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Bishop of St Asaph wants Henry Morton Stanley statues removed

Geograph / Jeremy Bolwell Henry Morton Stanley statue in DenbighGeograph / Jeremy Bolwell
A statue of Henry Morton Stanley stands in Denbigh town centre

The Bishop of St Asaph has joined calls for two statues of explorer Henry Morton Stanley to be removed.

Bishop Gregory Cameron said Denbigh-born Stanley had "little respect for the natives of Africa".

He has written to St Asaph City Council asking for the removal of a monument in the city and signed a petition for the removal of another in Denbigh.

On Sunday, Black Lives Matter demonstrators tore down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol.

Calls have been made to remove other memorials around the UK which honour people with links to slavery and racism.

It follows protests around the world after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis in the United States.

Diocese of St Asaph Bishop Gregory CameronDiocese of St Asaph
Bishop Gregory Cameron wants the statues removed in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter campaign

The bishop had voiced concerns when the St Asaph statue was first erected at the cathedral in 2011.

In a letter to the Daily Post newspaper, he said: "Exactly what do we commemorate in the life of Henry Morton Stanley, born John Rowlands?

"He was an adventurer, who had little respect for the natives of Africa, and who shared in management of one of the most atrocious and exploitative colonial endeavours ever in that vast continent, the enslaving of an entire population to service the wealth creation of King Leopold II of the Belgians through the production of rubber."

In his letter to St Asaph City Council, the bishop said: "Current affairs amply demonstrate the anger and distress caused by the celebration of racist and colonialist pioneers, I would like to suggest to you that the time has come to remove the offence of this monument.

"I would like to feel that St Asaph City Council would be willing to identify with the "Black Lives Matter" campaign by making the highly symbolic gesture of putting this monument out of sight, and taking a stand for equality and diversity."

Stanley, who was born in Denbigh in 1841, became famous for trekking through African jungle to find Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone, and greeting him with the famous words: "Dr Livingstone, I presume?"

In 2010, 50 eminent people, including travel writer Jan Morris and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, signed a letter of protest against the Denbigh statue, saying his expeditions contributed to the "racist" ideas of the day.