Henry Fell (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1655–1674), 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 and writer who travelled to Barbados and America.

Life

In 1655 he was an itinerant preacher at a meeting in Gravesend. Fell was a member of one of the numerous Lancashire families bearing his surname and was possibly related to the Quaker

Margaret Fell Margaret Fell or Margaret Fox ( Askew, formerly Fell; 1614 – 23 April 1702) was a founder and leading member of the Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Prot ...

but not in a close way. The first mention of him is in 1656 as suffering much from the magistrates in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and in the same year he went as a missionary to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, where he remained about a year. After his return to England he was engaged as a travelling preacher, and is referred to by his contemporaries as having been eloquent and successful. In 1659 he was seriously ill-treated by some soldiers near

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

, and in 1660

Richard Hubberthorne Richard Hubberthorne (1628 (baptized) – 17 August 1662Catie Gill‘Hubberthorne, Richard (bap. 1628, d. 1662)’ ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 27 Dec 2008) was an early Quaker preacher and wr ...

, the quaker, represented to Charles II that at

Thetford, Norfolk Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2011 had a population of 24 ...

, Fell had been hauled out of a meeting, and, after being whipped, turned out of the town, and passed as a vagabond from parish to parish to Lancashire. In a letter to Margaret Fell (Swarthmore MSS.) Fell states that he was imprisoned for some time at Thetford. He was in London during the rising of the

Fifth-monarchy men The Fifth Monarchists, or Fifth Monarchy Men, were a Protestant sect with millennialist views active between 1649 and 1660 in the Commonwealth of England. The group took its name from a prophecy that claimed the four kingdoms of Daniel would pre ...

in this year, and was knocked down by the soldiers as a rioter, and Fox (Journal, p. 314, ed. 1765) says he would have been killed but for the interposition of the Duke of York. In 1661 he was ‘moved,’ in company with

John Stubbs John Stubbs (or Stubbe) (c. 1544 – after 25 September 1589) was an English Puritan, pamphleteer, political commentator and sketch artist during the Elizabethan era, whose right hand was cut off on 3 November 1579 following a conviction for "s ...

, to promulgate his views in ‘foreign parts, especially to

Prester John Prester John () was a mythical Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Church of the East, Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian state, Christian ...

's country and China.’ As no shipmasters would carry them, the quakers got a warrant from the king, which the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

found means to avoid. They then went to Holland, and, being unable to obtain shipping there, proceeded to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. The English consul banished them from the place as nuisances, and they were compelled to return to England. After spending some time in religious journeys, he again visited the West Indies, and a letter in the Shackleton collection states that in 1672 he was living 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 ...

, that he was married, in debt, and much depressed. His wife was Lydia Erbery who was the sister of

Dorcas Erbery Dorcas Erbery (fl. 1656–1659), was an English militant Quaker preacher. She was arrested with others in Bristol for blasphemy. James Nayler was convicted and he was sentenced by the English parliament to cruel and unusual punishment. Life Erbery ...

. Dorcas had been a controversial Quaker and she too may have journeyed to Barbados. He was alive in 1674 and dead by 1680. He is thought to have died in America or Barbados.

Bibliography

*‘An Alarum of Truth sounded forth to the Nations,’ &c., 1660. * ‘To Charles, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from one who is in prison, a Sufferer for the Testimony of his Conscience,’ &c., 1660. *‘A Plain Record or Declaration showing the Original Root and Race of Persecution,’ 1661.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fell, Henry Year of birth missing Year of death missing English Quakers Converts to Quakerism Clergy from Lancashire Quaker missionaries 17th-century Quakers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English male writers English Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in Barbados Protestant missionaries in Egypt