{"id":974,"date":"2020-06-18T21:07:56","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T21:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newtrial.qfhs.co.uk\/?page_id=974"},"modified":"2025-01-25T17:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T17:01:09","slug":"besses-sufferings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/qfhs.co.uk\/?page_id=974","title":{"rendered":"Besse’s Sufferings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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INTRODUCTION TO Besse’s Sufferings<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In 1753, Joseph Besse published A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers for the Testimony of a Good Conscience <\/em>under the authority of the Meeting for Sufferings. It recorded many of the instances of persecution and suffering inflicted upon early Friends from the beginning of the movement until 1690, the year after the Act of Toleration. It records imprisonments, many of which led to death \u2013 over 400 Friends dying in prison during this period \u2013 the seizure of goods by way of fines for Friends\u2019 refusal to pay tithes or swear oaths or for simply meeting together in silent worship. It records some of the beatings and whippings many early Friends received for their testimony and many petty acts of cruelty and avarice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besse began his work in 1729, publishing an earlier version, An Abstract of the Sufferings of the People Call\u2019d Quakers,<\/em> in 1734. Besse\u2019s catalogue of sufferings is based on the 44 folios of sufferings collected and recorded by Ellis Hookes, long-time clerk of the Yearly Meeting, from 1660 onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early 20th Century Quaker historian William C. Braithewaite said of Besse\u2019s Sufferings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this great book his materials took final shape. The work is conscientiously done, and may be generally relied on, but the sources behind it often yield fuller and sometimes more accurate information. A complete and critical collection of our Acta Martyrum<\/em> would be a vast undertaking, but of great service to the local historian and to the Quaker genealogist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William C. Braithwaite, The Second Period of Quakerism, <\/em>p. 285 fn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The files presented here list all the individuals named in Besse\u2019s Sufferings in alphabetical order, by county. You will find each individual instance of suffering recorded. Where indicated in Besse, you will also find under each entry any description of the individual, usually where he or she lived, the location of the event, the date of the event, the nature of the charges, or in some case absence of charges, against the individual Friend, and the nature of the penalty imposed on the individual. The genealogist or historian can use the table as an index with which to refer to the original record of the suffering. The lists, which can be filtered and sorted, can also be used to examine and compare the sufferings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, a limited number of counties are available. We will continue to regularly add to these. Volunteers interested in helping with this effort are welcome and invited to contact the QFHS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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GLOSSARY of some legal terms<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n