A descendant of a Scottish plantation owner who hanged 11 slaves after they staged a revolt against his ownership of them will this week make a public apology for his actions at a ceremony in Jamaica.

Kate Thomas, whose ancestor was the slave trader John Malcolm, from Argyll, will issue the statement of apology for her forefather brutal actions and wider involvement in the slave trade on Wednesday at the Emancipation Jubilee on the Caribbean island.

The event commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation of August 1, 1834, which ended slavery throughout the British Colonies, including some parts of the Caribbean.

READ MORE: How one brutal Scottish slave trader crushed a rebellion

Ms Thomas' apology will acknowledge John Malcolm’s response to the 1823 slave resistance on his Scottish estate in Jamaica, where the 11 enslaved people staging the revolt were hanged in a courtyard in front of their families.

The protest erupted after Scottish planters refused to implement new rights for slaves which had been granted by British Parliament. Three people killed themselves rather than die as slaves.

Ms Thomas, who lives in New Zealand, traced her family tree and found she was descended from John Malcolm.

The Scottish merchant had a Jamaican partner Mary - whom he called his "slave wife" - and the couple had several children.

He later brought Mary back to Scotland and settled her and their children in a house in Crinan.

Their son John emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland.

Ms Thomas, who is descended from both a slave and a slave trader, did not know about the family's involvement in slavery until she read  a Scottish book, "Bought and Sold: Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery" written by Kate Phillips, a retired adult educator, who lives in Glasgow.

(Image: George Munro) Kate Phillips, author of Bought and Sold, Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery on a visit to Newark Priamry School, Port Glasgow. Photo George Munro.

The Thomas family contacted Ms Phillips to tell her about the official apology they wanted to make.

Ms Phillips had spent several years researching Scottish family accounts and archives both in Scotland and widely used documents left by William Montagu, the 5th Duke of Manchester, who was Governor of Jamaica from 1808 to 1827.

He recorded the slave revolt of 1823 and John Malcolm's brutal response.

(Image: George Munro) Bought and Sold, Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery, by Kate Phillips.  Photo George Munro

Ms Thomas said: “We have been invited to make our apology during the Emancipation Jubilee which is held every year on July 31 running through the night until August 1. Thousands of people attend, and it's televised and live streamed around the world. So it's a pretty big deal.

"We would love other descendants of the Scottish Malcolm family and other Scottish slaver families to do the same."

Ms Phillips said: “My book Bought and Sold records Scotland’s involvement in slavery in Jamaica – the profits we took, rape and violence we perpetuated and the terrible human cost. It is a very complex history.

"I used family accounts and personal letters which many middle class families filed in libraries and public archives. 

"To hear that people are starting to recognise their family history is very gratifying. All I ever wanted for this book is for Scotland to recognise our terrible slave history and how much we as a country still benefit today.”

It is understood Ms Thomas and her family will be the only people related to a Scottish trade who will make an apology while attending the event personally this week. Other Britons are making apologies in pre recorded videos.

"Bought and Sold" traces the story of how and why thousands of Scots made money from buying and selling humans.

The book documents Scotland’s role in slavery using local  and family library records. The author also carried out research for the project Jamaica where she searched records there too.  It was launched at the Aye Write Glasgow’s book festival in 2022.

Speaking ahead of her journey to Jamaica, Ms Thomas told Ms Phillips: “We have been very busy organising our trip to Jamaica, working with academics and government officials. We have been very lucky to have a lot of support from local academics, including Professor Veren Shepherd and her research team.”

She added: “We have worked with a few experts to carefully craft our apology letter. This letter will get read out and then submitted as an official document in Jamaica. This means that if any of our kids or grandkids or great grandkids ever want to see it, they can go there and see it."

She continued: “The intention is to set up a charitable fund of some sort and plan to have lots of conversations about what might be possible and realistic.  Maybe we should name it after Mary? I personally like the idea of honouring her in some way.”