The Quaker Timeline

Margaret Fell Born

Born Margaret Askew at Marsh Grange, Lancashire, into a landed gentry family with Puritan sympathies.

Margaret Fell

Isaac Penington Born

Son of Isaac Penington, Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Mint. The Peningtons were wealthy, educated, and powerful.

Isaac Penington

James Nayler Born

Born at Hemswell, Lincolnshire. Little is known of his early life — he appears to have been a farmer or artisan.

James Nayler

Francis Howgill Born

Born at Todthorne, Westmorland. Before his convincement he served as an Independent (Congregationalist) minister.

William Leddra Born

Born in England. He would become one of the four Quaker martyrs executed in Massachusetts, his final epistle from prison among the most powerful documents in Quaker literature.

George Fox Born

Born in Drayton-in-the-Clay (now Fenny Drayton), Leicestershire, son of a weaver known as 'Righteous Christer.'

George Fox

Stephen Crisp Born

Born at Colchester, Essex. Crisp would pass through Baptist and Independent congregations before finding Quakerism.

Gilbert Latey Born

Born in Cornwall. As an adult he would become George Fox's most trusted London operative — a skilled negotiator who secured legal protections for Friends from Charles II and James II.

Edward Burrough Born

Born at Underbarrow, Westmorland — a remote region where underground Seekers flourished and traditional religious structures were weak.

Edward Burrough

Ambrose Rigge Born

Born in the north of England. He would settle in Sussex and endure some of the most brutal persecutions of any first-generation Friend.

George Whitehead Born

Born at Sunbiggin, Westmorland. Convinced at just 16, he would become the longest-lived of the First Publishers of Truth.

Oliver Sansom Born

Born in Berkshire. An early seeker, he would endure repeated imprisonment and suffering for his Quaker convictions, leaving a vivid persecution narrative.

Thomas Ellwood Born

Born at Crowell, Oxfordshire, into a respectable gentry family with Puritan leanings.

Thomas Ellwood

William Penn Born

Son of Admiral William Penn, the most powerful naval commander of Cromwell's era. His mother was Dutch, giving him cosmopolitan connections.

William Penn

Robert Barclay Born

Born at Gordonstown, Morayshire, into a Scottish family with aristocratic connections. His uncle was General John Barclay.

Robert Barclay

Derby Prison — 'Quaker' Name

Fox imprisoned at Derby for blasphemy. Justice Gervase Bennet mocked him as a 'quaker' — one who trembles at the Word — and the name stuck.

George Fox

Margaret Fell Convinced

Margaret Fell, wife of Judge Thomas Fell, hears Fox preach at Ulverston Church. She is struck to the heart. Swarthmore Hall becomes Quakerism's administrative headquarters.

Margaret Fell

Edward Burrough Convinced at Sedbergh

The 18-year-old Burrough hears Fox preach at a Baptist chapel in Sedbergh. His convincement is immediate and complete. He begins traveling with Francis Howgill.

Edward Burrough

George Whitehead Convinced

At just 16, Whitehead is convinced by Nayler's preaching in Westmorland. He becomes one of the youngest First Publishers of Truth.

Fox Imprisoned at Carlisle

Fox spends seven months in Carlisle prison under harsh conditions. His famous letter 'Friends, be valiant for the truth' is written here.

George Fox

Mary Fisher Whipped at Cambridge

Mary Fisher, a former servant girl, and Elizabeth Williams travel to Cambridge to preach to university students. The mayor has them publicly stripped to the waist and whipped through the streets — one of the earliest and most shocking acts of persecution against Quaker women.

Mary Fisher

Fox Meets Cromwell at Whitehall

Fox meets Oliver Cromwell at Whitehall. The Lord Protector receives him warmly. Cromwell says of Fox: 'He is not a fool.'

George Fox

Edmundson Founds Irish Quakerism

William Edmundson, a former Cromwellian soldier settled in County Armagh, establishes the first Quaker meeting in Ireland at Lurgan. He becomes the 'father of Irish Quakerism,' planting meetings across the island despite persistent persecution from both Anglicans and Catholics.

Stephen Crisp Convinced

After passing through Baptist and Independent congregations, Crisp encounters Quakers at Colchester and is convinced. He becomes the movement's foremost Continental missionary.

Women's Speaking Justified

Margaret Fell publishes her most important theological work, defending women's ministry from Scripture. It becomes foundational for Quaker theology and proto-feminist thought.

Margaret Fell

James Parnell Dies at Nineteen

James Parnell, the youngest of the First Publishers of Truth, dies in Colchester Castle at just nineteen. Forced to climb a rope to reach his cell high in the castle wall, he falls and sustains injuries from which he never recovers. He is remembered as Quakerism's first martyr.

Isaac Penington Convinced

After years of reading Fox's writings and attending meetings, the wealthy Penington declares himself convinced. His transition is intellectual and mystical — theology meets experience.

Isaac Penington

Thomas Ellwood Meets Fox

A young poet named Thomas Ellwood meets George Fox, fresh from prison. An enduring friendship begins — Ellwood will become Fox's trusted friend and scribe.

Thomas Ellwood

Oliver Sansom Convinced

Oliver Sansom, a Berkshire tradesman, encounters Quakers and is convinced. He would endure years of imprisonment and financial ruin for his faith, becoming one of the most vivid chroniclers of first-generation suffering.

James Nayler Dies

Nayler, reconciled with Fox, is set upon by robbers on a journey and dies of his injuries. His last words become among the most famous in Quaker literature: 'There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil...'

“There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to return evil for evil, but delights to endure all things, in hope to enjoy its own in the end.”

