Monday, March 11, 2013

Mafia and death threats: Justin Welby's journey to archbishop

From The Telegraph-

Justin Welby’s grandfather boasted Mafia connections, his father died an alcoholic. Welby himself faced death threats in Nigeria and personal tragedy at home. An exclusive extract from a new biography traces the Archbishop of Canterbury’s path to his enthronement this month.

Justin Welby is, in part, a scion of Britain’s political, military and educational establishment. The family tree on his mother’s side boasts an array of civil servants, academics, soldiers and clergymen. Jane Portal had been employed, aged 20, by Sir Winston Churchill as one of his personal secretaries, from 1949 until he stood down as prime minister in April 1955.

Churchill asked Jane to stay on to help him finish his History of the English-Speaking Peoples, but she flew instead to the United States to be married to Gavin Welby. He was a wealthy businessman and aspiring politician, but his background remained mysterious to his son for many decades. Only after his son’s nomination as Archbishop of Canterbury in November 2012 was light shed on Gavin’s origins, romantic liaisons and business career.


More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9915333/Mafia-and-death-threats-Justin-Welbys-journey-to-archbishop.html

1 comment:

Leonard said...

Perfect, maybe he can deal with the GAFCONNERS with such a checkered heritage...never know!