Samuel Wilberforce,
FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, and the third son of
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 ...
. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
.
Samuel Wilberforce
'. Retrieved on 14 February 2008. He is now best remembered for his opposition to
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's theory of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
at a
debate in 1860.
Early life
He was born at
Clapham Common
Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...
, London, the fifth child of
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 ...
, a major campaigner against the
slave trade and slavery, and
Barbara Spooner
Barbara Ann Wilberforce (née Spooner; 24 December 1777 – 21 April 1847) was the spouse of abolitionist and MP William Wilberforce.
Early life
She was born in Birches Green, Erdington, Warwickshire, and died in The Vicarage, East Farleigh, ...
; he was the younger brother of
Robert Isaac Wilberforce
Robert Isaac Wilberforce (19 December 18023 February 1857) was an English clergyman and writer.
Early life and education
He was second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement.
He was educated at Oriel College ...
. He had an Anglican education, outside the
English public schools. This was the "private and domestic" pattern of instruction chosen for his sons by William Wilberforce. It concentrated on a traditional teaching of the classics, but in a clerical home environment.
Samuel Wilberforce was from 1812 under Stephen Langston, and then
Edward Garrard Marsh Edward Garrard Marsh (1783–1862)
was an English poet and Anglican clergyman.
Life
He was son of t ...
.
With
Henry Hoare of Staplehurst
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 Portuga ...
and others, he was a pupil in 1819 at Stanstead Park, near
Racton
Racton is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2147 road 2.1 miles (3.4 km) northeast of Emsworth and within the civil parish of Stoughton. The hamlet lies along the River Ems. 0.4 miles north of th ...
in Sussex, of
George Hodson
George S. Hodson (June 1868 – January 9, 1924) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Beaneaters in 1894 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1895. , at that time chaplain to
Lewis Way
Lewis Way (1772–1840) was an English barrister and churchman, noted for his Christian outreach to the Jewish people. He is not to be confused with his grandfather, also called Lewis Way, a director of the South Sea Company.
Life
Lewis Way was b ...
. Hodson was tutoring
Albert Way
Albert Way (23 June 1805 – 22 March 1874) was an English antiquary, and principal founder of the Royal Archaeological Institute.
Birth and family background
Way was born in Bath, Somerset, on 23 June 1805. He was the only son of Lewis Way ...
, but gathered a small class of six boys, who included also
James Thomason
James Thomason (3 May 1804 – 17 September 1853) was a British administrator of the East India Company and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces between 1843 and 1853.
Early life
The son of Thomas Truebody Thomason, a British cle ...
. In 1820 Hodson moved to
Maisemore
Maisemore is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 road 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Gloucester, on the west bank of the River Severn. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 488, reducing ...
near
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
as a curate, taking pupils with him.
Wilberforce was schooled under Hodson in Gloucestershire until 1822, when he required coaching for university entrance. For that he went, with his younger brother
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, ...
, to Francis Roach Spragge at
Bidborough
Bidborough is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 958, increasing to 1,163 at the 2011 Census.
...
.
In 1823 Wilberforce entered
Oriel College, Oxford. In the United Debating Society, the forerunner of the
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
, he demonstrated some Whig views. His friends included
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
and
Henry Edward Manning
Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but conv ...
, and were nicknamed the "
Bethel Union The Bethel Union, full name British and Foreign Seamen's Friend Society and Bethel Union, was a religious organisation for seafarers founded in 1819 by George Charles Smith ("Boatswain Smith").
Background
The main seaports in England in the early ...
" for their religiosity. Wilberforce's student recreations included riding and hunting.
He graduated in 1826, taking a first-class degree in mathematics and a second in
classics.
Wilberforce in late 1826 tried and failed for a fellowship at
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
. He spent the summer and autumn of 1827 touring the
continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...
. He married Emily Sargent, daughter of the rector of
East Lavington, West Sussex in 1828. After his marriage a college fellowship was no longer possible. He was ordained deacon in the Church of England. In 1829 he was ordained priest and appointed
curate at
Checkendon, near
Henley-on-Thames.
