1 00:00:00,420 --> 00:00:02,310 Hello, I'm Julia. 2 00:00:02,310 --> 00:00:12,390 And we here today for local residents in the Florence Park area of Oxford to introduce you to our project of decolonising those local street names, 3 00:00:12,390 --> 00:00:18,150 bearing the names of military men with brutal histories in the British colonies. 4 00:00:18,150 --> 00:00:26,310 Our approach to decolonising this frequently unnoticed part of Oxfords relation with NPR is not to rename them, 5 00:00:26,310 --> 00:00:30,330 since this would upset many who've lived in the neighbourhood for years. 6 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:36,840 Rather, we wish to raise awareness about the men and colonial history embedded in their names. 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,310 In contrast, this with the real ongoing history of our area. 8 00:00:41,310 --> 00:00:47,340 We also hope to inspire more locals to develop and take forward this project in different ways. 9 00:00:47,340 --> 00:00:53,070 As a first step to achieving this, we plan to place local history community boards in different streets, 10 00:00:53,070 --> 00:01:01,110 presenting these contrasting historical perspectives. Hi, I'm Jay. 11 00:01:01,110 --> 00:01:07,320 I have a long term critical interest in inequality and its colonial and imperialist underpinnings. 12 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,330 My research into the man behind road names such as Cornwallis Road, Litten Road, 13 00:01:11,330 --> 00:01:18,430 Ultimate Cliver Havelock Road and Lawrence Road revealed they were all employees of the notorious East India Company. 14 00:01:18,430 --> 00:01:22,680 The East India Company was the first private company to concatenation and use its tax revenues 15 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,990 and military might to enrich itself and its shareholders while impoverishing its subjects. 16 00:01:27,990 --> 00:01:36,600 It was also the world's largest opium trader starting the Opium Wars in China, where it seised Hong Kong and submitted China to decades of decline. 17 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,150 When it was created the turn of the 17th century, 18 00:01:39,150 --> 00:01:44,880 China and India will predominant international superpowers by the time it was dissolved by the British government. 19 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:51,300 After one too many atrocities and after having been bailed out by the state is the first too big to fail business. 20 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:56,940 Britain was the global superpower with the largest empire the world has ever seen. 21 00:01:56,940 --> 00:02:02,970 Down to the individuals, our streets are named after all, of whom were key players in British rule India, 22 00:02:02,970 --> 00:02:08,220 during which 35 million people died from war and famine alone. 23 00:02:08,220 --> 00:02:13,230 Hi, I'm Caroline. And I've lived in Florence Park for many years. 24 00:02:13,230 --> 00:02:17,470 I'm now standing on the junction of Cornwallis and Campbell Roads. 25 00:02:17,470 --> 00:02:25,270 Cumulous Road was named after Charles Cumulous as Governor-General and commander in chief of India in 1786. 26 00:02:25,270 --> 00:02:28,090 He took some positive steps, for example, 27 00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:37,120 demanding better behaviour from East India company officials who had fathered numerous children with Indian so-called dancing girls. 28 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:43,330 But more significantly, he enacted racist policy that forbade natives from holding high office in the 29 00:02:43,330 --> 00:02:49,540 company and the offspring of Anglo Indian Union couples holding any office. 30 00:02:49,540 --> 00:02:57,430 He also enacted land tax reform, which led to the enrichment of the company and the ruin of peasant farmers. 31 00:02:57,430 --> 00:03:07,030 Colin Campbell, after whom Campbell wrote, was named, commanded the first Opium War, which drained China of wealth while creating many opium addicts. 32 00:03:07,030 --> 00:03:16,150 He was the commander in chief during the Indian rebellion, which saw 6000 European casualties and killed eight hundred thousand Indians, 33 00:03:16,150 --> 00:03:21,370 possibly more in battles and subsequent famines and epidemics. 34 00:03:21,370 --> 00:03:30,460 Not far away is Litten Road, named after Robert Bulwer Lytton, who was viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880. 35 00:03:30,460 --> 00:03:36,010 His reputation was one of ruthlessness in both domestic and foreign affairs and his 36 00:03:36,010 --> 00:03:45,570 handling of the Great Famine in 1876 to 1880 in which millions died was controversial. 37 00:03:45,570 --> 00:03:51,710 Hi, I'm Judith from Campbell Road. Despite the connotations of the street names, the actual history of florals, 38 00:03:51,710 --> 00:04:00,040 Paul began in the 1930s when it was built on marsh land with some houses completed in as little as three week. 39 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:08,550 Terrible housing conditions result. The state was built by Fred Moss, who named the park after his sister, Florham. 40 00:04:08,550 --> 00:04:13,500 Wall Street won't stop little wilds of the Welsh miners who lived here. 41 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:18,740 Seeing job losses and grinding poverty in the economic crash of 1929, 42 00:04:18,740 --> 00:04:25,130 they had walked all the way to Oxford to take up jobs in the expanding Cariddi Koplow. 43 00:04:25,130 --> 00:04:31,400 This they first face discrimination from local people who saw them as undercutting their own prospects 44 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:38,390 when all the rest of us pulled together to organise a rent strike in 1934 against the state of housing. 45 00:04:38,390 --> 00:04:46,250 Things improved a bit. Solidarity eventually led to improvements in the lovely houses we live in today. 46 00:04:46,250 --> 00:04:52,830 Regional residents also left as valuable remnants of their home culture, such as the Welsh male voice choir. 47 00:04:52,830 --> 00:05:02,460 Still say. County Baptist and Congregational Churches, which were established with a friendly welcome, the migrant community all still here to. 48 00:05:02,460 --> 00:05:08,850 These achievements are surely an example of how we could all benefit from diversity today. 49 00:05:08,850 --> 00:05:09,210 Clearly, 50 00:05:09,210 --> 00:05:17,670 it is important to publicise our research because we want to involve our neighbours in a discussion of what the area and its history means to that. 51 00:05:17,670 --> 00:05:20,960 Importantly, through a better understanding of our past, 52 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:29,848 we can work together to create community with a history we can all be proud of whatever our diverse backgrounds.