born Aug. 24, 1759, Hull, Yorkshire, Eng.
died July 29, 1833, London
British politician.
Entering the House of Commons in 1780, he supported parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation. Converted to evangelical Christianity (1785), he agitated against the slave trade and cofounded the Anti-Slavery Society. His sponsorship of antislavery legislation led to the passage of a bill abolishing the slave trade in the British West Indies (1807). From 1821 he agitated for emancipation of all slaves and was joined in Parliament by Thomas F. Buxton (17861845), who continued to sponsor legislation after Wilberforce retired in 1825. The Slavery Abolition Act was passed one month after Wilberforce's death in 1833.