Wilberforce, William

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Wilberforce, William (1759–1833). Evangelical Anglican and reformer. Born in Hull, he became MP for the city in 1780. He later took the county seat for Yorkshire and worked tirelessly in Parliament for the abolition of the slave-trade. His Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians (1797) exposed the nominal Christianity of many in ‘the Higher and Middle Classes’ and became a religious best-seller for forty years. He is recognized in the Lesser Festivals of the Church of England, 29 July.

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