Elite schools and slavery in the UK – capital, violence and extractivism

Figures & data

Table 1. List of schools with financial links to slavery (excluding fees – see Table 2).

School	Year founded	School type	Type of link	Public recognition or response
Wells Cathedral School	909	Private	Indirect. School includes mansion built by slaveowner.	Yes (caveats – indirect).
Eton College	1440	Private	Library donations from slaveowners.	No.
Bristol Grammar School	1532	Private	Founded with capital from slavery.	No.
Christ's Hospital	1553	Private	Major donations of capital from slavery.	Yes. (After news coverage of this research)
Queen Elizabeth's Hospital	1586	Private	Small donations of capital from slavery.	Yes.
Lady Hawkin's School	1632	State	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes (caveats).
Haberdashers’ Aske's Boys’ School*	1690	Private	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes (but no longer on school website).
Liverpool Blue Coat School	1708	State	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes.
Colston's School¹	1710	Private	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes.
Sir John Cass School³	1710	State	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes.
Royal Hospital School	1712	Private	Charitable foundation owned enslaved people (Greenwich Hospital)	No.
Godolphin School	1726	Private	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	No.
George Watson's College	1741	Private	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes.
Inverness Royal Academy	1792	State	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes (prior to 2020, not via school website)
James Gillespie's School	1803	State	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes (though only on primary school page)
Fortrose Academy	1811	State	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	No.
Tain Royal Academy	1813	State	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	No.
Dollar Academy	1818	Private	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes.
Bathgate Academy	1833	State	Founded with capital from slavery	Yes. (Very minimal)
Cheltenham College	1841	Private	Indirect. School founder inherited wealth & school building.	No (statement on BLM in 2020, now deleted).
Llandovery College	1848	Private	Founded with capital from slavery	No.
Queen's College London	1848	Private	Indirect. Co-founded by slaveowner (Rev. D Laing)	No.
North London Collegiate School	1850	Private	Bursary donations of capital partially from slavery (via widow of Rev. D Laing)	No.
St John's Leatherhead	1851	Private	Major donations of capital from slavery.	No.
St Edward's College Liverpool	1853	State^a	Indirect. Between 1848–1938 housed in mansion erected by slave trader	No.
Haberdashers’ Aske's Hatcham College*	1875	State	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes (but no longer on school website).
Haberdashers’ Aske's Girls’ School*	1875	Private	Founded with capital partially from slavery.	Yes (but no longer on school website).
Colston's Girls School²	1891	State^b	Founded by the Governors of Colston's School and Merchant Venturers	Yes
Rendcomb College	1920	Private	Indirect. Founded with capital from Wills tobacco family.	No.
Douglas Ewart School	1922	State	Successor school to Douglas Free School (1834) which was founded with capital from slavery.	No.
Stowe School	1923	Private	Indirect. Building previously owned by slaveowner, gardens commemorate 18th C colonial wars.	No.
¹now renamed Collegiate School; ²now Montpelier High School; ³now Stepney All Saints School; * ‘Aske's’ now removed from their names
^a private until 1997; ^b private until 2008

Table 2. Number of alumni of different schools recorded as having received financial compensation in UCL Slavery Legacies database.

School attended (or tutor/location)	Compensation (£)	Enslaved people	No. of alumni
Eton	653451.61	27766	107
Harrow	277321.28	11978	41
Westminster	129131.9	6519	33
Charterhouse	203122.62	8152	27
Winchester	154961.33	5312	13
Rugby	67234.89	2943	7
Glasgow High School	34170.19	1657	4
Bury St Edmunds School	13005.86	720	3
Edinburgh High School	13495.58	450	3
Manchester Grammar School	5368.09	290	3
St Paul's	9712.61	661	3
Exeter	171.07	7	2
King Edward VI FGS Bury St Edmunds	120.89	5	2
Stonyhurst College	59422.63	1116	2
Tonbridge	1783.43	113	2
Blundell's School	2425.54	88	1
Cheshunt Grammar School, Hertfordshire; then taught privately	2482.81	199	1
Codrington College, Barbados	3304.24	160	1
Edinburgh Academy	2956.78	194	1
Giggleswick	4148.5	231	1
Grammar school in Bath	100.68	5	1
High School of Glasgow	2070.46	107	1
High School, Edinburgh	2983.47	158	1
In Barbados; then Stowe	6396.77	265	1
Macclesfield	13406.01	714	1
Merchant Taylors'	2922.81	195	1
Miss Heywood's school; Chetham's School; Dissenting schools: Pillington; Unitarian School. All Manchester	1904.99	108	1
Norwich school	15057.24	792	1
Royal Liverpool Institute	3421.28	175	1
Russell House School, Streatham	3538.9	189	1
Sedbergh School	3783.08	174	1