Granville Sharp
English abolitionist (1735-1813) · Politicians · Died at 77
Granville Sharp was an English scholar, philanthropist and one of the first campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Born in Durham, he initially worked as a civil servant in the Board of Ordnance.
Granville Sharp is read about 83 times a day, in 15 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 23 August 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around Granville
Parents
Granville SharpIs this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.
Correct this familyAlso in Deutsch
Media & music
Photos 7
Granville Sharp
The Sharp Family, by Johann Zoffany, 1779-81, National Portrait Gallery, London. The family musical ensemble are pictured on their barge, Apollo, with All Saints', Fulham in the background. Granville Sharp is the seated male figure in the centre.
Portrait of William Murray by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1737. William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield
Founding Father Benjamin Rush
View from Granville Town looking north to Bullom Shore from Voyages to the River Sierra Leone by John Matthews, 1788
Granville Sharp's tomb at All Saints', Fulham, after restoration
Inscription on Granville Sharp's tombAbout this person
His involvement in abolitionism began in 1767 when he defended a severely injured enslaved person from Barbados in a legal case against his master. Increasingly devoted to the cause, he continually sought test cases against the legal justifications for slavery, and in 1769 he published the first tract in England that explicitly attacked the concept of slavery.
