William Wilberforce
Politician
1759 – 1833
Who was William Wilberforce?
William Wilberforce was an English politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire. In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. In 1787, he came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he soon became one of the leading English abolitionists. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
Wilberforce was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education.
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- Born
- Aug 24, 1759
Kingston upon Hull - Spouses
- Children
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Evangelicalism
- Church of England
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Profession
- Education
- St John's College, Cambridge
- University of Cambridge
- Pocklington School
- Lived in
- HM Prison Hull
- Died
- Jul 29, 1833
London - Resting place
- Westminster Abbey
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"William Wilberforce." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/william_wilberforce>.
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