Find out about the Early Quakers in Masham, their sufferings, their Meeting House and their families - pdf download
George Fox began the Society of Friends in 1648 as he and his friends travelled across England speaking of the importance of a personal relationship with God.
One of the first people in Wensleydale to become 'convinced' as a Quaker was Richard Robinson (1628-1693) of Countersett Hall, possibly after hearing George Fox preach at Askrigg.
The travelling Friends (later to become know as the Valiant Sixty) were bringing together those unconvinced by the leaders of the church and state in a time of upheaval and unrest - “seekers, scattered Baptists, disillusioned soldiers, and restless common folk”
Quakers were seen as a threat to the establishment as they rejected the need for any one, of any class, to depend on clergy or creed to intercede with God on their behalf. They rejected oaths, titles, war taxes and tithes.