The Rum Story
The Rum Story is a visitor attraction and museum in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England.[1] It presents the story of the rum trade and the creation of rum. It is located in an original 1785 trading shop and warehouses.
The Rum Story was started with United Kingdom National Lottery funding from the Millennium Commission and opened in May 2000.[2] It was voted Cumbria Tourism's "Small Visitor Attraction" in 2007.[citation needed]
The Jefferson family, wine merchants, imported wine and spirits for over two centuries until 1998. Their story is covered by The Rum Story.[3] Brothers Henry and Robert Jefferson had joint interests in two estates in Antigua leased from Rear Admiral Sir William Ogilvy, father of Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet.[4] These were York's Estate (which had 146 enslaved people)[5] and the New Division Estate (309 enslaved people)[6] There is also a Margarett Jefferson listed in connection with the Bahamas, and a Thomas Jefferson in Jamaica.[7]
In 2025, the museum revealed plans to update its exhibits to highlight Whitehaven's "glossed over" ties to slavery, using money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, alongside the non-profit Anti-Racist Cumbria, announced they would work with historians to fact-check details. They noted that for years, the involvement of ports like Whitehaven in the slave trade had not been accurately represented. This meant that "intergenerational consequences, including trauma had been ignored". There had been "active avoidance or euphemism", with terms such as "shipping" or the "Virginia Trade" bring used to refer to slavery.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Whitehaven - The Rum Story". Visit Cumbria UK. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "The Rum Story, Whitehaven". Millennium Commission, UK. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "Stage 7 - The Rum Story and the Jefferson Family". BBC, Cumbria, UK. 5 July 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ Foster, Joseph (1882). The peerage, baronetage, and knightage of the British Empire. London: Nichols & Sons. p. 470.
- ^ "Antigua 20 (York's Estate)". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Antigua 61 (New Division Est.)". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Search". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Hall, Sian (15 February 2025). "Museum to make exhibits on slavery 'more honest'". BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
External links
[edit]54°32′54″N 3°35′20″W / 54.5482°N 3.5889°W
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- Commercial buildings completed in 1785
- 2000 establishments in England
- Museums established in 2000
- Industry museums in England
- Tourist attractions in Cumbria
- History museums in Cumbria
- Whitehaven
- Sugar industry of the United Kingdom
- Sugar museums
- Drink-related museums
- Rums
- Atlantic slave trade
- African slave trade
- British slave trade
- Cumbria building and structure stubs