Moreland City Council is being urged to change its name.

Last week, Elders from the community of traditional owners brought information to the council, in Melbourne’s north, that showed it was named after a Jamaican slave estate.

In 1839, Farquhar McCrae took ownership of the land between Moonee Ponds Creek and Sydney Road. He named it “Moreland” after an estate his family operated in southern Jamaica in the late 1700s.

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What is now considered the local government area of Moreland – after the City of Moreland, the City of Brunswick and part of Broadmeadows merged in 1994 – was sold to McCrae without consent from the traditional owners, who were dispossessed from their land.

In a statement, newly appointed Moreland City Council mayor Mark Riley said: “We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn that, 27 years ago, Moreland was named after a slave estate. The history behind the naming of this area is painful, uncomfortable and very wrong. It needs to be addressed.

“Moreland stands firmly against racism, we are one community, proudly diverse. Council is committed to working with Wurundjeri people and we take the request very seriously.”

A report on the matter, which will look at how community consultation could help determine a new name, will be considered at the next council meeting.

The news comes a month after the council signed a statement of commitment to reconciliation with, and respectful and inclusive recognition of, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people – the traditional owners of the land and waterways that make up the area currently known as Moreland.

Moreland City Council encapsulates the suburbs of Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Coburg, Coburg North, Fawkner, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Hadfield, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale and Pascoe Vale South.