Benedict Cumberbatch's family could be sued over historical links to slavery

Family of Sherlock and Marvel stars have already expressed remorse over their own family's ties to slavery

Benedict Cumberbatch's family may face legal action (

Image: Getty Images for Disney)

The family of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch may face the prospect of legal action over their historical ties to the Barbadian slave trade.

The Oscar-winning actor himself expressed remorse for his own family's ties to slavery.

He suggested that was why he took on the role of William Pitt the Younger in the movie Amazing Grace which is about the abolition of trade.

And he also won critical acclaim for his starring role as plantation owner William Ford in 12 Years a Slave over a decade ago.

Now a senior official on the Caribbean vacation island, who plays a leading role on its national reparations commission, says he is in the "early stages" of efforts to seek damages from the ancestors of the Cumberbatch estate.

Joshua Cumberbatch, Benedict Cumberbatch's seventh great-grandfather, bought the Cleland plantation in the north of the island in 1728, The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.

Joshua Cumberbatch, Benedict's seventh great-grandfather, purchased the Cleland Plantation in 1728 (

Picture:

MovieMagic)

It housed 250 slaves until the abolition of slavery more than 100 years later.

The decision allowed the Cumberbatch family and other slave holdings across the British Empire to be compensated by the British government.

The Cumberbatch family received £6,000 in compensation for the loss of their 'human property' - in today's money this amounts to around £3.6 million.

And campaigners in Barbados, which voted to become a republic in 2021, have urged Conservative MP Richard Drax, who inherited a sugar cane plantation on the island...