Henry Dundas and "Dundas" Named Places in Canada

Henry S. Dundas was known as the "Uncrowned King of Scotland". He was born on April 28, 1742, at Dalkeith and died May 28, 1811. He is the fourth son of the 3rd Lord Arniston, Robert Dundas. 

Dundas was an outspoken person who inspired many around him and he was driven computationally by talent and manners. He was an absolute dictator from Scotland, and with his keen and controversial eloquence, quickly grew into a member of Parliament with Scotland's legal system. Also, a wealthy house appointed to a place had a means of suppressing the opposition.

Dundas was a Scottish politician appointed in 1794 as the first Secretary for War. Known as "Harry the Ninth of Scotland", he was considered the manager of the people before being appointed as Secretary. By 1774, he was a returned member of the Parliament of Scotland, and in 1775 he was appointed Lord Advocate (the highest political office and Scotland) and Keeper of the King’s Signet of Scotland. He performed his duties, like Secretary of State, had a seat in Congress, and held all the patronage of the crown.

As the right hand of British Prime Minister William Pitt, Dundas became Treasurer of the Navy and Secretary of the Home Department and Secretary of War. When Pitt resigned in 1801, Dundas retired with him but was promoted to Viscount Melville of Melville Castle in the county of Edinburgh by the Addington Ministry. In 1804, Viscount Melville became the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Following Simcoe's pattern of naming places in the province after prominent British politicians, "Dundas" street was named in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, in honour of Henry Dundas, then the Home Secretary in the U.K. government of William Pitt the Younger. Simcoe's exact motive for naming the road after Dundas was unclear, but the latter was overseeing the colonial issue as home Secretary.

The name "Dundas Street" has existed in what is now known as Toronto from at least the early 1800s. Today there are four legal entities carrying the Dundas name:

• Dundas Street East (east of Yonge St.)

• Dundas Street West (west of Yonge St.)

• Dundas Square

• Old Dundas Street (East and west of the Humber River, south of Dundas Street West)

 In 1776, Dundas, a lawyer who had just been appointed as Scotland's attorney, took charge of the case against slavery.

Jamaican African slave Knight v. was purchased from farm owner John Wedderburn. John Wedderburn asked for Britain's decision for his own freedom and rights. When Wedderburn appealed to the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest civil court, Dundas argued that: "Human nature, my Lords, spurns at the thought of every part of our specifications." Announced that, apart from Jamaican law, Scotty law does not support ownership of any human being.

Dundas distinguished himself by taking credit for winning the first case in defense of a Black man. But despite his ability, Dundas' nickname "Great tyrant" follows, because of his obstruction to the abolition of British slavery.

William Wilberforce's British House motion to immediately abolish the Atlantic slave trade in 1792 was revised by Dundas.

 The colony of New France, founded in the 1600s was a territory where the enslavement of African and Indigenous people was a common practice that helped improve economy. From 1600s to early 1700s, slaves in New France were mostly people of Indigenous decent. Aside from a few cases such as Oliver Le Baillif, Black slaves had not been wildly introduced until the late seventeenth century.

King Louis XIV had attempted to Import Black slaves in 1689, but was set back by the War of the League of Augsburg (1689–97), and the shipment stalled again due to Queen Anne’s War (1702–13). In the end only 13 Black slaves made it to New France and the bigger shipment did not arrive. Towards the late seventeenth century, African slaves imported to the colony were smuggled or taken as war captives from the neighbouring British colonies.

When New France was conquered by the British in 1760, a record of 3,600 enslaved people were already living in the settlement. The majority of them were of Indigenous descent, and were referred to as "Panis" - A term that is synonymous with “enslaved Indigenous person”.

On 13 April 1709, a law entitled "Ordinance Rendered" was passed by Intendant Jaques Raudot. This law legalized the purchase and possession of slaves in New France, and was the first official law that would enable slavery in New France.

With the next French king Louis XV, slavery was further reinforced as he made two proclamations about slavery in the 1720s, and one more in 1745.

In 1760, New France was conquered by Britain and became British North America. In the Articles of Capitulatio signed on 8 September 1760, a specific clause on enslavement was included.

"Article XLVII:

The Negroes and panis of both sexes shall remain, in their quality of slaves, in the possession of the French and Canadians to whom they belong; they shall be at liberty to keep them in their service in the colony, or to sell them; and they may also continue to bring them up in the Roman Religion."

—“Granted, except those who shall have been made prisoners.”

One of the common misconceptions about slavery in Canada, is to assume they were treated better than slaves in neighbouring countries. Over the course of slavery in Canada, the enslaved were seen as less than human, a mere tool for economic growth, and were treated inhumanly by their owner.

At the time, a slave shall obey all commands of their masters, regardless of expediency of demands. A slave would work on the farm, do chores, build houses and oftentimes be lent out to work for others. By doing so, the hiring organization got cheap labour, and the slave owners would pocket any earnings. This was a common practice to get the most value out of their property.

If a slave had luck in their favour, they were granted the chance to learn reading and writing. Sadly, the majority were denied an education and the same goes for their offspring. When a slave fails to fulfill their "duties", they would be beaten and tortured. Female slaves were regular victims of sexual abuse, and any attempt to escape would end in jail or murder.

• Picture: Enslaved labouring under the watch of their master, late eighteen century

In the 1770s, the spark of abolition had ignited in Britain. Soon, its influence had spread across British North America. With this wave of abolition, bills to end slavery were introduced in both 1793 and 1801 but failed to pass. This reflected the struggle between two opposing parties, and the road to freedom would not be smooth sailing. 

