THE
P RTAL
January 2012
John Newton
by Keith Robinson
Page 7
Anglican
Luminary
John Newton was born in Wapping in 1725. At the age of eleven he went to sea with his father, who
had planned that his son should eventually work on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. However, John, when free
to do so, signed on with a merchant ship trading with the Mediterranean .
Things changed in a negative way
in 1743, when he was captured
by a press gang, and forced into
the service of the Royal Navy.
Attempting to desert, he was
subjected to a public flogging in
front of the entire crew of over 300,
and demoted. After this terrible
experience he even contemplated
suicide.
He recovered to some extent, and
had an opportunity to transfer to
a ship dealing in slaves taken from
the West African coast. But things
went from bad to worse, and he
was abandoned in Africa with a slave dealer, who gave
him to his wife, a rather ferocious African princess,
as her personal slave. All hope seemed gone, when he
was suddenly rescued by a captain whom his father
had sent in search of him.
Galleries had to be erected in the
parish church to accommodate
those who came to hear him, and
here began a creative cooperation
with his friend William Cowper
in the writing of many hymns, of
which “How sweet the name of
Je