Members of the Trevelyan family have apologized to the people of Grenada for the fact that their ancestors forced hundreds of African people to work on their plantations as slaves.
The apology was given today at the Grenada National Reparations Commission (GNRC) and The University of the West Indies Reparations Forum by Laura Trevelyan and her family.
Laura, who works as a journalist for the BBC, and her cousin John Dower read the apology on behalf of more than 100 family members.
Before reading the apology, Laura said, “I’m so sorry for our painful, shared past and the part our ancestors played in it.”
The Trevelyans have promised to give £100,000 to create a community fund for economic development. The University of the West Indies will be in charge of the fund. Also, other family members will give money and time to community projects in Grenada.
Sir John Trevelyan and his wife, Louisa Simond, owned six plantations with about 1,000 slaves. As payment for freeing their slaves, they were given £26,898, which is about £3 million in today’s money.
Laura said that she knows the money isn’t much compared to what her family got, but that it’s all she can afford to give right now. The money came from the pension she will get from the BBC.
She has asked the UK government to meet with its former colonies in the Caribbean to talk about what can be done to make up for what happened in the past.