Alexander James Torre Renton

FRHistS The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of several historical and investigative books, including ''Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class'' (2017) and ''Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family's Story of Slavery'' (2021). In 2023 he co-founded the advocacy and education grou
Heirs of Slavery

Early life and education

Alexander James Torre Renton was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, the oldest child of the politician Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry and the novelist and historian Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson. He was educated at Ashdown House, East Sussex;

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

;

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

; and the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, where he studied English. Since 2024, Renton has been a Visiting Fellow at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

Career

As a journalist Renton has held staff jobs as a reporter and editor on British newspapers ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and the ''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

''. He has been a columnist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and a Scotland-based correspondent for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' magazine. He has won awards for foreign reporting, investigative journalism and food writing. He worked in Asia for

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

from 2001 to 2004. There he began writing about food cultures, poverty and food policy. Drawing on his own experience at three British

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

s, Renton was presenter and reporter on a 2018 episode of the ITV current affairs programme '' Exposure'' titled "Boarding Schools, the Secret Shame". In 2022, he co-wrote and presented a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series, ''In Dark Corners'', about abuse and cover-up at some of Britain's elite schools, including

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

and its junior school. A second series looking at the Paedophile Information Exchange and systemic problems behind child sexual abuse in institutions was broadcast in January 2025. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in July 2022, since realising in 2013 that the teachers who abused him could still be abusing children, Renton started to speak out about the abuse he suffered, and to support other victims with a book, articles, and radio and television programmes. He has said that many prestigious schools go to great lengths to protect their reputation rather than victims. Renton has said that boarding schools are "simply unsafe" until the law on safeguarding in residential institutions for the vulnerable is overhauled, and that his is the first in about seven generations of his family not to send their children to boarding school.

Awards

Renton's book ''Blood Legacy'', an account of his ancestors' involvement in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

and plantation slavery in

the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, a ...

, was long-listed for the

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

for non-fiction in 2021. It was also short-listed for the History Prize in the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland, founded in 1936. The society organises lectures and publishes pamphlets, and presents a series of awards in the fiel ...

's literary awards, known as Scotland's National Book Awards, and British Academy Book Prize in 2022. The

series ''In Dark Corners'' produced by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

and presented and co-written by Renton, won the British

Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 20 ...

's Radio Programme of the Year award in 2023. ''In Dark Corners'' won best series and a further award at the 2023 Arias, the

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...

awards.

Other activities

In April 2023 he co-founded, with former BBC journalist

Laura Trevelyan 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), ...

and others, Heirs of Slavery, a group of descendants of people who had profited from British transatlantic slavery and wanted to make amends in the form of

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Reparation (theology), the theological concept of corrective response to God and the associated prayers for repairing the damages of sin * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for re ...

. Other members include Charles Gladstone, who is descended from prime minister

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

, and David Lascelles, 8th

Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation owner and former Member of Parliament fo ...

. The group has called on the British Prime Minister and King Charles to make a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom.

Selected publications

Renton is the author of several historical and investigative books, including: * ''Planet Carnivore: Why Cheap Meat Costs the Earth'' (2014), * ''Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class'' (2017), *''Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family's Story of Slavery'' (2021), * ''13 Foods that Shape Our World'' (2022),

Personal life

Renton married the journalist Ruth Valerie Burnett in 2002.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Renton, Alex 1961 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter British journalists British non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Historical Society People educated at Ashdown House People educated at Brighton College People educated at Eton College Sons of life peers