Wilberforce family marks abolition of slavery

Two centuries after William Wilberforce's campaign to abolish the slave trade was won, two of his descendants yesterday began a journey from his hometown to ask for "forgiveness".

The abolitionist's great-great-great-grandson, also called William Wilberforce, was among a team of modern-day anti-slavery campaigners dressed in yokes and chains who embarked on the 250-mile walk, beginning in Hull and finishing in London, together with his great-great-great-granddaughter, Lady Kate Davson.

The journey was part of an effort to apologise for the trade -- which thrived for three centuries in Britain -- and to call for an end to all forms of modern-day slavery.