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John Newton (/ˈnjuːtən/; 4 August [O.S. 24 July] 1725 – 21 December 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman and abolitionist who was forced to serve as a sailor in the Royal Navy for a period. He was first a slave of Princess Peye, a black princess of the Sherbro people and then, years after, He became the captain of slave ships. He became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, served Olney, Buckinghamshire, for two decades, and also wrote hymns, known for "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". Newton started his career at sea at a young age, and worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years. After experiencing a period of Christian conversion Newton eventually renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism, living to see the UK's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just before his death.