On April 18, 1791, The Debate on A Motion For The Abolition of The Slave-Trade would take place in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is an establishment that approves new laws and taxes, and in this debate they would be examining the abolition bill presented by William Wilberforce. In short, the result of this debate would determine the fate of slaves in Canada.

This debate would last all night and through to the next morning, and Dundas was one of the last to speak. This is when he proposed the famous "gradual" abolition, opposing the immediate abolition. Dundas argued that if slave trade would be abolished at once, a void in the trade would be created thus other countries would take advantage of the situation. He believed that this would cause more smuggling of slaves so the correct course of action would be by taking baby steps.

After the opposition met on the debate, the bill died in the House of Lords, which gets the last say on this proposal. However, this would not be the last time Dundas makes an impact on the abolition of the slave trade. In the same year, April 23, Dundas submitted 1800 as the date of final abolition, which would be eight years later. In the end, his proposal was rejected and a terminal date of 1976 would be the final decision.

Petition #1: "Let's Rename Dundas Street in Toronto"

This petition is part of a campaign entitled "Rename the streets named after perpetrators [of] colonialism and slavery" on you.leadnow.ca.

This petition is addressed to Toronto City Council and was created by Andrew Lochhead. It is indicated as having been created 5 months ago, as of December 2020.

As of December 13 2020, the petition has 14, 457 signatures.

On an international front, the write up on the page of this petition also mentions the controversy around the Dundas monument in Edinburg, Scotland. The monument "has been the target of recent demonstrations and calls for that city to consider removing it."

Petition #2: "Keep the name Dundas Street"

This petition was created to oppose the previous petition that advocated for the renaming of Dundas Street in Toronto.

The petition is addressed to the Mayor's Office, City of Toronto (Mayor of Toronto). It was created 5 months ago on change.org by Christopher Radenovic.

As of December 13 2020, the petition has 433 signatures.

Petition #3: "Remove Racists, Rename Dundas Street, Vancouver, BC"

This petition is addressed to the City of Vancouver. It was created by Amira Reimer 6 months ago (as of Deccember 2020).

As of December 13 2020, the petition has 612 signatures on change.org.

The main image on this petition is of a Black Lives Matter rally (image shown here), which shows the impact of current events on the creation of this petition and push for the renaming of Dundas streets.

Petition #4: "Change the Name of Dundas, ON"

This petition is addressed to Petition addressed to Fred Eisenberger (Mayor of Hamilton) and Hamilton City Council. It was created by Mary Poirier on change.org.

As of December 13 2020, the petition has 615 signatures.

In the petition write up, they reference sections of the "Hamilton Street Naming, Renaming, and Addressing Guidelines and Policies". Specifically sections A and F, which reads:

" A) The city reserves the right to rename any street... in the interest of public safety....

F) That there shall be no use of awkward, corrupt, discriminatory or derogatory names, in regards to race, sex, colour, creed, political affliction, or other social factors”.

In the write up, they also discuss the impact this current naming has on the continued oppression of Black people who continually experience systemic racism. By upholding this name, the country upholds systemic racism and anti-Blackness.

This image is of a neighbourhood community board in Dundas, ON - which is now part of Hamilton, ON.

This controversy came about when people began calling for Dundas St West in Toronto to be renamed.

A comment from a Reddit user in response to this board post as well as additional written interactions put up on this neighbourhood board reads:

"Even if you don't agree with renaming Dundas (which the sign wasn't even advocating), it's at least worth thinking about who and what we choose to commemorate in our history. If you can't even be confronted with the facts about who your town is named after without trying to shut down the discussion, that's part of the problem" (CBC)

Responses/rebuttals to these ideas and this post read:

"Changing a name does not eradicate racism, embracing other cultures does. [...] Please, let's not turn a neighbourhood friendly box of sharing reading material into a means to spread anonymous propaganda." (CBC)

This CBC article shows how community attitudes towards the name have and have not changed in recent years. The responses to the push for name changes or even the sharing of information alone (like in the image) show how racism and denial of traumatic history is still rampant.

Additionally, Arlene VanderBeek, councillor of Ward 13, Dundas and Central Flamborough, expressed to CBC News that she supports the name and claimed that Dundas has no connection to the man. Of this she wrote:

"What do I think about changing the name to anything else? Absolutely Not! DUNDAS FOREVER: that was our slogan as we pushed back at amalgamation 20 years ago. It is our slogan now. Don't touch our name."

This National Post article references the Dundas situation in Edinburgh (the push for the removal of his statue), as well as the push for the renaming of Dundas St in Toronto.

Andrew Lochhead, the creator of the petition to rename Dundas St in Toronto, expressed to the National Post that he finds it "galling that Toronto would keep Dundas’s name, given his negligible positive impact on Canada. [...] Henry Dundas has very little if any impact on British North America other than the fact that he purposely obstructed the abolition of slavery and other than the fact he happened to be mates with John Graves Simcoe."

The image to the right is of the Dundas statue in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The City of Toronto created a document in response to the petition to rename Dundas Street.

The document outlines financial costs, some background on the history, situation, and players, and a variety of options as to how they could proceed.

The "options for responding to the petition" are as follows:

• Option 1 - do nothing
• Option 2 - retain the legal street names and add ceremonial street names and/or interpretation (e.g., plaques) along each street addressing the legacy of Henry Dundas
• Option 3 - retain the legal street names but rename the three parks and one public library branch with Dundas in their names, as well as Yonge-Dundas Square
• Option 4 - change the legal names of Dundas Street East, Dundas Street West, Dundas Square, and Old Dundas Street, as well as all other civic assets carrying the Dundas name