Alice Curwen (c. 1619–1679) 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 ...

missionary, who wrote an autobiography published along with correspondence as part of ''A Relation of the Labour, Travail and Suffering of that Faithful Servant of the Lord, Alice Curwen'' (1680). Her maiden name and parentage are unknown.Michael Mullett: "Curwen, Thomas (c. 1610–1680)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004
Retrieved 17 November 2015
/ref> She came from Baycliff in the

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(now in the

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

district of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

), and spent part of her life as a missionary and social activist in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

.''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 255."Alice Curwen" (p. 108 ff.) in David Booy (ed.): ''Autobiographical Writings by Early Quaker Women'' (Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2004
Retrieved 17 November 2015
/ref>

Marriage and conversion

In about 1641, Alice married Thomas Curwen, also born in Baycliff. They joined the

Religious 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 ...

in about 1652 during a mission to Furness by

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 ...

. Thomas was among 27 Friends from Furness and elsewhere in Lancashire prosecuted several times for interrupting priests and addressing their congregations. He was arrested in 1659 and imprisoned in Lancaster Castle for failing to pay parish

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s and seemingly on later occasions as well. Altogether, he stated in ''A Relation...'', he spent eleven years in prison.

New England and the Caribbean

Alice Curwen, who also emerged as a Quaker preacher, felt inspired by God in 1676, after her children had grown up, to travel to New England, having heard that Quakers suffered cruel punishment and even the death penalty in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Her husband initially disputed that the command had come from God, but relented and accompanied her. Over the next two years the Curwens were also active in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and spent the period March to October 1677 proselytizing in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, where Alice Curwen argued that black slaves had a right to attend Quaker meetings irrespective of their owners' opinions. The Curwens also visited the nearby island of

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

, where vestiges of Quakerism were reported in 1817 among slaves, long after all white Quakers had left. The group, known as Naohites, used the Quaker term "first-day" for Sunday, rejected payment for preachers, forbade gaudy dress, debt, stealing, lying, and swearing, and emphasized that the Spirit puts into people's hearts what they should do.''Transatlantic Literature in the Long Eighteenth Century'', ed. Kamille Stone Stanton and Julie A. Chappell (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2011), p. 2
Retrieved 18 November 2015
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Return

The Curwens returned to England, where they preached in London, the South-East and the East Midlands, as well as retaining their connections in Furness, especially

Swarthmoor Hall Swarthmoor Hall is a mansion at Swarthmoor, in the Furness area of Cumbria, North West England. Furness is part of the historic county of Lancashire. The Hall was home to Thomas and Margaret Fell, the latter an important player in the founding ...

and the meeting there. They were active in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

in the winter of 1677–1678. Alice Curwen died suddenly in London on 7 June 1679 at the age of about sixty. Her husband intended ''A Relation...'' as an obituary compilation, to which he contributed an account of her life. It included a tribute by the fellow preacher Rebecca Travers, a notable Quaker writer of the period. One of the Curwens' children, another Thomas, became a glover in London. Thomas Curwen the elder was imprisoned in

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

in 1679. He died in

Blackfriars, London Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London. Blackfriars Priory The name first occurs in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from as has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the ...

, on 1 August 1680 at the age of about seventy.

External resource

*Alice Curwen's autobiography appears in David Booy (ed.): ''Autobiographical Writings by Early Quaker Women'' (Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2004, "Alice Curwen", pp. 108 ff.
Retrieved 17 November 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curwen, Alice English Quakers Converts to Quakerism People from Furness 17th-century English theologians 17th-century English writers Women Protestant religious leaders 1619 births 1679 deaths 17th-century English women writers