Lionel Robert Wilberforce

Life Lionel Robert Wilberforce was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria to his mother Fanny Flash and his father who was Edward Wilberforce (1834–1914), son of Robert Wilberforce. He was educated in England and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1884. He worked with J. J. Thomson at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and was appointed lecturer in 1900. In the same year he became professor of physics at University College, Liverpool (later University of Liverpool). He retired from this position in 1935.

Work In 1896 he published his work on vibrations of a loaded spiral spring, today known as Wilberforce pendulum. Most of Wilberforce's time at the University of Cambridge and University of Liverpool was dedicated to teaching.