John Newton (1725 - 1807)

John Newton was born in London but captained two Liverpool slave ships during his twenties.

The first ship he commanded, as captain, was the Duke of Argyle, and then the African. He embraced religion during one voyage home and, although he continued in the slave trade afterwards, he ensured the slaves were treated more humanely and saw little contradiction between slaving and his religious views. He converted to evangelical Christianity in 1748 and was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1764.

In 1755 John Newton gave up his seafaring life and, influenced by Clarkson, gave evidence on the inhumanity of the slave trade to a Parliamentary committee.  He wrote an account of his personal experiences of the slave trade, ‘An Authentic Narrative’, published in 1764, which included a powerful description of the Middle Passage.

We also have first-hand evidence of conditions on board ship from the journal he kept and the letters he wrote to his wife.  John Newton wrote popular hymns including ‘Amazing Grace,’ written in collaboration with William Cowper.