Until recently, few Scots who stood under the long shadow of Edinburgh’s Melville Monument, walked down its Dundas Street, or sauntered along its Melville Drive; or Canadians who walked down Toronto’s Dundas Street and gathered in Dundas Square, or residents of Dundas, Ontario, knew or cared that Henry Dundas (1742-1811), first Viscount Melville, was Home Secretary from 1791 to 1794, Minister for War and Colonies from 1794 to 1801 and First Lord of the Admiralty from 1804 to 1805.
Over the last few months, though, Dundas has been politically exhumed on both sides of the Atlantic. As protesters across the world insist that the UK re-examine its colonial history, this shadowy figure whose name is written across our cities has become a focus for debate.
