Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade) and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. He became a pacifist in 1816 and, together with his brother John, was among the twelve founders of the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace. In his later years, Clarkson campaigned for the abolition of slavery worldwide; it was then concentrated in the Americas. In 1840, he was the key speaker at the Anti-Slavery Society's (today known as Anti-Slavery International) first conference in London which campaigned to end slavery in other countries. Clarkson was the eldest son of the Reverend John Clarkson (1710–1766), a Church of England priest and master of Wisbech Grammar School^] and his wife Anne née Ward (died 1799). He was baptised on 26 May 1760 at the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wisbech. His siblings were John (born 1764) and Anne. Both boys attended Wisbech Grammar School, Hill Street where the family lived. After the death of his father the family moved into a house on Bridge Street which is now marked by a blue plaque. Thomas went on to St Paul's School in London in 1775. He entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1779. An excellent student, he appears to have enjoyed his time at the University of Cambridge, although he was a serious, devout man. He received his BA degree in 1783 and was set to continue at Cambridge to follow in his father's footsteps and enter the Anglican ministry. He was ordained a deacon but never proceeded to priest's orders. In 1785 Clarkson entered a Latin essay competition at the university that was to set him on the course for most of the remainder of his life. The topic of the essay, set by university vice-chancellor Peter Peckard, was Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare ("is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?"), and it led Clarkson to consider the question of the slave trade. He read everything he could on the subject, including the works of Anthony Benezet, a Quaker abolitionist, as well as first hand accounts of the African slave trade such as Francis Moore's Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa. He also researched the topic by meeting and interviewing those who had personal experience of the slave trade and of slavery. After winning the prize, Clarkson had what he called a spiritual revelation from God as he travelled by horse between Cambridge and London. He broke his journey at Wadesmill, near Ware, Hertfordshire. He later wrote: As it is usual to read these essays publicly in the senate-house soon after the prize is adjudged, I was called to Cambridge for this purpose. I went and performed my office. On returning however to London, the subject of it almost wholly engrossed my thoughts. I became at times very seriously affected while upon the road. I stopped my horse occasionally, and dismounted and walked. I frequently tried to persuade myself in these intervals that the contents of my Essay could not be true. The more however I reflected upon them, or rather upon the authorities on which they were founded, the more I gave them credit. Coming in sight of Wades Mill in Hertfordshire, I sat down disconsolate on the turf by the roadside and held my horse. Here a thought came into my mind, that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end. Agitated in this manner I reached home. This was in the summer of 1785. This experience and sense of calling ultimately led him to devote his life to abolishing the slave trade. Having translated the essay into English so that it could gain a wider audience, Clarkson published it in pamphlet form in 1786 as An essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species, particularly the African, translated from a Latin Dissertation. The essay was influential, resulting in Clarkson's being introduced to many others who were sympathetic to abolition, some of whom had already published and campaigned against slavery. These included influential men such as James Ramsay and Granville Sharp, many Quakers, and other nonconformists. The movement had been gathering strength for some years, having been founded by Quakers both in Britain and in the United States, with support from other nonconformists, primarily Methodists and Baptists, on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1783, 300 Quakers, chiefly from the London area, presented Parliament with their signatures on the first petition against the slave trade. Following this step, a small offshoot group formed the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, a small non-denominational group that could lobby more successfully by incorporating Anglicans. Under the Test Act, only those prepared to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England were permitted to serve as MPs, thus Quakers were generally barred from the House of Commons until the early nineteenth century. The twelve founding members included nine Quakers, and three pioneering Anglicans: Clarkson, Granville Sharp, and Philip Sansom. They were sympathetic to the religious revival that had predominantly nonconformist origins, but which sought wider non-denominational support for a "Great Awakening" amongst believers.