Race watchdog bid to block pub named after 'slave trader' Royal Navy hero

To the pub owners who have renamed their hostelry in his honour, Sir John Hawkins is a hero.

But to the Racial Equality Council, which has its offices just a few doors from the pub, he is a symbol of cruelty to his fellow man for his role in the slave trade.

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The christening of the Hawkins Meeting House close to Sir John's birthplace in Plymouth has left the neighbouring parties at loggerheads, with the landlord forced to deny allegations that racism inspired his choice.

The race group's outrage is focused on the fact that Hawkins was the first Englishman to trade slaves, capturing and selling more than 1,200 African men.

They say the use of his name for a pub is "offensive".

"It's very unfortunate that the pub has chosen to celebrate someone who had a history of being very involved with the transatlantic slave trade," said a spokesman.

"It will cause offence to anyone who understands the horrors of slavery. It's an entirely inappropriate tribute. He is not someone Plymouth should be proud of."

But landlord Leroy Lander, who took over the lease of the pub only three weeks ago, takes a different view on the 16th century figure, who was knighted for his exploits against the Spanish Armada and set up a charity for sick and elderly mariners.

Hawkins is also credited with introducing the potato to England.

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"I did consider the implications of naming my pub after a famous slaver, but Sir John Hawkins is actually a very historical and important figure," said Mr Lander, 44.

"He's a real British hero with a dark past, but slavery is just a part of human history which every nation was responsible for. We have to ignore that and look at the good things about people.

"Hawkins did so much more in his life than slavery which is why I want to recognise him. Obviously I don't condone slavery but the outrage we have received is political correctness gone mad."

Hawkins, a cousin of Sir Francis Drake, started the English slave trade in 1562 when he began sailing pirate missions from Plymouth.

The financial success of his trips inspired other captains to join the transatlantic missions which saw hundreds of thousands of Africans endure horrific conditions over the ensuing 300 years.

Hawkins wrote a book entitled An Alliance to Raid for Slaves which advocates extreme levels of violence as the best way to take captives.

In its previous life, the Hawkins Meeting House was a sports and live music bar called the Breton Arms, which closed in November when the previous owners left.

Mr Lander pointed out that the pub is very close to the location of Hawkins's birth in what was once Kinterbury Street, and there is already a plaque erected in his honour. Plymouth also has a Sir John Hawkins Square.

His partner Laura Ashenford said: "Hawkins lived in a culture where it was perfectly okay to trade in slaves but now people seem to want to hide Plymouth's history under the carpet.

"This is absolutely ridiculous, I am not a racist - in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth."

In 2006, almost four and a half centuries after his death, a descendant of Hawkins publicly apologised for his ancestor's actions in the slave trade.