William Wilberforce
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William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the 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.
A statue of William Wilberforce outside Wilberforce House, his birthplace in Hull
William Wilberforce by John Rising, 1790, pictured at the age of 30
Diagram of a slave ship, the Brookes, illustrating how slaves were transported
Abolitionism in the United Kingdom was the movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to end the practice of slavery, whether formal or informal, in the United Kingdom, the British Empire and the world, including ending the Atlantic slave trade. It was part of a wider abolitionism movement in Western Europe and the Americas.
1787 Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion designed by Josiah Wedgwood for the British anti-slavery campaign
Title page of a published lecture against slavery by Joseph Ivimey
Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray, the great-nieces of Chief Justice Lord Mansfield living at Kenwood House.
Ignatius Sancho (c1729–1780), an escaped slave, gained fame as an active 18th-century British abolitionist. He opened a popular shop in Mayfair and mixed with influential people. He was the first person of African descent to vote.