The Legacy of Slavery in the RCP’s collections

Glass coat of arms showing a stereotyped depiction of a Black man wearing a feathered skirt and holding a bow and three arrows.

Coat of arms depicting a stereotyped image of an African man. Described heraldically as ‘Arms: Argent on a Mount vert an African proper wreathed round the middle with feathers holding in the dexter hand a Bow and in the sinister hand three Arrows Argent'

The Legacy of Slavery in the RCP’s collections

Tucked away in the stairwell below reception, two long stained-glass windows catch the light. Incorporated into the modern glass are historic coats of arms from the Royal College of Physicians’ former headquarters at Pall Mall East (1825–1964). The coats of arms commemorate former RCP presidents and other significant figures from the College’s past.

One of these coats of arms, however, carries a disturbing legacy. It includes a stereotyped depiction of a Black man wearing a feathered skirt and holding a bow and three arrows. It’s a startlingly different image from all the others preserved in the stained glass and a powerful reminder of the historic connection between wealth, status and slavery in the British establishment.

Image illustrating the precise location of the Coat of Arms within the wider stained glass.

Location of the Roupell coat of arms at 11 St Andrews Place underneath the staircase leading to the Lower Ground floor

Scheme showing positioning of various coats of arms.

Scheme for stained glass armorial window with Fellows' coats of arms, location of Roupell arms circled, 1887- 1888. MS1094/108

Historic photograph in sepia tones showing the armorial windows in their original location.

Armorial windows at Pall Mall, 1927. PH7764

The Coat of Arms of Dr George Leith Roupell

New research has revealed that this particular coat of arms belonged to RCP Fellow Dr George Leith Roupell (1745–1854). Dr Roupell was a physician known for his contributions to the early 19th-century understanding of cholera and typhus.

Dr Roupell’s coat of arms feature imagery known as ‘blackamoor’ or ‘demi-African’ figures—stylised and often demeaning representations of Black people that were widespread in European heraldry. Such imagery reinforced ideas of servitude, colonial dominance, and the dehumanisation of African and African-descended people.

Black and white reproduction of a portrait of a White man in flowing black robes.

Portrait of Dr George Leith Roupell. PR3907

The Roupell Family and Slavery

The arms were almost certainly designed and adopted by Dr Roupell’s grandfather, George Roupell Esq. (d.1794), who was a customs official in South Carolina and Postmaster General for the Southern District of North America.

The reason George Roupell Esq. adopted a shield and a crest with the African figure is unrecorded. What is known, however, is that by marrying Elizabeth Prioleou, an heir to a wealthy slave owning Prioleau family, George Roupell Esq. became part of the landed planter elite enslavers in South Carolina.

Dr Roupell’s father, George Boone Roupell, emigrated from the United States to Britain after selling his share of Roupelmond, a vast slave plantation bearing the family name in Beaufort County, South Carolina. This plantation had been passed down through his family via his mother Elizabeth Prioleou who was co-heir.

The world in which the Roupell family amassed its fortune was one of exploitation. A glimpse into this reality can be found in an illustration by George Roupell Esq. of a drunken dinner party hosted by Peter Manigault - one of the wealthiest men in British North America at the time of his death. Manigault, who owned hundreds of enslaved people, was among the elite who shaped the colonial economy. A haunting detail from the gathering is the presence of an exhausted enslaved boy, shown leaning against the wall while the revelry continues around him.

Confronting Difficult Histories

The wealth of the Roupell family was rooted in transatlantic slavery and was ultimately inherited by Dr Roupell. Strikingly, the doctor’s wealth is the first thing noted about him in his historic Munk’s Roll obituary published in 1878.

The presence of Dr Roupell’s coat of arms in the RCP’s collection serves as a stark reminder that medicine, privilege, and colonial wealth have long been intertwined.

At the Royal College of Physicians Museum, we are committed to exploring these complex histories with honesty and reflection.

Elizabeth Douglas

Senior Curator

References

William Munk, Obituary of George Leith Roupell, https://history.rcp.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/george-leith-roupell

James Peill, Bluemantle Pursuivant, College of Arms, “Stained Glass Panel in the Collection of the Royal College of Physicians” 2025

Michael Trinkley and Debi Hacker, “Roupelmond: an Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Interior St. Helena Parish Plantation, Beaufort County, South Carolina”, Chicora Foundation Research Series 53, December 1999 https://chicora.org/pdfs/RS%2053.pdf