Call Number:

MC.975.07.050

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.1 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

"Cromwell and the Quakers: A Historical Dissertation" (HC.MC.975.07.050), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1952 (inclusive)

Creator:

James, Paul M.

Form:

manuscripts (documents)

Abstract:

Paul M. James's manuscript, entitled "Cromwell and the Quakers: A Historical Dissertation," compares the lives of Oliver Cromwell and George Fox, their relationship to each other, and their affect on the Puritan movement in England. The manuscript was James's thesis for his bachelor's from University College, University of Wales, in 1952.

Paul M. James (ca. 1930-) attended the University College of Wales (now Aberystwyth University), where he graduated with a bachelor's in 1952.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cromwell was born in Huntigdon in 1599, the son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. He attended the University of Cambridge and later went to London to represent his family in Parliment. He was a strict Puritan and dressed conservatively. In 1620, he married Elizabeth Bourchier, and the couple had nine children: Robert (1621-1639), Oliver (1622-1644), Bridget (1624-1662), Richard (1626-1712), Henry (1628-1674), Elizabeth (1629-1658), James (1632), Mary (1637-1713), and Frances (1638-1720). In 1642, Parliment stripped King Charles I of power, and placed the army and navy under parlimentary supervision, thus beginning the English civil war. Cromwell served as a military leader during the civil war and during the time in which the Commonwealth of England was in power after emoving King Charles I from his throne. Cromwell died at age 59, at Whitehall, in September, 1658.

George Fox (1624-1691) was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. George Fox was born in Dreyton-in-the-Clay, now called Fenny Drayton, in Leicestershire, England, in 1624. He was the son of Christopher Fox, a weaver, and Mary Lago Fox. Fox left Drayton-in-the-Clay in 1643, to travel around the country as his religious beliefs began to take shape. In 1647, Fox began to preach publicly. Fox married Margaret Fell in 1669. His ministry expanded and he undertook tours of North America and the Low Countries. Between these tours, he was imprisoned for more than a year. He spent the final decade of his life working in London to organize the expanding Quaker movement. George Fox died in 1691.

This collection is comprised of Paul M. James's single volume manuscript, entitled "Cromwell and the Quakers: A Historical Dissertation." The manuscript compares the lives of Oliver Cromwell and George Fox, their relationship to each other, and their affect on the Puritan movement in England. The manuscript was James's thesis for his bachelor's from University College, University of Wales, in 1952.