William Wilberforce Bird (2 July 1758 – 19 April 1836),

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

, civil servant and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, was the Member of Parliament for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

from 1796 to 1802. His main career came later in South Africa. The son of John Bird and Judith Wilberforce, he was born in

. He was a cousin of the philanthropist

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

, with whom he shared an interest in the well-being of slaves. He arrived at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, in 1807 where he founded the Cape Philanthropic Society. In 1810, he was appointed Controller of Customs, a civil service position he retained until his death. His knowledge of finance and management were useful to the many bodies on which he served. He drew up the Colony's game laws, using his legal expertise. Transporting cargo in his own ships, particularly with

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

and

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, he was involved in the import and export trade of the colony. A confidant of

Lord Charles Somerset Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it ma ...

, governor of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, he never a subservient 'yes'-man. The controversial book ''The State of the Cape of Good Hope in 1822'', was written anonymously by Bird. Covering in detail the system of government at the Cape, the law courts, the burgher senate, registration of slaves, agriculture, trade and the customs of the population, he was highly critical of the way in which such ceremonies as weddings and funerals were conducted. Bird married first, in 1779, Elizabeth Bird, and second, in 1782, Penelope Wheler, daughter of Charles Wheler and Lucy Strange, and by Penelope had several children.Edward J. Davies, "Some Connections of the Birds of Warwickshire", ''The Genealogist'', 26(2012):58-76; R.G. Thorne, ed., ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1790-1820'', 5 vols. (London, 1986), 3:208-10; William Betham, ''The Baronetage of England'', 5 vols. (London, 1801-05), 2:162. His eldest son, William Wilberforce Bird, was the Deputy-Governor of

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

and later the acting

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

. William Wilberforce Bird died in Cape Town 19 April 1836.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, William Wilberforce 1758 births 1836 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Coventry 18th-century British merchants 19th-century British merchants