Thomas Aldam was born at Warmsworth near Doncaster, Yorkshire in about 1616. [1] His mother was Margaret Lord, and she had a brother Thomas Lord.[2] His father's first name, William, is given in the 1619 baptism record of his sister Margaret.[3]
Thomas was at first a Puritan, and then a separatist (one who distanced himself from the Church of England).[16] He became a Quaker in 1651, together with his mother, wife and two sisters, after hearing George Fox preach.[1][7]
In 1652 he was imprisoned after opposing Thomas Rookby, the minister at Warmsworth.[7] He was also fined £93 for refusing to remove his hat before social superiors and refusing to pay church taxes.[1] He was held at York Castle[7], where he wrote many letters and from where he sought to establish links between Quakers of the North of England and printers in London.[1] He also wrote a number of religious papers during this time.[17] He was released after some two and a half years.[1]
In 1654, 1655 and 1658 he suffered physical attacks for his Quaker beliefs.[1]
At one stage he was given an audience with Oliver Cromwell, and, in a symbolic act, tore his hat into pieces as an illustration of his belief that Cromwell would soon be removed from his position.[1][18] Of Charles II, he is alleged to have said, "I find nothing to this Man".[1]
In the later 1650s he promoted a general Quaker fund for missionary work.[1][19] He also visited other Quakers in prison[17][18], and sought to draw attention to their suffering.[1]
Thomas is included among the Valiant Sixty, a set of very early Quakers who were active in promoting Quakerism.[20]
Death
Thomas Aldam died in June 1660, probably at Warmsworth, leaving a sizeable estate. His wife died three months later.[1] He was buried at the Quaker burial ground at Warmsworth[21] on 14 June 1660.[22]
↑ 2.02.12.22.32.4 Richard J Hoare. The Balby Seekers and Richard Farnworth, Quaker Studies: Vol. 8: Iss. 2, 2003, Article 6, pp. 196-198, George Fox University website, accessed 17 August 2019
↑ Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Baptisms, FindMyPast
↑ 4.04.1 Norman Penney (ed.). "The Journal of George Fox", Cambridge University Press, 1911, pp. 461-462, note 353, Internet Archive
↑ 5.05.1 William C Braithwaite. The Beginnings of Quakerism, 2nd edition, William Sessions, 1981, p. 59
↑Yorkshire Marriage Registers, West Riding, Vol. III, Phillimore & Co, London, 1915, p. 59, Internet Archive
↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Births 1578-1841, YORKSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Balby (comprising Sheffield, Doncaster, etc), ref RG6/1114, FindMyPast and accompanying image
↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Births 1578-1841, YORKSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Balby (comprising Sheffield, Doncaster, etc), ref. RG6/1376, FindMyPast and accompanying image
↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Births 1578-1841, YORKSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Balby (comprising Sheffield, Doncaster, etc), ref RG6/1114, FindMyPast and accompanying image
↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Births 1578-1841, YORKSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Balby (comprising Sheffield, Doncaster, etc), ref RG6/1114, FindMyPast and accompanying image
↑ William C Braithwaite. The Beginnings of Quakerism, 2nd edition, p. 60
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