Slave trade and abolition to be remembered

A commemoration will take place in Mandela Gardens at Wilberforce House

The legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition will be remembered at events in Hull this weekend.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Cheryl Payne, will attend a commemoration on Saturday in Mandela Gardens at Wilberforce House, organised by the Hull Slavery Remembrance Day Partnership.

She will also officially open a gathering at the Hull Afro Caribbean Community Centre.

The events have been organised to mark the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on Saturday.

Aged 21, William Wilberforce was the MP for Hull in 1780, and, four years later, he went on to represent the whole of Yorkshire and began work to abolish the British slave trade.

He campaigned to end the trade where British ships were carrying black slaves from Africa to the West Indies as goods to be bought and sold.

For 18 years, he regularly introduced anti-slavery motions in Parliament.

Wilberforce retired from politics in 1825 due to ill health but continued to campaign for the abolition of slavery.

On 26 July 1833, as he lay on his death bed, he was told Parliament had passed the Slavery Abolition Bill, which granted freedom to all slaves within the British Empire.

Wilberforce died three days later.

Payne, said: "Hull as a city will forever be associated with the abolition of the slave trade, primarily due to the campaigning by our own William Wilberforce.

"But, as much as we would like to think that slavery is a thing of the past, there are still many people worldwide who find themselves in modern slavery.

"It's important that we are able to come together to send a message that slavery in any form is unacceptable, and that no-one should be forced into it."

The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is a UNESCO event held every year.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices