British family descended from slave owners to apologise and pay £100,000 to Grenada

BBC reporter Laura Trevelyan offers apology on behalf of her ancestors who owned six sugar plantations on Caribbean island

A journalist says her family will pay reparations for their role in slavery in Grenada. Pictured is the capital, St George's. Photo: National Geographic

A British family whose ancestors had slaves in the 1800s is to apologise to the people of a Caribbean island and pay reparations.

One of the family members, a BBC reporter, said the Trevelyan family was apologising “for the role our ancestors played in enslavement on the island” of Grenada.

The family had more than 1,000 slaves there in the 19th century and owned six sugar plantations, the broadcaster reported.

BBC News journalist Laura Trevelyan, who lives in the US, tweeted: “The Trevelyan family is apologising to the people of Grenada for the role our ancestors played in enslavement on the island, and engaging in reparations.”

The family intends to donate £100,000 ($120,545) to establish a community fund for economic development on the island, the BBC said.

Ms Trevelyan said seven family members would travel to Grenada this month to make a public apology.

The reporter, who visited the island for a documentary, told the BBC the experience had been “really horrific” and that she “felt ashamed” on seeing the plantations where slaves were punished and the instruments of torture used to restrain them.

She said: “You can’t repair the past — but you can acknowledge the pain.”

She said the Trevelyans had received about £34,000 in 1834 for the loss of their “property” on Grenada, which is thought to be the equivalent of about £3 million today.

She acknowledged that giving £100,000 almost 200 years later might seem “inadequate”, but added: “I hope that we’re setting an example by apologising for what our ancestors did.”