Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville,

While a student, he was a member of the Edinburgh University Belles Lettres Society, participating in its meetings and gaining his first experience of public speaking at the society's debates.[6]

Dundas set up his legal offices at the head of Fleshmarket Close on the Royal Mile.^[7]

Becoming a member of the

On 2 April 1792, abolitionist William Wilberforce sponsored a motion in the House of Commons "that the trade carried on by British subjects, for the purpose of obtaining slaves on the coast of Africa, ought to be abolished." He had introduced a similar motion in 1791, which was soundly defeated by MPs, with a vote of 163 opposed, 88 in favour.^[17] Dundas was not present for that vote, but when it was again before MPs in 1792, Dundas tabled a petition from Edinburgh residents who supported abolition.^[18] He then went on to affirm his agreement in principle with Wilberforce's motion: "My opinion has been always against the Slave Trade." He argued, however, that a vote for immediate abolition would be ineffective, as it would drive the slave trade underground or into the hands of foreign nations, beyond Britain's control. He stated: "this trade must be ultimately abolished, but by moderate measures".^[19] He suggested that slavery and the slave trade should be abolished together, and proposed an end to hereditary slavery, which would have enabled the children born to present-day slaves to become free persons upon reaching adulthood.^[18] He then introduced an amendment that would add the word "gradual" to the Wilberforce motion. The amendment was adopted, and the motion passed with a vote of 230–85.^[20] For the first time, the House of Commons voted to end the slave trade.

Three weeks after the vote, Dundas tabled resolutions setting out a plan to implement gradual abolition by the end of 1799. At that time he told the House that proceeding too quickly would cause West Indian merchants and landowners to continue the trade "in a different mode and other channels".^[21] He argued that "if the committee would give the time proposed, they might abolish the trade; but, on the contrary, if this opinion was not followed, their children yet unborn would not see the end of the traffic."^[22] MPs ignored his cautions, and voted in favour of ending the trade in slaves by the end of 1796.^[23][24] The motion and resolutions later failed to win the necessary support of the House of Lords, which deferred consideration then dropped the issue altogether.

Alternative measures were proposed later in the 1790s. Dundas spoke against specific proposals tabled in 1796, while reiterating his support for abolition in principle, but abstained from voting. The loss of momentum was connected to three years of an ongoing war on three continents, including with revolutionary France.^[25][26]

It was not until 1807 that the House of Lords voted in favour of abolishing the trade in slaves. Historian Stephen Farrell has noted that by that time, the political climate had changed, and the economic advantages of abolition had become apparent.^[27] The Slave Trade Act 1807 prohibited the trade in slaves in the British Empire. Ownership of slaves, however, remained legal in most of the British Empire until passage of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

Between 1792 and 1807, when the slave trade was eventually abolished, another half a million Africans were transported into slavery in the British colonies. Dundas insisted that any abolition of the slave trade could not succeed without the support of West Indian colonial legislatures. Abolitionists argued that West Indian assemblies would never support such measures, and that by making the abolition of the slave trade dependent on colonial reforms, Dundas was in effect indefinitely delaying it.^[28] There is evidence, however, that Dundas had secured agreement of the West Indians before proposing the eight-year timeline.^[29] Recent peer-reviewed scholarship has also identified new archival evidence showing that Dundas had the support of several leading abolitionists, while the West Indian slave owners opposed his plan just as much as they opposed immediate abolition.^[26]

A few years after passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, Wilberforce and Dundas encountered each other. Wilberforce recorded the event as follows: "We did not meet for a long time and all his connexions most violently abused me. About a year before he died ... we saw one another, and at first I thought he was passing on, but he stopped and called out, 'Ah Wilberforce, how do you do?' And gave me a hearty shake by the hand. I would have given a thousand pounds for that shake. I never saw him afterwards."^[30][31]

From June 1793, Dundas was appointed

Dundas also presided over a crisis in Britain's most important possession, the Colony of Jamaica. General George Walpole secured the surrender of the Jamaican Maroons of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), on condition they would not be transported off the island. The governor of Jamaica, Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres, used a contrived breach of treaty as a pretext to deport most of the Trelawny Town Maroons to Nova Scotia. Walpole was disgusted with the governor's actions, pointing out that he had given the Maroons his word that they would not be transported off the island. Walpole resigned his commission, and went back to England, where he became an MP and protested in vain in the House of Commons how Balcarres had behaved in a duplicitous and dishonest way with the Maroons. Dundas sided with Balcarres in the dispute, and turned down Walpole's requests to get the Maroons returned to Jamaica.^[36]

