Akaroa restaurant named after 'notorious' slave trader seeks new name

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down during the Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol. The statue was then rolled through the city centre before being thrown into Bristol harbour.

A long-established Canterbury restaurant will change its name after an academic claimed it honoured slavery.

Writer and academic Scott Hamilton posted on Twitter on Monday claiming Bully Hayes Restaurant and Bar in the small tourist town of Akaroa was 'a tribute to the most notorious of all the Pacific's slave traders', William 'Bully' Hayes.

The restaurant's owner Wayne Jones said people the world over were justifiably questioning the glorification of individuals with abusive histories.

Jones, who bought the restaurant ready-named 17 years ago, said he had reflected on the criticism and decided 'the time is right for a change”.

Do you have a suggestion for a new name? Email reporters@press.co.nz

The Bully Hayes restaurant in Akaroa will change its name.

* Academic claims Akaroa restaurant name honours paedophilia and slavery

* Statue of slave trader thrown into harbour at British Black Lives Matter protests

Wikipedia says this is the only known photograph of Bully Hayes.

The restaurant has been around for decades and was located on the main waterfront street of the small Banks Peninsula town.

Hamilton described Jones' announcement as 'a very gracious statement'.

'We're living in a polarised age, where people sort of dig in and entrench themselves in their positions and often use alternative facts.'

It was 'really nice to see someone just thinking it through and changing his mind'.

Hamilton said Jones had done the right thing and if he were in Christchurch, he would have a drink there.

Hamilton has researched slavery in the Pacific Islands for a book and said Hayes stole islanders and sold them to the plantations of Tahiti, Fiji and Queensland. He said Hayes raped many of the girls and young women he abducted.

On Monday, Hamilton said the restaurant's name was 'as though somebody 100 years in the future would name a restaurant after [the Christchurch mosque shooter].'

Jones said Hamilton's comments made 'a good point' and he had reached out to him to learn more about slavery in the Pacific Islands.

He said the new name would be decided by customers with the top three suggestions put to a vote in July.

Jones said a name change would be expensive and said the restaurant was 'struggling a bit financially' due to the Covid-19 lockdown closure.

'We’ll do our best to get it done as soon as we can,' he said.

Community board member Jamie Stewart said the restaurant was a local icon.

'Bully Hayes under another name will survive, it's all about Wayne [Jones] at the end of the day … I don't think he would lose too much with a rebrand.'