George Fox

George Fox (1624–1691) was an English religious leader and the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, known as the Quakers. The son of a weaver from Leicestershire, he left home at nineteen in search of spiritual truth and came to believe that every person could know God directly through an inner light, without priests or sacraments. From 1647 he preached across England, gathering followers in the north, and was imprisoned many times for his refusal to swear oaths or show deference. He later traveled to Ireland, the West Indies, the American colonies and the Netherlands. His Journal is a classic of religious autobiography.