TITLE: Letter from Richard Whitpaine in London to John Bowne at Flushing
DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.02-03
DATE: 11 April 1664 (Old Style) / 21 April 1664 (New Style)
DESCRIPTION & NOTES
Richard Whitpaine (1630-1689) writes to John Bowne from London to express his affection and offer religious exhortations, news of the Quaker community in England, and greetings to various Friends. Discussion of the death of Thomas Horner in Barbados; the imprisonment of George Fox, Margaret Fell, and William Dewsbury; fears of what Parliament will do to Quakers; and rumors of war with the Dutch.
Notes:
John Bowne received Whitpaine's letter at home in Flushing, to which he returned in April 1664 after his banishment from New Amsterdam in January 1663. Presumably he had met Whitpaine in London during his exile. Bowne had written to England from Barbados with news of the death of his fellow Quaker and traveling companion Thomas Horner during the transatlantic voyage, which seems to have occasioned Whitpaine's reply.