Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has just revealed in a personal statement that his ancestor owned slaves in Jamaica.

The 68-year-old Welby admitted that his great-great-great grandfather Sir James Fergusson owned slaves at the Rozelle Plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica, and received compensation from the British Government when slavery was abolished. 

Sir James Fergusson was the ancestor of the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, the last private secretary for Sir Winston Churchill. In 2016, Welby discovered in a “complete surprise” that Sir Anthony was his biological father — not Gavin Welby, the man who raised him.

No relationship with biological father

The archbishop, who had no relationship with Sir Anthony, said he “recently discovered” his link to the “evil trade” of slavery. Welby declared that he did not receive any money from his biological father while he was alive, or from his estate since his death.

In his admission, The Archbishop of Canterbury said: “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….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.”

The Church of England announced in January 2023 that it was working to address historic links to slavery, with a funding programme for investment, research and engagement to “address past wrongs”. The initial £100-million investment fund was branded too small and slow in a report earlier this year, with an independent oversight group saying Church Commissioners had “embraced a target of £1 billion for a broader healing, repair and justice initiative with the fund at its centre”.

Welby, the leader of the global Anglican church, further stated, “I reiterate the Church Commissioners’ commitment to a thorough and accurate research programme, in the knowledge that archives have far more to tell us about what has come before us — often in a very personal way. 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.”

A timely matter

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement coincides with the commencement of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, where recently installed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer is to make his first attendance in that capacity. However, Starmer has indicated that discussing reparations for the transatlantic slave trade is not on his agenda.

A spokesperson for the British prime minister did not rule out engaging with "partners on the issue", according to Reuters.

—  Additional reporting from Reuters