— James Nayler's dying words

James Nayler

Dewsbury Begins Decades of Imprisonment

William Dewsbury, one of the most powerful early Quaker preachers, is imprisoned at York Castle with the Restoration. He will spend nearly twenty of the next twenty-eight years behind bars, writing influential epistles on church discipline and spiritual faithfulness from his cell.

Samuel Fisher's Biblical Criticism

Samuel Fisher, a Cambridge-trained Baptist minister turned Quaker, publishes Rusticos ad Academicos — a 900-page work of biblical criticism that anticipates modern textual scholarship by two centuries, arguing that Scripture has been altered by copyists and translators.

Edward Burrough Dies in Newgate

Burrough, weakened by previous imprisonments, dies in Newgate prison at age 29. His collected works would exceed 2,000 pages.

Edward Burrough

Robert Barclay Convinced

Returning from the Scots College in Paris, Barclay encounters Scottish Quakers and is convinced. His theological training immediately distinguishes him from every other Quaker writer.

Robert Barclay

Penington's 'Way of Life and Death'

Penington publishes his most comprehensive work — a guide to distinguishing false spirituality from true, written with remarkable psychological insight.

Isaac Penington

Fox Marries Margaret Fell

The two great leaders of Quakerism are united at Bristol. They continue their partnership until Fox's death in 1691.

George Fox & Margaret Fell

Francis Howgill Dies in Appleby Gaol

Howgill dies in Appleby gaol after five years of imprisonment for refusing to take the oath of allegiance. He had written to his daughter from prison: 'Be faithful to God.'

Fox's American Journey

Fox visits Barbados, Jamaica, and the American colonies. He establishes Quaker meetings, confronts slavery, and converts thousands.

George Fox

Gilbert Latey Appeals to the King

Gilbert Latey, Fox's most trusted London operative, begins his decades-long campaign of petitioning Charles II and later James II for Quaker relief. His skilled negotiations with the Crown secure the release of hundreds of imprisoned Friends and establish legal precedents for toleration.

Ambrose Rigge Imprisoned at Horsham

Ambrose Rigge endures prolonged imprisonment at Horsham, Sussex — one of many incarcerations he suffered over decades. His Sussex persecutions were among the most severe experienced by any first-generation Friend.

Fox, Penn & Barclay Visit the Continent

Fox, Penn, and Barclay travel together to Holland and Germany, visiting sympathetic communities and debating local theologians.

George Fox & William Penn & Robert Barclay

Isaac Penington Dies

Penington dies at his home in Chalfont, having suffered imprisonment and financial ruin for his faith. His letters remain treasured for their pastoral wisdom.

Isaac Penington

Ellwood's Autobiography

Ellwood writes The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood — featuring portraits of Fox, Penn, and his neighbor John Milton. It becomes a masterpiece of 17th-century English prose.

Thomas Ellwood

Crisp's Continental Missions

By the mid-1680s Crisp has made over a dozen journeys to Holland and Germany, establishing Quaker meetings across the Continent. He preaches in English, Dutch, and German.

Robert Barclay Dies

Barclay dies at Ury at only 42. His Apology had given Quakerism its definitive theological statement. His grandson would later found the banking house that bears the family name.

Robert Barclay

Stephen Crisp Dies

Crisp dies at Colchester after decades of Continental missionary work. His allegorical autobiography A Short History of a Long Travel becomes a Quaker classic.

Whitehead Secures the Affirmation Act

George Whitehead's decades of lobbying Parliament bear fruit: the Affirmation Act allows Quakers to affirm rather than swear oaths, removing a key source of persecution.

Margaret Fell Dies

The 'Mother of Quakerism' dies at Swarthmore Hall at age 88, surrounded by family and Friends. Her funeral draws thousands.

Margaret Fell

Gilbert Latey Dies

Latey dies in London, having spent decades securing legal protections for Friends through personal appeals to Charles II, James II, and William III. His patient diplomacy helped end the great persecution.

Ambrose Rigge Dies

Rigge dies in Sussex after a lifetime of suffering for his Quaker convictions. His journals and tracts document some of the most brutal persecutions endured by any early Friend.

Thomas Ellwood Dies

The poet and autobiographer dies at 74 in Chalfont St. Peter, having shaped Quaker literature more than any writer except Fox himself.

Thomas Ellwood

Oliver Sansom Dies

Sansom dies in Berkshire after decades of faithful ministry, having endured repeated imprisonments and financial loss. His life account preserves a vivid record of first-generation Quaker suffering.

William Penn Dies

Penn dies in England at 73. His colony thrives, his writings endure. Voltaire calls him the only statesman who ever governed by conscience.

William Penn

Sewel's History of the Quakers

William Sewel, a Dutch-English Quaker born in Amsterdam, publishes The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers in English — the first comprehensive history of the movement, based on decades of original research and correspondence with eyewitnesses.

George Whitehead Dies

The last of the First Publishers of Truth dies at 87, having bridged early Quakerism's revolutionary fervor and its establishment as a tolerated religious society.

Whitehead's Christian Progress Published

Whitehead's autobiography, published posthumously, provides the longest first-person account of the Quaker movement — from the 1650s convincements through the age of toleration.

Anthony Benezet Dies

Benezet, the Huguenot-born Quaker who spent decades teaching African American children and organizing against slavery, dies in Philadelphia. Hundreds of Black Philadelphians walk in his funeral procession — a testament to a life spent in service to the enslaved and the free.

Thomas Scattergood's European Ministry

Thomas Scattergood, a Philadelphia minister of extraordinary spiritual depth, begins an extensive period of ministry in England and Ireland. His journal records some of the most penetrating spiritual observations in Quaker literature.

Martha Routh's Transatlantic Ministry

Martha Routh, one of the most widely-traveled women ministers in Quaker history, visits meetings across America and Europe. Her extensive journal documents decades of faithful itinerant ministry.