Gilbert Wakefield (1756-1801) was a graduate of Cambridge and was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church in about 1776. However, he soon regretted being ordained because he soon found himself unable to subscribe to the Anglican articles of faith. He taught at various schools which held Unitarian views. Politically, he was very outspoken; teaching that all war was immoral and the prevailing forms of government, both civil and ecclesiastical, were a “bond of iniquity.” The first edition of his New Testament was published in 1791 with a revised edition in 1795 and a third edition in 1820.