Son of a wealthy merchant in Hull; MP for Hull 1780–84, Yorkshire 1784–1812 and Bramber 1812–25. Wilberforce underwent a conversion to evangelical Christianity in the mid-1780s and became one of the country’s leading campaigners against the slave trade. Southey admired Wilberforce’s stance and the two started to correspond in 1813 over the need to promote Christian missionary activity in India.