A British family whose ancestors were slaves in the 1800s has agreed to apologize to the people of the Caribbean islands and pay reparations.
A member of the family, a BBC reporter, said the Trevelyan family is apologizing “for the role our ancestors played in slavery on the island” of Grenada.
The family owned more than 1,000 slaves there in the 19th century and owned six sugar plantations, the broadcaster reported.
BBC News journalist Laura Trevelyan, based in the United States, tweeted: “The Trevelyan family apologizes to the people of Grenada for the role our ancestors played in enslaving the island, and seeking reparations.”
The family intends to donate £100,000 to establish a community fund for economic development on the island, the BBC said.
Ms Trevelyan said seven family members will travel to Grenada this month to issue a public apology.
‘You can admit the pain’
The reporter, who visited the island for a documentary, told the BBC that the experience was “truly horrific” and that she was “disgusted” to see the plantations where slaves were punished and the instruments of torture used to restrict them.
She said: “You can’t fix the past – but you can acknowledge the pain.”
Watch: Prince Charles expresses grief over slavery
Ms Trevelyan added that in 1834 the family had received around £34,000 for losing their “property” on Grenada, which is thought to be the equivalent of around £3 million in today’s money.
She admitted that bringing £100,000 almost 200 years later might seem “insufficient”, but said: “I hope we are setting an example by apologizing for what our ancestors did.”
The decision follows growing calls from politicians and campaign groups in recent years for nations and families who benefited from slavery to pay reparations.
In 2013, the Caribbean Community, an intergovernmental body for Caribbean nations, established its own Reparations Commission, which called on European governments to pay reparations and cancel debts.
The issue of the payments came to light last year, when Prince William and Princess Kate visited Jamaica to mark the 60th anniversary of the island’s independence.
Before the visit, 100 Jamaican leaders signed a letter accusing the monarchy of being the direct beneficiaries of wealth accumulated through slavery, and demanded a public apology from the monarchy and “remedial justice”, including reparations.
In 2021 on a visit to Barbados, before it became a republic, King Charles was the first member of the Royal family to formally acknowledge what he called the “terrible scourge of slavery” in the Caribbean, adding that the period was “forever stained for us. history”.