Robert Wilberforce

Robert Isaac Wilberforce (December 1802 – 3 February 1857) was an English clergyman and writer, second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement.

Early life and education

Robert Wilberforce was born in December 1802. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, taking a double first in 1823. His father was the well known William Wilberforce.

Career

In 1826 he was chosen fellow of Oriel and was ordained, among his friends and colleagues being Newman, Pusey and Keble. For a few years he was one of the tutors at Oriel. The provost Edward Hawkins disliked his religious views, and in 1831 Wilberforce resigned and left Oxford. In 1832 he obtained the living of East Farleigh, Kent, which in 1840 he exchanged for that of Burton Agnes, near Hull.

In 1841 he was appointed archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire. About this time Wilberforce became close with Henry Manning, and they exchanged many letters on theological and ecclesiastical questions. They were deeply involved in re-examining the relationship between the Church of England and Roman Catholicism.

In 1851 Manning joined the Roman Catholic Church, and three years later Wilberforce took the same step. He was preparing for his ordination when he died at Albano on 3 February 1857. He is buried in Rome at the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, near the Pantheon. His tomb is situated just outside the right transept of the church. Wilberforce was pre-deceased by his first wife Agnes Everilda Frances Wrangham (1800–1834) and second wife Jane Legard (d. 1854).

He was survived by two sons, the younger of whom, Edward Wilberforce (1834–1914), became one of the masters of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Edward's son Lionel Robert Wilberforce (1861–1944) was in 1900 appointed professor of physics in the University of Liverpool. His other children included:

• William Francis Wilberforce (1833–1905), Vicar of Brodsworth
• Sir Herbert William Wrangham Wilberforce, Barrister (1864–1941)
• Alexander (Alex) Basil Edward Wilberforce (1867–1902)
• Evelyn Agnes Fannie Wilberforce (1872–1954)

R. I. Wilberforce assisted his brother, Bishop of Oxford Samuel Wilberforce (1805–1873) to write the Life and to edit the Correspondence of his father.

Writings

• Church Courts and Church Discipline (1843);
• Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist (1853);
• Doctrine of the Incarnation in Relation to Mankind and the Church (1848 and later editions);
• The Five Empires, a Sketch of Ancient History (1840);
• A Sketch of the History of Erastianism (1851); and
• An Enquiry into the Principles of Church Authority (1854)

His first published work was a romance, Rutilius and Lucius (1842).

References

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)