using the 'truncated' name Richard Drax. During the 2010 United Kingdom general election campaign period, the Daily Mirror reported that Richard Drax's family had earned their fortune through slavery. Drax's response questioned his responsibility for "something that happened 300 or 400 years ago", stating "it's not what I stand for", and cited the desperation of his opponents- "all they can do is pick at bits of my family history". In 2013, the BBC noted that his ancestor John Erle-Drax, who had an estate in Barbados, was recorded in a database created by University College London as having received £4,293 12s 6d in compensation for 189 slaves when slavery was abolished. Wimbledon Common Erle-Drax is reported to have been responsible for the destruction, in 1875, of the remains of an Iron Age fort on Wimbledon Common. References Footnotes Sources - Total pages: 811 External links 1800 births 1887 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers Deputy Lieutenants of Dorset British Militia officers High Sheriffs of Dorset Ernle family