Descendants of ex-UK PM to apologize for family's role in slavery

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Observer/The Guardian
20 Aug 2023 16:03
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Six descendants of William Gladstone will arrive in Guyana to formally apologize for their family's history with slave ownership.

The Union flag flies atop 10 Downing Street, in London, Friday, February 4, 2022 (AP)

The family of former British Prime Minister William Gladstone will travel to Guyana in the Caribbean this week to formally apologize for their historical involvement in slavery, as the nation marks the 200th anniversary of the Demerara rebellion by enslaved individuals that contributed to the abolition movement.

Six descendants of William Gladstone will arrive in Guyana, acknowledging their ancestor's link to slave ownership, which financed the former Prime Minister's education and career. The family has not only committed to a formal apology for John Gladstone's enslavement of Africans but also pledged reparations to support further research into slavery's impact.

The Demerara rebellion of August 1823 -- sparked by the enslaved on one of John Gladstone's plantations (the ex-PM's father) -- underscores the family's connection to the brutality of the slave trade.

Early in his career, William spoke in parliament in defense of his father’s involvement in slavery and also helped calculate how much his father would be compensated, at a time when Gladstone, the father, owned or held mortgages over 2,508 enslaved Africans in Guyana and Jamaica. After emancipation, the payment he received was enormous -- nearly £106,000.

In Demerara, a former British colony that is now a part of Guyana, more than 13,000 Africans revolted. The rebellion's harsh suppression resulted in more than 250 Africans who were slaves being slain, and another 51 were given death sentences, marking a turning point in the abolitionist movement.

Charlie Gladstone, 59, who lives in Hawarden Castle, the north Wales home of his great-great-grandfather William, said, "John Gladstone committed crimes against humanity. That is absolutely clear. The best that we can do is try to make the world a better place and one of the first things is to make that apology for him."

"He was a vile man. He was greedy and domineering. We have no excuses for him. But it’s fairly clear to me that however you address it, a lot of my family’s privilege has stemmed from John Gladstone."

The Gladstone family plans to apologize at the launch of the University of Guyana’s International Institute for Migration and Diaspora Studies, which they are helping to fund with a grant of £100,000.

The modern Gladstone family's actions follow in the footsteps of other descendants of slave owners who have recently expressed remorse over the historic privileges garnered from slave ownership. These efforts, aimed at acknowledging and rectifying historical injustices, highlight the ongoing importance of confronting the legacy of slavery and its implications on society today.