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Freedom's Path

by J.F. Peterstone

340 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2830; ISBN 1-4251-1071-1; US$22.84, C$22.84, EUR15.60, £11.79

Seventeenth Century Lancashire Quakers, such as the Wood family of Brookhouse Farm, defiantly ignored the edicts of a wrathful establishment that employed brutality and oppression to stifle their fledging movement.

About the Book

In the aftermath of the bloody struggle that resulted in Cromwell’s ascendancy to dominance, disillusioned by bitter experiences of warfare and no longer spiritually fulfilled by the tenets of the established religion, some turned to the burgeoning society of friends, perhaps attracted by the cozy domesticity of the early meetings and the absence of a paid clergy.

Freedom’s Path depicts the struggles of the seventeenth century Wood family of Bury Lancashire to follow their own beliefs despite the maelstrom of bigotry, brutality and oppression that was unleashed upon them by a wrathful establishment

Prominent among these early Quakers, Henry Wood – on seeking to exercise his right to free speech in order to communicate his beliefs to others – soon found himself a victim of the smouldering resentment simmering beneath the surface.

The Wood family in particular were subjected to long years of suffering, no doubt exacerbated by the proximity of a neighbouring Justice and, for a period, his occupancy of the office of High Sheriff.

Some Quakers, desperate to escape oppression, left England seeking a better life in the New World, but for the Wood family this was not an option because of their depleted coffers.

The future, for them, was indeed bleak and only a miracle could save them…

About the Author

J. F. Peterstone’s interest in writing began many years ago when he came under the inspirational influence of a dedicated English teacher

Driven by his interest in historical matters he began researching the early Lancashire Quakers and, in particular, the Wood family of Bury, Lancashire. On deciding that here was a story that should be told, he concluded that his preferred vehicle, faction, would suitably enable him to recreate the family’s daily struggles, detail their sufferings and highlight the stoicism with which they submitted to the intolerance and bigotry of a vengeful establishment.