Richard Hubberthorne (1628 (baptized) – 17 August 1662Catie Gill
‘Hubberthorne, Richard (bap. 1628, d. 1662)’
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 27 Dec 2008) was an early Quaker preacher and writer active in the 1650s and early 1660s until his death in

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

prison. Hubberthorne is generally overshadowed by more famous early Quakers like

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

James Nayler James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...

, and

Edward Burrough Edward Burrough (1634–1663) was an early English Quaker leader and controversialist. He is regarded as one of the Valiant Sixty, who were early Quaker preachers and missionaries. Conversion Burrough was born in Underbarrow, Westmorland, and educ ...

. William Braithwaite ''Beginnings of Quakerism'' includes him among the "heroic pioneers of the new movement", but puts him last, and later describes his writing as having "no distinction either of style or matter".

Pre-Quaker life

Hubberthorne was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, the only son of a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

and his wife. His childhood is reminiscent of Fox's –

describes him as being "inclinable from his youth upwards to Religion and to the best way, always minding the best things", though unlike the headstrong young George, his disposition was "meek and lowly", and he "loved peace among men". However, around age 20 he joined the army and fought in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, which Burrough reports without obvious disapproval. After the war ended, he apparently was in the company of the large group of disaffected radical puritans known as "

Seekers The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all ...

" in the

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

area. The Seekers were already close to a number of "Quaker" positions and practices: their official minister refused to accept payment from the compulsory

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

, for example, and after he left the group held some of their meetings in

silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

.''BQ'' p. 80 on tithes and 82 on silence.

Quaker career

But the spark that lit a fire under the Westmorland Seekers was the arrival of George Fox in June 1652. Burrough, who was also one of them, recounts Hubberthorne's conversion experience in this way:

Works

A volume of his collected works were published in 1663, a year after his death, and titled ''A collection of the several books and writings of that faithful servant of God, Richard Hubberthorn, who finished his testimony (being a prisoner at Newgate for the truths sake) the 17th of the 6th month, 1662''. Not everything he wrote appears to be included in this volume however, because another recent book (''Walking in the way of peace'' by Meredith Baldwin Weddle) refers to a pamphlet of his called ''The good old cause briefly demonstrated'', published in 1659 that is not in the ''Collection''.

Literature

References

This article was derived from Quakerpedia, a public domain resource. The original article is availabl
here

External links

* *Works: **The

' on WorldCat Libraries. **

' on WorldCat Libraries.
Undated "Epistle to Friends"
from the 1663 ''Collection''
Blog post
on "The Seed Lifting Up" that formed the starting point for this article {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubberthorne, Richard English Quakers Converts to Quakerism 1620s births 1662 deaths