Beaumont, Agnes (1652–1720)
Beaumont, Agnes (1652–1720)
English religious autobiographer. Born 1652 in Edworth, Bedfordshire, England; died 1720 in England; was 7th and youngest child of yeoman farmer.
Joined one of John Bunyan's congregations at Gamblingay (1672); was locked out of her parental home by father for 2 days, for continuing to attend the meetings in defiance of his wishes (1674); when the strain of the incident killed him, was accused of conspiring with Bunyan to poison father (1674); was eventually cleared of charges, which stemmed from the persecution of Nonconformist religious movements in England; wrote of experiences in Narrative of the Persecution of Agnes Beaumont, which survives in manuscript form and was published in the collection An Abstract of the Gracious Dealings of God with Several Eminent Christians (1760).
See also Vera J. Camden, ed., The Narrative of the Persecutions of Agnes Beaumont (Michigan State U. Press, 1992).