John Williams was the famous martyr missionary. In 1839 on the island of Erromanga the cannibals beat him to death with their clubs and then consumed his body. He was born June 29, 1796, in Tottenham. His mother was a woman of true godliness, but his father was an unbeliever addicted to strong drink. John lived a wild lifestyle to the great grief of his mother. She however prayed on and in time God heard her cry.

The Lord’s Day evening of January 30, 1814, was cold and frosty. Many worshippers nevertheless were making their way to various churches. One such worshiper, Mrs. Tonkin, noticed a young man who seemed to be waiting aimlessly at a street corner. She recognized him as one of her husband's apprentices. He was waiting for friends to travel to a tavern but they had not turned up. Mrs. Tonkin urged him to accompany her to Moorfield's (formerly Whitefield's) tabernacle. He at length consented to go though most disinclined to do so. The sermon that night, delivered by Rev. Timothy East, was based upon Matthew 16:26. It was used by the Holy Spirit to cause conviction, and ever afterward Williams pointed back to this momentous occasion as the time when God's great sunrise dawned upon his soul.