Sir William Dolben, 3rd Baronet (1727–1814) was a British Tory MP and a zealous campaigner for the

abolition of 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 British ...

. He was born in

Finedon Finedon is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 4,309. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as Tingdene) was a large royal manor, previously held by Queen Edith, wif ...

, Northamptonshire, the only surviving son of Sir John Dolben, 2nd Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Digby (died 1730), daughter of

William Digby, 5th Baron Digby William Digby, 5th Baron Digby (20 February 1661 – 27 November 1752) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life Digby was a younger son of Kildare Digby, 2nd Baron Digby, and Mary Gardiner. He matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford on ...

and Lady Jane Noel. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, matriculating in 1744. After leaving Oxford he married in 1748 Judith, daughter of Somerset English, heiress to a considerable fortune. In 1756 he inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respo ...

for 1760 and in 1766 a

verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderer ...

Rockingham Forest Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River Nene and the towns of Stamford and Kettering. It has a rich and varied landscape, wit ...

. After a short period in early 1768 as a stopgap MP for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, he was returned at the general election in March 1768 as MP for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

from 1768 to 1774. In 1780 he was re-adopted by the university and represented them again from 1780 until 1806. On 20 April 1797, he was appointed captain in the Northamptonshire volunteer

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment. During his long parliamentary career as an independent MP, he was a fervent advocate of parliamentary reform and the abolition of slavery. He took up the abolitionist cause after he chanced to visit a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

docked in the port of London; the conditions he found on the ship so horrified him that he resolved at once to work for abolition.Hague, William ''Pitt the Younger'' Harper Collins 2004 pp.297-8 With the support of other abolitionists Dolben put forward a bill in 1788 to regulate conditions on board slave ships which was passed as the

Slave Trade Act 1788 The Slave Trade Act 1788, also known as Dolben's Act, was an Act of Parliament that limited the number of enslaved people that British slave ships could transport, based on the ships' tons burthen ( bm). It was the first British legislation pass ...

by a large majority. After the death of his first wife in 1771, he married in 1789 a second cousin, Charlotte Scotchmer, née Affleck. He died in Bury St Edmunds in 1814, aged eighty-seven, and was buried at Finedon church. He was succeeded in the title and estates by John English Dolben, his only surviving son from his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolben, William 1727 births 1814 deaths People from Finedon High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Oxford University Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Oxford UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 Baronets in the Baronetage of England English abolitionists People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford