Attempt to rename Jersey's Trenton Square rejected

Trenton Square
Trenton Square is named after St Helier's twin town Trenton, in New Jersey - which is named after the 18th century slave trader William Trent. Credit: ITV Channel

An attempt to rename Trenton Square in the International Finance Centre has been rejected by Jersey States.

It is named after St Helier's twin town Trenton, in New Jersey, which is in turn named after the 18th Century slave trader William Trent.

Deputy Montfort Tadier had put forward a proposition to change the name to Benin Square, to look into the possibility of establishing a permanent memorial to the slave trade and to do an audit of all place names and memorials relating to former slave traders in Jersey. All three parts of his proposition were rejected by his fellow States members.

He also put forward a number of amendments. These included asking the States Assembly to agree to mark 23 August each year as International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, and asking for Chief Minister to commission work on the desirability and practicalities of establishing an Equalities and Human Rights Commission in Jersey. All were rejected.