The Hibbert Trust and the debt to Jamaica

Over the last two years, the Caribbean has witnessed an unprecedented response to the region’s demand for reparatory justice for the crimes against humanity committed against African people, in particular those trafficked and subjected to chattel enslavement by various European powers, including Britain.

However, the positive response has mostly been from the churches, universities, and individuals descended from enslavers, not from former and current colonial powers who created the legislative framework and economic conditions that encouraged their citizens to participate in acts now deemed crimes against humanity and who profited from it. Whether or not their front-line protesters wish to admit it, economic historians like Eric Williams have long provided proof that Britain’s wealth was built on the backs of blacks, including with the investments they made from the compensation payout when chattel enslavement ended.

Recently, Prof Verene Shepherd (VS) caught up with Derek McAuley (DM), chair of the Hibbert Trust, to talk about the well-known family, members of which received compensation for properties like Hopewell, St Mary, and how the trust is seeking to make amends.

VS: The Hibbert name is well known in Jamaica. Most Jamaicans know that beside Gordon House is a building that used to be Hibbert House, where the House of Assembly used to meet. You are Chair of the Hibbert Trust, which I assume is connected to this same family in Jamaica?

DM: Yes, the founder of the Hibbert Trust was part of the Hibbert family - plantation owners in Jamaica and merchants over several generations. None of the trustees are, however, members of the Hibbert family. Our creator, Robert Hibbert (1769-1844), was the nephew of Thomas Hibbert (1710-80), who built Hibbert House, not to be confused with his cousin, Robert Jr. (1750-1835). Our Robert was orphaned at an early age and inherited a fortune from the family’s mercantile house. After living in Jamaica, he went to London in the early 1800s.

VS: Which family members owned property in Jamaica?

DM: In The Bonds of Family, Katie Donington shows that over three generations of Hibberts prospered through the system of slavery; that thousands of enslaved Africans were bought and sold by the Hibberts. Robert Hibbert owned two estates in Hanover; Georgia, with 380 enslaved people in 1817; and Dundee, with 226, which he bought later. Robert, by this time, was permanently resident in England with a grand London home and a country estate.

VS: What is the purpose of this Trust?

DM: The Trust is a UK charity established to promote “the spread of Christianity in its most simple and intelligible form and to the unfettered exercise of private judgment in matters of religion”. Over the years, the object has been interpreted more widely.

VS: Does the Hibbert Trust only administer funds connected to Robert Hibbert?

DM: The Trust’s original funds were from Robert, who had no children, and were received after his wife died in 1853. We have no connections to any of the other members of the Hibbert family or received any funds from them.

VS: Your webpage indicates that the Hibbert Trust is the collective name for the Hibbert Trust, Case Fund, and John Gregson Trust. How did the Hibbert Trust come to incorporate these other funds?

DM: The Hibbert Trust is more like a brand for several charitable funds, each with differing aims. The Case Fund came to us from Rev George Case, who had been both an Anglican and Roman Catholic priest but resigned due to doctrinal differences. He seems to have become associated with the trustees and left a considerable sum, which came to the Trust to administer in 1899. It has a wide purpose of promoting free thought in matters of religion and culture. It has been used for scholarships, religious education, and inter-faith work. The John Gregson Trust, of which the Hibbert Trustees are also trustees, was founded in 1956 and gives grants to historic Unitarian church buildings. John Gregson went to South Africa as a clerk and rose to become a director of a bank.

VS: What was the initial capital given by Robert Hibbert, and how has this fund matured and expanded?

DM: The original capital received was $50,000 in stock in the State of Ohio, USA, along with £8,000 invested in the bonds of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company. This was a substantial sum in the 19th century, however, over time, with inflation, the value has certainly declined in terms of what it can fund. More recently, thankfully, the Trust had a cash contribution from a generous donor and also a substantial legacy.

VS: The Trust was initially instituted to spread Christianity. Is this still how people qualify to get money from it?

DM: The purpose was deliberately written in this form rather than Robert Hibbert’s original intention to establish an Anti-Trinitarian Fund to recognise that Unitarian thinking is open to change. Unitarian and Free Christianity rejects dogma and creeds. It is a Liberal Religion and individuals have freedom to explore their personal spirituality in the way they best determine. There has never been a Unitarian Church in Jamaica, although from 1912, Rev. E Ethelred Brown attempted to establish a congregation in Montego Bay and then Kingston. The Hibbert Trustees has interpreted the purpose very generously over the years as society’s’ needs have changed.

VS: What caused you to come forward and reach out the Centre for Reparation Research at this time?

DM: Like many individuals and institutions in Britain, we are beginning to come to terms with our links to the legacy of slavery. Unlike some families who have only recently discovered an ancestor involved in slavery, it has never been a secret that Robert Hibbert was an owner of enslaved people. He was controversial in his own time. On the 100th anniversary of Robert Hibbert’s death, it was acknowledged in the Hibbert Journal that good things are often “gathered from soil dunged deep with human suffering”. Today’s Trustees have concluded that this justification for our charitable work is no longer adequate. After much soul searching and exploration, we have approached the Centre for Reparations Research for advice and support on making some form of redress. We cannot change the past, but we want to build a better future for the people of Jamaica.

VS: What plans do you have for engaging with reparatory justice?

DM: We have set aside a sum which is an estimate of what is left from the original donation, plus the income that money is earning, as a fund for reparations which we intend to be spent in Jamaica. We want to involve local people in decisions around this, but we also need to ensure we comply with the UK Charity Commission requirements and the rules of the UK tax authorities about transfers overseas. We also know that the Case Fund will certainly have connections to slave trading, and this needs further investigation. We also want to be an example to others of an institution taking responsibility for it past actions.

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