Career
![39a St Giles' Oxford, October 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/39a_St_Giles%27_Oxford%2C_October_2021.jpg)
In 1830, Wilberforce was presented by
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
,
Bishop of Winchester, to the
rectory of
St Mary's Church, Brighstone, in the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
.
In November 1839 he was installed
archdeacon of Surrey, in August 1840 he was collated canon of Winchester, and in October he accepted the rectory of
Alverstoke
Alverstoke is a small settlement which forms part of the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and ...
.
In January 1841, Wilberforce was made chaplain to
Prince Albert, an appointment he owed to an
anti-slavery
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 Britis ...
speech he had made some months previously. He was chosen as that year's
Bampton lecturer
The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780.
They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...
, but his wife Emily died on 10 March, and he withdrew.
In October 1843, he was appointed by the
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
to be
sub-almoner to the Queen. Later, his part in the revival of the powers of
Convocation lessened his influence at court.
In March 1845 Wilberforce accepted the position of
Dean of Westminster
The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbu ...
and, in October the same year, was appointed as the
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...
by
Sir Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
.
This year, also, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
. He set up a Diocesan Church Building Fund. This gave small grants intended to act as a lever for more substantial funding from other sources, a successful fundraising approach. In 1850 Wilberforce appointed
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...
as architect to the diocese of Oxford. Street built or improved 113 churches there during his tenure. In 1854, Wilberforce opened a theological college at
Cuddesdon
Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village in South Oxfordshire centred ESE of Oxford. It has the largest Church of England clergy training centre, Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon's nucleated village centre a ...
, now known as
Ripon College Cuddesdon
Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay mi ...
, which later was the subject of some controversy over its alleged Romanist tendencies.
![Samuel Wilberforce (1805–1873), Bishop of Oxford, by George Richmond 1868](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Samuel_Wilberforce_%281805%E2%80%931873%29%2C_Bishop_of_Oxford%2C_by_George_Richmond_1868.jpg)
After twenty-four years in the diocese of Oxford, Wilberforce was translated by Gladstone to the
bishopric of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...
in 1869.
Views and controversies
From an
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
background and upbringing in line with
Clapham Sect
The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...
orthodoxy, Wilberforce began to develop into a
High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
man and
High Tory
In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 17th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of the ...
in the early days of his priesthood. His ideas developed with broader contacts, and the politics of
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
.
High Churchman
Although a High Churchman, Wilberforce held aloof from the
Oxford Movement. In 1838 his divergence from the
Tractarian
The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
writers became so evident that
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
declined further contributions from him to the ''
British Critic
The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...
''.
In 1847 Wilberforce, at Newman's suggestion, became involved in the
Hampden controversy. He signed the remonstrance of 13 bishops to
Lord John Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...
against the appointment of Hampden, accused of heretical views, to the
bishopric of Hereford. He wished to obtain some assurances from Hampden; unsuccessful in this, he withdrew from the suit against him.
His handling of process and change of mind marred his intervention, and although he made a public statement of error,
Charles Greville expressed a widely-held view that "Sly Sam" had made himself look ridiculous.
In 1850
Charles Blomfield, the
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, proposed the upper house of a revived Convocation as a
court of last resort
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
for the
ecclesiastical courts
An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...
of the Church of England. Wilberforce took up the suggestion, and campaigned with Henry Hoare of Staplehurst that the dormant assemblies of Convocation should be put to use. They won the argument, over a few years.
In 1867 Wilberforce framed the first ''Report of the Ritualistic Commission'', in which coercive measures against
ritualism
Ritualism, in the history of Christianity, refers to an emphasis on the rituals and liturgical ceremonies of the church. Specifically, the Christian ritual of Holy Communion.
In the Anglican church in the 19th century, the role of ritual became ...
were undermined by the use of the word "restrain" instead of "abolish" or "prohibit." He also tried to soften some resolutions of the second Ritualistic Commission in 1868, and was one of the four who signed the Report with qualifications. He was strongly opposed to the
disestablishment of the Irish Church, but when the constituencies decided for it, he advised that no opposition should be made to it by the House of Lords.
