Barbara Ann Wilberforce, about 1797 by John Russell, 1745-1806

Barbara Ann Wilberforce (née Spooner; 24 December 1777 – 21 April 1847) was the spouse of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and MP

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

Early life

She was born in

Birches Green Birches Green () is a small area of Tyburn in Birmingham, England, within the parliamentary constitiuency of Erdington. It is located between Gravelly Hill, Erdington and the M6 motorway. Early history The first mention of Birches Green d ...

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, and died in The Vicarage,

East Farleigh East Farleigh is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Maidstone, Kent, England. The village is located on the south side of the River Medway about two miles (3.2 km) upstream from the town of Maidstone. Heritage The ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. She was the eldest daughter and third child of Isaac Spooner of Elmdon Hall, Warwickshire, a banker of Birmingham, and his wife, Barbara Gough-Calthorpe, daughter of

Sir Henry Gough, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Gough, 1st Baronet (1709–1774), also known as Sir Harry Gough, of Edgbaston Hall, Warwickshire, was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1732 to 1741. Early life Gough was the son of Sir Richard Goug ...

, sister of

Henry Gough-Calthorpe, 1st Baron Calthorpe Henry Gough-Calthorpe, 1st Baron Calthorpe (1 January 1749 – 16 March 1798), known until 1796 as Sir Henry Gough, 2nd Baronet, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1796 when he was raised to the peerage. Early ...

and granddaughter of the MP

Reynolds Calthorpe Reynolds Calthorpe of Elvetham in Hampshire (12 August 1655 in Ampton – 1719) was a Whig Member of Parliament for Hindon. He was the third and youngest son of Sir James Calthorpe (died 1658) and Dorothy Reynolds, second daughter of Sir Jame ...

. On 15 April 1797, while at Bath, she met her future husband,

, to whom she had been recommended by Wilberforce's friend,

Thomas Babington Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple (; 18 December 1758 – 21 November 1837) was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More. An ...

. The couple were married a
St Swithins Church

Walcot, Bath Walcot is a suburb of the city of Bath, England. It lies to the north-north-east of the city centre, and is an electoral ward of the city.William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(July 1798), Barbara (1799), Elizabeth (1801),

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(1802), Samuel (1805), and

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(1807). Following her husband's death in 1833, Barbara Wilberforce spent her time with her sons, Robert and Samuel, or with her sister Ann Neale in

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...

in Buckinghamshire. She died in The Vicarage,

and is buried next to East Farleigh church, her son Robert Wilberforce's first benefice, and where her son Henry would minister a decade later.

''Amazing Grace''

In the 2006 film ''

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

'', about her husband's involvement in the movement to eliminate the slave trade, she was portrayed by actress

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai (; born 6 August 1982) is a British actress and film director. She appeared in ''Amazing Grace'', ''Atonement'', and '' Glorious 39'', and in the BBC series '' Emma'', '' The Hour'' and ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilberforce, Barbara 1777 births 1847 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands Barbara 19th-century English women 19th-century English people 18th-century English women 18th-century English people People from East Farleigh