Carla Astaphan | Benjamin Greene and his role in slave trade

The Caribbean, and by extension, the global reparations movement has picked up tremendous steam over the past year. From 2013 when Caribbean leaders made the decision to create the CARICOM Reparations Commission to seek reparatory justice for the descendants of enslaved Africans from European governments, institutions, churches, and other organisations who benefited financially from the enslavement of Africans, the commission has done tremendous work.

Over the past few years, we have seen universities, churches, and other organisations dig deep into their history and have found that the genesis of their current wealth and status originated with investment in the trade in Africans and the enslavement of Africans.

On May 15, 2023, I received an email that was dated August 17, 2020. The sender of the email, Arisa Loomba, shared that she had just completed her master’s degree and was doing a series of podcasts. One of these podcasts would focus on the recent historic apology, which had been made by Greene King Breweries, located in the United Kingdom. She indicated that the company planned to make some form of reparatory justice to the island of St Kitts because the original owner of Brewery, Benjamin Greene, owned Spooners Estate on St Kitts, and he was compensated for the loss of the Africans he enslaved when chattel slavery was abolished, and she wanted to discuss what this reparatory justice would look like for St Kitts. The email was three years old. It had been lost in the tourism ministry’s junk mail. No response has been received from her to date. However, this article will investigate the biography of Benjamin Greene, his descendants, and his relationship to Greene King.

PROMISED COMPENSATION

When slavery was abolished by Britain on August 1, 1834, the owners of enslaved Africans were promised compensation for the enslaved Africans they owned, and they were paid. A total of 767 claims were paid out to owners of enslaved Africans on St Kitts. Benjamin Greene’s name shows up with interest in two estates on St Kitts and one on Montserrat. His name also shows up as a lessee of numerous enslaved persons he leased from other plantation owners to work on his plantation.

Benjamin Greene was born in 1780 and died in 1860. During his lifetime, he became a Bury St Edmunds merchant, newspaper owner, and brewer. Benjamin Greene founded the Brewery and Pubs in 1799. In 1823, he began his ownership of sugar plantations on the island of St Kitts. These plantations became very profitable. He moved to London circa 1837 amid controversy over abolition of enslaved Africans. He was an avid supporter of chattel slavery and was against its abolition. Greene was the father of seven children. The eldest of them was a son, Benjamin Buck Greene, who was born in 1808 and died in 1902. Benjamin Greene, the father, sent his eldest son, Benjamin Buck Greene, to St Kitts in 1829, to manage his affairs, the sugar cane plantations that he had acquired in 1823.

When Britain’s parliament passed the act to abolish chattel slavery in August 1833 to be effected August 1, 1834, Benjamin Greene would be awarded payment for six enslaved persons on the island of Montserrat. On St Kitts, there were two estates. The compensation was paid for 156 enslaved Africans on Phillips Estate and 69 on Con Phipps Estate in St Thomas Parish. His son, Benjamin Buck Greene, was an attorney-at-law who represented other estate owners, including Henry Blake, an owner of sugar plantations in St Kitts, in making claims for compensation. Benjamin Greene is listed in the University College London’s (UCL) database, “Legacies of British Slavery,” as having received over £4,000 in compensation for his ownership of enslaved Africans on St Kitts and Montserrat. The plantations on St Kitts belonging Greene continued to flourish well into the 1840s.

INCREASED FORTUNE

The family would also come to own ships, establishing a shipping sugar importing firm. Benjamin Greene increased his family’s fortune, and by 1850, he was named deputy governor of the Bank of England. He served as Governor 1873-1875. So, emerging from relatively modest circumstances, he became an important West Indies sugar planter and, later, one of London’s leading colonial merchants, leading to a directorship of the Bank of England.

In 1836, Benjamin Greene passed ownership of the Brewery and Pub to his son, Edward Greene. In 1887, Edward formed a partnership with another local brewer in St Edmunds, Frederick King, and the name of the Brewery was changed to Greene King.

According to greene.co.uk history page, today Greene King continues to go from strength to strength and is now the country’s leading pub retailer and brewer, with over 3,100 pubs, restaurants, and hotels across England, Wales, and Scotland.

In August 2020, amid growing pressure after the brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States, many companies reviewed their position in relation to racial inequity and their links to the enslavement of Africans during the era of the slave trade and slavery. In August 2020, Greene King’s CEO, Nick MacKenzie, issued an apology given that the original owner Benjamin Greene benefited from slavery, and for his staunch support of slavery and advocacy against abolition. He promised donations to Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) groups in the UK as a form of reparatory justice. Though commendable, there was no specific mention of a value for these donations. The country St Kitts and Nevis received no formal apology or promises from Greene King.

As SKNNRC chair, I contacted the CEO of Greene King. On August 15, an email came from Assad Malic, chief communications and sustainability officer of Greene King explaining the company’s current position. He said:

“In 1836, Benjamin Greene passed the control of the Brewery in Bury St. Edmunds to another of his sons, Edward, who was not involved in plantations at St. Kitts. While the company still bears the name Greene King, none of the descendants are now involved in the management of the company. The actions of Benjamin Greene are part of our company’s history that we cannot change, but we have been focused on what we can do in the present and the future by making substantial financial investments to support race diversity in our business and we aspire to be an inclusive employer and a truly anti-racist organisation.”

This is not satisfactory. The St Kitts Nevis National Reparations Committee is of the view that Greene King is not absolved from reparatory justice to St Kitts and Nevis and Montserrat. We have responded to the company and outlined our position; we will continue to press the case.

Carla Astaphan is chair of the St Kitts and Nevis’National Reparations Committee. Send feedback to reparation.research@uwimona.edu.jm.