Amazing serendipity. A reader was in Westminster Abbey just when he read my piece on William Wilberforce. Now, a photo . . .
Sometimes there is amazing serendipity. I had barely published my piece on not being able to easily find William Wilberforce on the web when I got an email from a reader. He and his wife happened to be in Westminster Abbey, where Wilberforce is interred, just when he read my piece.
I immediately wrote back: Get a photo, if you can. Yes, he said, he would search to find where Wilberforce was interred. And he did. Here is the photo.
What an amazing statue, showing how Wilberforce was recognized and celebrated at the time for his decades-long dedication to ending slavery, and for his massive achievement in helping end slavery throughout the British Empire.
In fact, this image shows him as I might expect him to look, a mature thoughtful dedicated man. It’s different from the photo in the Brittanica piece I eventually found (after I remembered his name). That image appears to show him as a young man - very sweet-looking - but it does not capture what feels like the essence of this man.
The piece I wrote, by the way, reached many people - almost 3 times as many people as there are subscribers - which means many readers passed it on. Fabulous.
The point of my piece: an amazing man has been largely written out of history as served up by major search engines.
I’m glad to be taking this tiny step to bring him back into general history.
Several readers have posted extensively in response to the piece. Two informed me that there is a film about Wilberforce, Amazing Grace (2006): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454776/ One sent a link to the oldest human rights charity in the UK, founded in 1839: https://www.antislavery.org/
I have also located an earlier short film (1992, 35 min), William Wilberforce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zv_eToCELs (Gateway Films/Vision Video on association with Christian History Institute). Available to all.
And a special thank you to Jonathan Mooers, the reader who happened to be in Westminster Abbey exactly when he received my piece on Wilberforce, and so was able to find where Wilberforce lies buried and take a photo, which adds to this brief recognition of, and tribute to, an amazing man. As Jon wrote:
Perhaps it was spiritual, as your email discussing William Wilberforce, right as I am near his burial site in Westminster Abbey, seems more than a chance occurrence in my 73 years.
I agreed:
The word I use is serendipity - stronger than coincidence, seemingly too improbable for pure coincidence.
Jon gave me permission to use the photo, also the photo of him, and his name. So here he is, in Westminster Abbey.
I see that this piece is also a tribute to the power of connection, interconnection, community - and caring, the caring of all the people who cared to share knowledge and information.
Posted Oct 31, 2022
Such a wonderful, wonderful post, Elsa! I, too, can highly recommend the ‘Amazing Grace” film. Hooray for serendipity! ♥️
It's so beautiful that you took a "small step" which is actually a big step. Too much history has been erased. Anyone who makes a contribution to bringing it back is creating beauty & wisdom in the Universe <3