WIGGIN 



6282 



WILCOX 



and to keep them well entertained. The chief 

 places of interest are the Pavilion, with its 

 flower garden and fountain; the Royal Court 

 Theater, the Royal Picture Gallery, the library 

 and the town hall, with its textile museum. 

 The springs were known to the Romans, and 

 many relics of the Roman period have been 

 >vered in the neighborhood. Population in 

 1910, 109,002. 



WIG'GIN, KATE DOUGLAS. See RIGGS, KATE 

 DOUGLAS WIGGIN. 



WIGHT, iritc, ISLE OF, an island off the south 

 coast of England, forming part of Hampshire, 

 from which it is separated by the Solent, a 

 strait from two to five miles wide. It covers 

 an area of 147 square miles. The island is 

 noted for its pleasant climate and beautiful 

 scenery and attracts many thousands of visitors 

 annually, certain parts being particularly suit- 

 able as a winter resort for sufferers from pul- 

 monary complaints. The chief town is New- 

 port; it is also the leading port, famous all 

 over the world for its regatta at Cowes; Ryde, 

 Shanklin, Ventnor, Sandown are other well- 

 known and popular resorts. Communication 

 with Southampton, Portsmouth and Lyming- 

 ton is frequent, and there is a railway system 

 connecting all the important points on the 

 island. The chief industry is agriculture ; sheep 

 raising is extensive, and the wool is noted for 

 its purity. The population is about 82,000. 



Osborne House, near Cowes, was a favorite 

 residence and the scene of the death of Queen 

 Victoria of England. The island contains many 

 relics of Roman occupation, and was the scene 

 of almost incessant warfare for several centu- 

 ries. Carisbrooke Castle was the prison of King 

 Charles I during his struggle with Parliament. 



Consult Thomas's The Isle of Wight. 



WIL'BERFORCE, an English family notable 

 for successful efforts against human slavery and 

 in the Tractarian Movement, the latter result- 

 ing in notable accessions to the Roman Catho- 

 lic Church in England. 



William Wilberforce (1759-1833), a famous 

 English statesman and philanthropist, the 

 leader in the English movement for the aboli- 

 tion of the slave trade (see SLAVERY). He was 

 bora at Hull and educated in the grammar 

 school there and at Saint John's College, 

 Cambridge, showing marked ability but failing 

 through his fondness for social life to take ad- 

 vantage of all his opportunities. In 1780 he en- 

 tered Parliament from his native town. There 

 he became very intimate with William Pitt, 

 with whom he had been acquainted in his uni- 



versity days, and the friendship lasted until 

 Pitt's death. It was in 1787 that he first be- 

 gan the agitation for the abolition of slavery, 

 to which he devoted his energies for the rest 

 of his life. 



In 1789 a set of resolutions condemning the 

 slave trade and in 1792 a motion for its gradual 

 abolition passed the House of Commons, but 

 it was not until 1807, after the death of Pitt, 

 that the bill for the total abolition of the trade 

 passed both Houses. After that time Wilber- 

 force directed his energies toward emancipa- 

 tion, constantly presenting the cause in the 

 House of Commons, in which he sat from 1784 

 to 1812 as member for Yorkshire and after 1812 

 for Bramber. In 1825 failing health compelled 

 him to resign his seat, but the movement 

 against slavery was not allowed to languish, 

 and three days before his death Wilberforce 

 heard that the Emancipation Bill had passed 

 a second reading. A month after his death it 

 was enacted into law. 



Wilberforce had interested himself in other 

 philanthropic and religious projects, such as 

 the founding of schools and Sunday Schools, 

 had published A Practical View of the Prevail- 

 ing Religious System of Professed Christians 

 and had edited the Christian Observer. His 

 Life and Correspondence were published by his 

 sons. 



Samuel Wilberforce (1805-1873), third son of 

 William Wilberforce, who as dean of Westmin- 

 ster was one of the central figures in the Trac- 

 tarian, or Oxford, Movement. He was born at 

 Clapham, London, studied at Oriel College, 

 graduating with honors, and in 1830 became 

 rector of Brightstone, in the Isle of Wight. In 



1839 he was made archdeacon of Surrey, and in 



1840 became canon of Winchester and rector of 

 Alverstoke. These posts, while they made evi- 

 dent his ability, were too narrow in scope for 

 his unusual talents, and in 1845 he was made 

 bishop of Oxford. The culmination of the Ox- 

 ford Movement (which see) and the secession 

 to the Church of Rome of many of the High 

 Church party, including several members of his 

 own family, made his position an unpleasant 

 one, but his tact and magnetic personality soon 

 remedied the difficult situation. In 1869 Glad- 

 stone made him bishop of Winchester, but he 

 lived only four years afterward. He published, 

 with his brother, the Life and Correspondence 

 of his famous father, and wrote a number of 

 works on religious topics. A.MC c. 



WIL'COX, ELLA WHEELER (1855- ), an 

 American poet and journalist, born at Johns- 



