Barbara Spooner Wilberforce
Barbara Ann Wilberforce , nee Barbara Ann Spooner , (born December 24, 1771 in Birches Green , Warwickshire , † April 21, 1847 in East Farleigh , Kent ) was the wife of the British abolitionist and MP William Wilberforce .
Life
She was the eldest daughter and third child of Isaac Spooner of Elmdon Hall, Warwickshire, a banker in Birmingham, and his wife, Barbara Gough-Calthorpe, sister of the first Lord Calthorpe. On April 15, 1797, she met her future husband William Wilberforce in Bath , to whom she was recommended by his friend Thomas Babington . The couple married on May 30, 1797 at St. Swithins Church in Walcot near Bath.
She became seriously ill with typhus in 1800 and never fully recovered from it. The couple had six children together, all of whom reached adulthood:
- William Wilberforce (born July 1798)
- Barbara Wilberforce (* 1799; † 1821)
- Elizabeth Wilberforce (* 1801; † 1832)
- Robert Isaac Wilberforce (December 19, 1802 - February 3, 1857)
- Samuel Wilberforce (7 September 1805 - 19 July 1873)
- Henry William Wilberforce (born September 22, 1807 - April 23, 1873)
After her husband's death in 1833, she lived alternately with her sons Robert and Samuel or her sister Ann Neale in Taplow , Buckinghamshire . She died in 1847 at the East Farleigh parsonage, where her son Robert had his first vicarage and her son Henry became pastor a decade later.
On the maternal side, she was a descendant of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York , the mother of Richard III. , King of England .
Movie
The 2006 film Amazing Grace is about her husband and his involvement in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Her role was played by Romola Garai .
Web links
- "Wilberforce, William (1759-1833)" , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, John Wolffe and B. Harrison, September 2004 (online since May 2006), ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1
- University of Leicester
- Amazing Grace , Bristol Bay Productions
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Spooner Wilberforce, Barbara |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wilberforce, Barbara Ann; Spooner, Barbara Ann (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of British abolitionist and MP William Wilberforce |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Birches Green , Warwickshire |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 21, 1847 |
| Place of death | East Farleigh , Kent |