Archbishop of Canterbury says biological father was involved in slavery

BRIDGETOWN (CMC):

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says it has come as a “complete surprise” to have learnt that his biological father was the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, who owned slaves on a plantation in Jamaica and was later compensated by the British government when slavery was abolished.

“In the last month I have discovered that my biological father is not Gavin Welby but, in fact, the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne,” the Archbishop said in a statement, adding that Welby died as a result of the alcohol and smoking in 1977 when he was 21.

He said that while he has had a “life of great blessing and wonderful support,” his own experience is typical of many people.

“To find that one’s father is other than imagined is not unusual. To be the child of families with great difficulties in relationships, with substance abuse or other matters, is far too normal,” he said in a statement.

Archbishop Welby said that the revelation regarding his “stepfather whose support and encouragement has been generous, unstinting and unfailing … has, of course, been a surprise.

“I know that I find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my identity in him never changes. Even more importantly my role as Archbishop makes me constantly aware of the real and genuine pain and suffering of many around the world, which should be the main focus of our prayers.”

NO RELATIONSHIP

Browne served as a private secretary to Winston Churchill and “had an ancestral connection to the enslavement of people in Jamaica and Tobago”.

The Archbishop said that he no relationship with his biological father, who died in 2013, adding that Browne was the great great grandson of Sir James Fergusson, the fourth Baronet of Kilkerran and the owner of enslaved people at the Rozelle plantation in St Thomas.

Fergusson, who died in 1838, received part of a 20 million pound (One British pound =US$1.29 cents) compensation package from the British government for the loss of “property” after slavery was abolished.

Welby did not receive any money from Browne while he was alive or from his estate after he died and he has been at the forefront of the public acknowledgement by the Church of England of its historical benefit from transatlantic slavery.

The church has pledged £100 million to address the legacy of enslavement and in his latest statement, the Archbishop reiterated the Church of England’s 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.

“While I sadly only discovered my relationship to Sir Anthony in 2016, three years after his death, I did have the delight of meeting my half-sister and her son.”

REPARATIONS NOT ON THE AGENDA

In his statement, Archbishop Welby referred to his trip to Jamaica in July, when he received an honorary degree from the University of the West Indies and apologised to Jamaicans for the church’s role in the enslavement of their ancestors.

He said the visit to Kingston “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.”

Alex Renton, another descendant of Fergusson and the author of Blood Legacy-Reckoning with a Family’s Story of Slavery, said he and other relatives had made personal donations towards repair initiatives in Britain and the Caribbean since becoming aware of the family’s history.

The British government has said the issue of reparations will not be on the agenda of the October 21-26 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa.

In August, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had said that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) intends to speak “forcefully” on the issue of reparations at the CHOGM.

“In a few months, the Caribbean leaders will meet the rest of the Commonwealth in Samoa. It is exciting because Sir Hilary Beckles (Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies) has been leading the intellectual argument. CARICOM has a body of people, many of them intellectuals, one kind or another, or leaders of one sort, demanding more loudly and persistently at this time. As Martin Luther King said, the art of freedom bends towards justice.

“We genuinely believe that it will bend to a point and a day when justice will be recognised by all and handed to those who deserve it,” Rowley said.