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Who was William Wilberforce?

Abolitionist of Slavery.

Date and Place of Birth:

24th August 1759, High Street, Hull, Yorkshire, England.

Family Background:

Son of a wealthy merchant.His grandfather was a Baltic merchant and an Alderman of the town.

Education:

Hull Grammar School for two years. Then Pocklington School in Yorkshire. (Pocklington School will be running a series of events during the Wilberforce bicentenary in 2007. See website for details) St. John's College, Cambridge University.

Chronology/Biography of William Wilberforce:

1766: Went to Hull Grammar School at the age of seven.

1768: Death of his father. He was sent to London to be looked after and educated by his uncle in St James Place. He became influenced by his Aunt's interest in the Methodist movement and John Wesley. His favourite guest Preacher at his local church was the Reverend John Newton who had once been a Captain on a slave ship but had turned to the church later. He was a fiery preacher and hymn writer (his most famous is "Amazing Grace") and had a big effect on Wilberforce. Wilberforce's mother was worried by all this and called him back to Hull. He then was sent to Pocklington School in Yorkshire for the next six years and it was here that he wrote his first anti-slavery letter.

1776: Met William Pitt at Cambridge University who was later to become Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister. During his time at Cambridge he lived an idle life playing cards and drinking and turned his back on Methodism.

1780: Influenced by Pitt he stood for Parliament on leaving University in Kingston-upon-Hull which is one of the oldest constituencies in Britain.

1784: Although he again stood for Hull he was also returned as as one of the Knights of the Shire of York and duly took this seat in parliament and as a Tory supported the government of Pitt. He became increasingly interested in social problems after a holiday in the South of France when he read a religious book by the English cleric Philip Doddridge and this renewed his religious zeal. He then agreed with Lady Middleton that he should use his influence to bring about the abolition of the slave trade. The first Bill was defeated even though a large number of Members didn't turn up to vote as they were frightened of taking a position on the subject. Between 1783 and 1793 one port alone, Liverpool, shipped in 303,000 slaves from West Africa to the New World and overall Britain supplied over three million to the Spanish, French and British Colonies around the world.

1787: Founded an association for the reformation of manners.

1791: Between this date and 1805 similar Bills were put before parliament and all were defeated sometimes in the Commons and sometimes by the Lords. Wilberforce became a figure of hate in some quarters and all sorts of false stories were bandied about concerning him.

1801: Founded the periodical the "Christian Observer".

1806: (December) The Bill was eventually passed by the House of Lords.

1807: (February 23rd) The House of Commons finally passed the Bill with a large majority and it received the Royal Assent in March which effectively banned the trading in slaves.

1825: Retires from Parliament due to ill health.

(1833): In the month after Wilberforce died the Slavery Abolition Act finally gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom.

Written Works:

• 1797: “A Practical View of Christianity”.

Marriage:

1797 to Barbara Spooner.

Places of Interest:

AVON:

Lived at No 9 North Parade and 36 Great Pulteney Street.

LONDON:

British Museum

YORKSHIRE:

Wilberforce House and Georgian Houses, High Street, Hull (Wilberforce's Birthplace and also includes an exhibition and artifacts about slavery)

Statue to Wilberforce outside Hull College.
Pocklington School, Pocklington YO24. (Wrote his first anti-slavery letter here).

Date and Place of Death:

29th July 1833, London, England.

Age at Death:

74.

Site of Grave:

North Transept, Westminster Abbey, London, England, close to the graves of Pitt, Fox and Canning.

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