Content note: This article contains mention of the slave trade.

Despite a “mass of objections” from alumni and relatives, the trial to remove a memorial to a prominent slave investor will go ahead next week (2/2).

Tobias Rustat, a “significant benefactor” to Jesus College was heavily involved in the slave-trade. In the seventeenth century, he directed and invested in the Royal African Company – the organisation which shipped more slaves across the Atlantic than any other business.

The College is looking to remove the statue and put a plaque in its place following pressure from alumni over Rustat’s legacy.

Since the plaque is held in a Church of England chapel, Jesus has to get its approval via a church court before the plaque gets removed.

However, alumni and Rustat’s relatives have tried to delay the trial “to give them time to prepare an expert witness” in order to evaluate the extent of Rustat’s slave-trade involvement.

Last year, his 10th great-nephew, Steven Hemsted claimed that his ancestor had “made his money in the court of Charles II. It’s clear that the bulk of his wealth came from things [that were] nothing to do with slavery, so the money that was given to Jesus College clearly has nothing to do with slavery.”

Nevertheless, the trial will go ahead next week. The church judge, David Hodge, QC, said that opponents “could and should have anticipated any potential need for any report from an expert historian at a much earlier stage.”

The lawyer representing Jesus claimed that attempts to delay the case were indicative of its strength.

The case follows similar debates surrounding colonial legacy in Cambridge, such as the campaign to rename the Seeley Library.

Varsity’s coverage of the trial begins next week.