Bank, Church of England apologise for slavery ties

London : The UK's central bank and the Church of England have both apologised for the role that some of their senior figures played in the slave trade.

Former Bank of England governors and directors profited from slavery, as did a bishop and dozens of other clergymen, a BBC report said on Friday. In 2006, the Church voted to apologise to the descendants of victims of the slave trade.

Its missionary arm, the Society for the Propagation of the Christian Religion in Foreign Parts (SPG), inherited three sugar estates in the Caribbean. The plantation was run for the Church by professional planters, but its profits went to the missionary group.

Slaves working on the estate were branded on their chests with the word "society".

"While we recognise the leading role clergy and active members of the Church of England played in securing the abolition of slavery, it is a source of shame that others within the Church actively perpetrated slavery and profited from it," a Church spokeswoman said.