Who is Justin Welby? The Archbishop who battled depression and spoke of his 'messy' family history
For more than a decade, Justin Welby has been at the heart of the constitutional running of this country, ITV News' Correspondent Neil Connery looks at his meteoric rise and fall
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has presided over royal weddings and funerals - but he has also spoken of his "messy" upbringing and struggle with depression.
Mr Welby, who resigned as Archbishop on Tuesday, was ordained in 1992 and spent 15 years serving in Coventry Cathedral before becoming the Dean of Liverpool and the Bishop of Durham.
In March 2013, he became the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury.
As well as being a church leader in England, he is a spiritual leader for 85 million people across the world, known as the Anglican Communion.
Royal ceremonies
As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby takes a leading role in all major royal occasions from weddings and christenings to coronations and funerals.
In 2023, he anointed and crowned King Charles at Westminster Abbey.
He admitted the thought of it gave him "nightmares" saying: "I dreamt we got to the point (of the coronation) and I'd left the crown at Lambeth Palace."
In September the previous year, he officiated the late Queen Elizabeth II's funeral service where he told mourners the monarch had touched "a multitude of lives" and was a "joyful" figure for many.
Mr Welby also conducted the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018 and has christened some of the royal children including Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Struggle with mental health
Mr Welby has described faith as a "safety net" after speaking about his own battles with depression which led him to experience feelings of "self-hatred, self-contempt, real, vicious sense of dislike of oneself”.
In April 2023, in a series of lectures at Canterbury Cathedral to mark Holy Week, the archbishop said taking anti-depressants had helped him to “react like an average sort of human being”.
Referencing the character in Winnie the Pooh, he said the medications “restore me to Eeyore status from something much worse”.
Family history
A DNA test revealed that Mr Welby's biological father was the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary.
He said it had come as "a complete surprise" having believed his father was Gavin Welby, the man who raised him.
Gavin Welby died “as a result of the alcohol and smoking” in 1977 when the archbishop was 21.
His mother, Lady Williams of Elvel described the revelation as “an almost unbelievable shock”, but added she recalls going to bed with Sir Anthony “fuelled by a large amount of alcohol on both sides”.
Lady Williams also battled alcoholism and died aged 93 in July 2023.
Mr Welby has previously said that “as a result of my parents’ addictions my early life was messy”.
In October 2024, he revealed one of his ancestors owned slaves at a plantation in Jamaica.
He said a recent trip to the country “has helped me to confront the legacies of enslavement in the Caribbean”.
Mr Welby said his great, great, great grandfather Sir James Fergusson – an ancestor of his biological father Sir Anthony – was an owner of enslaved people at the Rozelle Plantation in St Thomas, Jamaica.
Mr Welby has also spoken lovingly of his own family, paying tribute to his “exceptionally precious” daughter Ellie, who is neurodiverse.
Political Views
Within the church, the Archbishop has had to mediate the decisive views over same-sex blessings, which has been allowed in the Church of England since January 2023.
At the time, Mr Welby welcomed the blessings on same-sex couples but would not perform them himself.
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) criticised the passing of the motion and questioned Mr Welby's fitness to lead.
He spoke a number of times during a lengthy Synod debate on the matter and recognised there is “very painful” disagreement on the issue within the church.
Sitting in the House of Lords, Mr Welby has been outspoken on political issues including child poverty, condemning the “cruel” two-child benefit policy, and assisted dying, the legalisation of which he has warned could lead to a “slippery slope”.
He has also criticised the previous Conservative government’s scheme to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats to Rwanda, which he warned was “leading the nation down a damaging path”.
Mr Welby resigned following the findings of the Makin review.
It concluded Mr Welby could have alerted authorities over a decade ago when he was made aware of the allegations against the Church of England's most prolific child abuser, John Smyth.
Victims and members of the church said he should have told police of the allegations in 2013 and urged him to resign as his position had become untenable.
Mr Welby said the review had made clear that he “personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013, the awful tragedy was energetically investigated”.
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