This plinth once supported the statue of William Huskisson. It was removed by activists in 1982.
The Huskisson Plinth at the start of Princes Avenue’s central boulevard was reimagined and redesigned for bike and pedestrian pathways and community use, as part of a Steps scheme.
William Huskisson 1770-1830 was MP for Liverpool from 1823 to his death in 1830. He first entered parliament in 1796 and as M.P. for Liskeard voted for the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. During his time representing Liverpool many of his supporters in the town were plantation owners and were not in favour of an end to slavery in Britain’s colonies. These pro-planter sentiments led Huskisson to oppose the abolition of slavery; and in 1826, rather than support calls for immediate abolition, Huskisson championed the passing of the Consolidated Slave Law, introduced as a compromise between those agitating for the abolition of slavery and the planters who wanted to maintain it. Huskisson did not live to see the abolition, he was killed on the 15th September 1830 whilst attending the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Slavery was finally abolished by the British in 1834.
In the early hours of July 22, 1982, the statue was removed from the plinth by a group of activists offended at Huskisson’s role in supporting slavery.
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