Wilberforce House Museum

Wilberforce House Museum in Hull is a museum set in the house where William Wilberforce, one of Britain's best-known opponents of the slave trade, was born. The building stands at 25 High Street, in the old part of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Admission is free, and the displays combine the story of a historic townhouse with the history of slavery and the campaign to end it.

What is this place?

The house was built in the 1660s. Over the following centuries it served as a family home, a merchant bank and commercial offices. Hull City Council bought it in 1903, and it opened as a public museum on 24 August 1906. Today the council owns the building and Hull Culture and Leisure Limited manages it. The museum is often described as one of the oldest slavery museums in the world.

What can you see inside?

There are eight galleries. They cover the three-hundred-year history of the house itself and the life of Wilberforce, as well as the rich cultural traditions of various African societies. Later rooms follow the stages of the tragedy: capture, the Middle Passage across the Atlantic, life on the plantations and finally the abolition campaign.

In the Abolition Gallery, look for the model of the slave ship Brookes. Wilberforce used it in Parliament to show MPs the appalling conditions in which people were transported.

What do the collections hold?

A collection-level record describes 904 items relating to Wilberforce, 320 relating to anti-slavery and 744 relating to the slave trade. The archive includes Wilberforce's personal correspondence and his diary from 1814 to 1824. Other notable items include a slave trader's log book from 1764 and a Royal African Company broadsheet from around 1700.

Is there a link to the neighbouring houses?

Yes. Next door are Georgian houses built around 1757 by James Hamilton, a ship-owner and tar merchant. Hamilton imported tar produced on slave plantations, a reminder of how deeply the economy of the era was tied to the system.

What has happened to the museum more recently?

The museum was refurbished and reopened in 2007, marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Since then the displays have given strong weight to the experience of enslaved people, not only to the biography of a famous politician.

Frequently asked questions

Is Wilberforce House Museum free? Yes, admission is free.

Where is it? At 25 High Street, Hull HU1 1NQ, in the historic part of the city.

When did it open as a museum? The council bought the building in 1903, and it opened to the public on 24 August 1906.

How many galleries are there? Eight. They cover the history of the house, Wilberforce's life, African cultures, the transport of people across the Atlantic, plantation life and the abolition campaign.

What is the best-known exhibit? The model of the Brookes slave ship, which Wilberforce used in Parliament, is often singled out, along with his correspondence and diary.

Who is it for? Anyone interested in British history, human rights and the legacy of the slave trade. A visit fits easily into a walk around Hull's old town, where other city museums are close by.

Why visit?

It is a rare chance to see both seventeenth-century architecture and a difficult but important story of the trade in people and how it was brought to an end. The museum shows that Hull played a significant part in that history, and Wilberforce's birthplace has become a place of remembrance for visitors from around the world. No booking or ticket is needed, so it is simple to add to a day in Hull.