Reverend John Newton 

‘Mr Newton’s account of the slave trade shocked Claudius’ imagination, like the breakers which had struck Newton's ship. To an equivalent degree, he was impressed by the account of Mr Newton’s re-awakening to the Christian beliefs of his youth.’ This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024).

More about John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace  

John Newton was a sea captain and the son of a sea captain. In 1745 he was enslaved by Princess Peye of the Sherbro people in what is now Sierra Leone. Following a re-awakening to the Christianity of his youth, Newton underwent a profound transformation. He renounced his involvement in the slave trade and emerged as a leading voice for abolitionism. Embracing evangelicalism, he was ordained a Church of England priest. He wrote the lyric of one of the world’s most popular hymns: Amazing Grace 

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, 

That saved a wretch; like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!

The Lord hath promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

Thinking of John Newton's role in the slavery abolition movement, his famous hymn writing and the religious transformation of the 18th-century, it would be good to have regular 'performances' of Amazing Grace by local schools, choirs and individuals in St Mary Woolnoth Church. The church did much good and could do more.