Introduction

 

"Mary Woolnoth sendeth to Mary Leicester greeting"

 
StMW 400
St Mary Woolnoth
London		 St Mary
St Mary de Castro
Leicester
LETTERS FROM JOHN NEWTON TO THOMAS ROBINSON

These letters were formerly printed in The Evangelical Register of 1838 and 1839
(in a very mixed order) as:

UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF THE REV JOHN NEWTON, LATE RECTOR OF ST MARY, WOOLNOTH, LONDON
(Addressed to the Rev. Thomas Robinson, Vicar of St. Mary's, Leicester, and Author of “Scripture Characters")
 
John Newton portrait

John Newton

1725-1807		 Thomas Robinson

Thomas Robinson

1749-1813
 
Newton formed high hopes of Robinson from the very first, as he wrote to John Thornton, 17 Apr 1774:

“I was glad to hear from Mr Rennard, that Mr Robinson preaches the gospel at Leicester...  Leicester is a dark place,[1] but if the Lord is pleased to continue Mr Robinson there, who knows but that wilderness may soon blossom like the rose!”

Newton visited Robinson in Leicester in March 1775. These letters begin later that year.

Editing Note:
We have re-arranged these letters in chronological order, stating approximate dates where none had been given.
Where there were clearly errors in the transcript, these have been corrected (for instance in the several variations of the spelling of the surname ‘Ludlam’).
 
Ideally, we would love to see the original manuscripts, to check the previous editor’s transcripts and to insert any missing data. If anyone knows the location of the original manuscripts, we would be most grateful be able to see them.


Summary:
 
No. date place Evangelical Register
1 2 October 1775 Olney 1838: p 481, No. 17
2 3 May 1776 Olney 1839: p 28, No. 21
3 n/d [from March 1777] [Olney] 1838: p 149, No. 4
4 28 May 1778 Olney 1838: p 149, No. 3
5 22 October 1778 Olney 1838: p 529, No. 19
6 17 December 1778 [Olney] 1838: p 220, No. 7
7 17 February 1779 Olney 1838: p 311, No. 12
8 14 May 1779 Olney 1838: p 482, No. 18
9 2 June [1779] Olney 1839: p 29, No. 22
10 n/d [December 1779] [Olney] 1839: p 107, No. 25
11 3 April 1780 Charles Square, Hoxton 1839: p 140, No. 27
12 17 June 1780 Charles Square 1838: p 108, No. 2
13 16 September 1780 [Charles Square] 1838: p 443, No. 15
14 27 December 1780 Charles Square, Hoxton 1838: p 274, No. 9
15 27 March 1781 Hoxton 1838: p 275, No. 10
16 2 June 1781 Charles Square, Hoxton 1838: p 530, No. 20
17 30 June 1781 Charles Square 1839: p 73, No. 23
18 16 August 1782 [Charles Square] 1838: p 398, No. 14
19 22 May 1783 Charles Square][ 1838: p 397, No. 13
20 25 September 1783 Hoxton Square [Charles Square, Hoxton] 1839: p 73, No. 24
21 10 January 1784 Hoxton 1838: p 108, No. 1
22 18 September 1784 Hoxton 1838: p 310, No. 11
23 20 September 1785 [Charles Square, Hoxton] 1838: p 187, No. 5
24 13 February 1786 London 1838: p 220, No. 8
25 13 April 1786 Hoxton 1839: p 108, No. 26
26 13 November 1788 6 Coleman Street Buildings 1838: p 188, No. 6
27 14 January 1789 [6 Coleman Street Buildings] 1838: p 441, No. 16
28 23 February 1789 [6 Coleman Street Buildings] 1839: p 141, No. [-] 


[1] For an unflattering description of both secular and religious Leicester at this time, see Edward Thomas Vaughan, Some Account of the Reverend Thomas Robinson, 1818, pp 56-57 (free download currently available on googlebooks)



 

Marylynn Rouse, 29/05/2015