Wilberforce Monument

Commemorative monument standing on the east side of Wilberforce Drive. Built between 1834 and 1838, designed by W. H. Clark of Leeds, with builders Messrs Myers and Wilson. The monument was relocated here in 1935 from Queen Victoria Square. It is constructed of ashlar.

The structure comprises a massive fluted Doric column with square capital, carrying a corniced drum topped by a standing figure. The cubical pedestal features a deep moulded plinth and plain cornice, with a segmental pediment on each side flanked by acroteria with urns at the corners. The monument stands approximately 110 feet high.

Inscriptions are carved on the sides of the pedestal, surrounded by wreaths. They read "Wilberforce"; "Negro Slavery Abolished, 1 Aug. MDCCCXXXIV"; "First Stone Laid, 1 August 1834" and "Erected by Voluntary Subscription".

William Wilberforce (1759–1833) was born into a prominent Hull family and was elected MP for Hull in 1780, later representing Yorkshire from 1784. Following his evangelical conversion in 1785, he was advised by John Newton and Prime Minister William Pitt to pursue his religious calling through Parliament. From 1787 he championed the abolitionist cause, introducing numerous bills against the slave trade and securing a select committee in 1788 to examine evidence. After years of campaigning against fierce opposition, the abolition bill received royal assent on 25 March 1807. Wilberforce subsequently worked for the complete abolition of slavery, helping to found the African Institution in 1807 and the Anti-Slavery Society in 1823. He remained in the House of Commons until 1825. He died on 29 July 1833, just days after learning that the bill for emancipation of all slaves in British colonies had passed its final reading on 26 July. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Kingston upon Hull moved quickly to honour Wilberforce. Voluntary subscriptions raised funds for the monument, competing successfully against a rival scheme to commemorate him with a school for the blind. The foundation stone was laid on 1 August 1834, the day the Abolition Act came into force, and the statue was fixed in place on 12 November 1835.