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The ‘Clapham Sect’

 

Wilberforce's Home in Clapham

Today 'Clapham' is part of London, swallowed up in the great 20th-century expansion of the
William Wilberforce metropolis, and most famous for its massive railway junction. In the late 18th century there were no
1759 - 1833 railways and Clapham was a small village 3 miles from central London separated by pleasant
countryside. It was a desirable residence for wealthy businessmen. Around the Common there were a
number of impressive houses, some of which became the homes of the group later to become known as the 'Clapham Sect'.
The name 'Clapham Sect' was given to them long after the death of Wilberforce as a derogatory term due to their strong
evangelical faith. It is a misleading term since most of its members were adherents of the Anglican Church and linked with
Holy Trinity Parish Church that still stands on Clapham Common. The church had been built by John Thornton, father of
Henry Thornton who, together with William Wilberforce, shared the leadership of the Clapham Group.
Until their marriage they shared Thornton's house, 'Battersea Rise', which became the headquarters of the Group and the
centre of their community life.

Abolition of the Slave Trade

It was members of the Clapham Group who were largely responsible for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the 200th
anniversary of which was celebrated on 25 March 2007 and was the subject of the film 'Amazing Grace'. Their 20 year
campaign to get rid of the detestable trade in human flesh from Africa to North and South America and the Caribbean was
followed by another 25 year struggle that was finally rewarded in 1833 by the abolition of slavery throughout the British
Empire, although the emancipation was not fully effected until 1838.
£20,000,000 was paid to the owners of slaves by the British Government for the loss of their 'property', but not one penny
was paid to the slaves themselves in compensation for the years of brutal servitude they had endured. The legacy of slavery
still exists today, 200 years after the abolition of the slave trade. It is to be seen in poverty and under-development in the
West Indies and in the effects of lack of identity in the Afro-Caribbean community in Britain.

Holy Spirit Guidance

The story of how the Clapham Group who changed the history of the world came together is one of the most remarkable
adventures ever told. Each of them brought professional skills, character and commitment of a high quality into a unique
association that made them the most powerful social campaigners ever known in British history. The way in which they
found each other clearly reflects the hand of God and the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.
It would be untrue to say that the founding of the Clapham Group began with any one individual. It occurred through a kind
of spontaneous combustion with a number of incidents happening in widely different places resulting in a group of people
coming together in a dynamic fusion that formed an unstoppable force for changing the world. Wilberforce's Conversation
It all began around 1785. This was the year that the young William Wilberforce, newly elected Member of Parliament for
Yorkshire, had a fresh experience of God while on holiday in France. He vowed to give his whole life to God and thought
that this meant he should enter the church as a minister of the Church of England. For a number of months he struggled with
indecision and finally resolved to call upon John Newton the former slave ship owner turned evangelical preacher.

John Newton
John Newton was rector of St Mary Woolnoth, a church adjacent to the Bank of England in the City of London. Newton,
writer of the hymn 'Amazing Grace' had known William as a child and had been praying for him. Although he had not seen
him for years he was expecting him to call. He was firm in his wise counsel that Parliament was to be Wilberforce's pulpit.
'Who will fight the battle for the poor if you walk away from your true calling?' he asked. 'Go in the strength of the Lord!'
Shortly after this life-changing encounter Wilberforce met Sir Charles and Lady Middleton who had great compassion for the
slaves in the West Indies and were looking for an MP to take up the fight on behalf the slaves. Wilberforce actually had a
long-standing abhorrence of slavery. He had heard about it as a boy and when only 14 he wrote a letter that was published in
a Yorkshire newspaper denouncing the 'cruel traffic in human flesh'.

John Thornton
At the time of Wilberforce's conversion and encounter with John Newton the latter put him in touch with his friend and
benefactor, John Thornton. Wilberforce went to stay with him in Clapham to enable him to sort out his mixed emotions by
having a time of reading and prayer and wise counsel. John Thornton was Wilberforce's uncle and was the father of Henry
Thornton, newly elected MP for Southwark in south London.

Henry Thornton
Henry and William were cousins who became close friends, sharing a house until they married. Both came from rich
merchant families but both regarded their wealth as entrusted to them by God. Thornton gave away 7/8 of his income before
his marriage and three quarters thereafter. Wilberforce gave away so much of his wealth that he died penniless, but leaving a
richer heritage than money to his children and to the world.

Thomas Clarkson
About the same time as Wilberforce was giving his life to the Lord in France another young man, Thomas Clarkson, was
reading a prize-winning Latin essay to the Senate in Cambridge University. He had begun the essay, 'Anne liceat invitos in
servitutem dare?' (Is it unlawful to make slaves of others against their will?) simply as an interesting subject, but in gathering
facts for the essay he had become increasingly shocked and determined to do something to draw public attention to the
terrible injustices of the trade.

Granville Sharp
When Clarkson published his essay it brought him into contact with some Quakers who were amongst the first to denounce
slavery. They introduced him to Granville Sharp who had espoused the cause of a African in London and in 1772 had won a
High Court decision to set him free - a momentous judgment that declared slavery in England to be illegal. Granville Sharp
was largely responsible for establishing the Episcopal Church in the USA by persuading the Archbishop of Canterbury to
consecrate the first bishops of New York and Pennsylvania.

