CEASE, Wilberforce, to urge thy generous aim!
Thy Country knows the sin, and stands the shame!
The Preacher, Poet, Senator in vain
Has rattled in her sight the Negro's chain

There lines were written by Anna Letitia Barbauld in her 'Epistle to William Wilberforce, Esq. On the Rejection of the Bill for Abolishing the Slave Trade' (this was the 1791 Bill, which was rejected by Parliament). That was a more appropriate time to be talking about shame, and perhaps compensation to those enslaved. In fact compensation was paid - to the slave owners! This, of course, was 1834 when the slaves were supposed to be freed, but in fact they were not free until 1838 when the owners had been paid off.

When Britain was suppressing the Slave Trade, recaptured slaves and some repatriated ones were taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone to be given their freedom. The first Governor (1808) was Thomas Perronet Thompson, another Hull man and a friend of Wilberforce. Thompson was later MP for Hull and a strong campaigner for reform.

Freetown is another of Hull's Twin Towns.