William Smith (abolitionist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Smith
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William Smith
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| Born |
William Smith
22 September 1756 Clapham (then a village south of London)
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| Died | 31 May 1835 (aged 78) London, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Years active | 1782 – c. 1825 |
| Known for | Social justice, prison reform |
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Notable work
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campaigns for abolition of slavery |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Coape (m.1781) |
| Children | 8, including Benjamin Smith |
| Relatives | Barbara Bodichon (granddaughter)
Benjamin Leigh Smith (grandson) Florence Nightingale (granddaughter) |
William Smith (born September 22, 1756 – died May 31, 1835) was an important British politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for many years.
William Smith was a Dissenter, meaning he belonged to a Christian group separate from the official Church of England. He worked hard to gain more political rights for people of his faith. He was a close friend of William Wilberforce, another famous reformer.
Smith was part of a group called the Clapham Sect. This group worked for many important causes like social justice and improving prisons. Most famously, he played a key role in ending the slave trade and then slavery itself in the British Empire. He was also the grandfather of Florence Nightingale, a pioneer nurse, and Barbara Bodichon, who helped start Girton College, Cambridge.
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William Smith's Early Life
William Smith was born on September 22, 1756, in Clapham. At that time, Clapham was a small village south of London. He was the only son of Samuel Smith and Martha Adams.
His parents were part of an Independent church. He went to a special school called a dissenting academy in Daventry. There, he started to learn about Unitarian ideas.
After school, he joined his family's grocery business. By 1777, he became a partner in the company. Smith began his long career as a reformer in 1782. He joined a group called the Society for Constitutional Information.
Becoming a Member of Parliament
In 1784, William Smith was elected as an MP for Sudbury in Suffolk. He strongly supported the Whigs, who were the main opposition party at the time.
He lost his seat in Sudbury in 1790. But in January of the next year, he was elected as an MP for Camelford. In 1796, he was again elected for Sudbury.
In 1802, he decided to run for MP in Norwich. He lost the election in 1806, but many Whigs were elected, forming a new government. Smith was elected for Norwich again in 1807 and 1812. He became a well-known and outspoken radical MP for Norwich. This city was known for being a place where many Dissenters and radicals gathered.
His Unitarian Beliefs
William Smith had strong Christian beliefs as a Dissenter. He was a Unitarian. This meant he did not believe in the Trinity, which is a main idea of the Church of England. Because of his beliefs, he could not hold the highest government jobs.
Despite this, he played a big part in many important issues in Parliament. He supported Dissenters who wanted to change laws like the Test and Corporation Acts. These laws limited the rights of non-Anglicans.
In 1792, Smith publicly said he was a Unitarian. He also helped start the Friends of the People Society. In 1813, Smith helped pass the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813. This law, known as 'Mr William Smith's Bill', made it legal to practice Unitarianism for the first time. He was also a member of the Essex Street Chapel.
Fighting Against Slavery
In June 1787, William Smith was one of the first people to campaign against the slave trade. He became a strong voice for this cause. In 1790, he supported William Wilberforce in a big debate about the slave trade.
When he was not in Parliament, he wrote a pamphlet called A Letter to William Wilberforce (1807). In this letter, he clearly explained why slavery should be ended. After the slave trade was stopped, he focused on freeing people who were already enslaved.
In 1823, he helped create the London Society for the Abolition of Slavery in our Colonies. He worked with Zachary Macaulay to start this group. This began the next step in the fight to end slavery completely.
Views on the French Revolution
At first, William Smith supported the revolutionary movement in France. He visited Paris in 1790 and saw the July 14 celebrations. He later wrote about his experiences there.
In April 1791, he publicly supported the new Unitarian Society. This included supporting the new freedom in France. Smith quickly gained a reputation as a radical. Some even called him "King-Killer Smith." This was because he defended the execution of King Louis XVI in Parliament. He argued that the French revolutionaries were no more cruel than earlier French kings.
Because he had friends and business contacts in Paris, he sometimes acted as a go-between for the British government. In 1792, he helped arrange meetings between William Pitt and Hugues-Bernard Maret. Maret later became Napoleon's foreign minister. These meetings tried to avoid war between Britain and France.
Later Life and Family
In 1806, William Smith was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This honor recognized him as someone knowledgeable in many areas of science.
As an MP, Smith was very close when Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated. He was able to identify the body right away.
Smith finally saw the Test Acts repealed in 1828. This was a big victory for Dissenters. He died in London on May 31, 1835, at 78 years old.
William Smith's Family Life
On September 12, 1781, Smith married Frances Coape (1758 – 1840). She was also a Dissenter. They had five sons and five daughters.
Their children included:
- The oldest son was Benjamin Smith, who also became a Whig politician. His children included Barbara Bodichon, who helped found Girton College, and the explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith.
- William Adams Smith (1789–1870) was known as an activist.
- Samuel (1794–1880) married Mary Shore.
- Octavius (1796–1871) married Jane Cooke and had eight children.
- Frederick (1798–1882) married Mary Yates.
Their third daughter, Frances Smith (1789–1880), married William Nightingale. She was the mother of the famous nurse Florence Nightingale. Another daughter, Joanna Maria (1791–1884), married MP John Bonham-Carter (1788–1838). She started the Bonham Carter family. Two other daughters, Martha Frances (1782–1870) and Julia (1799–1881), did not marry. Anne (1785–1854) married George Thomas Nicholson.
The Smith family lived near their business. They later moved to Eagle House on Clapham Common.
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