''Contra'' Darwin
Wilberforce took part in the
famous 1860 debate concerning evolution at a meeting of the
British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
on 30 June.
Richard Owen and
Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stori ...
had already clashed on man's position in nature two days previously; on the Saturday, at the
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...
, Wilberforce got his chance to criticise
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's ''
On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection'', especially the implication that humans and various species of apes share common ancestors.
Lucas argues that "Wilberforce, contrary to the central tenet of the legend, did not prejudge the issue".
[.] He criticised Darwin's theory on scientific grounds, arguing that it was not supported by the facts, and he noted that the greatest names in science were opposed to the theory.
[ Nonetheless, Wilberforce's speech is generally only remembered today for his inquiry as to whether it was through his grandmother or his grandfather that Huxley considered himself descended from a monkey. Huxley is said to have replied that he would not be ashamed to have a monkey for his ancestor, but he would be ashamed to be connected with a man who used his great gifts to obscure the truth. Darwin was not present, but several of his friends replied, with Huxley perhaps the most effective. The popular view may be that Huxley had the better of the exchange; but there is a consensus view of historians that this account of the debate involves later fabrication, and that the outcome was moot. "Reports from the time suggest that everybody enjoyed themselves immensely, and all went cheerfully off to dinner together afterwards".
Wilberforce wrote a review of ''On the Origin of Species'' for the ''Quarterly Review''. In it, he disagreed with Darwin's reasoning.
]
''Essays and Reviews''
His attitude towards ''Essays and Reviews'' in 1861, against which he wrote an article in the ''Quarterly Review
The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...
'', won Wilberforce the gratitude of the Low Churchmen.
Colenso controversy
On the publication of John William Colenso
John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Angli ...
's ''Commentary on the Romans'' in 1861, Wilberforce endeavoured to induce the author to hold a private conference with him; but after the publication of the first two parts of the ''Pentateuch Critically Examined'' he drew up the address of the bishops which called on Colenso to resign his bishopric.
Reputation
The publication of ''Universalis Ecclesiae
was a papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given ...
'', the papal bull in 1850 re-establishing a Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
hierarchy in England, brought the High Church party, of whom Wilberforce had become a prominent member, into temporary disrepute. The secession to Catholicism of his brother-in-law Manning, and then of his brothers, as well as his only daughter and his son-in-law, brought him under suspicion.
"Soapy Sam" may have been a reference to Wilberforce's characteristic hand-washing gesture, captured in the ''Vanity Fair'' cartoon by "Ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
" (''illustration, right''). The nickname may also derive from a comment by Benjamin Disraeli that the bishop's manner was "unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous".
Wilberforce has been called the "bishop of society"; but society occupied only a fraction of his time. In the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
he took a prominent part in the discussion of social and ecclesiastical questions.
Death
Wilberforce died from a riding accident on 19 July 1873, near Abinger. He had been on the way to visit Gladstone at Holmbury St Mary
Holmbury St Mary is a village in Surrey, England centered on shallow upper slopes of the Greensand Ridge. Its developed area is a clustered town southwest of Dorking and southeast of Guildford. Most of the village is in the borough of Guildfo ...
, with Lord Granville. He was buried at East Lavington with his wife and her sister, the wife of Manning.
Works
Wilberforce published:
* A tract on tithes
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
(1831), "to correct the prejudices of the lower order of farmers".
* A collection of hymns for use in his parish (1832), which had a more general circulation
* ''Note Book of a Country Clergyman'', stories
* ''The Apostolical Ministry'', sermon.
* ''Letters and Journals'' (1837) of Henry Martyn
Henry Martyn (18 February 1781 – 16 October 1812) was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. A chance encount ...
, the Anglican missionary.
* ''Life'' (1838) of his father William Wilberforce published, with his elder brother Robert Wilberforce.
* ''Eucharistica'' (1839, editor) from the old English divines.
