The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has revealed his ancestor owned enslaved individuals in Jamaica.
Mr Welby, 68, stated in a private assertion that his nice nice nice grandfather Sir James Fergusson owned slaves on the Rozelle Plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica, and acquired compensation from the British authorities when slavery was abolished.
Sir James Fergusson was the ancestor of the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne – Sir Winston Churchill’s final non-public secretary.
In 2016, Mr Welby found in a “complete surprise” that Sir Anthony was his organic father – not Gavin Welby, the person who raised him.
The archbishop, who had no relationship with Sir Anthony, stated he “recently discovered” his hyperlink to the “evil trade” of slavery. Mr Welby didn’t obtain any cash from his organic father whereas he was alive, or from his property since his loss of life.
In a press release, Mr Welby stated: “While I sadly only discovered my relationship to Sir Anthony in 2016, three years after his death, I have had the delight of meeting my half-sister and her son.
He added: “My latest journey to Jamaica has helped me to confront the legacies of enslavement in the Caribbean and the duty owed to those that nonetheless endure from the results of this evil commerce.
“I thank those who have given their time to such tireless research in this field, many of whom are descendants of enslaved people.”
Sir Anthony Montague Browne (proper) with Sir Winston Churchill (centre), for whom he was non-public secretary for the final 10 years of his life. Pic: PA
The Church of England introduced in January 2023 that it was working to deal with historic hyperlinks to slavery, with a funding programme for funding, analysis and engagement to “address past wrongs”.
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The preliminary £100m funding fund was branded too small and sluggish in a report earlier this 12 months, with an unbiased oversight group saying Church Commissioners had “embraced a target of £1bn for a broader healing, repair and justice initiative with the fund at its centre”.
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Mr Welby, who’s the chief of the worldwide Anglican church, stated in at present’s assertion: “I reiterate the Church Commissioners’ dedication to a radical and correct analysis programme, in the data that archives have much more to inform us about what has come earlier than us – typically in a really private means.
“I give thanks to God for this journey towards healing, justice and repair, as we take the path that Jesus Christ calls us to walk.”
