Jessica Ennis-Hill: Grit was passed on by slave ancestor who fought for freedom
The Olympic champion discovered her four-time great-grandfather born into slavery folowing his birth, circa 1795.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said she would be proud to have inherited even an ounce of the “grit and determination” shown by an ancestor who was born into slavery.
The former British track and field champion discovered her four-time great-grandfather was enslaved at a Jamaican sugar plantation following his birth in about 1795, during an episode of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?
Dame Jessica, who won heptathlon gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games and silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, said it was hard to learn that members of her family had been “through the most awful period of time and been subjected to unimaginable life”.
Dame Jessica travelled to the sugar plantation where her relative, George Thomas White, had been enslaved and where he worked as a cooper, making barrels for rum.
“It’s quite a strange feeling to be stood here. This view probably hasn’t changed that much,” the 38-year-old said.
“It feels quite sombre. It just feels like it’s got quite a negative energy I feel walking down here.”
In the episode, Dame Jessica visited the plot of land that her relative George Thomas White bought once he was freed from slavery, having earned money from his skilled and in-demand job as a cooper.
She visited the plot with her father Vinnie Ennis, who moved from Jamaica at the age of 13.
“I didn’t imagine that I’d be stood here at the beginning of this whole journey,” Dame Jessica said, reflecting on tracing her family history.
“It’s incredible to think what my four-time great-grandfather, George Thomas White, went through in his life, but he never gave up.
“I definitely wanted to find out more about – did that grit and determination that I had throughout my career with the sport, did that come from anywhere? And I’ve seen that massively demonstrated.
“What he went through, I think that displays the most resilience and determination I’ve ever seen.
“If I got an ounce of that from him, then that’s an amazing thing to have.”
Dame Jessica said she had an overriding sense of pride after uncovering more about her family history.
Britain’s involvement in the slave trade spanned more than two centuries before it was banned in 1833 throughout the British Empire.
It took until 1838 for the same rights to be granted to those in British colonies.
The episode of Who Do You Think You Are? starring Dame Jessica will air on September 12 at 9pm on BBC One.
