The Friends of Thomas Plume's Library invite you to a talk by Julie Miller, MA, entitled 'A Man of Indiscrete Zeal, and the Quaker Comet'.

In 1711, John Farmer, Wool-comber and Quaker of Saffron Walden, left home and hearth to travel to pre-Revolutionary America. There he had many adventures in the ministry, met with native American tribespeople, visited the Leeward Islands of Barbados, Antigua and Anguilla and then set about challenging the Quaker authorities on the horrors of slave keeping and the slave trade. 

He left behind an account of his First American Journey, now stored at the Essex Record Office which Julie Miller transcribed and studied for her MA dissertation. Extending that research for her PhD studies now Julie is looking at the connections between John Farmer, and his acquaintance and fellow Essex Quaker Benjamin Lay of Copdock who took up the challenge of ending Quaker participation in the slave trade. He and his wife Sarah were vegetarian animal-rights activists and made their home in a cave near Philadelphia where they became friends with such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin. The extraordinary stories of these two passionate and very early Essex Quaker abolitionists will be explored in Julie's paper. 

Julie is PhD Candidate at University of Essex and Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

There will be a short AGM beforehand. A glass of wine/soft drink and light refreshments will be available in the interval. Entry is free. We hope you will join us!

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