Mary Fisher
Encyclopedia
Mary Fisher was an early preacher and missionary of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers). She is one of a group of such preachers who are called the Valiant Sixty
. She was humiliated, beaten, and imprisoned on more than one occasion for promoting Quaker beliefs.
. As a young woman she worked as a housemaid for Richard and Elizabeth Tomlinson.
to join the Friends. She soon began preaching herself, which got her into trouble with the authorities. She had several strikes against her in the minds of the civil and religious leaders—she was still quite young, a female, and uneducated. She was arrested and put in prison for 16 months. Afterwards she was stripped to the waist and flogged, along with some other Quaker women.
In 1655 Fisher and another Quaker, Ann Austin
, believed that God had called them to go to the Americas to spread their beliefs. First they went to Barbados
. Then they went to Massachusetts
, where they met with hostility from the Puritan
leaders. Their books were burned, they were stripped and searched for signs of witchcraft, and then they were imprisoned. They were fed only because a compassionate townsman, Nicholas Upsall
, bribed the jailer. Upon their release, the two women were deported back to England.
and explain her beliefs to Sultan Mehmed IV
. When she reached Smyrna, she asked the English Consul how to contact the Sultan of Turkey. He told her that she was on a foolhardy mission and put her on a ship for Venice. She got off at the next port and traveled on her own until she reached the Sultan’s headquarters. She persuaded the Grand Vizier to arrange a meeting with the Sultan to relay to him a message from God. According to her report, the Sultan received her as an ambassador and listened to her message attentively. She went back to England with the belief that her mission had been fulfilled.
She wrote :
. She died in Charleston and her remains are buried at the Quaker Burial Ground there.
One panel of the Quaker Tapestry
, panel B2, is devoted to Mary Fisher, as one of the Publishers of Truth, a collective name for the early Quaker movement.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers). She is one of a group of such preachers who are called the Valiant Sixty
Valiant Sixty
The Valiant Sixty were a group of early leaders and activists in the Religious Society of Friends . They were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England who spread the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the Seventeenth Century, and were also called the First Publishers of Truth...
. She was humiliated, beaten, and imprisoned on more than one occasion for promoting Quaker beliefs.
Birth and early life
Fisher was born in northern EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. As a young woman she worked as a housemaid for Richard and Elizabeth Tomlinson.
Persecution
Some time in the early 1650s Fisher was convinced by the preaching of George FoxGeorge Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
to join the Friends. She soon began preaching herself, which got her into trouble with the authorities. She had several strikes against her in the minds of the civil and religious leaders—she was still quite young, a female, and uneducated. She was arrested and put in prison for 16 months. Afterwards she was stripped to the waist and flogged, along with some other Quaker women.
In 1655 Fisher and another Quaker, Ann Austin
Ann Austin
Ann Austin was one of the first women persecuted for her religious beliefs in the American colonies. She attended Blair Academy 1845, going HAM every night....
, believed that God had called them to go to the Americas to spread their beliefs. First they went to Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Then they went to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where they met with hostility from the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
leaders. Their books were burned, they were stripped and searched for signs of witchcraft, and then they were imprisoned. They were fed only because a compassionate townsman, Nicholas Upsall
Nicholas Upsall
Nicholas Upsall was an early Puritan immigrant to the American Colonies, among the first 108 Freemen in colonial America. He was a trusted public servant who after 26 years as a Puritan, befriended persecuted Quakers and shortly afterwards joined the movement...
, bribed the jailer. Upon their release, the two women were deported back to England.
Mission to Turkey
In 1658 Fisher believed that she should go to the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and explain her beliefs to Sultan Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...
. When she reached Smyrna, she asked the English Consul how to contact the Sultan of Turkey. He told her that she was on a foolhardy mission and put her on a ship for Venice. She got off at the next port and traveled on her own until she reached the Sultan’s headquarters. She persuaded the Grand Vizier to arrange a meeting with the Sultan to relay to him a message from God. According to her report, the Sultan received her as an ambassador and listened to her message attentively. She went back to England with the belief that her mission had been fulfilled.
She wrote :
- Now returned into England ... have I borne my testimony for the Lord before the king unto whom I was sent, and he was very noble unto me and so were all that were about him ... they do dread the name of God, many of them... There is a royal seed amongst them which in time God will raise. They are more near Truth than many nations; there is a love begot in me towards them which is endless, but this is my hope concerning them, that he who hath raised me to love them more than many others will also raise his seed in them unto which my love is. Nevertheless, though they be called Turks, the seed of them is near unto God, and their kindness hath in some measure been shown towards his servants. Quaker Faith and Practice of the Britain Yearly Meeting
Later life, death, memorials
Fisher married William Bayly in 1662; he died at sea in 1675. She then married John Cross(e) in 1675, with whom she emigrated to Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. She died in Charleston and her remains are buried at the Quaker Burial Ground there.
One panel of the Quaker Tapestry
Quaker Tapestry
The Quaker Tapestry consists of 77 panels illustrating the history of Quakerism from the 17th century up to the present day. The idea of Quaker Anne Wynn-Wilson, the tapestry has a permanent home at the Friends Meeting House at Kendal, Cumbria, England....
, panel B2, is devoted to Mary Fisher, as one of the Publishers of Truth, a collective name for the early Quaker movement.