Archbishop Trevor Huddleston (1913 - 1998) - Silver Street, Bedford, UK - Civil Rights Memorials on Waymarking.com

PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA OF SOUTH AFRICA
'Trevor Huddleston was sent to the Anglican school of Lancing before going on to Oxford and Wells Theological College. Ordained in 1937, he took his monk's vows two years later with the Anglican Order of the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield. In 1943 he was sent to South Africa where he was so appalled by the treatment of the black community he got involved in the political world by attacking the government from his pulpit. He practised what he preached amazing one young boy by raising his hat as a mark of respect to a simple washerwoman. The boy was Desmond Tutu.

He almost went to jail after the publication of his book against apartheid Naught for your Comfort (1956). This became an international best-seller and he was catapulted to worldwide fame. He was also instantly withdrawn from South Africa, sent back to his order's house in Mirfield becoming Prior to the London House in 1958. Finally in 1960 he was made Bishop of Masai in Tanzania. Back in Africa he helped the poor, and amongst other things set up a hospital and teacher's training college.

Recalled to England in 1968, he was made Bishop of Stepney. Again he attracted the respect of ordinary people by not just working but living among them. He founded Fair Play for children short of playing fields, and set up the Huddleston Centre for Handicapped children. He continued to speak out against apartheid, and this high political profile made him too controversial to become Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1978 he was made Bishop of Mauritius, and in the same year elected to be the first Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He not only pioneered the spread of Anglicanism, but also spread inter-faith relationships. In 1981 he was made President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (1981-94) and in 1991 opened the first free conference of the ANC. He was made Chairman of the International defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa from 1983-98. In 1994 he was awarded both the Torch of Kilimanjaro from the Tanzanian government, and the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament, and Development.

He officially retired in 1983, returning to Britain, where he accepted the post of Provost at the Anglican-Nonconformist theological college of Selly Oak, Birmingham. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1998 - the year he died.'

This information is available from the BBC Four Interview Profile Page with thanks.

The statue is a bust and is located at the top of Silver Street, near the High Street and Debenhams. Appropriately enough, the bust of the anti-apartheid leader was unveiled on 7 April 2000 by Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. visit link

There are several plaques around the base of the statue which read as follows:

'Archbishop Trevor Huddleston
1913 to 1998

Archbishop Trevor Huddleston was born in Bedford.
He was renowned for leading the campaign
against the apartheid regime in
South Africa for over four decades

Contributed by Ian Walters'

'Nelson Mandela Came to Bedford
on 7th April 2000
To redicated the bust saying:

"I owe this debt to the anti-apartheid
movement and to Father Huddleston
in particular. It is a great honour for me
to be here to say to him Thank You."

'The bust was presented by
The High Sheriff of Bedfordshire
Christopher Kilroy. 2000 AD.

This commemoration was unveiled by
the Rt. Rev. John Richardson
Bishop of Bedford
on 30th October 1999.'

'This commemoration and
The Trevor Huddleston Appeal Fund
were initiated by
Bedford and District Trades Council
with the generous support of
Bedford Borough Council
and public donations.'