A British family whose ancestors owned slaves in the 19th century plans to apologize to the people of the Caribbean island of Grenada and pay compensation, the BBC reported Sunday.

Laura Trevelyan, a member of the British family in the US where she works as a BBC correspondent, tweeted that the Trevelyans apologized to the people of Grenada for "the role our ancestors played in enslavement on the island, and participation in reparations".

The BBC said the family - which had more than 1,000 slaves there in the 19th century and owned 6 sugar plantations - plans to donate £100,000 to create a community fund for economic development on the island.

How do you make up for brutal enslavement?

A British family has issued an apology to the people of Grenada, where its ancestors owned more than 1,000 slaves.

The Trevelyan family, including my colleague @LauraTrevelyan will also pay reparations.

We discussed her family's journey.

pic.twitter.com/joZlogHEcc

- Azadeh Moshiri (@Azadeh_Moshiri) February 5, 2023

In 2022, Trevelyan visited a family member on the island, and described the experience as "truly horrible. I felt ashamed to see plantations where slaves were punished and the instruments of torture used to chain them."

She also said, "You can't fix the past, but you can acknowledge the pain."

In 1834, she explained, the Trevelyans received about £34,000 for the loss of their "properties" in Grenada, the equivalent of about £3m in today's money.

The Trevelyan family is apologizing to the people of Grenada for the role our ancestors played in enslavement on the island, and engaging in reparations. https://t.co/R7EeBhH2DG

— Laura Trevelyan (@LauraTrevelyan) February 4, 2023

"For me to give £100,000 after nearly 200 years...it may seem really insufficient, but I hope we can set an example by apologizing for what our ancestors did."

According to Trevelyan, seven family members will travel to Grenada this month to make a public apology.

Grenada Island

Grenada is known as the Spice Island due to its production of nutmeg and mace crops, and its capital is Saint George.

This island is located in the southeastern part of the Caribbean Sea, with an area of ​​34 km, and an estimated population of 112,523, according to July 2020 statistics, most of whom are of African, East Indian, and European descent.

Grenada was discovered in 1498 by Christopher Columbus, named "La Concepcion" and the French and British fought for the right to colonize this island for 150 years after its discovery.

And in 1672 the French army took control of this island, and after 100 years the war began again, and the British won, and Grenada became part of the Leeward Islands, an English colony.

And in the 18th century, the British established sugar plantations on the island, where slaves were brought from Africa to work.

Later in the century, hurricanes destroyed the sugar fields, so they were planted with new crops of cocoa, cotton, and nutmeg introduced by Europeans.

In 1967, Grenada became a self-governing country with the United Kingdom, and then gained its independence as part of the British Commonwealth on February 7, 1974.