British Library apologizes for linking poet Ted Hughes to slave trade

The British Library has issued an apology to poet Ted Hughes’s widow (and his other family members and friends) for linking him too strongly to a man involved in the slave trade.

The library has been compiling a database of figures with “evidence of connections to slavery, profits from slavery or from colonialism,” according to the Guardian.

Hughes’s inclusion — since removed, with a full apology — came due to an association with Nicholas Ferrar.

Ferrar, born in 1592, actually has no direct descendants, so Hughes’s name has been cleared.

Hughes’s fame as a poet began with his award-winning collection The Hawk in the Rain (which he submitted at the encouragement of his wife Sylvia Plath) and continued throughout his life, including a stint as Britain’s poet laureate.

For more on the British Library’s project, its apology, and Carol Hughes’s gracious acceptance, head to the Guardian.

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