John Smith (missionary)

John Smith (27 June 1790 – 6 February 1824) was an English missionary and abolitionist whose experiences in the British West Indies attracted the attention of the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce. As a result of his actions, trial by court-martial and subsequent death whilst under imprisonment, Smith became known as the "Demerara Martyr". His case, and news of the enormous size of the uprising and the brutal loss of African life, caused a great awakening in England, strengthening the abolitionist cause which eventually succeeded in British territories worldwide in 1838.