Who Was William Wilberforce?

William Wilberforce was born in Hull and was educated at Cambridge University. He was a British statesman and reformer. In 1780, Wilberforce was elected to Parliament. He was a supporter of the Tory program put forward by the Prime Minister William Pitt the younger. The MP became a Christian in 1784 and like the other Evangelicals, he was soon attracted to the move to abolish slavery. Wilberforce then became the abolitionist movements chief spokesmen in the house of Commons.

In 1807, Wilberforce joined the struggle for the complete abolition of slavery, and, in 1823, he was the founder of the Anti-Slavery society. His health status forced him to retire from Parliament in 1825. But one month after his death, the Emancipation bill abolishing slavery had been made a law.

Today in Hull, there is a house commemorating William's work towards the abolition of slavery in the old town and there is a large statue of him at the further education collage in the city centre.

He was an English parliamentarian and leader of the campaign against the slave trade.