Thomas Clarkson, deacon (1760-1846)
(Portrait Thomas Clarkson 1760-1846 by H Room)
Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?
This week’s deacon saint is Thomas Clarkson, a deacon in the Church of England, who together with fellow campaigner and politician William Wilberforce, fought tirelessly against the transatlantic slave trade. In 1996 a tablet was dedicated to his memory in Westminster Abbey, near the tomb of William Wilberforce.
It was upon writing an essay about slavery as an undergraduate of Cambridge University that Clarkson discovered a prophetic calling to fight against the injustice of his age, slavery. As a consequence, he chose not to follow his father, Thomas Clarkson, into the priesthood. This is his story, drawn from various sources.
While at Cambridge, in 1785, Clarkson entered a Latin essay competition which was to change his life. The topic of the essay was, ‘Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?’ According to the archivist of Suffolk Public services, Bridget Hanley, “It was this essay that inspired him to devote his life to the abolition of slavery. Clarkson had a deep faith and while travelling to London he had a vision or spiritual experience that made him determined to work to end the slave trade.” Suffolk man behind slavery abolition | Ipswich Star
Clarkson wrote at the time: “It is impossible to imagine the severe anguish which the composition of this essay cost me. “All the pleasure I had promised myself from the contest was exchanged for pain, by the astounding facts that were now continually before me………I was so overwhelmed with grief that I sometimes never closed my eyes during the whole night and I no longer regarded my essay as a mere trial for literary distinction. “My great desire now was to produce a work that should redress the wrongs of injured Africa.”
Encouraged by the publication of Clarkson’s essay, an informal committee was set up between a small group from the petitioning Quakers, Clarkson and others, with the aim of lobbying MPs. To gather evidence against the slave trade, Clarkson rode 35,000 miles on horseback around Britain, particularly to the ports of Liverpool and Bristol, where he interviewed 20,000 sailors and collected many items which he kept in a specially-made chest. The chest contained many items that demonstrated the cruelty of the slave trade, such as handcuffs; leg-shackles; thumbscrews; whips and branding irons. These visual aids became pieces of evidence, which William Wilberforce could draw upon in his speeches to Parliament:
Thomas Clarkson (wisbechmuseum.org.uk)
In a recent contribution, Bishop Alastair Redfern asks what can the Church do to respond to modern slavery? He identifies the need for more public debate about values, the instinct in the human heart to honour the spirit of the Beatitudes – that so easily becomes obscured and overridden by a market-driven ideology of self-preservation and self-development. (‘The role of the church’, in Slavery-Free Communities (ed. Dan Pratt, SCM Press, 2021 pp.187-189)
How can we inspire our church communities to respond?
The project, Hidden Voices, is part of the Church of England’s Clewer Initiative https://theclewerinitiative.org. It brings together local people from within and beyond the Church to unite around a common concern. This concern is for the well-being of people in the community and for the witness that might be made to help others beyond those boundaries, but possibly exploited through unthinking behaviours and values.
So we can take notice, ask questions, witness and protest. Thomas’ Clarkson’s example reminds us that deacons have a prophetic role which, in the words of the Ordinal, involves ‘going into the forgotten corners of the world’, acting as the ears and the eyes of the church, bringing petition and lament to God in prayer.
On a personal note, the work of a port chaplain for the Mission to Seafarers involves listening to the stories of people who have travelled the world and who have faced many personal struggles. The hidden story is that of seafarers spending months at a time on board, enslaved by the pressures to deliver goods, captive to the market-driven ideology of the globalised world. In many cases poorly remunerated, they feed the incessant global demand for goods and services. This comes at a high personal cost seafarers; yet in many cases, I have witnessed that they serve one another in a way that would be a good model for any church. As a ship visitor, it is my honour to listen to their stories with compassion. Many are exploited as result of poor pay and unsatisfactory working conditions. Sadly, the maritime industry has a long history of injustice.
Wishing you a blessed diaconal day!
Ship visiting and crew welfare in the port of Rotterdam
Jonathan Halliwell
Thomas Clarkson is remembered on 26 September, according to Plater’s Calendar of Deacon Saints https://cofedeacons.org/2024/09/25/calendar-of-deacon-saints/
For the story of a modern diaconal enquirer working against the slave trade, see Jo Rodman’s story here on YouTube:
Sources:
Slavery-Free Communities ed. Dan Pratt, SCM Press, 2021
The Abolition Project Thomas Clarkson 1811: (nen.gov.uk)
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 