Archbishop Welby reveals slave owner ancestor

The Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed he is related to a former slave owner after digging into his ancestry.

Justin Welby said his great, great, great grandfather Sir James Fergusson was an owner of enslaved people at the Rozelle Plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica.

In 2016, Mr Welby revealed his biological father was the late Sir Anthony Montague Brown - Sir Winston Churchill's last private secretary - after making the discovery through DNA evidence.

The archbishop said a recent trip to Jamaica had helped him to "confront the legacies of enslavement in the Caribbean".

When he revealed that Sir Anthony was his biological father, Mr Welby said it came as "a complete surprise" and that he had believed his father was Gavin Welby, who raised him.

His ancestral link to enslavement is through Sir Anthony, who died three years before Mr Welby discovered they were related.

“His great, great grandfather was Sir James Fergusson, an owner of enslaved people at the Rozelle plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica," Mr Welby said.

“My recent trip to Jamaica has helped me to confront the legacies of enslavement in the Caribbean and the responsibility owed to those who still suffer from the effects of this evil trade."

He also thanked those who had "given their time to such tireless research in this field", many of whom were "descendants of enslaved people".

According to the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, the Rozelle plantation had almost 200 enslaved people working on it at its height, and the Fergusson family was financially compensated by the British government for the loss of “property” after slavery was abolished.

In January 2023, the Church of England pledged £100m to "address past wrongs" after its investment fund was found to have historic links to slavery.

Mr Welby had previously said he was "deeply sorry for the links".

The amount pledged to repair damage caused by the links was deemed "not enough" by a Church Commissioners charity report earlier this year.

The Church welcomed the report and accepted its recommendations, but would not commit to raising the fund to the report's £1bn target.