WIRRAL TO WEST AFRICA The story of Edmund Morel 1873 –1924
Over a 100 years ago. For all the Congo’s wealth of ivory and rubber being unloaded at the docks in Antwerp, Belgium (far more, he discovered, than was declared in the company or public records), there was virtually nothing of use or value in trade, being sent to the Congo to pay for these vast riches flowing into Belgium. The returning ships carrying little more than the tools of suppression: militia, firearms and ammunition! His energy, skills and moral drive were tremendous, and he focused them all on exposing to the world’s consciousness the true horrors at work inside the Congo. The protectorate of king Leopold. Writing books, pamphlets, hundreds of newspaper articles and thousands of letters; drawing many influential people to his side... Among them the authors Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain, who added their own literary contributions to the cause. He was, undoubtedly one of the twentieth centuries’ greatest heroes. An inconvenient truth to those in power who sought to suppress him; a role that has seen him swept from glory to virtual ignominy in a very short lifetime, and almost complete obscurity today... WIRRAL to WEST AFRICA is a project that will inform the public about the work of this great man who lived in West Kirby on the Wirral over a hundred years ago This is his story.
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