Individual Campaigners against Slavery

Letter to William Wilson (reference: DD/WR/45/1)

Many Nottinghamshire individuals campaigned for the abolition of slavery, including Lucy Townsend of Thorpe, near Southwell; James Stodhart of Misterton; and the poet Mary Howitt.

William Wilson was a Congregationalist and a cotton merchant who campaigned against slavery. He lived in Nottingham. In 1837 his daughter M E Wilson wrote this letter to him. In it she says that she is 'glad Papa has been to London about the poor slaves'. Elsewhere in the same letter a friend or relation identified only as 'F' writes to Mrs Wilson and trusts that 'much has been effected on behalf of the injured Africans'.

This letter shows that, even in the 1830s, campaigning still continued against slavery, even though the Slavery Abolition Act had been passed in 1833.

Find out more...

• Larger version of the letter: follow this link to see the letter in more detail [PDF 3743KB]
• Transcript: read the letter in more detail here [PDF 12KB]
• Letter and diaries: find out more about the types of letters and diaries which we hold.
• Terminology: find out more about some of the terms used
• Further information: explore other web sites and online resources

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