Barbados potentially seeking reparation from Benedict Cumberbatch’s family over slave-owning history
Barbados has started the process of seeking reparations from people who are the descendants of enslavers. One famous name in the potential firing line is Benedict Cumberbatch, whose seventh great-grandfather purchased the Cleland plantation in Barbados in 1728.
The plantation was subsequently passed down through the generations until 1834 when slavery was abolished in the Caribbean country. According to reports, 250 people were enslaved on the site, significantly contributing to the Cumberbatch family’s overall wealth.
The focus on the Sherlock actor comes after the Barbados government announced that they are seeking reparations from Richard Drax, the British MP, who inherited Drax Hall, the island’s most extensive plantation. Barbados want Drax to return the land to the government and has threatened to pursue compensation through an international court if he does not.
If Barbados’ fight against Drax is successful, it will likely turn up the heat on several other figures whose families have benefitted from slavery in the country. The Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration general secretary, David Denny, recently told The Telegraph, “Any descendants of white plantation owners who have benefitted from the slave trade should be asked to pay reparations, including the Cumberbatch family.”
Although Cumberbatch and his family no longer own the plantation in question, they sold the property when slavery was abolished in Barbados for a fee thought to be in the region of £1 million today. Denny continued, “The money should be used to turn the local clinic into a hospital, support local schools, and improve infrastructure and housing,”
Cumberbatch had faced up to the controversy surrounding his family’s past before and once claimed that his mother had suggested that he used a stage name in fear of reparation requests. He also once suggested that he had taken the role of a plantation owner in 12 Years a Slave to atone for his ancestor’s misdeeds. Cumberbatch has also pledged to help refugees in Ukraine.
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