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.

Future of Moray and Aberdeenshire slave trade fund to be decided by trustees

African captives for the Caribbean slave trade.

A charity regulator says it is up to the trustees of a fund linked to slavery to decide whether the £1.7million fortune should be redirected from the north-east to Jamaica, in the wake of an investigation into its history.

A question mark has been hanging over the next steps for the Dick Bequest – which has been used to train teachers and buy school equipment in Aberdeenshire and Moray for almost two centuries – ever since we revealed the truth about its origins in May.

Research by historians David Alston and Donald Morrison showed that its founder, Forres-born James Dick, made his fortune as a slave trader in the Caribbean.

They called for the £1.7m fund to be returned to Jamaica, but there has been confusion over the legal mechanism for any bid to change the use of the bequest.

The trustees initially said they had “no discretion” on the matter, but the Scottish Government also said it did not have the powers to direct the charity to act.

Dr David Alston
Dr David Alston

Ministers asked the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to look into it.

An OSCR spokesman has now said: “We have considered this situation and the complexities involved.

“It is for the charity’s trustees to make any decisions as to how the charity develops or changes in the future.”

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

A spokeswoman for the Dick Bequest trust said: “The trustees will be meeting later this month to consider matters.”

What are the slave trade links?

The Dick Bequest was established following the death in 1828 of Mr Dick, who left almost £120,000 for educational development in Aberdeenshire, Banff and Moray.

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

The historians found that Mr Dick had a business partnership with Robert Milligan, whose statue was removed last year by the Museum of London from its plinth in London’s Docklands.

Workers prepare to take down a statue of slave owner Robert Milligan at West India Quay, east London.
Workers prepare to take down a statue of slave owner Robert Milligan at West India Quay, east London.

They were said to have been “slave factors”, who bought enslaved people from ships, and sold them to local enslavers or “re-exported” them to markets in other colonies.

Aberdeenshire Council has already distanced itself from the fund, while Moray councillors will consider their involvement at a meeting on Wednesday.

Aberdeen University, meanwhile, vowed to “acknowledge” its place in the legacy of the Dick Bequest.

Robert Pirrie, chief executive of the Society of Writers to the Signet, said the society had “no power or authority over the Dick Bequest’s purposes, assets or decision-making”.

However, he confirmed it was also “considering the situation”.