William Wilberforce (1759 - 1833)

Born 25 Aug 1759 in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Barbara Ann (Spooner) Wilberforce — married 30 May 1797 in Walcot, Bath, England

Descendants

Died 29 Jul 1833 at age 73 in Belgravia, London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

William Wilberforce is Notable.

William Wilberforce was a part of the Abolitionist Movement.

William Wilberforce, born in Hull, was one of Britain’s great social reformers. In particular, William Wilberforce is remembered for his active participation in getting Parliament to outlaw the slave trade. He died in 1833, just three days before Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which effectively banned slavery in the British Empire.^[1][2][3]

Educated at Pockington School, Pocklington, Yorkshire, William graduated from St. John's college, Cambridge gaining a BA 1781 & MA 1788. ^[4]

Following his death in 1833, William was buried in Westminster Abbey, London^[5]. ^[6]

Speeches

• 'On the Horrors of the Slave Trade", speech given by William Wilberforce MP, condemning the slave trade, delivered in the House of Commons on 12 May 1789.

Bibliography

• A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes of this Country Contrasted with Real Christianity, Dublin: B. Dugdale (1797)
• An appeal to the religion, justice, and humanity of the inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the Negro slaves in the West Indies, London: J. Hatchard and Son (1823)
• Wilberforce, Anna Maria (editor), Private Papers of William Wilberforce, London (1897)

Notes

One Life to Live . . . William Wilberforce 24 August 1759 - 29 July 1833 by Dr. Theresa Newell, CMJ USA Board Member-Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners (morality)." William Wilberforce What brought a young man born to privilege in the mid-18th century to spend most of his life devoted to Jesus and His causes and leading the most powerful country in the world of his day to great reformation? Wilberforce himself would answer that "If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large." He would say that only the power of the Holy Spirit would drive him and his colleagues (gathered in what came to be known as the Clapham Sect) to pour their lives into bringing God back into society through the devotion of committed believers in Jesus, obedient to his Word.

After graduating St John's College, Cambridge, the young Wilberforce decided to run for Parliament and spent part of his inheritance to gain a seat representing his home area of Hull at age 21! A few years later (1785), he turned his life over to God and became a leader of the evangelicals of England. In 1797 he wrote Practical View calling Christians to become sincere in their faith and to lead godly lives.[i] The book became a best seller and greatly influenced the upper classes particularly. Wilberforce became a power behind the newly formed "voluntary societies" of which CMJ was one - its first name being the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews! He gave leadership to the first Mission, Sunday School and Bible societies which were all formed during this period.

While Wilberforce is mainly remembered as the man who brought an end to slavery in England, he was also a fervent leader in the beginning of CMJ from its founding in 1809 in London. Together with the well-known Anglican evangelical, Charles Simeon, Wilberforce spoke at most of CMJ's Annual Meetings beginning in 1814 and presided over the Society's first Annual Meeting in 1811. He also served as a vice-president of the Society.

The CMJ historian of the first 100 years of the Society's existence recorded that Wilberforce was present at the laying of the foundation of "Palestine Place" on 7 April 1813 and addressed the assemblage at the dinner following the ceremony presided over by CMJ's patron, the Duke of Kent.[ii] This ministry center in Bethnal Green became the first place of worship in England set apart for Jewish believers in Jesus.

Weeks before his death in 1833 at the age of 74, Wilberforce heard that the anti-slavery bill that he had spent his life to be adopted would indeed pass Parliament and become law. One month later, the House of Lords passed the Slavery Abolition Act, which ended slavery in most of the British Empire from August 1834.

One CMJ contemporary wrote of Wilberforce after his death: "He was one of the most loving and prominent personages of his day. It speaks volumes for the character of the Society's work that it could command from such a man, affection, patronage, time, and advocacy, all of which he ungrudgingly bestowed upon it from its foundation."[iii]

William Wilberforce decided from the moment of his conversion to the Living God to make his one life count. And count it did!

William was born in 1759. He was an English politician and a advocate of slavery. He died in 1833 at the age of 73.

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.biographyonline.net/politicians/uk/william-wilberforce.html
2. ↑ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce
3. ↑ http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdwilber.htm
4. ↑ Cambridge University Alumni Database. (http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk)
5. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 6170: William Wilberforce
6. ↑ Cambridge University Alumni Database. (http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk)

• https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwBVgtjgLSmFkXJVNzMXlSvgchW
• “Wilberforce, William”, in Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., (1885–1900) in 63 vols.
• “Wilberforce, William”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, (11th ed.), 1911
• NNDB: William Wilberforce
• British Abolitionists: William Wilberforce (1759-1833)
• Wilberforce, Samuel, Life of William Wilberforce, London: John Murray (1868)

John Wolffe, ‘Wilberforce, William (1759–1833)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 7 Sept 2017, This is a subscription site but access is free to readers of British libraries whose library subscribes.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: William Wilberforce
• Wikidata: Item Q207672
• 'Virginia Woolf' a biography by her nephew Quentin Bell, published by The Hogarth Press, Pimlico, London in 1996. ISBN 0 7126 7450 0, includes extensive family trees. Hundreds of friends, professional connections and people in the 'Bloomsbury set' are also mentioned in the text.'Virginia Woolf' a biography by her nephew Quentin Bell