Since the rise of Women’s History and more recently Gender Studies, historians have
uncovered a wealth of material relating to the lives and experiences of early modern women
from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Much historical interest has been directed
towards the concept of ‘female agency’ and activities that challenged traditional gendered
conventions. This is often cited in studies of female radicalism and the links women had to
subversive activities and ideas during the English Civil War and Commonwealth periods
(1640-1660), when convention was frequently defied and England became in many ways a
‘World Turned Upside Down.’ During this period, England witnessed the rise of radical new
movements, such as the Quakers, where women were viewed as fully spiritual equals of
men, and played a prominent role as preachers and evangelists. Modern accounts of
women’s role within the Society of Friends, such as Phyllis Mack’s 'Visionary Women' (1992)
and Christine Trevett’s 'Women and Quakerism: in the Seventeenth Century' (1991), have
noted the extraordinary liberty women enjoyed within the early Quaker movement.
Focusing on figures such as Margaret Fell, Elizabeth Hooton, Loveday Hambly and Anne
Whitehead, Mack puts forward a convincing argument for the prominent role women had in
its spread and survival. Although this is integral to gender history, the focus tends to be on
‘elite’ Quaker women, i.e. the ‘Mother in Israel’ figures, who were prominent through their
writings, conflicts with the authorities and missionary activities. Women like Margaret Fell
and Elizabeth Hooton, however, were themselves from gentle backgrounds, having the
literacy, financial stability and leisure to undertake these activities on behalf of the
movement. What is absent from current historiography on Quaker women, however, is any
detailed discussion of ‘ordinary’ Quaker women - those from lower social and economic
backgrounds. Using printed works available through EEBO and ECCO, and unpublished
letters, spiritual testimonies and autobiographies, available at the British Library and Friends
House (London), I intend to look more closely at these women and the activities they were
involved in on a daily basis. In particular, I will explore whether or how far their work on
behalf of the Society of Friends took precedence over their everyday tasks, and how far this
clashed with their roles as wives and mothers, daughters and sisters. I will also aim to
determine whether there was an ‘ideal type’ of Quaker woman, to borrow Max Weber’s
terminology, and how far this changed over the period. Here, the project will aim to uncover
the social background of these women, through their marital status, economic background
and familial circumstances and how this fitted into the wider picture of female radicalism of
the time. I also aim to contribute to the wider and ongoing debate on female agency and the
status of women within English society. Here, their possible motivations for joining the
movement will be explored. It will be interesting to see how far these women were willing to
challenge convention, as some female converts clearly followed the influence of a family
member, such as a husband or father, whilst others were willing to defy their family in order
to follow their own spiritual path. The period to be covered will be the first 100 years of the
Quaker movement c. 1650 to 1750. This should offer useful insights into the changing
position of women in English society more generally, and also the evolving character of the
Society of Friends itself.