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John Newton

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John Newton
Contemporary portrait of Newton
Personal details
Born4 August [O.S. 24 July] 1725[1]
Wapping, London, Great Britain
Died21 December 1807(1807-12-21) (aged 82)
London, United Kingdom
Spouse
Mary Catlett
(m. 1750; died 1790)
OccupationBritish sailor, slaver, Anglican clergyman and prominent slavery abolitionist

John Henry Newton, Jr. (July 24, 1725 – December 21, 1807) was a slave ship captain who became an Anglican clergyman.[2] He was the author of many hymns, including "Amazing Grace". This hymn talks about the Divine grace which reached out to a "wretch" (evil person) like himself. After he was saved from his sinful life he worked hard to stop the transportation of slaves on English ships. He worked with the member of parliament, William Wilberforce. The slave trade was outlawed in 1807 in England and other countries soon did the same. [3] This law was passed just 9 months before Newton's death.

References

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  1. Hatfield 1884.
  2. Dunn, John (1994). A Biography of John Newton (PDF). New Creation Teaching Ministry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  3. 1807 – The Abolition of Slavery The abolition of the slave trade – Chasing Freedom: The Royal Navy and the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard history.ac.uk, accessed 30 August 2019

Other websites

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