Lives of kids valued less than animals on slave plantation owned by Justin Welby's ancestors

Children on a slave plantation owned by Justin Welby’s ancestors were cruelly valued less than animals — in one case at just £8.

The Archbishop of Canterbury this week revealed his biological dad’s great-great grandfather enslaved people in the Caribbean. We can disclose how the prices of lives were meticulously recorded at Carrick Plantation, in Tobago’s Bloody Bay, in the late 18th century. A book written by journalist Alex Renton – also a descendant of the same family – uncovered the findings in an archive.

The book detailed the contents of a formal document on “Carrick Plantation… the property of Sir Adam Fergusson Baronet” in November 1777 after his brother James died. James and Sir Adam’s brother, Charles, had a son also named James – Sir James Fergusson, the fourth baronet of Kilkerran, whose great-great grandson was Welby’s biological father, Sir Anthony Montague Browne.

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Renton’s book, Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family’s Story of Slavery, disclosed of the document: “... the most valuable things are listed on the first page, starting with the land and its crop. Next comes ‘Buildings’ and then ‘Slaves’. That section begins with the title ‘House’ and five names: Emoinda, Rachael, Monimia, Sophia and Peggy. The last three have their roles stated: washerwoman, cook and sick nurse.

“Emoinda and Rachael were maids, perhaps. In the next column these humans’ value is estimated: Emoinda at £65, Rachel at £57 and Peggy, the nurse, £90. Peggy is nearly the most valuable person on the plantation – valued higher than , the carpenter (£80) or Solomon, one of the watchmen (£81). Quashie, listed as one of the two ‘drivers’ – field team leaders, or bosses – is priced at £108. The inventory lists a total of 79 people, most of them under the heading ‘Field’. Their total value is £4,198 – nearly £7 million today.”

Renton adds: “When I read this list I felt nauseous. The last heading is ‘Children’ – just five of them, judged too young to work until over six years old: Billy, Johney, Colin, Jeanie and Flora. Billy has a value of £25, Colin just £8 and the others £10. Immediately below their names on the page the next category gives a context, some evidence of how a child’s life in that was measured. It is of the animals: ‘1 horse – £40, 2 mules – £58, 2 cows – £30, 3 calves – £12’.”

Later, the book describes how a 1784 inventory detailed more children had been born but of the five listed in 1777 only Billy and Jeanie survived – the former then a house servant “lame from sciatica”. Sir Adam and his brother Charles – Justin Welby’s great-great-great-great grandfather – had since 1769 owned “half of a thriving sugar estate [Rozelle] in eastern Jamaica” which had 150 enslaved people.

The book explains the brothers “were excited by the cash flowing from their share of Rozelle” and “they decided to encourage Jamie to head for the islands further south in the West Indies”. James decided “Tobago is the right island for him to buy land and make a life, the place for his brothers to invest their money”, the book says. Sir Adam was said to have decided to take a 50% share in his brother’s Bloody Bay venture.

But James Fergusson died after illness in October 1777 aged 31, with an inventory made for his four siblings who were said to be his heirs. In 1785, Sir Adam sold the remaining 79 African slaves “and everything moveable at Carrick to Gilbert Petrie [a neighbour] and his brother John, a planter in India”. The land and houses were put on the market for sale or rent, the book says, but: “By May 1787 20,000 acres of Tobago plantations have been seized by French authorities and [conqueror of Tobago] de Bouillé’s managers have taken possession of Carrick.”

In a on Tuesday, Welby said: “I have recently discovered that my biological father, the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, had an ancestral connection to the enslavement of people in Jamaica and Tobago. His great, great grandfather was Sir James Fergusson, an owner of enslaved people at the Rozelle Plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica.

“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. 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. I thank those who have given their time to such tireless research in this field, many of whom are descendants of enslaved people.” Lambeth Palace declined to comment beyond Welby’s statement.