Cambridge bridge honours abolitionist Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano earned enough to buy his way out of slavery and became a leading abolitionist

A river bridge in Cambridge has been renamed after an African anti-slavery activist Olaudah Equiano in recognition of his connection with the county.

Equiano, born in about 1745, was sold into slavery as a child but managed to earn enough to buy his freedom.

He married an English woman, Susanna Cullen, and lived in Soham in Cambridgeshire with their daughters.

Formerly known as Riverside Bridge, a new plaque bearing the name Equiano Bridge was unveiled earlier.

Equiano came to prominence in the late 18th Century as a leading black campaigner for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

In his autobiography - The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African - he wrote that he was born in Eboe province, in what is now southern Nigeria.

His exact birthplace is unknown as he later stated he was born in the Americas.

Equiano said he was kidnapped with his sister at the age of about 11, sold by local slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia in the US.

The plaque and information board were unveiled in Cambridge

He was later sold to a Royal Navy officer, then to a ship's captain and then to a merchant, Robert King, in Montserrat.

He worked as a deckhand, valet and barber for King, earning money by trading on the side.

After three years, he made enough money to buy his own freedom and spent much of the next 20 years travelling the world.

In 1786, in London, he became involved in the movement to abolish slavery, and as a prominent member of the Sons of Africa, a group of 12 black men, he campaigned for abolition.

Riverside Bridge - now the Equiano Bridge - is a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Cam linking Chesterton with Riverside in Cambridge

As part of activities for Black History Month, the new name plaque and an information board have been unveiled at the bridge which links Logan's Meadow in Chesterton with Riverside in Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire County Council worked with local community groups Circles of Change and the Cambridge African Network to rename the bridge.

Isaac Ayamba, chairman of Cambridge African Network, said: "The story of Olaudah Equiano's struggles, determination and success in his personal life, and his work in influencing British abolitionists, is pioneering and inspirational to the current generation.

"More than 200 years since his death, his dreams and aspirations for equality still live on."