Wilberforce, William

Born: 1759-08-24 England, United Kingdom

Died: 1833-07-29 London, United Kingdom

Born in Hull in Yorkshire, England, William Wilberforce was a British politician, abolitionist, and philanthropist. Educated at St. John's College at the University of Cambridge alongside future British prime minister William Pitt the Younger, with whom he was friends, Wilberforce became a member of the House of Commons in 1780. In his early years in Parliament he earned a reputation as a political radical. After converting to evangelical Christianity in 1784-85, he grew interested and active in Britain's abolitionist movement. John Newton, a former slave trader and pastor, became his spiritual advisor. In 1787, Wilberforce co-founded the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, more commonly known as the Anti-Slavery Society. He, Granville Sharp, and others became well known for their anti-slavery work and were nicknamed the Saints, then, later, the Clapham Sect. Wilberforce was nationally recognized as the Sect's leader. An eloquent speaker on anti-slavery issues in the House of Commons, he introduced twelve resolutions against the slave trade in 1789 alone. Pitt, then prime minister, supported these resolutions, but they ultimately failed. Wilberforce put forth additional motions in 1791 and 1792 to abolish the slave trade. The first failed, but the 1792 motion led the House of Commons to pass a compromise measure for gradual abolition.

In May 1797, he married Barbara Ann Spooner of Warwickshire, with whom he eventually had six children. In 1807 the House of Commons finally passed a bill to abolish the slave trade in the British West Indies. Wilberforce was widely credited with the success of this bill. It did not emancipate people enslaved prior to its passage, however, and he directed his energies toward this work, co-founding the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery—also known commonly as the Anti-Slavery Society. Although he retired from the House of Commons in 1825, that body passed the Slavery Abolition Act on July 26, 1833. Wilberforce died three days later. The act became law the next month.

"William Wilberforce," Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Wilberforce, accessed 8 July 2024; Leslie Stephen, "Wilberforce, William," Dictionary of National Biography (London: Oxford University Press, 1921-22; repr., London: Oxford University Press, 1967-68), 21:212, 216; Gravestone, Westminster Abbey, London, England.