Dundas was a vigorous advocate of a strong British presence in the Mediterranean. He promptly met the challenge of Napoleon's attack on Egypt with actions which were vigorous and pivotal. While he did not prevent the French landing, he did play a key role in defeating it, thus enhancing British security in India.^[37]

From about 1798 on he pleaded frequently to be allowed to resign from his offices on health grounds, but Pitt, who relied on him greatly, refused even to consider it.

Commission of Inquiry

United Kingdom legislation

Proceedings Against Viscount Melville Act 1805[dubious – discuss]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide that the Proceedings now depending in the House of Commons upon Articles of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemanors which have been exhibited against Henry Lord Viscount Melville shall not be discontinued by any Prorogation or Dissolution of Parliament.
Citation	45 Geo. 3 c 125
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1872
Status: Repealed

United Kingdom legislation

An Act to indemnify Persons who shall give Evidence against Henry Lord Viscount Melville[dubious – discuss]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to indemnify Persons who shall give Evidence against Henry Lord Viscount Melville, upon the Impeachment voted against him by the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, in respect of Acts done by such Persons in any Office or Employment held by them under the said Lord Viscount Melville, during the Time he held and enjoyed the Office of Treasurer of His Majesty's Navy.
Citation	45 Geo. 3 c 126
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1872
Status: Repealed

In 1802 the Commissioners of Naval

Lord Melville's first marriage was to Elizabeth Rannie, daughter of David Rannie, of Melville Castle, in 1765. She is believed to have been about 16 at the time of the marriage, although the date of her birth is not certain. She committed adultery (then known as "criminal conversation") with a Captain Everard Faukener in 1778, after 13 years of marriage, and abandoned Dundas and their four children, fleeing to an undisclosed location. Within days she confessed in a letter to Dundas, saying she was "undeserving of being your wife or the mother to your unhappy children."^[43] Approximately a month later they were divorced. She went on to marry Faukener and never saw her children again. Henry Dundas became the owner of the family patrimony she brought to the marriage, in accordance with the law of the time, and raised their four children at Melville Castle near Edinburgh. Dundas paid Elizabeth a monthly annuity until his death, which was not required by law. Their eldest son Robert inherited the estate in 1811. Robert, the 2nd Viscount Melville, continued the annuity until Elizabeth's death at the age of 98.^[43]

Between 1785 and 1806, Dundas leased a large country home called Warren House on the edge of Wimbledon Common, where his guests included George III, economist Adam Smith, abolitionist William Wilberforce, and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. After his divorce Dundas was married again, to Lady Jane Hope, daughter of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, in 1793. He died in May 1811, in Edinburgh, aged 69, and was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage, Robert. The Viscountess Melville later married Thomas Wallace, 1st Baron Wallace, and died in June 1829.^[44]

Dundas is buried in a family vault in Old Lasswade Kirkyard. His most famous family member is actor Kit Harington.^{[citation needed]}

Late in life Dundas's health suffered and he was financially distressed. He attended debates in the House of Lords and maintained his position as a member of Privy Council, but kept a lower public profile. However at his death the immediate reaction was one of widespread praise from most quarters (apart from the Whigs in Scotland). By 1900, however, historians were harsh, denouncing him as the epitome of corruption and oppression who had sold out Scotland to the English. By the late 20th century his reputation had been restored. He was praised for his military policies, for giving Scotland a cohesive government, and for making it a major player in imperial affairs.^[45]

Dundas was a friend of John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, who named a military road through Upper Canada (now southern Ontario) after him.^[46] In the city of Toronto, Yonge–Dundas Square is a prominent landmark and commercial centre, while Dundas Street is a main thoroughfare.

Dundas County, Ontario, and other highways and streets outside of Toronto, also bear his name.

