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William Wilberforce
Sign in to saveEnglish politician and abolitionist (1759–1833)
William Wilberforce was an English politician and abolitionist who lived from 1759 to 1833 and played a leading role in the movement to end slavery in the British Empire. His work matters because he helped secure the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself during a crucial period when these practices were deeply embedded in British society and economics.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Place of death
- London
- Occupation
- politician
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Image
- William wilberforce.jpg
- Work location
- London
Show 12 more facts
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- place of burial
- Westminster Abbey
- Commons category
- William Wilberforce
- date of birth
- 1759-08-24
- date of death
- 1833-07-29
- name in native language
- William Wilberforce
- affiliation
- Clapham Sect
- writing language
- English language
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- WikiProject Human rights
- candidacy in election
- 1820 United Kingdom general election
- significant person
- John Newton
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
2 objects attributed to William Wilberforce, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, and became an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Anglican, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform.
In 1787, Wilberforce came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of activists against the transatlantic slave trade, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he became a leading English abolitionist. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for 20 years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Wilberforce” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.