Francis Howgill

Francis Howgill (1618 – 11 February 1669) was a prominent early member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England. He preached and wrote on the teachings of the Friends and is considered one of the Valiant Sixty, men and women who were early proponents of Friends' beliefs and suffered for them.

Life Howgill was born about 1618, probably of yeoman parents, in Todthorne, near Grayrigg, Westmorland in northern England. He probably made his living as a farmer and a tailor. He studied theology and in 1652 became a minister of the established church in Colton. He explored the teachings of the Anabaptists, the Independents, Seekers and Baptists: but shortly after, he and John Audland (another minister) encountered George Fox, an early leader in the Friends movement, preaching on Firbank Fell and were convinced. Soon after Howgill was imprisoned in Appleby-in-Westmorland for refusing to remove his hat when appearing in court in defence of James Nayler. In 1676 a collection of his writings, The Dawnings of the Gospel-Day, and its Light and Glory Discovered, was published.