Francis Howgill (1618 – 11 February 1669) was a prominent early member of 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 ...

(Quakers) in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He preached and wrote on the teachings of the Friends and is considered one of the Valiant Sixty, men and women who were early proponents of Friends' beliefs and suffered for them.

Life

Howgill was born about 1618, probably of yeoman parents, in Todthorne, near Grayrigg,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

in northern

. He probably made his living as a farmer and a tailor. He studied theology and in 1652 became a minister of the established church in Colton. He explored the teachings of the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s, the Independents, Seekers and Baptists: but shortly after, he and John Audland (another minister) encountered

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 ...

, an early leader in the Friends movement, preaching on Firbank Fell and were convinced. Soon after Howgill was imprisoned in

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

for refusing to remove his hat when appearing in court in defence of James Nayler. Afterwards he met Edward Burrough. The two spread the Quaker message together and became close friends. Among those they converted around 1654 was Hester Biddle. They established the Religious Society of Friends in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and also worked in

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and

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. Howgill published ''A Woe Against the Magistrates, Priests, and People of Kendall'', (1654) endorsing the Quaker practice of "going naked as a sign". The Quakers in London came under the influence of Nayler and when Fox parted company with him in 1656, Howgill tried, unsuccessfully, to bring about a reconciliation. In 1657 he was in Scotland, and in 1661 he was in prison in London. Howgill was married first to a woman named Dorothy. After her death in 1657 he married Mary, who is counted, along with him, as one of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. After the Restoration he claimed, in his tract ''One Warning More'' (1660), that the nation had "chosen madness". In 1663 he refused to swear the oath of allegiance to the crown and was sentenced to life imprisonment at Appleby. During that time people came to support him and to seek advice. but his ''General Epistle'' (1665) showed pessimism as to any Quaker triumph over adversity. He became sick in prison and died on 11 February 1669.Catie Gill, "Howgill, Francis (1618?–1669)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 200
retrieved 11 November 2015. Pay-walled
/ref> In 1676 a collection of his writings, ''The Dawnings of the Gospel-Day, and its Light and Glory Discovered'', was published.

References

External links

*
David Murray-Rust's History of Quakerism
* ttp://www.calledtoholiness.com/quakers/lives/eburrough/appendixa.html Texts of Some Epistles by Francis Howgill and Robert Barclay, Jointlybr>The Quaker Women Online entry for Hester Biddle, who converted to Quakerism after hearing Burrough and Francis Howgill preach
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howgill, Francis English Quakers Converts to Quakerism People from Westmorland 1618 births 1668 deaths 17th-century Quakers

Life

See also

References

External links