Dundas Island off the coast of British Columbia was named by Captain George Vancouver in Dundas's honour. Vancouver originally believed it to be one island, Dundas's Island, but it was later determined that it was in fact a small archipelago. The group became known as the Dundas Islands, while constituent islands were given the names Melville Island, Baron Island, and Dunira Island, in respect of Dundas's titles.^[47]

The District of Dundas in New South Wales was named after the Colonial Secretary, Henry Dundas. The District of Dundas was abolished in 1889 although the name still survives in the Sydney suburb of Dundas.^[48]

In 1848, John Septimus Roe, the government surveyor (in the then colony of Western Australia), was searching for pastoral land and discovered the area around Norseman which he named Dundas Hills, after the colonial secretary. Gold was discovered there in 1893, the Dundas Field was proclaimed, and the town of Dundas established (ca. 40 km south of Norseman, later abandoned), which eventually led to the present Shire of Dundas.^[49]

A monument to Dundas, modeled loosely on

Namesake of Melville Island in Nova Scotia.

In the 20th century, historians were divided over whether Dundas should be held solely responsible for prolonging the slave trade. Historians of the slave trade and the abolitionist movement, including David Brion Davis, Robin Blackburn, Roger Anstey, and Stephen Tomkins commented that Dundas's actions delayed rather than facilitated abolition.^{[57][58][59][60][61]} According to Davis, "By making the abolition of the slave trade dependent on colonial reforms, Dundas suggested possibilities for indefinite delay."^[57] Stephen Mullen, a research associate at Glasgow University, called Dundas "a great delayer" of abolition in 2021.^[62] These claims were criticized by historian Angela McCarthy, who rejected the notion that Dundas's actions were so singularly determinative of the course of events.^[63]

Other historians of British history argue that delay was inevitable. Angela McCarthy notes that the revolutionary wars with France, and opposition in the House of Lords and in the royal family, presented enormous obstacles.

Over 14,000 people signed an online petition in June 2020 to rename Dundas Street, a major street in downtown Toronto.^[70] The petition arose from a Black Lives Matter protest on 5 June 2020, where Dundas Street was the site of the march.^[71] The protest was documented by Mark Terry in the film Scotland, Slavery, and Statues.^[72] In July 2021, Toronto City Council voted to rename the street and other civic assets, although the change is still pending.^[73] In December 2023, Toronto City Council approved "Sankofa Square" as the new name for Yonge–Dundas Square.^[74]

In Edinburgh, demonstrators graffitied the Melville Monument in June 2020.^[75][76] In March 2021, the City of Edinburgh Council approved a permanent plaque dedicated to the memory of enslaved Africans.^[77] Numerous historians, including Scotland's most eminent historian Professor Emeritus Sir Tom Devine, as well as descendants of Dundas, criticised the content of the plaque as historically inaccurate.^[78][79]

Lord Melville, as First Lord of the Admiralty, is present or a background character in several of

He is also a supporting character in the legal drama Garrow's Law. As a leading figure of the establishment, he is a bitter enemy of the radical hero, William Garrow. He is played by Stephen Boxer. Also, fictional references were made to Sir Henry Dundas in Chapter 24 of L. A. Meyer's third book in the Jacky Faber series, which was titled "Under the Jolly Roger" as well as the former Lord Dundas in Meyer's sixth book, which was titled, "My Bonny Light Horseman". He was portrayed as 'bookish', although a sweet and sincere man otherwise. A reference was made to Henry Dundas and his role in the abolition of the slave trade in the motion picture Amazing Grace (2006) where he was played by Bill Paterson.^[80]

Dundas is also featured in Joseph Knight, by James Robertson (Fourth Estate, 2003) – a fictional account of the true story of the former slave for whom Dundas successfully appealed to two levels of Scottish courts, ultimately winning a declaration of Knight's emancipation, and the emancipation of all purported slaves on Scottish soil.

Coat of arms of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Crest A lion's head affronteé Gules struggling through an oak bush all Proper. Escutcheon Argent a lion rampant Gules within a bordure Azure charged with three boars' heads couped Or two in chief and one in base. Supporters Dexter a leopard reguardant, sinister a stag, both Proper.[81] Motto Essayez (top); Quod Potui Perfecti (I have done what I could do.) (bottom)