Statue of Robert Milligan

A bronze statue of Robert Milligan by Richard Westmacott once stood beside the Hibbert Gate at the West India Docks in London’s Isle of Dogs. Installed in 1813, it honoured the merchant who led the docks’ construction. The figure was moved in 1875 to the North Gate and later stored from 1943 until 1997, when it returned to its original spot. Milligan’s role in the Atlantic slave trade made the statue controversial. In 2007 the Museum of London Docklands opened a gallery linking the docks to enslaved Africans on sugar plantations. Protesters shrouded the statue in black cloth during the opening, and in 2020 it was removed after a petition gathered thousands of signatures. Visitors to the Isle of Dogs now see an empty plinth where the statue once stood. The Museum of London Docklands, built behind the original site, explores the docks’ history and their ties to colonial exploitation. The area remains a quiet reminder of London’s dockland past and the debates it continues to provoke.