William Edmundson or Edmondson (1627—1712) was the founder of

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 ...

ism in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Early life

Edmundson was born in Little Musgrave,

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1627. His parents died when he was young, and so he was raised by an uncle. He was apprenticed as a carpenter at York, and after completion, he joined the Parliamentary Army during 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 ...

. He went to Scotland in 1650. He also took part in the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

. While serving in the military, he was first introduced to Quakerism while stationed at Chesterfield. He was discharged and eventually went to live in County Antrim, Ireland.

Quakerism

He established the first Meeting House in Lurgan, Ireland in 1654. He was imprisoned several times, but was released thereafter. After this first establishment, Edmundson spent the rest of his life building the Society of Friends in Ireland. He lived most of his life in the once Quaker village of

Rosenallis Rosenallis (historically ''Rossinallis'', from ) is a village in north County Laois, Ireland. It is in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R422 Mountmellick to Birr road. Demographics In 2002, the population of the village's ca ...

, Co Laois (aka County Leix, aka Queen's County), where he had a residence at Tineal House. Edmundson also visited America and debated the Protestant theologian

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

(

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

) in 1672 with several other Quakers, and Williams was particularly offended by Edmundson's perceived rudeness. The debate was published in Williams' ''

George Fox Digged out of his Burrowes ''George Fox Digged out of his Burrowes'' (''George Fox Digg'd out of his Burrowes or an offer of Disputation on fourteen Proposals made this last Summer of 1672 unto G. Fox then present on Rode-Island in New England'') is a book written by Rhode I ...

''. Edmundson's life as a Quaker is documented in his journal titled "A Journal of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, and Labour of Love of William Edmundson".

Family

He married firstly in 1652 Margaret Staniforth or Stanford who died in 1689 and secondly Mary Strangman who survived him. He had nine children, Thomas, Mary, William, Samuel, Hindrance, Susanna, Anna, Tryal. He obviously did not approve of some of them as his will refers to ''My unhappy son William, my unruly son Samuel, my foolish and disobedient daughter Hindrance, my rebellious daughter Anne''.

Bibliography

References

External links