancel of King Charles the Martyr in Falmouth – ironically made more conspicuous by local efforts to conceal it – and thus demonstrating the need for it to be relocated appropriately. The Commission is staying in touch with this case as the PCC and the Diocese of Truro look for a way to resolve the case.

Comment

Statements on behalf of the parties involved are reproduced in the ITV report. With regard to the associated legal views, a faculty will have been necessary to permit the removal of the brass plaque. Further developments will be reported by L&RUK as materials become available.

[1] Head of Conservation & Collections Policy, Cathedral & Church Buildings Division, Church Commissioners, Church of England.

[2] Keith Magee, Prophetic Justice. Essays and Reflections on Race, Religion and Politics, (The Social Justice Institute, 2020) 74.