Mrs Attaway (fl. 1642–47)[1] was an early Baptist preacher in London. She was criticised by the heresiographer Thomas Edwards for preaching and for her views on divorce.
Mrs Attaway | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Lace maker  |
Life
editHer life is unknown until she is recorded as a lacewoman who was in the congregation of the Baptist preacher Thomas Lambe. She was married to a soldier, but he did not share her religious enthusiasm. Her work was recorded by the Presbyterian cleric Thomas Edwards of Christ Church Greyfriars who documented what he considered heretical. Edwards was told that Attaway was a "she-preacher"[2] who led a meeting on Tuesday 9 December 1645 in Bell Alley in Coleman Street by a witness who left before the end because of the "confusion, horror, and disorder". He witnessed that Attaway said "That God would poure out of his Spirit upon the handmaidens" and she said a prayer that lasted for half an hour.[3] Attaway initially had spoken to other women, but in time she made no restrictions on her audience.[2]
In the following week on 16 December it was said that a thousand came to hear her speak at the same place in Bell Alley.[3] Attaway was criticised because she would allow the crowd to ask questions and discuss. One reported question was how she justified her preaching especially as she was talking to people who were not baptised. She denied that she was a preacher and she quoted scripture which encouraged Christians to exhort each other.[2]
Thomas Edwards recorded that according to his witnesses Attaway left her husband and her children to run away with William Jenney who was already married. Edwards said that they had run away with money which had been given to found a "new Jerusalem".[3]
Attaway is remembered for her divorce and for being a woman preacher.[4]
References
edit- ^ Hartley, Cathy (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Psychology Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-85743-228-2.
- ^ a b c "She-preachers, sisters, and messengers from the Lord: British Baptist women, 1609-1700. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- ^ a b c Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (2004-09-23). "Mrs Attaway". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/45478. Retrieved 2023-07-15. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Kerr, Jason A. (2021-09-03). "Elizabeth Attaway, London preacher and Theologian, 1645–1646". The Seventeenth Century. 36 (5): 733–754. doi:10.1080/0268117X.2020.1825230. ISSN 0268-117X. S2CID 225023073.