Captain's Walk, Brecon

The toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, the Bristolian who was a major figure in the slave trade, has been all over the news - but there's something similar right here in Brecon.
When Captain's Walk was renovated a plaque was put up to commemorate the person who first created the Walk - Captain Thomas Phillips of Havard House, Brecon (more recently the Ursuline Convent). The plaque said that Captain Phillips was the author of A Journal of a Voyage Made in the Hannibal 1693 -94 to Africa and Barbadoes.
What the plaque doesn't say is that the Hannibal was packed full of slaves, and the horrific treatment of those slaves was detailed in Captain Phillips' Journal.
The plaque has now gone missing, allegedly thrown into the river.

Captain Phillips worked for the Royal Africa Company, which had the monopoly on trade (mostly meaning slaves, but also ivory and gold) along the African coast. Edward Colston was the Deputy Governor of the company.
Seven hundred slaves could be packed into the hold of the Hannibal - on the voyage in the journal, 328 of them died, as well as 18 of the crew. Some died of dysentery, and some of smallpox. The only treatment given for smallpox was as much water as the sick person wanted to drink and palm oil to sooth the sores, but they were still kept packed in the holds in terrible conditions.
Twelve of the slaves deliberately jumped overboard and drowned. Others refused food and deliberately starved themselves to death. Captain Phillips records that the death of each slave lost the RAC £10, and the owners of the ship £10 and ten shillings - a loss totalling around £6500.
Captain Phillips was advised by others in the trade to "cut off the legs or arms of the most wilful, to terrify the rest" but he decided not to do that, recording that he believed they were God's creatures, despite their "want of Christianity and true religion". He was quite happy for them all (including the children) to be branded on the chest with the letter H for Hannibal before they were brought aboard, though.
Phillips was himself affected by the diseases that ravaged the ship on that voyage, and became permanently deaf. He retired to Brecon and never sailed again. He died in 1713, aged around 48.

The plaque to Captain Phillips was only put up in 2010, so it's not a historic monument. In the discussion on FYI Brecon's Facebook page one person said that bad things should not be airbrushed out of history (so the plaque should remain in situ) - but the plaque is itself an example of airbrushing bad things out of history, because it didn't have any mention of the purpose of the voyage or the great loss of life. The book exists, and is an important document in the study of the slave trade - removing the plaque has not changed that.
If the Council decides to replace the plaque, maybe they could have one with more honest wording next time. There is a petition asking that the old plaque not be reinstated, and an acknowledgement to the victims of slavery be placed there instead.

A peaceful protest is planned for 14th June in Brecon for Black Lives Matter, at 1pm. The organisers ask everyone attending to wear masks and maintain social distancing. They will not be gathering in a big group, but there will be designated areas around Brecon where protesters can leave signs, such as by the Cat Soup Kitchen, around the Wellington statue, at the library and so on. Brecon Tap has agreed to open their doors for the day so that their toilet facilities are available to the protesters.

The Wellington statue also has a mention of General Picton, a Welsh officer who died at Waterloo.
Before that he was Governor of Trinidad - he was put on trial for his illegal torture of a fourteen year old girl, and was convicted, though the conviction was later overturned, partly because the conviction depended on the differences between Spanish law (which covered Trinidad at the time) and English law.
The victim was a free mulatto girl (the term then for mixed-race) called Luisa Calderon, who was suspected of assisting in a burglary. She was suspended by one arm and lowered until her foot was resting on a spike set in the ground, which took her weight. She did not confess, and was imprisoned for a further eight months before she was released. She gave evidence at Picton's trial. Picton had also executed several people without due legal process, but was not brought to trial on those charges. He also made a lot of money personally from the slave trade while he was governor.