Chalfonts
The Chalfonts are a group of three (historically two) villages in southeast Buckinghamshire, England: Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter, and Little Chalfont. The first two date from at least the 10th century, though they weren't described separately until the 13th. Little Chalfont emerged in the 20th century due to the location of a railway.[1]
Along with the nearby Quaker village of Jordans (considered part of the Chalfont St Giles parish by the Church of England), the area was a center of Quaker activity in the 17th century.[2]
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Isaac Penington
Some of the first Quaker meetings in the area were held at the Grange, the name of the home in Chalfont St Peter of the early Quaker writer Isaac Penington, who had moved there in 1658, the same year he became a Friend. The Grange soon became a center of Quaker activity in the region, and later in 1658 a meeting was held there by George Fox.
During his several imprisonments in the 1660s, Penington wrote at least four letters addressed to Friends in the Chalfonts.[3] After his death in 1679, he was buried in the nearby Quaker village of Jordans.[2]
William Penn & Pennsylvania
William Penn had a number of connections to the Chalfonts area – there is even a town in Pennsylvania named Chalfont. Penn's wife (and Penington's step-daughter) Gulielma Springett was from Chalfont St Giles, and William himself was buried nearby in Jordans after his death in 1718.[2]
John Milton & Thomas Ellwood
The famous Puritan writer John Milton moved from London to Chalfont St Giles in July of 1665, partially because of antagonism by the Restoration government and partially to avoid the Black Death plague. His friend Thomas Ellwood, who would later edit George Fox's Journal, found him "a pretty box" to rent. This cottage is where Milton completed his masterpiece Paradise Lost, and is his only surviving residence. On completing the text, he is said to have shown it to Ellwood, who said, "Thou hast said much here of 'Paradise Lost,' but what hast thou to say of 'Paradise Found'?" Perhaps in part because of this suggestion, Milton shortly thereafter completed the companion work Paradise Regained.[4]
Richard Bradly
The Quaker historian Rosemary Moore, in her bibliography of Quaker publications between 1660 and 1666, "Chalfont" appears in her notes on a 1660 tract by Richard Bradly (or Bradley) entitled This is for all you the inhabitants of Whitewell to consider, who deny the perfect life of Christ to be brought forth in his people here upon earth, and manifested in their mortal flesh by a ceasing from sin. And to all others whom it may concern.[5] This may refer to her opinion on the place of publication or residence of the author.
References
- ↑ "Chalfont St Peter" and "Little Chalfont" on Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Chalfont St Giles" on British History Online.
- ↑ Two are included in Quaker Heritage Press's online Complete Works; those and two more are available in the See "External links".
- ↑ "A short history of Chalfont St Giles".
- ↑ Moore's bibliography is online here, and the EEBO record for Bradly's tract is here.
External links
- Home page of the Jordans Quaker Meeting
- Penington's letters:
- Full text of The Letters of Isaac Penington (Friends' Family Library edition, 1842), including four letters written to Friends in the Chalfonts.
- Text of To Friends of Truth in and about the Two Chalfonts from Quaker Heritage Press
- Text of To Friends of both the Chalfonts from Quaker Heritage Press
- Books (from Google Books):
- Photos (from Flickr):
- Wikipedia articles:
