Hannah Stranger

Hannah Stranger (1600s – after 1679) was an English Quaker missionary and a supporter of James Nayler who was found guilty of blasphemy when he was tried by the English parliament.

Life All the details of her early life are unknown. She comes to notice in 1656 when she and Martha Simmonds began singing to interrupt Francis Howgill and Edward Hubberthorne at a Quaker meeting. This included some text by Stranger.

They entered Bristol on 24 October with Nayler on a horse with to his left and right Hannah and Martha Simmonds. They were all imprisoned and the local magistrates interrogated them before Nayler was dispatched to London to face trial for blasphemy. The evidence included letters that Hannah had written to Nayler where she called him "only begotten son of God" and "Prince of Peace". On one of the letters was a postscript by her husband where he suggested that Nayler should not be "James" but "Jesus". Nayler was tried in December but parliament had an interest, and they got involved in Nayler's trial.

She later recanted her actions in writing on 2 November 1669 when she joined a Quaker meeting in Bristol. By this time she had remarried to Thomas Salter and she had two children. In 1671 she went to lobby the King for the release of Margaret Fell at the request of Fox.

The details of her death are unknown. She was recorded to be in America in 1679 at Tokaney, Delaware.