COMMUNITY leaders from across Suffolk got together to remember the Suffolk man who played a major role in the abolition of slavery in this country.
COMMUNITY leaders from across Suffolk got together to remember the Suffolk man who played a major role in the abolition of slavery in this country.
They met at Playford yesterday , the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliament which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
William Wilberforce is widely remembered for piloting through the act but he was inspired to take up the cause by Thomas Clarkson.
Clarkson was born in Cambridgeshire in 1760 and started campaigning against slavery after writing an essay on the subject at university.
After the campaign was won Clarkson retired to Playford Hall, which was the focus of yesterday's celebrations.
Around 50 people gathered to mark the anniversary and enjoyed lunch at the village hall followed by a walk to the moated hall nearby and a service of thanksgiving at Playford Church.
Among those celebrating the bicentenary was former Ipswich mayor Albert Grant who came to Ipswich from the Barbados in the 1950s.
He said: “It is a very important day for me and the community as a whole.
“I am very pleased to be here with other people from across the communities of Suffolk to be able to mark this very important anniversary.
“Thomas Clarkson was a great man and part of an important movement. No one should ever forget what they achieved.”
N Have we done enough to commemorate the end of slavery? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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