William Penn (October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) founded the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The democratic principles that he set forth in the Pennsylvania Frame of Government served as an inspiration for the United States Constitution. Ahead of his time, Penn also published a plan for a United States of Europe, "European Dyet” Parliament or Estates. Before moving to America, Penn owned ironworks in the Kent village of Hawkhurst.
Although born into a distinguished Anglican family and the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, Penn joined the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, at the age of 22.
Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; May 21,1780 – October 12, 1845) was an English prison reformer, social reformer and philanthropist. She was the driving force in legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane. She was supported in her efforts by a reigning monarch and has been depicted on the Bank of England £5 note.
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George Fox (July 1624 – January 13, 1691) was an English Dissenter and a major early figure usually considered the founder — of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. Living in a time of great social upheaval, he rebelled against the religious and political consensus by proposing an unusual and uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. His journal is a text known even among non-Quakers for its vivid account of his personal journey.
Isaac Penington (1616-1679) was one of the early members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He was the oldest son of Isaac Penington, a Puritan who had served as the Lord Mayor of London. Penington married a widow named Mary Springett and they had five children. Penington's stepdaughter Gulielma Springett married William Penn. Convinced that the Quaker faith was true, Penington and his wife joined the Friends in 1657 or 1658.
Penington became an influential promoter and defender of the Quaker movement, publishing several books about it. He was imprisoned six times for his beliefs, starting in 1661. Sometimes the charge was refusal to take an oath. Taking an oath was something that Friends were against doing (see Testimony of Integrity). Refusing to take an oath was prohibited by the Quaker Act of 1662. At other times Penington was charged with attending a Quaker meeting, which was forbidden by the Conventicle Act of 1664.
His complete works were first published in 1681. They are still in print today and can also be read online.
Penington became an influential promoter and defender of the Quaker movement, publishing several books about it. He was imprisoned six times for his beliefs, starting in 1661. Sometimes the charge was refusal to take an oath. Taking an oath was something that Friends were against doing (see Testimony of Integrity). Refusing to take an oath was prohibited by the Quaker Act of 1662. At other times Penington was charged with attending a Quaker meeting, which was forbidden by the Conventicle Act of 1664.
His complete works were first published in 1681. They are still in print today and can also be read online.
Thomas Ellwood (1639-1713) was an English religious writer, born the son of a rural squire. He joined the Quakers and became a friend of William Penn and John Milton. However, he was persecuted for his faith and spent some time in prison. His best-known work, Davideis (1712), is a poem about the life of King David. His autobiography, The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood, published posthumously, is a valuable historical document.
He became a Quaker after visiting Isaac Penington and his family at Chalfont St. Peter in Buckinghamshire. He later lived with the family as a tutor to the children. He married Mary Ellis in 1669 and lived in Coleshill, Bucks for the rest of his life. His close friendship with William Penn, George Fox and many leading Quakers made him an influential figure in the Quaker movement. His autobiography has been published almost continually since 1714.
He became a Quaker after visiting Isaac Penington and his family at Chalfont St. Peter in Buckinghamshire. He later lived with the family as a tutor to the children. He married Mary Ellis in 1669 and lived in Coleshill, Bucks for the rest of his life. His close friendship with William Penn, George Fox and many leading Quakers made him an influential figure in the Quaker movement. His autobiography has been published almost continually since 1714.
Thomas Ellwood (1639-
Thomas Ellwood was born at Crowell, in Oxfordshire, just over the northwestern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills. During the early upheavals of the Civil War, he and his family lived temporarily in London, where they were friends of Lady Mary Springett, whose husband William was away fighting, and her daughter Gulielma; the two children played happily together. Lady Mary’s husband died as a result of a Civil War battle, and she subsequently married Isaac Penington, whose father was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentary cause. In about 1656 the Peningtons, with Gulielma, moved to his father’s house, the Grange, in Chalfont St. Peter, and a couple of years later Thomas and his father rode over from Crowell to renew their acquaintance; they found the Peningtons had become Quakers, and their changed lifestyle impressed young Tom to such an extent that he himself became a Quaker soon afterwards.
After the death of Oliver Cromwell, for whom John Milton had worked as Latin Secretary - the equivalent of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs nowadays – Milton let it be known among his friends that he wished to take in students, and through Isaac Penington’s friendship with John Milton, Thomas became one of a number of young men studying under the blind poet. Thomas was by now living with the Peningtons, and tutoring their young sons, first at the Grange, then, when, on the collapse of the Commonwealth, the Peningtons were evicted from his father’s confiscated property, for a short time at Bottrells Farm in the next-door village of Chalfont St. Giles, before the whole family moved to Amersham. Thomas and the poet became firm friends, and Thomas often read aloud to Milton. When the Plague came to London, Milton was living quietly in Bunhill Fields, but as this was near a pit into which bodies of plague victims were being thrown, Milton asked Thomas to find him a healthier place to live, and Thomas found him a cottage, which he described as a “pretty box”, in Chalfont St. Giles, until the Fire of London had cleansed the city of the Plague.
Milton had started writing his long poem Paradise Lost in 1642, but had put it on one side to work for Cromwell and the Commonwealth. He now had time to finish it at Chalfont St. Giles, and he gave the manuscript to Thomas to read, one of whose comments was, “Thou hast said much here of paradise lost, but what hast thou to say of paradise found?” Thomas Ellwood’s friendship with John Milton lasted until the end of the poet’s life, and whenever he could go to London Thomas would visit the poet, now back in Bunhill Fields, and read to him. When Milton then showed the shorter poem of Paradise Regained to Thomas, the poet told him, “This is owing to you, for you put it into my head at Chalfont, which before I had not thought of.”
By the time of Milton’s death in 1674 Thomas Ellwood had become one of the most prominent Quakers in the Chilterns area (at that time called the “Upperside”, i.e. of the Thames valley). On Thomas’ marriage in 1669 to Mary Ellis of Coleshill, they went to live at Hunger Hill, on the edge of the village. Thomas established Upperside Monthly Meeting (the area organisation for business affairs) and was its clerk till shortly before his death in 1713. He also edited George Fox’s manuscript Journal for publication in 1694.