Slavery

Memorial: M6593

Wall tablet at St Mary Woolnoth, City of London, commemorating John Newton,  d. 1807

Location

St Mary Woolnoth, City of London, England

Transcript

‘JOHN NEWTON / CLERK / ONCE AND INFIDEL AND LIBERTINE / A SERVANT OF SLAVES IN AFRICA / WAS / BY THE RICH MERCY / OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR / JESUS CHRIST / PRESERVED, RESTORED, PARDONED / AND APPOINTED TO PREACH THE FAITH HE HAD LONG LABOURED TO DESTROY / HE MINISTERED / NEAR FIVE YEARS AS A CURATE AND VICAR / OF OLNEY IN BUCKS / AND XXVIII YEARS AS RECTOR / OF THESE UNITED PARISHES / ON FEBY THE FIRST MDCCL HE MARRIED / MARY / DAUGHTER OF THE LATE GEORGE CATLETT / OF CHATHAM KENT / WHOM HE RESIGNED TO THE LORD WHO GAVE HER / ON DECR THE XIV MDCCXL / THE ABOVE EPITAPH WAS WRITTEN BY THE DECEASED / WHO DIRECTED IT TO BE INSCRIBED ON A PLAIN MARBLE TABLET / HE DIED ON DECR THE 21ST 1807 / AGED 82 YEARS / AND HIS MORTAL REMAINS / ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT / BENEATH THE CHURCH.’

Details

Type: Wall tablet
Position: North side of nave
Materials: Marble

People

Newton, John
Age: 82
Date of Death: 21/10/1807
Cause of Death: unknown
Rank / Occupation: master
Organisation: merchant service

Extra

Notes: Newton worked on and commanded merchant ships including those carrying slaves and for a brief period, was impressed into the Royal Navy. He became a convert to evangelical Christianity, and some while later, was ordained as a minister of the Church of England. In later life he was an active abolitionist. He is also remembered as a writer of hymns particularly 'Amazing Grace'. In 1893, the remains of Newton and his wife, were reinterred at Olney where there is a gravestone.
Recorder: Barbara Tomlinson
Photographer: Barbara Tomlinson
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