GLASGOW UNIVERSITY is attempting to make amends after assessing that it received the equivalent of up to £199 million from benefactors who made their fortunes from slavery.

It has launched a programme of “reparative justice” after a year-long study into its connections with slavery revealed bequests made in the 18th and 19th centuries by profiteers of the evil trade.

The programme includes the creation of a centre for the study of slavery and a memorial to victims of slavery.

The university’s plan follows similar actions by universities in the US, and it is hoped other British universities will follow suit.

At the height of the slave trade the university’s stance was one of absolute opposition to it — but the report reveals that it had accepted the endowments from profiteers of slavery, principal and vice-chancellor Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli said.

The report’s authors investigated whether donors made money directly from slavery or less directly, through trading in slave-produced goods such as tobacco, sugar and cotton.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, welcomed the report, saying: “I celebrate colleagues in Glasgow for taking these first steps and keenly anticipate working through next steps.”