Joseph John Gurney (2 August 1788 – 4 January 1847) was a banker in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

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 ...

, and a member of the Gurney family of that city. He became an evangelical minister 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), whose views and actions led, ultimately, to a schism among American Quakers. Followers of his beliefs today are known as Gurneyites.

Biography

Gurney was born at

Earlham Hall Earlham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It is located just to the west of the city of Norwich, on Earlham Road, on the outskirts of the village of Earlham. For generations it was the home of the Gurney family. The Gurneys were kn ...

near

(now part of the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

), the tenth child of John Gurney of Gurney's Bank. He was always called Joseph John. He was the brother of Samuel Gurney, Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney), a prison and social reformer, and Louisa Hoare (née Gurney), a writer on education, and also the brother-in-law – through his sister the campaigner Hannah Buxton – of Thomas Fowell Buxton, who was also an

anti-slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

campaigner. In September 1837 Gurney met Eliza Paul Kirkbride while returning from England. The two worked together during his trips to the United States, and Kirkbride joined Gurney in preaching in favor of prison reform, pacifism, and the abolition of slavery. Gurney married Kirkbride in October 1841. Gurney also advocated total abstinence from alcohol. He wrote a tract on the subject called ''Water Is Best''. The Gurney Family Burial Plot

As a boy

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

used to fish the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the villag ...

near Earlham Hall and on one occasion was caught by Joseph John Gurney. Gurney later invited the boy into the hall to see his books.Earlham Hall on www.literarynorfolk.co.uk, access date 13 Sept 2012.
/ref> In his semi-autobiographical novel ''Lavengro'', Borrow recalls the hall with great precision: "On the right side is a green level, a smiling meadow, grass of the richest decks the side of the slope; mighty trees also adorn it, giant elms, the nearest of which, when the sun is nigh its meridian, fling a broad shadow upon the face of the ancient brick of an old English Hall. It has a stately look, that old building, indistinctly seen, as it is, among the umbrageous trees."

Works

Joseph John Gurney had written over 80 letters and works, of which include: *''Notes on a visit made to some of the prisons in Scotland and the North of England in company with Elizabeth Fry; with some general observations on the subject of prison discipline'' (1819) *''Observations on the religious peculiarities of the Religious Society of Friends'' (1824) *''Essays on the Evidences, Doctrines and Practical Operations of Christianity'' (1825) *''Brief remarks on the History, Authority and Use of the Sabbath'', (1831) *''A Winter in the West Indies'' (1840) *''Religion and the New Testament'' (1843) * in 2 volumes: vol. 1, vol. 2Review of :

References

External links

*
Biography of Joseph John Gurney

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050630074457/http://www.author.co.uk/anderson/ Verily Anderson, family biographer* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, Joseph John 1788 births 1847 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople burials in Norfolk English bankers English Quakers Joseph John people from Norwich (district) Quaker evangelicals Quaker theologians Quaker writers

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links