William Wilberforce (1759-1833), British reformer, statesman and politician. Wilberforce was educated at Cambridge University, England. He was elected to Parliament in 1780. It was here that he became the slavery abolition movement's chief spokesman. Wilberforce secured an enactment of legislation, outlawing the trade in 1807. He continued to fight for the complete abolition of slavery. The 1833 Slavery Abolition Act was passed a month after his death. Wilberforce's son, Samuel, was well-known as an opponent of Darwin's theory of evolution. Artwork after a portrait by George Richmond.