Aberdeenshire and Moray councils have been told they have a “moral responsibility” to take urgent action over a £1.8 million teaching fund that was founded using the profits from slavery.
SNP MSP Gillian Martin said it was “wrong” that the north-east was effectively benefitting from the slave trade today through the controversial Dick Bequest.
She urged the ruling administrations of the two local authorities to follow the lead of Aberdeen University and the Society of Writers to HM Signet (WS Society) by cutting all ties with the fund.
Ms Martin said the “fate of the Dick Bequest” was in the hands of the councils.
What is the Dick Bequest?
The bequest was established following the death of Forres-born merchant James Dick almost two centuries ago.
The pot of money has been used to provide grants to teachers and schools in Aberdeenshire and Moray ever since.
Last year, two historians revealed that the money was directly linked to the fortune Mr Dick made as a slave trader in the Caribbean.
He had a business partnership with Robert Milligan, whose statue was removed by the Museum of London from its plinth in London’s Docklands, amid a wave of anger across the country about the UK’s enduring links to slavery.
The historians, David Alston and Donald Morrison, called for the cash to be redirected to benefit the education system in Jamaica.
Who controls the £1.8 million today?
The bequest is overseen by 10 governors who were appointed by Aberdeen University, the Edinburgh-based WS Society, and Aberdeenshire and Moray councils.
Recent decisions taken by the university and the WS Society mean that now only the two local authorities are still to sever their connections.
The councils have continued to appoint governors to the Dick Bequest trust.
Ms Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, said: “I am fully supportive of moves to repatriate money from the Dick Bequest to Jamaica in some way, as we know this money came from the legacy of slave trader James Dick who sold slaves in Jamaica in the 1800s, and the effects of that are still being felt today.
“The fund is being used in schools in Aberdeenshire and Moray, which effectively means that the north-east is benefitting from the slave trade to this day – I strongly believe this is wrong.
“The fate of the Dick Bequest is in the hands of Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council administrations and I think they have a moral responsibility to do the right thing.”
Ms Martin has also lodged a parliamentary question to the Scottish Government to ask for its position on repatriating the funds.
She said: “I’d urge the Scottish Government to work alongside the councils on a constitutional level in order to set repatriation of these funds in motion so that they can in some way be deployed for the educational needs of Jamaican young people.
“I look forward to receiving a response from the government.”
Aberdeenshire Council declined to comment.
A Moray Council spokeswoman said: “The education, children’s services and leisure committee agreed on 6 October 2021 to lobby the Dick Bequest board of governors and the Scottish Government to wind up the Dick Bequest and follow the suggestion that the funds be re-directed to benefit people in Jamaica.
“The committee further agreed that until such time as the fund is wound up the council would adopt a minimum approach in relation to the Dick Bequest, including no longer promoting the scheme or applying for equipment grants and make available full transparency of the origin of the fund.
“Furthermore, committee agreed the council would still be required to nominate a councillor to the board of governors until the fund is wound up.
“Any deviation from this decision would require further committee agreement and will be a matter for committee members to discuss.”