Drax of Drax Hall
how one British family got rich (and stayed rich) from sugar and slavery
- ISBN: 9780745352039
- Editorial: Pluto Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2026
- Lugar de la edición: London. Reino Unido
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 22 cm
- Nº Pág.: 448
- Idiomas: Inglés
'A damning reminder that the ghosts of empire are not distant - they are living, breathing and, in some cases, still collecting rent' - The Observer
'Eloquently reminds us that history is never truly past' - The New Yorker
'A family story straight out of Game of Thrones' - Alex Renton, author
While the British landed gentry profited from chattel slavery in the West Indies, the Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax family of Dorset pioneered it. This is the story of the British Empire and slavery told through one family's grotesque history, and how its legacy is alive and well today.
PART I: Drax Hall, Barbados
1. James Drax Lands in Barbados
2. James and the Sugar Revolution
3. James Drax and Chattel Slavery
PART II: The Erles of Charborough
4. An Estate Fit for an Erle
5. Walter the Puritan
6. Walter the Puritan and the English Civil War
PART III: Barbados and the English Civil War
7. Sheath My Sword in James Drax's Bowels
8. Sir James, Slave Trader
9. Henry Drax and 'The Devil was in the Englishman' PART IV: Post-Restoration
10. Captain Thomas Erle and the Monmouth Rebellion
11. Colonel Thomas Erle
a Man of War
12. Henry and Betsy Drax
PART V: The Grosvenor Years
13. Richard and Sarah Grosvenor, Royal Courtiers
14. Voices of the Enslaved
15. After Napoleon
16. Seeking Enclosure
PART VI: The Wicked Squire
17. Captain Swing
18. The Squire Goes A-Hunting
19. Abolition and Compensation
20. John Drax, the Old Scoundrel
PART VII: Four Barrels and a Smoking Gun
21. Commander Reginald Drax RN
22. Admiral Drax RN, Twice Retired 23. Richard Drax, 14 Years an MP
PART VIII: Nemesis
24. In Conclusion
Archives
Family Trees
Ten Major Dorset Landowners 1883-2020
Foreword by David Olusoga.
