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 Conservatives
mark the anniversary of the abolition of slavery
On Tuesday 17th April, the Rt. Hon David Davis
MP, Shadow Home Secretary (right), gave the Wilberforce Lecture, organised jointly by
Vauxhall Conservative Association and the Conservative History Group, to around
100 people in Clapham.
25th March 2007 marked 200 years since a
Parliamentary Bill was passed to abolish the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The
prime mover in this was the Tory MP and Clapham resident, William Wilberforce.
The Bill was the culmination of a 20 year campaign conducted from what is now
the Vauxhall Constituency.
Wilberforce and the great anti-slavery
campaigners held their campaign meetings to advocate abolition of the slave
trade at Hawkstone Hall on the Kennington Road.
Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists in
the Clapham Sect worshipped at Holy Trinity Church, Clapham.
The charity Anti-Slavery international,
based in Stockwell, has its roots in the first abolitionist society founded in
1787.
To mark this occasion, Vauxhall
Conservative Association and the Conservative History Group got together to host
The Wilberforce Lecture which was delivered by the Rt Hon David Davis MP, Shadow
Home Secretary.
During the lecture, Mr Davis spoke of his
admiration for Wilberforce and the abolition movement and called on those
present to use the example of Wilberforce to tackle modern forms of slavery that
blight the lives of so many people.
A collection was taken at the end of the
evening, raising approximately £300 for Anti-Slavery International.
Michael Poole-Wilson of Vauxhall
Conservative Association commented, “William Wilberforce has to be one of
Clapham’s greatest ever residents. We were delighted that David Davis was able
to come and deliver such a thought provoking lecture and we were also very
pleased to be able to raise money for Stockwell-based charity Anti-Slavery
International, who do so much to tackle modern slavery.”
Read more about the Abolition of slave trade -Bicentenary
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