Yes, MaizieD, I do know one of them.
My Gtx5 Grandmother Jane Parkinson had a brother, Robert, who owned the Whitehall Pen plantation in Westmoreland, Cornwall, Jamaica. When Robert died in 1796 he left the estate to another brother, Ralph. Ralph died in 1806 and Whitehall Pen passed to Matthew Parkinson. Matthew was a son of another of Jane’s brothers, John; who does not seem to have had any direct involvement with the Jamaican goings on. (Hopefully!)
The most prolific of Jane’s brothers was Leonard Parkinson. Although I have found no references to his ownership of any specific plantations he was closely connected to what was going on in Jamaica. He has been described as a planter and businessman and he was in partnership with George Goodin Barrett: “Messrs Barrett and Parkinson, slave traders”. When he died he was back in England and the owner Kinnersley Castle in Herefordshire.
I liked your comment “I don't have a problem with the slave ancestry; it's in the past. But I found it difficult when, in 2007, there was lots of apologising for Britain's role in the slave trade. Where did I fit in as a product of slave and bosses?”
Recent outpourings of apology and guilt concerning historic slave trading and other such matters have made me feel uncomfortable. Our ancestors’ deeds were done in circumstances very different from those existing today and I actually find it rather patronising for contemporary critics to presume they know better than those who went before. What matters now is that we learn from the past and leave the best legacy we can for future generations.