Anne Docwra born Anne Waldegrave (1624 – 1710) was a Quaker minister, religious writer and philanthropist.
Life
Docwra was born in
Bures in 1624. Her father was William Waldegrave and her grandfather was Sir
William Waldegrave. Her family were Royalist and well connected. Her father was a
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
and when he found her reading a book that he thought lightweight he encouraged her to learn by reading books about the law.
She married James Docwra, who died in 1672. She was a Quaker minister and Quakers in Cambridge met at her house from 1672. In 1680 she gave the Quakers a 1,000 year lease on a yard in
Jesus Lane
Jesus Lane is a street in central Cambridge, England. Also located on Jesus Lane are Wesley House, Methodist theological college (or seminary), on the north side and Westcott House, a Church of England theological college, on the south side. ...
in Cambridge.
Jesus Lane Local Quaker Meeting still meets at the meeting house there, which traces its foundation back to 1650. However the current building dates, in part, to 1777 as the meeting house has been rebuilt several times.
Docwra wrote several tracts on the subject of religious toleration, including ''A looking-glass for the recorder and justices of the peace and grand juries for the town and county of Cambridge'' (1682).
[Mullett, M. (2004-09-23). Docwra ée Waldegrave Anne (c. 1624–1710), religious writer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 26 Dec. 2017, se]
link
/ref> She was involved in controversies within the Quaker movement about organisational structure, and opposed the establishment of separate men's and women's meetings for church affairs.
Francis Bugg, her nephew and a former Quaker, conducted a long and bitter dispute with leading figures of the Quaker movement, including Docwra.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Docwra, Anne
1624 births
1710 deaths
People from Babergh District
Religious writers
Quaker ministers
Anne