Family and Education
b. 24 Aug. 1759, o.s. of Robert Wilberforce, Baltic merchant, of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorks. and Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Bird of Barton, Oxon. educ. Hull g.s. 1766; Chalmers’s sch. Putney 1768-71; Pocklington g.s. 1771-6; St. John’s, Camb. 1776. m. 30 May 1797, Barbara Ann, da. of Isaac Spooner, merchant banker, of Elmdon Hall, Warws., 4s. 2da. d.v.p. suc. fa. 1768. d. 29 July 1833.
Offices Held
Dir. Sierra Leone Co. 1791; member, bd. of agriculture 1801.
Parlimentarian
Main residences: Gore House, Kensington, Mdx.; Markington, nr. Harrogate, Yorks.
Notes
Based principally on R.I. and S. Wilberforce, Life of William Wilberforce (1838) and the two deposits of Wilberforce mss in Bodl. The many current biographies include R. Furneaux, William Wilberforce (1974); J. Pollock, William Wilberforce (1977); P. Cormack, Wilberforce (1983); K.C. Belmonte, Hero for Humanity (2002); M. Pura, Vital Christianity (2002), and D.J. Vaughan, Statesman and Saint (2002). See also the bibliography by L.W. Cowie (1992).
Volume
Commons 1820-1832
Web Title
WILBERFORCE, William (1759-1833)
Will
Estates
Oxford 1644
No
Addresses
Religion