Archbishop of Canterbury reveals slave owner ancestor

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.