WILBERFORCE: SLAVERY, RELIGION AND POLITICS
Series One: The Wilberforce Papers from the Bodleian Library, Oxford

Part 1: Papers of William Wilberforce (1759-1833) and Robert Isaac Wilberforce (1802-1857)

This microfilm project re-unites for the first time the two separate collections of Wilberforce Papers held at the Bodleian Library, those of William Wilberforce’s sons Robert and Samuel.

These papers record the life of a remarkable family, with correspondence spanning from 1771 to 1873, casting light on many important topics such as:

Part 1 covers the Papers of William Wilberforce, (1759-1833) and Robert Isaac Wilberforce (1802-1857).

The most important item in this first part is undoubtedly William Wilberforce’s diary. Six volumes and over 340 loose leaves provide a detailed record of his life for 1779, 1783-1786, 1788-1790, 1793-1804, 1808-1814, and 1823-1833 (the missing section for 1814-1822 appears in Series Two of this project).

Separate religious journals, 1791-1826, document his spiritual turmoil. With the diary we can eavesdrop on discussions with writers and politicians, and accompany him on tours, such as his visit to the Lake District in 1779, his journey to France with William Pitt in 1783, and his continental tour in 1785. Scholars can chart the progress of the abolition movement day by day, and follow the progress of political issues.

Complementing these items are his autobiography, 1759-1792, dictated by Wilberforce and in the hand of an amanuensis.

William Wilberforce’s correspondence, 1771-1833, is also a very rich source for scholars.

Correspondents include: Henry Addington, Thomas Babington, the Earl of Bathurst, Sir Joseph Banks, Jeremy Bentham, Henry Brougham, Fanny Burney, Thomas Fowell Buxton, George Canning, John Cartwright, Thomas Clarkson, Henry Dundas, Charles James Fox, Elizabeth Fry, King George IV, Thomas Gisborne, Baron Grenville, William Hey, Frederic Humboldt, Robert Banks Jenkinson, John Jay, John Keble, Rufus King, Christian Latrobe, Sir Thomas Lawrence, ‘Monk’ Lewis, Zachary Macaulay, Samuel Marsden, Thomas Middleton, Isaac Milner, Hannah and Martha More, John Newton, Sir John Pennington, William Pitt the Younger, Beilby Porteus, Edward Pusey, William Roscoe, Granville Sharp, Sydney Smith, William Smith, Robert Southey, Lady Hester Stanhope, Philip Stanhope, James Stephen, John Bird Sumner, Henry Thornton, Robert Thorpe, Henry Venn, Lady Waldegrave, Arthur Wellesley - Duke of Wellington, Samuel Whitbread, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, Christpher Wyvill and Arthur Young.

The subject matter of the letters is wide ranging, and provides a wealth of evidence on contemporary events and concerns. Politicians give good accounts of parliamentary debates. Many refer to foreign affairs, especially to slavery and the slave trade.

Noteworthy items include Banks writing about Haiti; the Colonial Secretary, Henry Bathurst, about Sierra Leone; Shute Barrington on missions in India and Africa; the Marquis of Hastings about Bengal; the Earl of Selkirk about trade with North America; Sydney Smith about the white slave trade; and the Duke of Wellington about the French Slave Trade.

There is a substantial correspondence with dissenters - Baptists, Methodists, Quakers and Unitarians - which displays Wilberforce’s open and friendly relations with these groups, his opposition to restrictions on them at home and his support for their missions abroad.

There is much on local politics and trade as well, and the records include his Canvass book for the Yorkshire election of 1784 which contains "hints for the better regulating and conducting The Various Businesses relative to a Contested Election."

There is also family correspondence, with many letters from his sons and from his wife, Barbara. These provide a vivid picture of domestic life, schooling, entertainments, charity work and the social and intellectual climate.

Material on slavery includes not only the correspondence with Buxton, Clarkson, Macaulay, More, Sharp and others mentioned above, but also drafts of speeches, and notes on books, pamphlets and reports concerning the slave trade, 1804-1824.

The first part is completed with a small section comprising the correspondence and papers of Robert Isaac Wilberforce (1802-1857), archdeacon of East Riding, and second son of William Wilberforce, including letters from Thomas Chalmers, Richard Froude, William Gladstone, John Henry Newman, Edward Pusey and members of the Wilberforce family.

Of particular importance are the letters between Robert and Samuel concerning Robert’s involvement in the tractarian or high church movement and his decision to leave the Anglican Church.