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A brief history of Elmdon
WILBERFORCE, William (1759-1833)
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The most prominent British politician to work for the abolition of
slavery in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was William Wilberforce. The motivation
for his efforts came from his conversion to evangelical Christianity in 1785. Wilberforce
was born in Hull in Yorkshire, England, on Aug. 24, 1759. He attended St. John's College,
Cambridge. His family's wealth aided him in becoming a Member of Parliament in 1780, and
he remained there until 1825.
On April 30, 1797, Wilberforce married Barbara Spooner, daughter of Isaac
Spooner of Elmdon Hall Estate, Warwickshire. |
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| Wilberforce's Committee for the Abolition of the Slave
Trade was founded in 1787, and he repeatedly exposed the horrors of slavery to his fellow
members of Parliament. He achieved his first success on March 25, 1807, when a bill to
abolish the slave trade became law. This law, however, did not free those who were already
slaves. His next step was to work for the freeing of the remaining slaves in the
British West Indies. His Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1823. Wilberforce retired
from Parliament in 1825 and turned over leadership of the abolition movement to Sir Thomas
F. Buxton. Wilberforce died on July 29, 1833. One month later the Slavery Abolition Act
was passed. |
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We would like to thank Alan John Sherriff, (author of Elmdon Past and Present)
Gerald Davidson and 'The Friends of Elmdon'. for providing material for this page.
Webpage Edited by Colin Hickman
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