Jane Wardley, also known as Mother Jane Wardley, was a founding leader of what became the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as Shakers.

Personal life

Little is known about Wardley's personal life. She was a resident of Bolton, located in the United Kingdom, also known as Bolton-le-moors. She lived and worked there with her husband James, who worked as a tailor. They later moved to Manchester where they continued to live in low temporal conditions.

Religious life

Wardley and her husband were devout members of the Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. However, around 1747 Wardley began to have visions from God telling her to go about her town teaching the truth about the end of the world: that

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

was about to return, and that his second appearance would be in the form of a woman, as is written in the book of Psalms in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. Inspired, she did just that. Her first convert was her husband, soon followed by John Townley, who was considered a relatively wealthy bricklayer (he later provided significant funding for the Wardley Group), and former

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

and Methodists. As a Quaker her worship often began with a period of silent meditation. However, she often began shaking, and rocking, as she "received visions from god". This led to her followers being called "Shaking Quakers".

Wardley Society

The Wardley Society, also known as the Wardley Group and the Bolton Society, was a Quaker worship group founded in Bolton by Jane and James Wardley. The religious practices of the group can be traced back to French prophets called "

Camisards Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...

" who travelled to England in 1705 to preach and spread their method of worship. These teachings spread rapidly through England and influenced the Wardleys, who began their own preaching and teaching at their home to about 30 devout followers. As described in the previous section, they began their worship like many other Quaker groups but they soon began to shake, rock, and occasionally break into singing and dancing. Meetings were first held in Bolton, and later Manchester, where the articulate preacher, Jane Wardley, urged her followers to: They preached that people should open their hearts and prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ, who would be reincarnated in the near future as a woman. John Townley began to visit the meetings in Manchester after he left

the Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, then joined the Methodist Society. He was a relatively wealthy bricklayer. Around 1766, he was visited at his home by James Wardley. He subsequently joined the Wardley Group and hosted many poorer members of the society.

Influence on Ann Lee

Ann Lee Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or the Shakers. After nearly two decades of participation in a re ...

was the daughter of two devout members of the church. She was compelled by the power of the testimonies of Wardley and her husband, and confessed her sins to them. She taught that repentance was absolutely essential to the reception of the power to forsake sin. She became the first leader of the Shakers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardley, Jane 18th-century religious leaders Shaker members