Marvin’s shock at slavery past

JLS star finds ancestor was Jamaican master who owned two of his workers

MARVIN Humes has been left stunned after discovering one of his ancestors was a slave master.

The JLS singer’s four-times great grandad John Brown owned 20 acres of land in Jamaica and had two workers, despite his own parents once being slaves.

Marvin, 33, said: “I didn’t even know that black people had slaves. That was shocking to me.” The dad-of-two made his discovery on a trip to the Caribbean for BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?

He found his five-times paternal great grandfather Edward Brown’s freedom from slavery was bought for £160 by “a mystery woman of colour” in 1818. That meant Edward’s son John was free to buy his land.

But Marvin was relieved to learn a black master was more likely to treat slaves as workers or even family. He added: “The historian said, ‘You like to think he would have treated them with respect.’ “That made me feel better.”

Marvin also discovered his great gran Mabel died in an asylum after her husband fled with another woman.

Who Do You Think You Are? August 6, BBC1, 9pm.