Ellis Hookes (1635-1681): First Recording Clerk of the Society of Friends

ELLIS HOOKES (1635-1681) First Recording Clerk of the Society of Friends David J. Honneyman* After the English Civil War (1642-1648), the Commonwealth was a settling period. It was also a time of new birth. As the whirlpool of turmoil and conflict ceased there came forth a new creation of political and religious insight. It was the most fascinating period in English history with new designs for earth and new perspectives of heaven. Some of the new models of course proved abortive, but what was new and permanent politically was the preeminence ! of Parliament. Of new religious institutions the one which survives today as a distinct witness is the Society of Friends. But why had the particular insights of George Fox such potency at that particular time? What motives impelled the first Quakers to break with the established denominations at the risk of so much hardship? In investigating such problems a study of the lives of early Friends such as Ellis Hookes is most enlightening. As the Society's first Recording Clerk and its first historian in his Book of Sufferings, Ellis Hookes merits our attention.1 Since his basic biography is long out of date and in some particulars inaccurate , it is now time for a new assessment of his life and work. Because little was known of his youth and family background, the earlier treatment left him a somewhat shadowy figure. Thanks to the use of genealogical techniques a new perspective of his life has emerged. The old Palace of Whitehall from which Charles I struggled deviously to direct the destinies of the three Kingdoms stood mostly on the Thames side of the street. There Charles, who was a better connoisseur of painting than of the arts of government, had had erected according to the design of Inigo Jones the famous Ban- * David J. Honneyman of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was formerly Principal Lecturer in Education, Stranmillis College, Belfast. 1. Not only did Ellis Hookes compile a two volume account of the sufferings of Friends but he also authored, sometimes in joint audiorship with Fox, a number of publications in defense of Quakerism, and he printed the works of a number of Quaker leaders. (See Penny, Norman, "Our Recording Clerks," Journal of the Friends Hùtorical Society (London), v. 1, pp. 13, 17-18.) 43 44Quaker History queting Hall which was to house his treasures. The Hall, which is all that stands today of the old Palace, had just been completed in 1635. Rubens was in fact putting the finishing touches to the canvas for the wonderful painted ceiling when, on March 12th in St. Margaret's Church nearby in Westminster, a child of the Court was baptized.2 He was Ellis Hookes, born a few days before in what is now Scotland Yard at the Woodyard lodgings within the Palace precincts. His father, Thomas Hookes, from Conway in North Wales, was a minor courtier, with the Post of Yeoman of the Woodyard and Servant to the young Prince, the future Charles II.3 Thomas Hookes' responsibilities involved supervising the ordering and storage of wood, coal, and charcoal for heating and cooking in the Palace, and of timber for building and repair work. His salary was quite inadequate, but he did have certain perquisite«. Having the ear of important officials such as the Lord Chamberlain he had chances of promotion in the Royal Household and prospects in the future of good situations for his sons and of good marriages for his daughters. But all this would mean maintaining a pro-establishment stance and avoiding fringe activities in politics and religion. This Thomas succeeded in doing. He survived the Commonwealth successfully despite his Court connection, and was restored to his place at Whitehall in 1660 by Charles II in spite of having certain affiliations with Parliamentarians. Because his position was neither very important nor sensitive, he was able to emulate the Vicar of Bray. Thomas's eldest son, Nicholas Hookes, became an establishment man.4 He was a minor poet and Chancery Court Official, but the younger son, Ellis, with whom we are concerned, did not reap the rewards that he might have harvested at the Restoration. When that...