Nicholas crispe
Sir Nicholas Crispe (1599–1666) was a local businessman who donated bricks for the building of the first chapel on this site (not the current larger building you now stand in). Later in his working life he got involved in the transatlantic slave trade, a brutal and abhorrent trade that Christians here in London helped abolish.
We at Saint Paul’s Hammersmith stand against all forms of slavery and condemn the involvement of Nicholas Crispe in the transatlantic slave trade.
We believe we must all learn lessons from history, and constantly move towards deeply held kingdom values of justice and equality for all. Slavery is not a thing of the past. Millions of people around the world are trapped in modern slavery right now. One in four is a child. That's more than the number of children in England and Wales combined. As a church, we encourage everyone reading this sign to actively engage in the movement to end modern slavery.
In particular our church supports the work of IJM (International Justice Mission) who are doing significant and effective work to combat slavery and violence. IJM has seen slavery and violence reduce by up to 86% in places where they work.