William Knibb

The Honourable
William Knibb
OM
Knibb in the centre, to the left is John Burnet and to the right is John Scoble - 1840[1]
Born(1803-09-07)7 September 1803
Kettering, England
Died15 November 1845(1845-11-15) (aged 42)
Kettering, Jamaica
SpouseMary Watki(n)s

William Knibb, OM (7 September 1803 in Kettering – 15 November 1845) was an English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica. He is chiefly known today for his work to free enslaved Africans.

In 1988, on the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, Knibb was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit. He was the first white male to receive the country's highest civil honour.

  1. ^ Knibb at The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, by Benjamin Robert Haydon at the National Portrait Gallery.