Francis Howgill

Francis Howgill (1618 – 11 February 1669) was a prominent early member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England. He preached and wrote on the teachings of the Friends and is considered one of the Valiant Sixty—men and women who were early proponents of Friends beliefs and who suffered for those beliefs.

Howgill was born around 1618, probably of yeoman parents, in Todthorne, near Grayrigg, Westmorland in northern England. He probably made his living as a farmer and a tailor. He studied theology and in 1652 became a minister of the established church in Colton. He explored the teachings of the Anabaptists, the Independents, Seekers and Baptists: but shortly after, he and John Audland (another minister) encountered George Fox, an early leader in the Friends movement, preaching on Firbank Fell and were convinced. Soon after Howgill was imprisoned in Appleby-in-Westmorland for refusing to remove his hat when appearing in court in defence of James Nayler.

Afterwards he met Edward Burrough. The two spread the Quaker message together and became close friends. Among those they converted around 1654 was Hester Biddle. They established the Religious Society of Friends in London and also worked in Bristol and Ireland. Howgill published A Woe Against the Magistrates, Priests, and People of Kendall, (1654) endorsing the Quaker practice of "going naked as a sign". The Quakers in London came under the influence of Nayler and when Fox parted company with him in 1656, Howgill tried, unsuccessfully, to bring about a reconciliation. In 1657 he was in Scotland, and in 1661 he was in prison in London.

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