Church of England a former slave owner
The Church of England is happy to tout an abolition campaigner like William Wilberforce, but further into the past, it had itself provided a 'moral justification' for slavery from Christianity. Not only had it provided that justification for others, but the Church itself owned slaves, like those on a church plantation in Barbados, described in this clip. And the church was no less cruel a slave owner than other plantation owners, flogging slaves to death sometimes or branding them with hot irons. Slaves working on the church plantation in Barbados were as young as 10 and as old as 80. When slaves were set free in the 19th century, the Church took a hefty amount in compensation for its 'lost property', while the slaves themselves got nothing. from: Portillo's State Secrets, episode 9: On Trial (BBC)
