Transcript for Episode 4: 

A brief introduction to James Parnell, 1636-1656

Ann:Welcome to this podcast series coming courtesy of Silver Wattle Quaker Centre, located in central New South Wales on the edge of Werriwa or Lake George, the largest freshwater lake in Australia. We acknowledge and give thanks for First Nations groups’ care of Country. We commit to its ongoing care.

I’m Ann Zubrick, a member of the Silver Wattle Board.

In October 2023, Michael Corbett, a Queensland Quaker, attended a course at SW exploring the lives of remarkable men and women in the latter part of the 17th century who became early Quakers. He subsequently compiled these stories to share in nine podcast episodes.

We hope these stories inspire and inform you. You can explore more about Silver Wattle’s retreats and learning opportunities — both in-person and online — at silverwattle.org.au.

Here is Introducing Early Quakers: Episode 4 – A brief introduction to James Parnell, 1636-1656, narrated by Michael Corbett.

Michael:‍ ‍

An introduction to James Parnell 

James Parnell was born in 1636 in the Midlands area of England. His parents were well off and he went to a fee-paying grammar school. At the age of 15 Parnell became concerned about his soul and he found ‘no satisfaction’ from the local priests, so he left home to travel.. In Balby he came across a group that ‘waited together in silence to become the instruments in the hand of the Lord’. This group were forerunners of the Society of Friends or Quakers.

At the age of 17, Parnell walked 240 km [150 miles] to Carlisle jail to meet George Fox. It is recorded that James was of a ‘poor appearance and was not strong’ He had to pause his journey to recover due to the effort of walking that far. After discussions with Fox, James left as a committed Quaker. After this, he began preaching to all who would listen, but this was seen as a challenge to the established church, and he clashed several times with the authorities. In 1655 at the age of 18 he preached in St Nicholas Church in Colchester and then spent a week in discussion and argument and converted many people there. Stephen Crisp [who was aged 27] was converted by Parnell at that time and went on to become an eminent Quaker. Stephen wrote later that ‘Parnell was of a poor appearance, a mere youth, coming against the giants; yet the wisdom of man was made to bow before the Spirit when he spoke.

When Parnell heard that two Quakers had been whipped in Cambridge, he went there and preached.  Far from keeping a low profile, he published two tracts, against the corruption of the magistrates and of the priests.  He was imprisoned until a court hearing, where the jury was unable to prove his authorship of the tracts. So he was given a magistrates’ pass regarding him ‘a rogue’ and escorted out of town by soldiers and a mob armed with staves. He was often set upon by angry crowds and on one occasion, he records ‘the power of God was wonderfully seen in delivering me, so that I can’t remember if they hit me’

Parnell was arrested on the 4th July 1655 as he walked through Colchester after disrupting [heckling] at  a church service and taken to the county jail. During his trial he was acquitted of all charges by the jury, but was fined  £40, a hefty sum equivalent to 570 working days’ wage for a skilled labourer at that time’, which he either refused to pay or could not pay as he had been disinherited by his family. He was able to write letters, some of which have survived. I am committed to be kept a prisoner, but I am the Lord’s free man. he wrote in one. He was returned to jail where he was kept in terrible conditions and forced to climb a rope in order to reach his food. The jailer’s wife and daughter used to beat him, and the largest part of his food was given to other prisoners. Local Quakers were prevented from helping him.

It was all too much for his weak constitution and as James was climbing the rope to get some food, he fell to the stone floor smashing his head.

James Parnell died on the 10th April 1656, aged 19. It was written that James ‘died a youth but approved himself to a strong Man in Christ. A plaque commemorating his life has been placed in the cell where he died and is still in place today.

His message to all of us is summed up in the last words he wrote to local Quaker believers ‘Be willing that self shall suffer for the truth, and not the truth for self.’

George Fox wrote from his prison cell in 1653 recalling his experience of meeting James Parnell; ”And whilst I was in the dungeon a little boy, one James Parnell came to me, and he was convinced and came to be a very fine minister of the word of life and turned many to Christ”.

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This is part of an epistle, written by James just 1 or 2 months before his death. He must have had a premonition that he would not survive his imprisonment. He spent the last months of his short life writing letters to local Friend’s Meetings and to individuals. Many of the letters survive to this day.

He wrote:

“Therefore, keep your minds unto the Light, the Messenger of God, which brings the message of peace, and the glad tidings of salvation. Keep close unto this, and know it alone to be your teacher, guide, and counsellor, in all the way through which you are to pass, and in all things that you are to do. Stand in denial of self and know the Light which leads into singleness with God, and out of all selfish ends. Then the Light will remove all stumbling blocks, and lead you through the briars and thorns, and your feet shall not stick in the mire; but the crooked way shall be made straight, and the rough and hard way plain and easy. For in the light there is no occasion of stumbling, but it keeps your feet from erring, and your tongues from evil speaking, as you hearken unto it. And when you are going to the right hand or left, it cries ‘this is the way, walk in it’.  This is the word within you - from which faith comes, which makes all things easy and possible; but ‘without faith it is impossible to please God’. 

And faith is the gift of God, and so is the Word of truth, from which faith springs. This will judge down all murmurings, doubting, and repining, and all carelessness, lightness, lustings and earthiness, and condemn the ground from which all these things spring. 

On a tapestry panel by British Friends on the life of James are the words Meeting for Sufferings was formed 1675 to record + alleviate the suffering of Friends. James Parnell after great suffering died in Colchester Prison in 1656, aged nineteen.

Ann: Thank you for listening to this first podcast series from Silver Wattle Quaker Centre.

We hope these stories have sparked reflection and a deeper appreciation for the courage and spiritual depth of early Friends.

If you'd like to explore Quaker spiritual practices or join us for a retreat or course — either in person or online — visit silverwattle.org.au.

Acknowledgment

This podcast episode was created under a sense of Leading, and I wish to acknowledge the sources that informed its development. I acknowledge the works of David Johnson, and have used info from Wikipedia, Britain YM Handbook, The Valiant Sixty by Ernest Taylor, and The Peaceable Kingdom by Jan De Hartog. 

Episode 4: James Parnell

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. James Parnell began his spiritual journey at a very young age. What stands out to you about his search for truth and his decision to leave home at fifteen?

2. How do you understand James’s commitment to the Inner Light, especially given his youth and physical weakness?

3. James preached publicly and challenged church and civil authorities despite the risks. What might have given him the courage to do this?

4. Several people, including Stephen Crisp, were deeply affected by James’s ministry. What does his story suggest about where spiritual authority comes from?

5. James wrote, “I am committed to be kept a prisoner, but I am the Lord’s free man.” What does this tell us about his understanding of freedom?

6. The conditions of James’s imprisonment were brutal and unjust. How does his suffering help us understand the early Quaker experience of persecution?

7. In his final letters, James urges Friends to ‘keep your minds unto the Light’ and to deny self. How do these words speak to spiritual faithfulness today?

1. James’s last message was, “Be willing that self shall suffer for the truth, and not the truth for self.” What does this mean to you in your own life or faith community?