Anne Venn (baptized 1627 – 1654) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

religious radical and diarist. Her diaries document her worry that she was damned. She found some relief in 1652 and she gave substantial legacies to the church in Fulham.

Life

Venn was born to John Venn and his wife; she was baptised in 1627. She had

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

parents and she was a God-fearing woman. She worried that she may not be "saved" and she poured her concerns into a secret diary. She started the diary when she was nine years old. When her father died in June 1650, Venn saw this as proof that she was damned and her diary continues to document her continued damnation. In 1652 Isaac Knight formed an independent church in Fulham and amongst the congregation was Venn and her mother.

Death and legacies

Venn died in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

leaving £867 to Isaac Knight, other divines, religious charities and her mother. Her diary continued until very near her death despite her having written a will in November.Lindley, K. (2004-09-23). Venn, Anne (bap. 1627, d. 1654), religious radical and diarist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 17 Jan. 2018, Se
link
/ref> In 1658 her mother's husband, Thomas Weld, arranged for Venn's diary to be published. The book had an introduction by Isaac Knight. The book was titled ''A Wise Virgin's Lamp Burning''. The diary now serves as an interesting insight into religious beliefs and of illegal religious gatherings in the 1630s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venn, Anne 1620s births 1654 deaths 17th-century English diarists 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English Puritans British women diarists