A History of the Quakers, Volume IV

by: John Gough

Like his older brother James, John Gough (1721-1791) was gifted with a keen intellect and so excelled in his studies that he became an assistant to a Friends school in Wiltshire when only sixteen years of age. As an adult he became master of boarding schools in Cork, Dublin, and Lisburn, but was also very active in the work of the ministry, both preaching and writing for the advancement of the gospel. In 1782, when sixty-one years of age, he commenced his four-volume History of the Society of Friends, which occupied him for eight years, and was published in 1790. This immense work gave a full, clear, and accurate portrayal of the history of Friends, adding valuable information to what had already been recorded in Sewel’s “History,” and continuing the history of this people until 1764. (Original title: A History of the People called Quakers, from their First Rise to the Present Time, Volume IV)