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<span class=prefix>Rev</span> Samuel Wilberforce

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Rev Samuel Wilberforce

Birth
Clapham, London Borough of Lambeth, Greater London, England
Death
19 Jul 1873 (aged 67)
Dorking, Mole Valley District, Surrey, England
Burial
East Lavington, Chichester District, West Sussex, England Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
You can view the Cenotaph here: Cenotaph

He was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. He was a highly successful Victorian clergyman and one of the greatest public speakers of his day. Although derided by his critics as 'Soapy Sam', he rose through the ranks to become Bishop of Oxford. He is best remembered for his legendary encounter with Thomas Huxley. The two men publicly argued the case for and against Darwin's controversial theory of evolution by natural selection. Their meeting is now acclaimed as a landmark in the history of science. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1826, taking a first class degree in mathematics and a second in classics. Later he entered the priesthood to become eventually the Bishop of Oxford and later Lord Bishop of Winchester. He was known as an exceptional speaker in lectures and public debate and a prolific letter writer. He published collections of hymns, sermons and short stories, and always with a moral message. At an Oxford conference in 1860 He was to speak in a debate with Thomas Huxley, the eminent biologist. It was a crowded meeting and Wilberforce opened the debate and presented his case; 'The principle of natural selection is absolutely incompatible with the word of God'. In a scoffing tone he assured the audience that there was nothing in the idea of evolution; rock-pigeons were what rock-pigeons had always been. He was killed in a riding accident in 1873 and it was reported that Thomas Huxley very unkindly commented that Wilberforce's brains had at last come into contact with reality, and the result had been fatal. In the United Debating Society, which afterwards developed into the Union, he distinguished himself as a zealous advocate of liberalism. The set of friends with whom he chiefly associated at Oxford, among them William Ewart Gladstone and Henry Manning, were sometimes named, on account of their exceptionally decorous conduct, the "Bethel Union"; but he was by no means averse to amusements, and specially delighted in hurdle jumping and hunting. In 1831 he published a tract on tithes, "to correct the prejudices of the lower order of farmers," and in the following year a collection of hymns for use in his parish, which had a large general circulation; a small volume of stories entitled the Note Book of a Country Clergyman; and a sermon, The Apostolical Ministry. At the close of 1837 he published the Letters and Journals of Henry Martyn, the Anglican missionary in India and Persia. Rather than being buried in Westminster Abbey, next to his father, he was buried in this churchyard next to his wife, according to his wishes.
You can view the Cenotaph here: Cenotaph

He was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. He was a highly successful Victorian clergyman and one of the greatest public speakers of his day. Although derided by his critics as 'Soapy Sam', he rose through the ranks to become Bishop of Oxford. He is best remembered for his legendary encounter with Thomas Huxley. The two men publicly argued the case for and against Darwin's controversial theory of evolution by natural selection. Their meeting is now acclaimed as a landmark in the history of science. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1826, taking a first class degree in mathematics and a second in classics. Later he entered the priesthood to become eventually the Bishop of Oxford and later Lord Bishop of Winchester. He was known as an exceptional speaker in lectures and public debate and a prolific letter writer. He published collections of hymns, sermons and short stories, and always with a moral message. At an Oxford conference in 1860 He was to speak in a debate with Thomas Huxley, the eminent biologist. It was a crowded meeting and Wilberforce opened the debate and presented his case; 'The principle of natural selection is absolutely incompatible with the word of God'. In a scoffing tone he assured the audience that there was nothing in the idea of evolution; rock-pigeons were what rock-pigeons had always been. He was killed in a riding accident in 1873 and it was reported that Thomas Huxley very unkindly commented that Wilberforce's brains had at last come into contact with reality, and the result had been fatal. In the United Debating Society, which afterwards developed into the Union, he distinguished himself as a zealous advocate of liberalism. The set of friends with whom he chiefly associated at Oxford, among them William Ewart Gladstone and Henry Manning, were sometimes named, on account of their exceptionally decorous conduct, the "Bethel Union"; but he was by no means averse to amusements, and specially delighted in hurdle jumping and hunting. In 1831 he published a tract on tithes, "to correct the prejudices of the lower order of farmers," and in the following year a collection of hymns for use in his parish, which had a large general circulation; a small volume of stories entitled the Note Book of a Country Clergyman; and a sermon, The Apostolical Ministry. At the close of 1837 he published the Letters and Journals of Henry Martyn, the Anglican missionary in India and Persia. Rather than being buried in Westminster Abbey, next to his father, he was buried in this churchyard next to his wife, according to his wishes.


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  • Created by: julia&keld
  • Added: Aug 8, 2011
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74620335/samuel-wilberforce: accessed ), memorial page for Rev Samuel Wilberforce (7 Sep 1805–19 Jul 1873), Find a Grave Memorial ID 74620335, citing St Peters Churchyard, East Lavington, Chichester District, West Sussex, England; Maintained by julia&keld (contributor 46812479).