History Features

March 25th 1807 saw the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. This year marks the bicentenary of the passing of that Parliamentary Bill – an act of Parliament which is rightly associated with the hard work of a young MP for Hull, William Wilberforce.

However, the Parliamentary Bill came after years of campaigning by others whose names are less familiar. One such man was Granville Sharp, many of whose papers, writings, correspondence and published pamphlets are preserved today in Gloucestershire Archives, Alvin Street Gloucester.

Those papers were the inspiration for and basis of a dramatised narrative which will be broadcast at 2.10pm each day from March 19th – 23rd. The feature which has been researched, written and produced by Alan Morgan is called ‘Man and Brother - episodes in the life Granville Sharp.’

Alan explains, ‘It was exciting to compile the story of this remarkable man from the wealth of archive material available to us, on our own doorstep! It’s a story of one man’s struggle against slavery which, in his day, was an accepted way of life.

'The more I researched, the more fascinated I became with this man of deep convictions, great courage and tireless determination.’

Taking part in the feature is Stephen Wright as Granville Sharp, assisted by a cast of thirty other voices.

‘Man and Brother’ is produced and presented by Alan Morgan, with technical production by Jeremy Morgan.

The complete documentary will be broadcast on Easter Monday at 2pm

Episode One – A chance encounter

Episodes Two – Another man’s property

Episode Three – The case of James Somerset

Episode Four – Triumph and tragedy in the name of freedom

Episode Five - The stream becomes a flood