TITLE: Letter from Gerard Roberts of London to William Caton in Amsterdam, concerning John Bowne
DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.12-09
DATE: 23 April 1663 (Old Style) / 3 May 1663 (New Style)
This document is from the series “Bowne Family Papers: Miscellaneous Correspondence.”
Letter, Gerard Roberts to William Caton, 1663
DESCRIPTION & NOTES
In this fragmentary letter of introduction, influential London Quaker Gerard Roberts instructs William Caton of Amsterdam to aid “the bearer hereof, John Bowne, who hath been banished by the Dutch out of Ne[w] [Netherland].” He continues, “…so thou art desired by dear G.F. and meeto do what maybe for [....] the thinge before the magestrates of Holland that he may return w[ith] [the] same ship to his place again, we hearing thee is now in A[msterdam] and it may be to have an order for his return from your magis[trates] [....] he may come over them who have dealt so unkindly with him. He is an honest man.”
Notes:
Gerard Roberts (ca.1624–1703): leading London Quaker whose home in Little St. Thomas Apostle became a "nerve center" for Quaker business; he also organized petitions to the Council of State for fellow Quakers imprisoned in England. Coincidentally, it was Roberts who found the ship Woodhouse for the first Quaker missionaries to New Netherland, and persuaded the reluctant captain to take them in the small, unseaworthy craft. In a sense, it was he who set in motion the events leading up to Bowne’s ordeal.
William Caton (1636–1665) was an English Quaker and kinsman/protege of George Fox's wife, Margaret Fell. An influential member of the small expatriate Quaker community in Amsterdam, he was a correspondent of the philosopher Spinoza and enjoyed theological debate with the city's Jewish congregations.
Dear “G.F.”: George Fox (1624–1691) was the founder and leader of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
(Spelling and punctuation of the quotations above has been modernized for readability; for a literal translation of the entire document, see the link below.)