A library named after former Prime Minister William Gladstone has responded to calls for its name to be changed and his statue to be removed due to links with slavery.

Activist Ciara Lamb said the name of the Gladstone Library in Hawarden "glorifies" the former PM and that his family, including his father John Gladstone, was "one of the largest slave-owning families in the country".

The call to change the name and remove Gladstone's statue has come in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests around the world, including a protest in Bristol which saw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston pulled down.

The library was formerly known as St Deiniols Library, but changed its name in 2010.

In 1895, Gladstone bequeathed 40,000 to the library - the equivalent to 3.31m today - and much of his own book collection can be found there.

Ms Lamb, who launched a petition to change the library's name, said it is a "symbol of oppression" and changing it would be a sign of progress which the community "so desires".

She said: "St Deiniol's Library - within recent years renamed as Gladstone Library, after Prime Minister William Gladstone - is a centrepiece to the village of Hawarden.

However, the links to PM Gladstone are now even tighter affiliated due to this name change.

"With the recent Black Lives Matter protests, a symbol of such oppression is not what our village supports.

"His history in building the library and initiating the collection of books held there are impactful yes, however the glorification of a man known to negatively impact the BAME peoples in our community cannot be celebrated.

The library is a place of great knowledge within our community and is something many of us hold dear to our hearts, the change in name would be the progress our community so desires.

A national campaign called "Topple the Racists" is calling for the removal of numerous statues across the UK, including the statue of Gladstone which stands outside the library in Hawarden.

Responding to the calls, Peter Francis, warden and director of Gladstone Library, said: "We also believe that if it is the democratic will, after due process, to remove statues of the founder, William Gladstone, we would not stand in the way. Nor, I think, would Gladstone.

"At the core of our being, we at Gladstones Library believe that Black Lives Matter.

"What matters is how we live today: our values, our democratic process and political involvement.

"William Gladstone, whose politics were strikingly different to his Tory fathers politics and values, was the first British politician to lead a left-leaning government and to institute dramatic democratic changes when he introduced the secret ballot, universal education and a foreign policy based on freedom and liberty and not the aggrandisement of Empire.

"Gladstones Library, and I should add the Gladstone family, have continued to uphold and promote those liberal values.

"As a Library, we are building our programme around the Gladstonian themes of democracy, human rights and freedom of belief and we do not mean by simply looking back at history but by reading the signs of the times and working for a more democratic, humane and tolerant society."

Mr Francis said the library is aware of John Gladstones "plantation-owning past" has "instituted a scholarship for research into historical and contemporary slavery".

He said: "William Gladstones record of public office was one of almost unequalled service.

"He was the driving force behind the emergence of the Liberal party, he was a humanitarian, one could even celebrate him as one of the founders of the modern concept of human rights.

"He was passionate about education for all rather than just the elite. He was quick to defend the oppressed whether in Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria or Armenia.

"It is a career that is worth celebrating but we memorialise it best by being politically involved, humane and tolerant."

Mr Francis said it is "undeniable" that, during the early 19th century, Gladstones father owned land in the West Indies and South America that used slave labour.

He said that, while John Gladstone received 106,769 in compensation when slavery was abolished, William Gladstone himself received nothing.

"In 1831, William did speak in the Commons in favour of compensation for slave owners," said Mr Francis.

"It was his first speech in the Commons and he was still in thrall to his father."

Mr Francis said that, by 1850, Gladstone was "a changed man" and described slavery as by far the foulest crime that taints the history of mankind in any Christian or pagan country.

"He had changed," said Mr Francis.

"Towards the end of his life, he cited the abolition of slavery as one of the great political issues in which the masses had been right and the classes had been wrong.

"He thought it was a taint on national history and politics. His change was a move towards a profound commitment to liberty and perhaps this quote exemplifies his shift: 'I was brought up to hate and fear liberty. I came to love it. That is the secret of my whole career.'

"Liberty today means countering racism, sexism and intolerance wherever we see it.

"That is where our energy should be exerted. That would be truly Gladstonian."

The University of Liverpool has said it will rename its Gladstone student halls because of the former PMs links to the slave trade.

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Gladstone Library responds to calls for statue to be removed and name to be changed amid BLM protests - North Wales Live