Newton, John 1725-1807
English clergyman and writer

Born in London, the son of a shipmaster, he sailed with his father for six years, and for 10 years engaged in the African slave trade. In 1748 he was converted to Christianity, but still went on slave trading. He became tide surveyor at Liverpool in 1755, but in 1764 he was offered the curacy of Olney in Buckinghamshire and took orders. William Cowper went there four years later, and they became close friends. In 1779 Newton became rector of St Mary Woolnoth, London. His prose works are little read, apart from the Remarkable Particulars in his own Life, but some of his Olney Hymns (1779) are still sung, including 'Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat', 'How sweet the name of Jesus sounds', 'One there is above all others' and, most famous of all, 'Amazing Grace'.