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Laura Trevelyan

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Laura Trevelyan
Born
Laura Kate Trevelyan

(1968-08-21) 21 August 1968 (age 56)
Islington, London, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
American
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Newsreader, anchor and correspondent
Years active1991–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1998)​
Children3

Laura Kate Trevelyan (born 21 August 1968) is a British-American journalist who worked for the BBC for 30 years. She served as an On the Record reporter, United Nations correspondent (2006–2009), and New York correspondent (2009–2012), before anchoring BBC World News America (2012–2023).

Early life and education

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Trevelyan was born on 21 August 1968.[1] She was educated at Parliament Hill School in North London and was a member of her local Air Cadet unit (which she later described as being a "wonderful experience" and a positive influence on her later life).[2] Trevelyan graduated with a first-class degree in Politics from Bristol University. She gained a postgraduate diploma in Journalism from the Cardiff School of Journalism in 1991.[1]

Career

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Trevelyan began her career as a general reporter for London Newspaper Group in 1991, on titles including the Hammersmith Chronicle. She then joined Channel 4 as a researcher on A Week in Politics in 1992.[1]

Trevelyan moved to the BBC in 1993, initially taking roles as a researcher for Breakfast News and as an assistant producer for Newsnight, before becoming a reporter for On the Record in 1994, where she covered the IRA ceasefire and Northern Ireland peace process. In 1998, Trevelyan shifted her focus to political reporting, covering Westminster, the 2001 general election and the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. She was a political correspondent for BBC News from 1999 and was based in London until her move to the US in 2004[1] to cover the presidential election, which coincided with her husband James Goldston's move to the US, to become a Senior Producer at ABC News in New York, after he left his role at ITV as an executive producer.[citation needed]

From 2006 to 2009, Trevelyan covered the United Nations, travelling to Darfur, Congo, Burma, and Sri Lanka, and was the first journalist to interview Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2009 to 2012, she was a BBC correspondent based in New York. After three years as the BBC's New York correspondent, Trevelyan joined BBC World News America as an anchor/correspondent.[citation needed]

In 2022, after uncovering her family's links to slavery in the Caribbean, Trevelyan made a documentary for the BBC World Service called Grenada: Confronting the past in 2022.[3][4]

In March 2023, Trevelyan announced she would be stepping down from her position at the BBC after "thirty incredible years" to become a full-time advocate for reparations for slavery.[5] Acting BBC executive Paul Royall thanked her for her "outstanding" contributions to the BBC.[6]

Reparations advocacy

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Further information: Reparations for slavery

Trevelyan's ancestors owned more than 1,000 slaves spread across six sugar plantations on Grenada, despite never setting foot on the Caribbean island.[7][8] After the 1833 abolition of slavery in the British Empire, slave owners were compensated by the government for the loss of their property; the Trevelyans received £34,000 (equivalent to £4,127,661 in 2023).[9][4] In the wake of a cancelled visit to Grenada by the Earl and Countess of Wessex in April 2022, Trevelyan described this as "rank unfairness fuelling calls for more than expressions of profound sorrow from the UK government and the royal family that slavery ever happened".[10]

After contemplating how best to make amends, in February 2023 the Trevelyans went in person to make an official apology to the people of Grenada, meeting with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.[11] They also donated £100,000 in voluntary reparations, which went towards education projects,[12] via CARICOM.[13]

In April 2023, Laura Trevelyan co-founded Heirs of Slavery, a group of descendants of people who had profited from British transatlantic slavery and wanted to make amends. Other members include David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood; Charles Gladstone, who is descended from prime minister William Gladstone; and journalist Alex Renton. The group has called on the British Prime Minister and King Charles to make a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom.[13]

Other roles

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As of 2021, Trevelyan was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[14]

Books

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Outside journalism, she has written the book A Very British Family: The Trevelyans and Their World, published in 2006, on the history of the Trevelyan family including her ancestor Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet.[15]

Her second book, The Winchester: The Gun That Built An American Dynasty, explores the family behind America's most famous firearm and was released in September 2016.[16]

Personal life

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Trevelyan is married to James Goldston, former president of ABC News. They have three sons and live in Brooklyn Heights, New York.[1][17][18] Live, on the BBC's coverage of the 2016 US Presidential Election, Trevelyan said she was about to become a US citizen; she was sworn in on 9 November, the day after Donald Trump won the presidential race.[19]

In May 2023, Trevelyan stated that if the Irish government asked her family to pay compensation over the Irish famine they would consider the request, after accepting that her great, great, great-grandfather Sir Charles Trevelyan was among those who "failed their people" while governing Ireland during the famine.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f BBC – Press Office – Laura Trevelyan. Accessed 5 January 2009 and 11 January 2010.
  2. ^ Laura T (12 August 2021). "'Cadets gave me the perseverance and resilience to be successful in journalism'". rafbf.org. Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  3. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (11 May 2022). "Grenada: Confronting the past". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Wealthy UK family to apologise in Grenada over slave-owning past". BBC News. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. ^ Mohdin, Aamna (16 March 2023). "Laura Trevelyan quits BBC to campaign for reparative justice for Caribbean". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. ^ Kanter, Jake (14 March 2023). "BBC World News Host Laura Trevelyan Quits Weeks After Apologizing For Her Family's Slavery Links". Deadline. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  7. ^ Lashmar, Paul; Smith, Jonathan (4 February 2023). "'My forefathers did something horribly wrong': British slave owners' family to apologise and pay reparations". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712.
  8. ^ Dawson, Bethany (5 February 2023). "Aristocratic British family whose ancestors owned 1,000 slaves to apologize and pay $120,000 to reparations fund". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  9. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (11 May 2022). "Grenada: Confronting my family's slave-owning past". BBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  10. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (23 April 2022). "Earl and Countess of Wessex: Why Grenada wanted to talk to royals about slavery". BBC News.
  11. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (25 March 2023). "My family owned 1,000 slaves and profited from the trade: this is how I am trying to make amends". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  12. ^ O'Doherty, Cahir (12 February 2023). "Famine fiend Charles Trevelyan's heirs say sorry, but not to the Irish". Irish Central. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  13. ^ a b Baker, Nick (11 May 2023). "These British 'heirs of slavery' are trying to make amends for past wrongs". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ CFR (2021). Membership Roster. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (2006). A Very British Family: The Trevelyans and their World. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-86064-946-2.
  16. ^ Trevelyan, Laura (5 February 2024). "The Winchester". Yale University Press. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  17. ^ Ward, Vicky (20 September 2016). "The House That Guns Built". Vicky Ward. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  18. ^ Rumbelow, Helen (15 April 2023). "Laura Trevelyan: King Charles should apologise for family's slave trade role". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  19. ^ "US election 2016: Becoming citizens after Trump's win". BBC News. 9 November 2016.
  20. ^ Trevelyan descendant 'would consider' Irish famine compensation. BBC News, 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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