Dorothea Gotherson (born baptised in 1611) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

preacher and writer.

Life

Gotherson was baptised in 1611 in

Godmersham Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west o ...

in Kent. She was the last of the children born to Mary Knatchbull and Thomas Scott. Her father had a daughter from a previous marriage. He was a member of parliament who in 1596 had inherited a large estate in Godmersham in Kent. Her mother died when she was a child and her father died in 1635 and she was his heir. In that year she married parliamentarian and later MP Major John Gotherson. She and her husband both became

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

and Dorothea lead "Scott's congregation" named for her family name. Gotherson looked after this group and would preach to them. In 1660 ''"An alarm to all priests, judges, magistrates, souldiers, and all people; inviting them to repentance and amendment of life..etc"'' was published by her husband. The publication names him as the author but it is suspected that they wrote it together. In 1661 she wrote, published and dedicated ''"To All that are Unregenerated, a Call to Repentence"'' to Charles II. The work is in strong support of the King and she encourages her readers to support him. She and her husband met adventurer Captain John Scott. Dorothea came from the Scott family of which John Scott had questionable claims of membership. Prior to his return to America, John Scott persuaded the Gothersons to give him two thousand pounds in return for vast lands in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. In later years it would be found that the sale was a hoax. Dorothea petitioned the King and in time

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

would take a deposition from her. No formal charges were made against Scott for this crime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotherson, Dorothea 1610s births People from Kent 17th-century English women writers English Quakers