Abolition Committee
Clarkson and Sharp formed an Abolition Committee in 1787 and formally began their campaign, but neither of them had any
great influence in the nation. Meanwhile Wilberforce, fresh from his talks with the Middletons, discussed the issue of slavery
with his lifelong friend William Pitt who had recently become Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister. Wilberforce recorded
the detail of this decisive conversation that took place in the open air under an old tree. He wrote, 'Pitt recommended me to
undertake its conduct, as the subject suited my character and talents. I resolved to give notice on a fit occasion in the House
of Commons of my intention to bring the subject forward.'
It was shortly after this resolution that Wilberforce met with Clarkson and Sharp resulting in a lifelong friendship. Clarkson
subsequently moved to Clapham, contributing to the growing community.

James Stephen
Three years earlier another young man was having a life-changing experience in the Caribbean. He was James Stephen a
highly talented young Scottish lawyer who was on a ship that called into Bridgetown Barbados where he witnessed the so-
called trial of a slave who was summarily found guilty and burned alive. The gross injustice and the merciless cruelty burned
a hatred of slavery into the soul of young Stephen. When he returned to England he was still burning with anger and sought
out William Wilberforce whose name was already becoming known as a champion of Abolition.
Stephen spent the next five years back in the Caribbean gathering a huge amount of information about slavery that was to
become invaluable later in the campaign. He then resigned his legal practice in the West Indies and became an outstanding
lawyer in London and a Member of Parliament. When his wife died he moved to Clapham and married Wilberforce's
widowed sister which led to a very close friendship between the two men.

Zachary Macaulay
In the same year as Clarkson's essay was published and Wilberforce was converted, another young Scot, Zachary Macaulay,
sailed for the West Indies to become overseer of an estate in Jamaica. Like Stephen he rapidly grew to hate the cruelties of
slavery. After four years he could endure it no longer and returned to England in 1789, the year Wilberforce made his first
impassioned (four hour) speech against slavery in Parliament. Macaulay's sister had recently married Thomas Babington, an
evangelical with a strong social conscience and friend of Wilberforce which led to Macaulay moving to Clapham to join the
little community.
John Shore and Charles Grant
A few years earlier, across the other side of the world from the West Indies, two men serving with the East India Company in
India began a life-long friendship. They were John Shore and Charles Grant; both of strong evangelical faith. Shore became
Lord Teignmouth, Governor General of India, renowned for his wisdom, honesty and compassion. When he retired in 1798
he bought John Thornton's old house in Clapham and became the first president of the Bible Society, a post he held for 30
years.
Charles Grant was converted while in India and following a successful career he returned to England to become to become a
Member of Parliament in 1784 and chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company. He campaigned tirelessly
for missionaries to be sent to India, which was finally achieved through an Act of Parliament in 1813. Under his influence
most of the officials in India, both civil and army, became evangelicals. It was largely due to Grant that the gospel spread
across India. He came to live in Clapham and was influential in the community.

Hannah More
In 1776, the same year as Grant was converted in India, a young lady from Bristol, now enjoying the high life in London also
had a life changing experience and began to espouse the new anti-slavery movement. She was Hannah More, a writer of plays
and poems who was strongly influenced by John Newton, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. She met Wilberforce in
1787 and became one of his greatest supporters and most prolific writers. Hannah More not only wrote popular moralistic
novels and campaign literature but also wrote the famous Cheap Repository Tracts which sold over 2 million copies a year
when the total population of Britain was only 8 million! She exercised huge national influence and was the only woman
member of the Clapham Group, although she never resided in Clapham, preferring to live in the West of England where she
founded many schools for the poor that were generously supported by Wilberforce and Henry Thornton.

John Venn
Henry Thornton followed his father's practice in purchasing 'advowsons' so that he could appoint evangelical clergy to
parish churches across England to ensure that the gospel was preached. Amongst his most influential appointments was that
of John Venn as rector of Holy Trinity Clapham. Venn was a powerful preacher who put the gospel into action. His was the
first parish in England to ensure that every child went to school and was given free education. He also organised the first free
public health service in England ensuring that every parishioner was inoculated when there was an outbreak of smallpox. John
Venn was the 'spiritual father in God' to the Clapham Group and became their wise counsellor and friend.

Unique Company of Christians

It is surely one of the most amazing acts of God that from all around the world he brought together this unique company of
men and women whose complimentary gifts blended powerfully in Parliament and wherever they worked. They led the
Abolition of Slavery. They founded Sierra Leone as a home for freed slaves. They opened the way for missionaries to be
sent across the world. They campaigned for political and social reform. They founded numerous societies such as the Bible
Society, the London Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (RSPCA) and many other humanitarian and relief agencies. Together they formed a power intellectual and spiritual
community of dedicated Spirit-filled Christians based at Clapham, the little village near London that changed the world.

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