Blaugdone, Barbara (c. 1609–1705)
Blaugdone, Barbara (c. 1609–1705)
English Quaker and author. Born around 1609 in England; died in 1705 in England; never married; no children.
Barbara Blaugdone was an active participant in the early period of the Quaker movement in England. In its founding years, Quakerism included the almost equal participation of women members in preaching and prophesizing, and Blaugdone, like many other women, was drawn to Quakerism for the opportunities it presented. After her conversion at middle age, she began traveling extensively around England and Ireland to promote the new ideas of the Society of Friends. Her writings reveal the freedoms she enjoyed, as well as the hardships and dangers a lone female minister faced, especially as Quaker ideas grew in popularity and English authorities began to crack down on its heretical leaders. After she retired from active preaching, she composed an autobiography entitled An Account of the Travels, Sufferings, and Persecutions of Barbara Blaugdone, which was published in 1691.
Laura York , Anza, California