William Wilberforce was born on 24th August 1759 in High Street Hull, in the house that is now a museum dedicated to his memory. He was baptised on 24th September at Hull's Holy Trinity Church.
He was the son of Robert Wilberforce (1729-1768), and the grandson of Alderman William Wilberforce (1690-1774) who established the family business as merchants in the Baltic trade, shipping raw materials such as iron ore, timber and turpentine across the North Sea into Hull.
William and his wife Barbara had two daughters and four sons. The children were all born in London, and there are many branches of his direct descendants who still carry the surname.
The surname Wilberforce comes from the village of Wilberfoss (meaning "Wilburg's ditch") near Pocklington, and William's ancestors have been traced back to Henry de Wilberfoss, lord of the manor in the 14th century.
William belonged to a junior branch of the family, who went into trade as wool and cloth merchants at Beverley; the senior branch of the family eventually sold their land and moved from Wilberfoss in 1710.
We're often contacted by people who have the surname Wilberforce in their ancestry, asking if we can find a link to William himself and the answer is, usually, yes. It seems that everyone with the surname can trace their ancestry back to the village of Wilberfoss and the one family of that name.
For more information visit the official Wilberforce family website at www.wilberforce.info *
