Sir William Dolben, 3rd Baronet (12 January 1727 – 20 March 1814) was an English

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician and abolitionist. He was born in

Finedon Finedon is a town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, with a population at the 2021 census of 4,552. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as Tingdene) was a large royal manor, previously held by ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, the only surviving son of Sir John Dolben, 2nd Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Digby (died 1730), daughter of William Digby, 5th Baron Digby and Lady Jane Noel. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, matriculating in 1744. After leaving Oxford he married in 1748 Judith, daughter of Somerset English, heiress to a considerable fortune. In 1756 he inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

for 1760 and in 1766 a

verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderers ...

Rockingham Forest Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest primarily located in the English county of Northamptonshire, with a small section extending into neighbouring Cambridgeshire. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River ...

. After a short period in early 1768 as a stopgap MP for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, he was returned at the general election in March 1768 as MP for

from 1768 to 1774. In 1780 he was re-adopted by the university and represented them again from 1780 until 1806. On 20 April 1797, he was appointed captain in the Northamptonshire volunteer

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

regiment. During his long parliamentary career as an independent MP, he was a fervent advocate of

parliamentary reform The Reform Acts (or Reform Bills, before they were passed) are legislation enacted in the United Kingdom in the 19th and 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the U ...

and the abolition of slavery. He took up the abolitionist cause after he chanced to visit a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

docked in the port of London; the conditions he found on the ship so horrified him that he resolved at once to work for abolition.Hague, William ''Pitt the Younger'' Harper Collins 2004 pp.297-8 The slave ship he documented, the ''

Brookes Brookes is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barbara Brookes, New Zealand historian * Bruno Brookes, English broadcaster * Dennis Brookes, English cricketer * Ed Brookes (1881–1958), Irish international soccer ...

'', became infamous for the depictions that were drawn and published by

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

to support the anti-slavery movement. With the support of other abolitionists like William Pitt, Dolben put forward a bill (Dolben's Bill) in 1788 to regulate conditions on board slave ships; it passed as the Slave Trade Act 1788 (Dolben's Act) by a large majority.The first parliamentary debates
UK Parliament website, "Parliament and the British Slave Trade" After the death of his first wife in 1771, he married in 1789 a second cousin, Charlotte Scotchmer, née Affleck. He died in Bury St Edmunds in 1814, aged eighty-seven, and was buried at Finedon church. He was succeeded in the title and estates by John English Dolben, his only surviving son from his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolben, William 1727 births 1814 deaths People from Finedon High sheriffs of Northamptonshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Oxford University Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Oxford UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 Baronets in the Baronetage of England English abolitionists People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford