The governors of a north-east teaching fund worth £1.6 million have been condemned for their “silence and secrecy” a year after the cash was linked to the horrors of slavery.
One of the historians who exposed the shocking truth about the Dick Bequest accused the trustees and the Scottish Government of dithering and “inaction”.
David Alston has now called for the intervention of the bodies which appoint the governors – Aberdeen University, Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council, and the Society of Writers to the Signet.
He said they should refuse to renew the appointments of the trustees in order to allow regulators to step in and determine the future of the fund.
‘Exploitation and misery’
Mr Alston said: “For over a year the governors of the Dick Bequest have been fully aware that they manage a fund derived from the exploitation and misery of enslaved Africans.
“This is money which should be returned to Jamaica for the benefit of children who are the descendants of these Africans.
“The Office of the Scottish Charity Regular (OSCR) has identified steps which the governors could take to redirect the funds in this way.
“Yet the response from the governors has been inaction, silence and secrecy.”
We revealed a year ago that Mr Alston and fellow historian Donald Morrison had discovered that James Dick made his fortune as a slave trader in the Caribbean.
When he died in 1828, he left almost £120,000 for educational development in Aberdeenshire, Banff and Moray.
More than £1.6 million remains in the fund today, and it is still used to give grants to help teachers in the area develop their skills through travel or study, and also supports the purchase of school equipment.
Mr Alston and Mr Morrison’s calls for the money to be returned to Jamaica have been backed by local MSPs.
The trustees initially said they had “no discretion” to change the use of the fund, but the Scottish Government also insisted it did not have the powers to direct the charity to act.
SNP ministers asked charity regulator OSCR to look into the issue and it concluded that any decision on the future of the bequest would have to be taken by the trustees.
In October last year, the governors said they were meeting to discuss the issue, but subsequently ignored our requests for comment.
‘No comment’
We again asked a spokeswoman for the trust to detail the actions taken by the governors in the last 12 months, and to comment on the next steps for the fund.
In response, she said: “The governor trustees have no comment to make.”
Mr Alston, who was formerly Highland Council budget leader and later NHS Highland chairman, criticised the wall of silence.
“They are not even prepared to reveal the name of their chair or the names of the five lawyers who make up half of their membership,” he said.
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.
Mr Alston said: “I think it is now time for the institutions who elect the governors of the Dick Bequest to refuse to renew these nominations.
“This would dissolve the body and allow OSCR to step in.
“The councils will both, in any case, have to consider their nominations after new councillors and elected in May.
“Aberdeen University have committed to considering their involvement with the legacies of colonial slavery.
“It is time for the Society of Writers to the Signet – an Edinburgh-based group of elite lawyers – to speak out and take action.”
‘No powers’
We also asked the Scottish Government about its involvement over the last year and what its next steps were in relation to the bequest.
However, a spokesman would only say: “As we have previously made clear, the Scottish Government does not have the powers to wind up the Dick Bequest as is being suggested.”
Mr Alston said the Scottish Government’s failure to act was “equally disappointing”.
“Although they cannot instruct or direct the governors of the Dick Bequest, they have declined to express any opinion on the matter and have failed to respond to offers from Jamaica to enter into discussions on the Dick Bequest in particular and reparations in general,” he said.
Mr Alston and Mr Morrison previously wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to express their concerns about the way the government had dealt with an offer to discuss the subject from Verene Shepherd, director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies.