Samuel Wilberforce


Samuel Wilberforce

Bishop of Winchester
ChurchChurch of England
SeeWinchester
In office1870–1873
PredecessorCharles Sumner
SuccessorHarold Browne
Previous postsBishop of Oxford
Dean of Westminster
Orders
Ordination1828
Personal details
Born7 September 1805
Clapham Common, London, England
Died19 July 1873 (aged 67)
Dorking, Surrey, England
EducationOriel College, Oxford

Samuel Wilberforce FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce.

Wilberforce combined a religious vocation with significant influence in the theological, political, and scientific circles of Victorian Britain. He is regarded as one of the greatest public speakers of his day. A high church cleric, he served successively as Bishop of Oxford (1845–1869) and Bishop of Winchester (1869–1873). He is now best remembered for his opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution at a debate in 1860.