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John Newton

(1725-1807), Slave trader, clergyman and friend of the poet William Cowper

Sitter in 7 portraits
Newton is best known as an evangelical divine and author of the popular hymn Amazing Grace. A friend of the philanthropist and anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce, Newton had in fact started his career in the 1750s as the captain of a slave ship. Originally from Liverpool, the centre of the British slave trade, Newton travelled between the African coast and the British West Indies, transporting his human cargo in typically squalid conditions. He later repented his involvement in the slaving business and became a prominent spokesman for its abolition. He became friends with the poet William Cowper and nursed him during his bouts of madness.

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John Newton, by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell - NPG D5352

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D5352

John Newton, by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell - NPG D5353

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D5353

John Newton, by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell - NPG D5354

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D5354

John Newton, by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell - NPG D5355

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D5355

John Newton, by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell - NPG D16282

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D16282

Web image not currently available

John Newton

published by John Payne, after John Russell
stipple engraving, published 11 March 1791
NPG D16069

Web image not currently available

John Newton

by Joseph Collyer the Younger, published by J. Smith, after John Russell
line engraving, published 1 January 1808 (1788)
NPG D19763

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