Descendants of British slave-owning families back Caribbean reparations calls

Mixed · 2Descendants of some of Britain's most prominent families that profited from slavery, including the Gladstone, Lascelles and Trevelyan families, have backed Caribbean campaigns for slavery reparations, according to AFP. 1 2 Centre · 1The families accumulated significant wealth from owning plantations in the West Indies and South America. 1 Mixed · 2Laura Trevelyan, a former BBC journalist, said she learned of her family's involvement only after finding an archive of compensation payments to plantation owners that followed Parliament's abolition of slavery in 1833. It showed Trevelyan family members had claimed compensation in Grenada. 1 2

Mixed · 2Trevelyan made a public apology in Grenada in 2023 and co-founded the Heirs of Slavery group, which supports "reparative justice". With other family members she has paid about £100,000 ($133,000) in voluntary personal reparations, earmarked for educational projects. 1 2 Mixed · 2Co-founder Charlie Gladstone, a direct descendant of Prime Minister William Gladstone, whose father John was one of the largest slave owners in the British West Indies, apologised publicly in Guyana in 2023. David Lascelles, the Earl of Harewood, is another member of the group. 1 2 Centre · 1A portrait of the actor David Harewood hangs at Harewood House in northern England, after it was found that his ancestors worked on Lascelles family sugar plantations in Barbados. 1

Mixed · 2The UK government reiterated its rejection of reparations in September. Modern British royals have expressed remorse but, like the government, have not issued an official apology. 1 2 Mixed · 2The issue is likely to come up on King Charles III's Caribbean tour, which begins on Tuesday in the Bahamas and continues to Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where he will address the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the king would acknowledge the "darkest days" of colonial rule and slavery. 1 2 Right · 1Guyana's President Irfaan Ali said his country would keep championing reparations "because slavery was the worst indignity to humankind". He called for a "mature" discussion on an apology and reparations, citing options from debt relief to education and healthcare finance and climate adaptation. 2

Mixed · 2The Caricom Reparations Commission has called for "monetary compensation", debt cancellation and a full apology under its "Ten-Point plan". Next year Britain's Privy Council will hear a petition from Jamaica asking whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was ever legal under English law and whether the UK owes a "reparatory remedy". 1 2 Mixed · 2Not all such families agree with the Heirs group. Richard Drax, 68, a former Conservative MP whose ancestors founded Drax Hall Estate in Barbados in the mid-17th century, remains opposed to reparations. He calls his ancestors' role "deeply, deeply regrettable" but says "no-one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago". 1 2 Mixed · 2Caricom commission chair Hilary Beckles estimates up to 30,000 enslaved people died at Drax plantations in Barbados and Jamaica over 200 years. Paul Lashmar, author of a book on the Drax family, said it was increasingly hard to see Drax's position prevailing, because wealth from those years "is not something you can wash your hands of". 1 2