Richard Farnworth or Farnsworth (died 1666) was an English

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

writer of tracts.

Life

Farnworth was born in the north of England, and appears to have been a labouring man. In 1651 he attended the Quaker yearly meeting at

Balby Balby is a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, located south-west of the city centre. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Balby is within the Doncaster Central constituency and contains the electoral wards Balby Sou ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, where he resided, when he was convinced by the preaching of

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 13 January 1691 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Dissenters, English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Quakers, Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as t ...

. Joining the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, became a minister. For some time he seems to have attached himself to Fox, with whom he visited Swarthmore in 1652. During this year he interrupted a congregation at a church in or near Wakefield, but was permitted to leave without molestation. In 1655 Farnworth was put out of a church in Worcester for asking a question of

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist church leader and theologian from Rowton, Shropshire, who has been described as "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". He ma ...

, who was preaching, and in the same year was imprisoned at

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

for not raising his hat to the mayor. He was offered his release if he would pay the gaoler's fees, which he refused to do on the ground that his imprisonment was illegal, when he was offered the

oath of abjuration Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear". Abjuration of the realm Abju ...

, and on his declining to take it was committed to prison for six months. The latter part of his life was spent in ministerial journeys. Farnworth died in the parish of St. Thomas Apostle, London, on 29 June 1666, of fever. One of the more successful of the early Quaker ministers, he was praised by the Quaker historian

William Sewel Willem Sewel (also William) (19 April 1653 (baptised) – March 1720) was a Dutch Quaker historian, of English background. Life He was son of Jacob Williamson Sewel, a free citizen and surgeon of Amsterdam where he was born. His paternal grandfa ...

as "a man of notable gifts".

Works

Farnworth wrote many tracts, which enjoyed a wide popularity during his lifetime, but his works were not collected. The major tracts were: * ''A Discovery of Truth and Falsehood, discovered by the Light of God in the Inward Parts'', 1653. * ''The Generall Good, to all People, ...with God's covenanting with his people'', 1653. * ''An Easter Reckoning, or a Freewill Offering'', in part by Thomas Adams, 1653. * ''Light Risen out of Darkness Now in these Latter Days'', 1653. * ''Truth Cleared of Scandals, or Truth lifting up its Head above Scandals'', 1654. * ''The Ranters' Principles'', 1655. * ''Witchcraft cast out from the religious seed and Israel of God'', 1655. * ''The Brazen serpent lifted up on high'', 1655. * ''Antichrist's Man of War, apprehended and encountered withal by a Soulder of the Armie of the Lamb'', 1655. * ''The Holy Scriptures from Scandal are cleared'', 1655. Contains responses to Thomas Pollard, ''The Holy Scripture Clearing it Self'' (1655), and John Griffith, ''True Gospel Faith''. * ''The Pure Language of the Spirit of Truth''. * ''A True Testimony against the Pope's Wages'', 1656. * ''Christian Tolleration, or simply and singly to meet upon the Account of Religion, really to Worship'', 1664.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnworth, Richard Year of birth missing 1666 deaths Converts to Quakerism English Quakers English religious writers Quaker writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 17th-century Quakers