How Justin Welby’s past continues to cause controversy

Welby has spoken of being “very careful” with his own drinking as a result. However, he transcended his chaotic childhood. He attended Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and worked for the oil companies Elf Aquitaine and Enterprise, although he also had a spiritual conversion at Cambridge and, he claims, from the age of 19 began speaking in languages

He was rejected when he first tried for ordination, in 1987: the Bishop of Kensington told him: “There is no place for you in the Church of England.” But he was soon accepted and had a rapid rise, becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

He is supported by his wife Caroline, whom he met at Cambridge; the couple has six children. There was a seventh, Joanna, who died tragically at the age of seven months in 1983, in a car accident in Paris. Welby said it was a very dark time, “but in a strange way it brought us closer to God.”

His appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury appears to have fueled his desire to opine on political and social issues, taking what some might see as a “woke” stance. In 2018 he wrote that Brexit had “divided the country” and that austerity was “crushing the weak”. Welby criticized the government for capping profits below inflation, criticized energy companies for raising prices and, in 2013, mocked payday loan sites, although embarrassingly it turned out that the Church of England pension fund was linked to Wonga. In 2017, he said there should be no restrictions on the admission of refugee children to the UK, and that big business avoiding tax was wrong.

He has always supported the introduction of women bishops, but is more equivocal on same-sex marriage. In 2023, he abstained from the General Synod vote on the introduction of services for same-sex couples, claiming that he wanted to remain a unifying figure. He was also criticized for supporting Postmaster General Paula Vennells: he reportedly supported her bid to become Bishop of London.

How might this latest notable addition to his family tree shape his current views? It was obviously a surprising discovery, but his quick, shrewd and socially conscious recall of his slave-owning ancestor suggests that it will further fuel this progressive’s quest to push the church forward while keeping an eye on the times in his story