Call Number:

MC.975.07.040

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.08 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

John Joseph Gurney manuscript (HC.MC.975.07.040), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1830-1833 (inclusive)

Creator:

Gurney, Joseph John, 1788-1847

Form:

letters (correspondence) and manuscripts (documents)

Abstract:

The manuscript of John Joseph Gurney includes three parts: "Charlemania Part I," Charlemania Part II," and "An Afternoon at Cambridge and a Morning at Oxford." According to notes from the curator of Haverford College's Quaker and Special Collections, the manuscript is in the hand of Joseph John Gurney, but is "possibly written in the hand of Anna Gurney, who gave it to Ann Hodgkin, possibly as a wedding present."

Joseph John Gurney (1788-1847) was a Quaker and a banker in Norwich, England. He was born at Earlham Hall near Norwich in 1788, the son of John Gurney. Educated by a tutor at the University of Oxford, in 1818, Gurney was a recorded a Quaker minister, and was involved in prison reform and traveled to prisons throughout Great Britain. He was also involved in abolition efforts and campaigned for abolition on trips to the United States from 1837 to 1840.

In his travels to the United States, Gurney's belief in the importance of the text of the Bible lead to the spilt in Quakerism between the Gurneyites and the Wilburites. Gurney was also an early supporter of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.

Joseph John Gurney died in 1847.

This collection is comprised of the single volume manuscript of John Joseph Gurney. The single manuscript includes three parts: "Charlemania Part I," Charlemania Part II," and "An Afternoon at Cambridge and a Morning at Oxford."

Chalmeriana Parts I and II describe Gurney and his wife's meeting with Dr. Thomas Chalmers, author of "Evidences of Christianity," "Civic Economy of Large Towns," and "Astronomical and Commercial Sermons," and their intellectual discussions.

"An Afternoon at Cambridge and a Morning at Oxford" is an account of a letter addressed to John Henry, a discussion of religion, a visit to a friend at Cambridge, and a visit to Oxford.

According to notes from the curator of Haverford College's Quaker and Special Collections, the manuscript is in the hand of Joseph John Gurney, but is "possibly written in the hand of Anna Gurney, who gave it to Ann Hodgkin, possibly as a wedding present."