* ''Agathos and other Sunday Stories'' (1839)
* ''University Sermons'' (1839)
* ''Correspondence'' (1840) of William Wilberforce
* ''Rocky Island and other Parables'' (1840)
* ''A History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America'' (1844)
* ''Heroes of Hebrew History'' (1870), originally contributed to ''Good Words''.
There were several volumes of his sermons. He left a diary, and its content is considered influenced in parts by the editorial work he did on his father's papers, while also revealing of his own emotional life. The anonymous ''Britannica'' 1911 author wrote of it that ''His diary reveals a tender and devout private life which has been overlooked by those who have only considered the versatile facility and persuasive expediency that marked the successful public career of the bishop, and perhaps earned him the sobriquet of "Soapy Sam".''
Legacy
Wilberforce was the patron of Philip Reginald Egerton, who founded Bloxham School
Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school of the British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 km) from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshir ...
in Oxfordshire. A boarding house at the school is named after Wilberforce. Together with his brother Robert, he joined the Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch ...
on 27 March 1848. He resigned from the Canterbury Association on 14 March 1849. The Wilberforce River in New Zealand was named for them.
Family
Wilberforce married on 11 June 1828 Emily Sargent (1807–1841), daughter of John Sargent, and his wife Mary Smith, daughter of Abel Smith. They had five children who survived early childhood, one daughter and four sons. The sons were:
* Herbert William Wilberforce (1833–1856), a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He died at Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...
after duties in the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
.
* Reginald Wilberforce
Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language.
Etymology and history
The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...
(1838–1914), army officer. He was author of ''An Unrecorded Chapter of the Indian Mutiny'' (1894), a work criticised by fellow officers of the 52nd Foot for inaccuracy. Reginald was grandfather (through his fourth son, Samuel ( Samuel Wilberforce (judge)) to Richard Lord Wilberforce, a Lord of Appeal.
* Ernest Wilberforce (1840–1908), Bishop of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1882 to 1895, and Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...
from 1895 till his death.
* Basil Wilberforce (1841–1916), appointed canon residentiary of Westminster in 1894, chaplain of the House of Commons in 1896 and Archdeacon of Westminster
The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...
in 1900; he published volumes of sermons.
Emily Charlotte (1830–1917), the daughter, married J. Henry Pye. Pye was an Anglican priest: the couple converted to Catholicism in 1868.
In literature
Wilberforce appears, caricatured, in Anthony Trollope's novel '' The Warden'' (1855), where he is portrayed as the third child of the Archdeacon, Dr Grantly, who is named Samuel and nicknamed Soapy, and is engaging and ingratiating but not to be trusted.[''The Warden'', Chapter 12, 'Mr. Bold's Visit to Plumstead']
References
Bibliography
*''Life of Samuel Wilberforce, with Selections from his Diary and Correspondence'' (1879–1882), vol. i., ed. by Arthur Rawson Ashwell, and vols. ii. and iii., ed. by his son Reginald Garton Wilberforce, who also wrote a one-volume ''Life'' (1888).
*One of the volumes of the "English Leaders of Religion" is devoted to him, and he is included in John William Burgon
John William Burgon (21 August 18134 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defence of the historicity and Mosaic authorship of G ...
's ''Lives of Twelve Good Men'' (1888).
*Woodward, Horace B. 1907. ''History of the Geological Society of London.'' Geological Society, London, 336p
* John Hedley Brooke, "Samuel Wilberforce, Thomas Huxley, and Genesis," in Michael Lieb, Emma Mason and Jonathan Roberts (eds), ''The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible'' (Oxford, OUP, 2011), 397–412.
* Burgon, John William
''Lives of Twelve Good Men''
Murray, London 1891, pp. 242–278.
External links
*
*
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilberforce, Samuel
1805 births
1873 deaths
People from Clapham
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
English Anglicans
Bishops of Oxford
Bishops of Winchester
Fellows of the Royal Society
Charles Darwin
Deans of Westminster
Archdeacons of Surrey
Deaths by horse-riding accident in England
Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
Members of the Canterbury Association
Samuel
Chaplains of the House of Commons (UK)
Burials at Winchester Cathedral
Presidents of the Oxford Union