Hi all,
I’m kinda suprised that no one has posted this yet. In honor of the movie Amazing Grace, about the life of William Wilberforce and the role he played in ending the African slave trade in England that was just released in theatres around the country yesterday, I thought a post about his arms would be appropriate.
His arms are blazoned as Argent an eagle displayed Sable, beaked and membered Proper. Here’s a picture of his arms on a bookplate he used:
http://www.wilberforce.info/coatsofarms/wwlarge.jpg
There is an interesting discussion of the Wilberforce arms at this website. There is also some genealogical information on William here. For more information on the move, see http://www.amazinggracemovie.com.
Enjoy! :D
Take care,
I checked the site of Wilberforce University, located outside of Xenia, Ohio, and found that the university has no design reference to the arms William Wilberforce in their seal.
*edited by member*
Donnchadh wrote:
i am unfamiliar with the movie and the person…sadly. thanks for the info and links as it may help me to become familiar with both.
You are probably more familiar with one of Wilberforce’s mentors—John Newton. Newton was an African slave trader who converted to Christianity and became one of the best known, and most controversial Anglican priests of his time. He became Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth in London where Wilberforce regularly attended and the two became close friends. It was Newton’s encouragement that prompted Wilberforce to begin his fight to abolish slavery.
Edit: John Newton wrote many well known hymns including his most famous: Amazing Grace.
David Pritchard wrote:
I checked the site of Wilberforce University, located outside of Xenia, Ohio, and found that the university has no design reference to the arms William Wilberforce in their seal.
I, too, was disappointed in their seal design. The simplicity of the Wilberforce arms could have easily been incorporated into any seal the university designed without fear of usurpation. It’s just another example of how little planning is put into the seals and arms of American schools. :sad:
Take care,
Incidentally, I just saw the movie (as in I just arrived home from the theater to find this thread)... it wasn’t bad. Although I’d have to say that the Michael Gambon’s performance as Lord Charles Fox (unfortunatly a fictional character) was definitly the best.
I surprised, I haven’t seen this film advertised at all. It looks like something I’d be interested in seeing but with the utter lack of publicity here in the hills of Pennsylvania apparently it isn’t coming to my area. I guess I’ll have to wait for it to come out on DVD…
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The famous Slave Medallion commissioned by William Wilberforce, modeled by William Hackwood and manufactured by Josiah Wedgwood in 1787. The design comes from the seal of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, an organisation that Wilberforce help to form. An image of the seal can be seen here:http://www.understandingslavery.com/learningresources/results/?viewDescription=true&id=1582
Andrew J Vidal wrote:
I surprised, I haven’t seen this film advertised at all. It looks like something I’d be interested in seeing but with the utter lack of publicity here in the hills of Pennsylvania apparently it isn’t coming to my area. I guess I’ll have to wait for it to come out on DVD…
It wasn’t very well received by the critics, and I have to admit, it was not the best film I’d ever seen… it wasn’t bad, just a bit discordant. It seemed like they rushed through some parts but overplayed others… IDK I enjoyed it.
Although I have not seen the film ‘Amazing Grace’, I write in response to Everett’s comment that Charles Fox was a fictional individual. As ‘Lord’ Charles Fox perhaps, but not in historical reality. Charles James Fox (1749 -1806) was a British politician, a Member of the House of Commons and was as such a member of various administrations during the late 18th century to the first six years of the 19th century. He was the third son of Henry Fox, 1st Lord Holland. Charles closely corraborated with William Wilberforce in respect of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. He died in 1806 shortly before the abolition came into effect.
Yours aye,
John
liongam wrote:
Although I have not seen the film ‘Amazing Grace’, I write in response to Everett’s comment that Charles Fox was a fictional individual. As ‘Lord’ Charles Fox perhaps, but not in historical reality. Charles James Fox (1749 -1806) was a British politician, a Member of the House of Commons and was as such a member of various administrations during the late 18th century to the first six years of the 19th century. He was the third son of Henry Fox, 1st Lord Holland. Charles closely corraborated with William Wilberforce in respect of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. He died in 1806 shortly before the abolition came into effect.
Yours aye,
John
I stand corrected, my research was far from exhaustive as it consisted of one Google search and a Wikipedia query for "Lord" Charles Fox, I see now why I didn’t find anything. Thanks for setting me strait.
Andrew J Vidal wrote:
I surprised, I haven’t seen this film advertised at all. It looks like something I’d be interested in seeing but with the utter lack of publicity here in the hills of Pennsylvania apparently it isn’t coming to my area. I guess I’ll have to wait for it to come out on DVD…
I’ve seen advertisements for it on television.
