Wells Cathedral has extensive ties to British slavery. Numerous members of the clergy had connections to slave-ownership in the Caribbean. A close network of individuals and families linked to Caribbean slavery dominated much of Wells Cathedral’s financial and ecclesiastical life from the 1840s. The Revd. John Hothersall Pinder, who became Precentor and inaugural Principal of Wells Theological College (1840-65), had previously been a chaplain to enslaved people on the Codrington plantation in Barbados and publicly defended slavery and the interests of slave owners. One of the Cathedral’s most important benefactors was Francis H. Dickinson (1813-1890), MP for West Somerset (1841-1847) and son of William Dickinson II (1771-1847) who owned enslaved people in Jamaica. He became the Cathedral’s leading patron and sponsor of restoration works. William Thomas Parr Brymer’s family had been involved in shipping enslaved-produced commodities. He became canon of Wells and Archdeacon of Bath (1839-52). Further interpretation can be found inside Wells Cathedral and in Vicar’s Close.
