Wetherspoon “willing to consider a change of name” as petition launched due to pub namesake’s slavery links

A Wetherspoon pub in Wrexham could be renamed due to its namesake’s links to the slave trade.

It follows the launch of a petition asking for The Elihu Yale on Regent Street to be retitled in light of the Black Lives Matters movement, which saw hundreds turn out to a peaceful protest against racism in the town on Sunday.

It also comes after the statue of another 17th-century slave trader was torn from its plinth during a separate demonstration in Bristol over the weekend.

As an official for the East India Company in Madras, Yale presided over a key part of the Indian Ocean slave trade, and is better known as the benefactor of Yale University in the United States.

The pub is one of a number of locations in Wrexham to have adopted his name, including the town’s college campus and the Spire Yale Hospital, with his remains buried in St Giles Parish Church where his grave inscription states “Much good, some ill, he did; so hope all’s even”.

However, calls have been made for Wetherspoon to rename the establishment – a move the chain said it was willing to consider.

Posting on the petition website change.org, the main signatory of the appeal said the pub should not be commemorating historical figures associated with slavery, and suggested a new name for the pub – its local nickname “Old Man Spoons”.

Eleanor Lee said: “This is a petition to change the name of the Wetherspoons pub – The Elihu Yale, in Wrexham town centre – to what it is more frequently known as from all generations “Old Man Spoons” or “Llwyau Hen Ddyn” in Welsh.

“Elihu Yale, who was originally from Massachusetts, America moved to London when he was 3 years old.

“He and his family made their fortune within the slave trade and has since been glorified for their involvement in the most sadistic part of human’s history.

“This needs to be acknowledged and rectified and we need your signatures to make this happen.

“Wrexham is a small town, but I’m sure I speak for most members of the community in agreeing that this is not what our town and local pubs should be commemorating; an infamous racist, slave trader who made his notoriety and fortune off the suffering of others.”

The petition was created yesterday and has already attracted more than 300 signatures.

A sign outside the pub was removed in 2017 after it was defaced with the word “racist”.

Back in 2017 in a now deleted tweet by visiting artist, @TraxxCardiff published a picture of the pub sign which then mysteriously disappeared (above and below) commenting: “This damn pub in Wrexham has a sign with a guy and a slave with a yoke of iron around his neck !!!! If I had a ladder I’d rip it down, PRICKS“, later adding “Wrexham is disgusting“, tagging in Wrexham Council asking for the sign to be taken down and posting a screengrab of Elihu Yale’s wikipedia page noting he was a slave trader.

The old sign that has since been removed.

The sign itself was based off the James Worsdale painting ‘Elihu Yale with his Servant’, the original being in the archives of Ivy League Yale University, itself named after Elihu Yale.

At the time, Wetherspoon told Wrexham.com “The name has been used for the pub since it has been opened, around 15 or 16 years ago and has been used in good faith as it is connected to the local history of Wrexham”, and said they had no plans to change the name.

However, now in 2020 a spokesman has said it is willing to consider changing the title, yet appeared to have no knowledge of the issue being flagged up a few years ago: “We were not aware of any connections with the slave trade.”

“We called it The Elihu Yale because he was involved in the foundation of what is now Yale University in the US, as we understand it.

“We will look into these allegations, which are very concerning. Wetherspoon is certainly willing to consider a change of name.”

As we noted back in 2017 Elihu Yale’s history is well documented, although the Council’s version does omit documenting the slave trade element and his dodgy deals outlined elsewhere, similar to the Wetherspoons summary.

Yale University have previously published this essay entitled ‘Elihu Yale was a Slave Trader’, which references the image used on the pub sign describing it as ‘…Yale with yet another collared slave this time euphemized as a servant’ and is well worth the time to read.

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter / Wrexham.com