James Dick ( – ) was a Scottish merchant, philanthropist and slave trader. Born in Forres, County of Moray, Dick left Scotland at the age of 19 and travelled to the West Indies, settling down in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

as a clerk in a local merchant house. In Jamaica, he established his own business importing enslaved people and exporting local produce to London, in the process becoming immensely wealthy. Dick returned to Britain and died . Following his death, he bequeathed £113,787 to improve teaching among the schoolmasters in Scotland, which became known as the ''Dick Bequest''. In recent years, the bequest has become controversial due to Dick's involvement in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

Life

James Dick was born in Forres,

County of Moray Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It w ...

. His father was Alexander Dick, a shoemaker who sat on the Forres town council. Dick grew up in a house on Forres' High Street, and studied at a grammar school in

Rafford Rafford ( gd, Ràthard) is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is approximately southeast of the town of Forres, and northwest of the village of Dallas. The parish church was designed by James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 ...

while herding cattle during the summer break. Alexander employed him as his bookkeeper; while in this position, he fell in love with the family's domestic servant and desired to marry her. Due to his parents' objections, Dick left Scotland in 1762 at the age of 19 and travelled to the West Indies. He settled down in

and found work as a clerk in a local merchant house.

Slavery

Alongside his brother John, Dick established a business importing produce from Jamaica to London. During his time in Jamaica, he became involved in the

, being involved in the sale of more than 500 slaves imported from Africa in 1779 alone. After twenty years of working in Jamaica, Dick transferred his share of the business to John and returned to London a wealthy man. John sold the business when he retired and returned to Scotland, where he suddenly fell ill and died. As a result, John's fortune passed into Dick's control, further increasing his wealth before he died .

Dick Bequest

After providing for his daughter, Dick left £113,787 in his will for the establishment of a bequest to assist education institutions and their staff members in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

and the County of Moray. In his will, which further stipulated that a thirteen-person board of governors would be established to manage the bequest, Dick wrote that it was Most Scottish teachers were university graduates who taught while waiting to become a clergyman. Dick aimed to use his bequest to encourage them to remain as teachers. By 1833, the Dick Bequest's endowment yielded between £3,300 and £5,500 annually, growing it to around £200,000. Its funds were administered by trustees from to the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet; applicants were rigorously examined for suitability and were required to be proficient in teaching classical languages, humanities, mathematics and science, and those were successful had their salaries doubled. The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 changed how the Dick Bequest's grants were dispensed by ensuring that endowments were transferred to school boards. In their third report on endowed schools, a royal commission stated that From 1856 to 1907, Scottish educator Simon Somerville Laurie served as the secretary to the Dick Bequest. In 1928, a group of beneficiaries of the bequest marked the anniversary of Dick's death by erecting a memorial in Forres dedicated to him. In recent years, the bequest has become controversial due to Dick's involvement in the slave trade. On 2 February 2023, the Moray Council voted to cut ties with the Dick Bequest due to Dick's slave-trading activities, removing a council member who was then sitting on the board of governors. A number of historians also urged the

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chairs ...

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2021. He is the first non-white and first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish Government. A member of the Sco ...

, to intervene and use the bequest's funds as reparations for slavery by sending it to Jamaica. https://www.scotsman.com/education/humza-yousaf-urged-to-help-end-scandal-of-giving-slave-trade-profits-to-scottish-schools-and-teachers-4513088

References

External links

Description of the Dick Bequest, Moray Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, James 1740s births 1828 deaths People from Forres 18th-century Scottish merchants Scottish philanthropists Scottish slave traders 18th-century British slave traders 18th-century British philanthropists