Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dick Bequest: George Alexander seeks talks on funds tied to slave trade

George Alexander slave trade
A sculpture on Big Corn Island, in the Caribbean Sea, celebrating the abolishment of slavery.

Former leader of Moray Council George Alexander has called on the local authority to consider its involvement in an education fund that has been linked to the slave trade.

Forres councillor Mr Alexander has asked officials to prepare a report on the Dick Bequest after we exclusively revealed the truth about the origins of the £1.7 million trust.

He said there needs to be a “discussion” about its future, in the wake of research by historians David Alston and Donald Morrison.

Mr Alexander said “maybe we should be refocusing and considering how we use the money”.

George Alexander slave trade
Councillor George Alexander.

The bequest was established following the death in 1828 of Forres-born merchant James Dick, who left almost £120,000 for educational development in Aberdeenshire, Banff and Moray.

It continues to distribute grants to help teachers in Aberdeenshire and Moray develop their skills through travel or study, and also supports the purchase of school equipment.

However, extensive research by Mr Alston and Mr Morrison has now revealed that Mr Dick made his fortune as a slave trader in Jamaica.

The shock truth has triggered calls for the money to be returned to Jamaica, including from Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin and north-east Green MSP Maggie Chapman.

George Alexander slave trade
Green MSP Maggie Chapman.

The trust is run by 10 governors, of which five are elected by the Society of Writers to the Signet, two by the senate of Aberdeen University, and three by Aberdeenshire and Moray councils.

The governors say they do not have the authority to change its use because its “purposes and procedures” are directed by central government.

However, Mr Alexander believes there should be a debate about the future of the fund, and he raised it at a meeting of Moray Council this week.

“I brought it up mainly because I felt it was something we should be considering as a council, because Moray has benefited hugely from the Dick Bequest,” he said.

Historian Dr David Alston.

“I just wondered if we should be discussing how best to progress, after what the historian David Alston appears to have uncovered.

“There’s a wide spectrum of views on this. Some people take the attitude that, well, the benefits of the slave trade are basically endemic in the whole of the British culture, really, especially the built culture.

“But I know the Dick Bequest is used for putting equipment into schools, for putting teachers on trips, putting pupils on trips, and maybe we should be refocusing and considering how we use the money.

“Now, the legal people will tell you there is absolutely nothing we can do, it’s all written down, how it can be used, but are we going to be dictated to by something that was decided 200 years ago?”

Mr Alexander added: “There could be an opportunity here to use the money to educate our kids.

“I think, for far too long, we’ve been far too reticent about discussing the benefits that have accrued to Scotland as a result of the slave trade.

“I was taught at school 60 years ago about slavery and the Caribbean but I was never, ever taught anything about how much Scotland – and the rest of the UK, but particularly in parts of Scotland – benefited from it.”