A monument at St Paul’s Cathedral depicting a hero of the Battle of Waterloo also known as the ‘Tyrant of Trinidad’ could be removed as part of a probe into offensive statues.
The memorial to Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, which is surrounded by angels and a lion, is one of several being reviewed as part of the £800,000 probe.
Picton, the only Welshman buried in the London cathedral, was the most senior British officer to die at Waterloo in 1815.
His potential removal comes after a statue of him at Cardiff City Hall was removed.
But, despite his sacrifice against Napoleon;s troops, his reputation has been overshadowed by his ‘brutal’ rule in Trinidad.
He was also known to have used the slave trade to build up his considerable fortune and in 1806 was also found guilty of ordering the torture of Luisa Calderon, a 14-year-old mixed-race girl, during his rule of the Caribbean island.
This memorial to Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, which is surrounded by angels and a lion, is one of several being reviewed as part of the £800,000 probe
Picton, the only Welshman buried in the London cathedral, was the most senior British officer to die at Waterloo in 1815
He was never sentenced, and two years later the verdict was reversed at a retrial.
Now, his monument at St Paul’s is under threat as part of a three-year review which has received public money from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
However, the dean of the church previously suggested that the removal of statues from St Paul’s was unlikely.
The project, entitled Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral, states that it is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
It compares St Paul’s monuments to statues of Confederate generals in the United States.
Professor James Stevens Curl, author of the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, said he was concerned that the investigation would lead to ‘widespread destruction’ and that it was wrong to judge 19th-century figures by 21st-century standards.
St Paul’s said: ‘The Pantheons Project is a three-year research project which should help visitors and the cathedral understand and interpret the memorials for the 21st century.’
His monument at St Paul’s is under threat as part of a three-year review which has received public money from the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Workers removed the statue of slave trader Sir Thomas Picton back in July after councillors voted to have it removed from Cardiff’s City Hall
The monument at St Paul’s is not the first dedicated to Picton hit by the wrath of campaigners.
His statue was taken down in Cardiff after councillors agreed it should be removed at a Cardiff Council vote in July.
During the meeting, councillors said Picton’s ‘abhorrent’ behaviour as Governor of Trinidad meant he was ‘not deserving of a place in the Heroes of Wales collection’, with 57 ruling in favour of the statue’s removal, five voting against the move and nine abstaining.
Cardiff’s first black mayor Dan De’Ath called for the statue of the ‘sadistic 19th Century slave-owner’ to be removed in the aftermath of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston being toppled in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter march in June.
Mr De’Ath said: ‘I’m delighted. I think the way Cardiff has gone about the whole thing has been the right way. We’ve used democratic means to take it down.
‘Most people were incredibly supportive. They recognise the significance of the statue and what an affront it is to black people. Black lives do matter.
‘It’s therefore not appropriate to have such a person as Picton, who caused so much suffering and death and misery during his time as governor of Trinidad, commemorated and celebrated.
‘Statues are not just about history. They are about celebrating the lives of the people they depict, and representing a certain set of values. These aren’t the values, he’s not the person, and these aren’t the deeds we want to celebrate and recognise in Cardiff today.’
Mr De’Ath said the decision to remove the statue had ‘special significance’ for him due to his own family history.
‘I’m not only black, but my father came from Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. He was almost certainly a descendent of slaves himself,’ he said.
‘It means a lot. A huge amount to me and other black people out there in the community.’
A portrait of Picton that the Queen has hanging in Windsor Castle also had its accompanying gallery and online description changed to include his links to slavery in July.
Historical details of the painting of Picton were altered to include a reference to torturing a slave girl when he was the ‘Tyrant of Trinidad’.
Now the Royal Collection Trust’s physical register at the gallery as well as the website detail the story of his cruelty as governor of the island.
Previously it had featured no mention of this grim part of the British Army officer’s history.