William Wilberforce (1798–1879)

William Wilberforce (21 July 1798 – 26 May 1879) was a British lawyer, the eldest son of William Wilberforce. He was briefly a Member of Parliament in 1837–38.

Life

Wilberforce was born in Clapham on 21 July 1798 to William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament and prominent abolitionist campaigner, and his wife Barbara Wilberforce. He was their eldest child.[1] He was educated at a school in Cambridgeshire before attending Trinity College, Cambridge in 1817–1820, and was then admitted to study at the Middle Temple. He was called to the Bar in 1825.[1]

He was a Justice of the Peace for Yorkshire and for Middlesex, and at the 1837 general election was returned as a Conservative for Kingston upon Hull, a seat his father had represented in the 1780s, but this was overturned by an election petition the following year.[1] He did not return to Parliament, though he contested Taunton in the 1841 general election, and Bradford in a subsequent by-election.[2]

In 1850, Wilberforce converted to Catholicism,[1] along with his youngest brother, Henry, a parson in Kent.[3] Four years later, a third brother, Robert, would also resign his Anglican archdeaconry and follow them.[4]

Family

Wilberforce married in 1820 Mary Frances Owen, daughter of John Owen (1766–1822).[1] His sister and brother in law through Mary Owen were Esther Owen (1804–1871) and Nathaniel Wells.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Wilberforce, William (WLBR817W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ "William Wilberforce". Rush Database of Members of Parliament. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  3. ^ Altholz, Josef L. (2004). "Wilberforce, Henry William (1807–1873)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29383. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ Newsome, David (2004). "Wilberforce, Robert Isaac (1802–1857)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29384. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Britain's black past. Gretchen Gerzina. Oxford. 2020. ISBN 978-1-78962-744-2. OCLC 1147283827.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)