George Fox

He married Margaret Fell on October 27, 1669. She was ten years elder to him and was one of his earliest converts. She had eight children from her previous marriage to Thomas Fell.

Together, Margaret and George shared their work and were even imprisoned together on many occasions.

He passed away in London and was interred at Bunhill Fields, with hordes of followers attending his funeral.

George Fox was born to Christopher Fox and Mary in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, England and he was the eldest of the four children.

From a very young age, he believed in ‘righteousness’ and ‘simplicity’ and adopted a religious approach to life. Although there are no records of his formal education, it is believed that he knew how to read and write. He became an apprentice to a shoemaker and also worked as a shepherd.

At the age of 19, he began to look down on the behavior of people who followed religion and conformed to alcoholic practices. As a result, he left home in 1643 and traveled to London in a confused, tormented state.

Over the next few years, he travelled around Britain and Europe and many of his non-religious, dissenting beliefs took form. With all the fervent soul-searching, he hoped to look for a connection with ‘English Dissenters’ and it was around this time, he thought intensely about the ‘Temptation of Christ’.

Through meditation and prayer, he defied many of the standard Christian beliefs and established that Christian rituals can be ignored as long as there is spiritual conversation and that nobody required a qualification to get into the ministry. He also argued by stating that Moses, Jacob, Abraham and David, who were all shepherds, did not require an education for what they did.

In 1647, he preached his ideologies publicly, which slowly gathered a following. Although there are no records of when the ‘Society of Friends’ was formed, it is certain that they started off by calling themselves, ‘Children of Light’ or ‘Friends of Truth’ and then finally came to be known as the ‘Quakers’ due to their philosophy.

He was imprisoned for his preaching activities in 1649, but this did not deter his spirit and he continued to condemn the Church of England. The following year, he was imprisoned once again on account of ‘blasphemy’, at Derby.

In 1651, he travelled around the country with a number of other preachers, hoping to spread his message. Nonetheless, he was met with fierce opposition from many religious authorities and political figures, who would drive him and his supporters away.

This English dissenter temporarily lost his sight when he suffered from chronic depression and illness.