MP opposed slave abolition

THE 1st Viscount Melville, Henry Dundas, was a lawyer and powerful politician who dominated Scottish politics at the end of the 18th century. He used his position to elevate many Scots in the East India Company.

He served as MP for Midlothian from 1774 to 1779 and for Edinburgh from 1790 to 1802. He was a close ally of prime minister Pitt the Younger.

But he is a controversial historical figure for his opposition to the abolition of slavery.

He died in 1811 and in 1828 a statue of him was placed atop a column in Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square.