KEEPING FAITH WITH THE QUAKERS
Anthony Barlow’s book is a collection of tales exploring his family’s relationship with the Quaker religion. I had hoped this generational history would yield a fascinating portrait of a faith that has survived down the ages, yet it didn’t deliver. There is little of any real historical value, (unless you happen to be a Barlow family member who knew Dolly, Ernest and Aunt Milly), which means that anybody reading this book hoping to understand Quakerism’s importance is likely to be disappointed. What you see is what you get: a personal history (not entirely warts and all) of a family whose faith dates back to 1660.
The author weaves some well-known British Quaker families such as Fry, Roundtree, and Cadbury (philanthropic chocolate manufacturers), into his narrative while the Lloyds and Barclays clans (banking), Darby (iron) and Clarkes (shoes), are barely referenced. What about the Barlows’ themselves? They emerge as morally flawless, religious people with few if any problems.
However, no family is without its share of tragedy and the death of the brilliant veterinarian John Barlow in 1856 at the age of 40, cut deep because of his youth and the promise he left behind. What about the faith that defined them? The origins of Quakerism date from the period that followed the English Civil War (1642-51). Founder George Fox (1624 -1691) had a life changing spiritual vision that would bring him into conflict with the authorities. Fox struggled to reconcile the inconsistencies between what Christians said they believed and how they behaved and it was his outspokenness that led to frequent arrests and spells in jail. Using the Old Testament passages from Isaiah and Ezra, Fox suggested that followers should tremble at the word of the lord, (or quake hence the name Quakers) and that there was something “of God in every person”.
The idea that all men are equal in God’s eyes regardless of who or what they are, was enough to worry a society built on rigid social lines. That, along with their rejection of church hierarchies (priests and ministers were thought to obstruct the communication between believers and God), and an insistence on holding banned religious meetings in public, made a showdown between the Quakers and the authorities inevitable. Between 1662 and 1670, 6000 Quakers were arrested and imprisoned. The Parliamentary Acts of 1662 and 1664 outlawed the faith, which might explain why only 2% of the 17th century population practised it. However, the 1689 Toleration Act was a turning point for the Quakers as it granted freedom of worship to Non-Conformists if they accepted certain oaths of allegiance.
When Quakerism transferred to the New World of America the number of followers grew, although it remained a minor religion. According to William Penn, one of its early disciples, Quakers were dedicated to using power as derived from the people. It was Penn himself who went on to found the Province and later the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the British Colonies. Driven by the tenet that conscience is the basis of morality, nineteenth century Quakers embraced and led movements that triggered major changes in the areas of human rights, anti-slavery policies and education initiatives. It was the latter which led them to establish the US Colleges of Haverford (founded in 1833 to ground young men in Quaker values), and Bryn Mawr (founded in 1885), which endorsed early equal education and rights for women. The international Peace Conferences of 1848 and 1849 (in Brussels and Paris), were chaired by the French writer Victor Hugo and focused on another of the great Quaker legacies: world peace.
It was common for members of the Religious Society of Friends (to use the Quakers official name), to refer to each other as “Cousins” even when there was no biological connection. “Cousin” was in fact another word for “Friend” and the Barlows, like many followers of the faith, had plenty of those. Although this family history mirrors the growth of English Quakerism, it doesn’t address the central question: how was this religion able to survive persecution to export its values across the globe? That’s important because logic suggests that if Fox and his followers had thrown in the towel, the Barlows and other families wouldn’t have a Quaker inheritance.
I came away from this book feeling no attachment to the subject although it might have been different if I had been born into clan Barlow. Which raises the question of why anyone would want to buy this book? Maybe it’s one to keep in the family.
Reviewed by Sanford G Henry
