Samuel Wilberforce

Born in London on September 7, 1805, he was the third son of William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner. He became one of the most prominent Anglican churchmen of his age, serving as Bishop of Oxford from 1845 to 1869 and then as Bishop of Winchester from 1869 until his death in 1873.

He was admired for his energy, polished speaking, and talent for church leadership, though critics also mocked his smooth style and gave him the nickname "Soapy Sam." His career placed him at the center of major religious and public arguments in Victorian England, including the much-retold 1860 Oxford exchange about Darwin's ideas.

He died on July 19, 1873, after a riding accident near Dorking, Surrey. Today he remains an important figure in 19th-century British religious history, remembered both for his influence within the Church of England and for the public controversies that kept his name alive.