Slavery Abolition Act 1833 British Parliament held two inquiries. The results of these inquiries contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The Act had its third reading in the House of Commons on 26 July 1833, three days before William Wilberforce died. It received the Royal Assent a month later, on August 28, and came into force the following year, on 1 August 1834. In practical terms, only slaves below the age of six were freed in the colonies. Former slaves over the age of six were redesignated as "apprentices", and their servitude was abolished in two stages:
1939 Westminster Abbey by-election 1939 Westminster Abbey by-election The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1939 was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 May 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Sidney Herbert had died on 22 March 1939. Herbert had held the seat since an unopposed 1932 by-election. The Conservative candidate was Harold Webbe. The Labour candidate in 1935, William Kennedy, had been reselected to contest the next General Election; however, the Labour party decided not to contest the by-election. The Communist party, who had not contested