William Wilberforce

by Robin Furneaux

William Wilberforce is now remembered mainly for his leadership of the two great crusades to abolish the Slave Trade and later to free the slaves. He took up their cause when he was in his twenties and received the news of their freedom on his deathbed at the age of seventy-three. Abolition was the most famous of his causes but there were many others. He sat in Parliament for nearly fifty years, where he voted and spoke entirely as his conscience dictated and had more influence than any other member it its history who never held office. His power in the country was even greater. His own life bridged the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He knew George III, Louis XVI and Lord North, also Macaulay, Gladstone and Newman. Robin Furneaux (1936-1985) was the first biographer to have had access to the Wilberforce papers. He also visited the United States to study Wilberforce documents in various American collections and travelled in the West Indies and West Africa. Furneaux was 3rd Earl of Birkenhead and took an Honours Degree in history at Oxford.

Genres: Biography

506 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Rob Markley]

This is a first rate political biography giving excellent profiles of Wilberforce himself (who incidentally has a far greater impact in the political sphere than I'd previously imagined), and by way of interaction, of the many other colourful and significant figures of the age. I had often wondered whether the friendship with Pitt was somewhat overstated but evidently not, in fact this merely the strongest of many significant relationships Wilberforce enjoyed. The book covers all the great events and issues of a great age, but of course the most significant in Wilberforce's own career was the fight against the slave trade and here we also have an unparalleled insight into the political and practical reality of that trade.

Furneaux is evidently not a believer himself (not being apparently aware of the distinction between an evangelical and an evangelist!) and therefore sometimes is mystified at Wilberforce's thinking, which is all too self evident to an evangelical Christian even of today; but then his sympathetic measure and the veneration given to Wilberforce is all the more credible. In fact Wilberforce on occasions seems slightly too moralistic rather than a realist compared for example to his fellow evangelical, the Prime Minister Perceval; and also rather too 'religious by behaviour' with his sabbath rules compared with modern Christianity. However as Furneaux points out a number of times, Wilberforce is very much to be measured by his era rather than imputing modern conceptions of class or race or gender.

The book is excellently researched as evidenced by the range of sources and comparative biographies commented upon. Wilberforce's own writing which is the bulk of the source material must have been quite a challenge, as his much admired language of the time has not aged well being interminably unclear for modern readers. Even many of the quotes contained in this book actually take some deciphering! It is a political and social biography; and economic matters are merely referred to in passing, whether national, relating to the slave trade or personal to Wilberforce (it would have been good to understand more of the source of Wilberforce's wealth). The book also assumes a reasonable background knowledge of the events, people and terminology of the topic, as not everything is explained in detail. Occasionally I was left wanting more explanation or clarity, for another example as to how more exactly Wilberforce managed to be first elected for the hard fought over Yorkshire electorate, but such further questioning is inevitable when a biography delves deep enough to actually raise important questions.

Therefore this is by no means a book for a Christian seeking an introduction to a notable saint of another era, but rather a first rate analysis of the impact a true Christian had in an important historical period; one filled with great tensions, change and dramatic moves of history. In this there is a great deal of relevance for our own times.