Africa explorer HM Stanley statue to stay in Denbigh

The statue of Sir Henry Morton Stanley will stay in his home town of Denbigh

A statue of Africa explorer HM Stanley will stay in a north Wales town, after a ballot of people in the area.

Denbigh residents who took part voted overwhelmingly to retain the bronze of Stanley, who was born in the town.

The consultative vote was called after petitions to remove Stanley's figure over accusations of cruelty and racism during his explorations.

The adventurer is most famous for finding a missing missionary, uttering the words: "Dr Livingstone, I presume?"

Stanley had tracked down Dr David Livingstone in a remote part of what is now Tanzania in 1871.

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Other exploits included searching for the source of the River Nile and his role in the Congo.

Stanley's mission to find Dr Livingstone was paid for by the New York Herald - who had him pose for this portrait before setting sail for Africa

He acted as an agent for King Leopold II of Belgium and was seen as one of the architects who opened up the African region to the West, only for it to be brutally exploited after he had left.

The rule of Leopold II is said to have led to the deaths of as many as 10 million Africans, though historians dispute the true number.

A bronze of Stanley was approved in 2010 by Denbighshire council, but even then proved divisive.

Greeting Livingstone: How the meeting was reported around the globe in 1871

More recently, amid widespread protests from the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd in the USA, petitions were drawn up calling for the removal of a statue of Stanley in Denbigh and an obelisk honouring him in nearby St Asaph.

The Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, supported its removal, saying Stanley had "little respect for the natives of Africa".

A ballot on the future of the statue was held between 15 and 16 October, and was only open to residents of the town.

A meeting of Denbigh Town Council on Wednesday was told nearly 600 people took part in the vote.

An illustration from the 1870s on Stanley's exploits in Africa

There were 471 people in favour of keeping the bronze, located outside the town library, while 121 voted for it being removed.

Councillor Dyfrig Berry asked if additional interpretation about Stanley's history could be added at the statue site.

"Many people expressed a view that the statue should stay, but that the history of HM Stanley can be discussed," he said.

Mr Berry said he would bring forward the proposal to another meeting of the town council.

Councillors voted overwhelmingly to support the consultative ballot and backed a motion to keep the Stanley statue on public display, in its current location.