Wilberforce House Museum, Hull: The story of the Yorkshire man who fought for the abolition of slavery

Wilberforce became a reformer after evangelical enlightenment during a tour of Europe and radically altered his life and his lifestyle.

Wilberforce’s home in the city is now a council-run museum, telling the story of the slave trade, and of its former owner’s 20-year fight for abolition.

The property was built in 1660, and is one of the oldest buildings in Hull, where Wilberforce was born and lived with his parents.

Wilberforce was born in a room upstairs in 1759 and to celebrate his birth, his family decorated the ceiling in the main stairway with the family crest.

The building now contains his clothes and journals, and includes a small art collection which features portraits of Wilberforce during his life, as well as depictions of slave ships and slaves.

It opened as the Wilberforce House Museum in 1906 and during the enforced closure prompted by the pandemic in 2020, specialist conservation work was carried out.

Hull Museums worked closely with members of the Wilberforce House Museum Advisory Board on an exciting new gallery that looks at the legacies of transatlantic slavery, with the help of funding from Arts Council England.

Councillor Mike Ross, Leader of Hull Council, said they were delighted to reopen the museum “after what felt like a very long closure”.

He added: “However, given the global importance of this building it was critical to ensure repairs and investigations were done to the highest standard.”

Robin Diaper, curator of maritime and social history at Hull Culture and Leisure added: “It was fantastic to work with the members of the Wilberforce House Museum Advisory Board and the University of Hull to develop our new galleries. We hope that people will see these as fitting spaces to reflect on the past and issues affecting today.”