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New perspectives on how history is made

Wilberforce family marks abolition of slavery

Two centuries after William Wilberforce's campaign to abolish the slave trade was won, two of his descendants yesterday began a journey from his hometown to ask for "forgiveness".

The abolitionist's great-great-great-grandson, also called William Wilberforce, was among a team of modern-day anti-slavery campaigners dressed in yokes and chains who embarked on the 250-mile walk, beginning in Hull and finishing in London, together with his great-great-great-granddaughter, Lady Kate Davson.

The journey was part of an effort to apologise for the trade -- which thrived for three centuries in Britain -- and to call for an end to all forms of modern-day slavery.
Read entire article at Independent