This petition started as an open letter published in Oxford Magazine No. 458 Fifth Week Michaelmas Term 2023.

Open Letter to All Oxford University and College Staff, Academics, Students and Alumni. 

From the Grand-daughters of Sir W.D. Ross [alumnus of Balliol, philosopher, Provost of Oriel College (1929 – 1947) and Vice Chancellor / Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford University (1941 – 1947)] 

We welcome the report of the Independent Oversight Group set up by the Church of England recommending that the Church should establish a fund for "Healing Repair and Justice" in recognition of their predecessors’ financial involvement in AFRICAN CHATTEL ENSLAVEMENT. 

Encouraged by this and the many other examples of individuals and institutions, including some Oxford Colleges, confronting their past links to slavery and seeking reparatory justice for the descendants of the enslaved, we, the grand-daughters of W.D. Ross, are calling for a greater commitment from the whole of the Oxford University establishment, academics, alumni and students to demand that the University and the colleges to which they belong, play a major role in this reparatory justice movement. 

In our small way, alongside campaigning for reparatory justice for the descendants of the enslaved we have decided to donate our share of any Royalties, arising since 2020, from the sale of our Grandfather’s books to a project in Jamaica that seeks to address the effects of enslavement. 

How much more could wealthy Oxford University and its colleges do? 

Oxford University’s website states that the University has endowment assets of £1.71bn and the Colleges have endowment assets of £6.4bn.  Colleges will have accepted gifts and bequests from people whose wealth was accumulated solely or partly from slavery. Historians tell us, at least 10% of all British wealth in the early 19th Century was derived from the slave trade and enslavement; bequests made since then are almost certainly proportionately greater due to the proceeds of slavery - a crime against humanity. 

Our memories of our Grandfather are of a quiet and extremely hard-working man. We know from recently discovered correspondence that he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support causes such as ameliorating poverty, and assisting Jewish academics to escape Fascism and settle in Oxford. He was one of many in his day who recognised wrongs that needed righting and put this concern into action. We suggest even critics of his book - The Right and the Good - would agree that morally if not philosophically, in a civilised society, we are all subject to the prima facie duties, as defined by him, which include “the duties of reparation”, “the duties of justice”, “the duty of beneficence” and “the duty of non-maleficence”. 

We believe that, if alive, our grandfather would seek to persuade Oxford University and all its colleges to do their duty and use their wealth and the immense privilege bestowed on all who study there for reparation and justice. So we ask you all to consider the history of the wealth of your University and your colleges deriving from the direct (either known or still to be discovered) and the indirect proceeds of enslavement. Then, most importantly, we urge you to engage, as the Church of England has done, in creative discussions with the descendants of the enslaved, who live here in the UK and in the Caribbean to begin to redress the harms done by enslavement and the continuing indefensible imbalance of resources. By wielding your intellectual power and the influence that you hold, all in the spirit of reparatory justice, we believe that Oxford can and should truly make a difference. 

R. Mecklenburgh and K. Philbrick                                                                                                   Sept 2024