The Valiant Sixty

The Valiant Sixty were a group of early Quaker activists and missionaries who traveled across Britain preaching Quakerism.

Who were the Valiant Sixty?

The group later known as the Valiant Sixty were among the first wave of Quaker missionaries who travelled across England in the early 1650s, carrying the message first proclaimed by George Fox and his earliest followers.

They were unusual for their time. Most preaching in mid-17th century England was carried out by university-trained, ordained male clergy. By contrast, many of the Valiant Sixty were farmers, tradespeople, and artisans, and a striking number were women. They preached wherever they felt moved to speak - in marketplaces, parish churches, private homes, and open fields.

Although later tradition fixed their number at sixty, historians agree this figure was symbolic rather than precise. Lists of early Quaker missionaries vary, and the total was almost certainly higher. What mattered was not the exact tally but the extraordinary speed with which this small group transformed a local religious revival into a national movement.

Early practitioners of civil disobedience

Because many of the Valiant Sixty emerged from northern England, they were sometimes dismissed by opponents as socially or culturally backward. Yet their activities brought them quickly into conflict with England's religious authorities. They challenged parish ministers, refused to recognise clerical hierarchies, and worshipped outside the structures of the Church of England.

As laws tightened against Quaker gatherings, Friends technically found themselves breaking the law simply by meeting to worship or preaching in public. Imprisonment, whipping, heavy fines, and seizure of goods were common experiences. In this sense, the Valiant Sixty can be seen as early practitioners of religiously motivated civil disobedience - obeying conscience even when it carried serious personal cost.

Their travels were not confined to England. Members of the group journeyed across Wales and Scotland, to Ireland, and on to continental Europe and North America. Some travelled still further. Mary Fisher famously journeyed to the Ottoman Empire, where she sought an audience with the Sultan in order to explain Quaker beliefs - an astonishing undertaking for a woman travelling alone in the seventeenth century.

Swarthmoor Hall as a hub

While itinerant preachers carried the Quaker message across the country, organisational stability came from the work of Margaret Fell at Swarthmoor Hall in Lancashire. Her home became a crucial administrative and spiritual centre for the emerging movement — a hub for Quakerism.

Fell maintained correspondence with men and women travelling throughout England and overseas, helping coordinate their routes, share news of arrests, and circulate pamphlets defending Quaker beliefs. When Friends were imprisoned, she worked to support their families financially and to petition authorities on their behalf.

Travelling ministers were always welcomed at Swarthmoor, which functioned as both refuge and headquarters. The partnership between roving missionaries and a fixed base of organisation proved vital to Quaker survival in years of growing persecution.

Together, the Valiant Sixty's restless journeys and Fell's steady coordination laid the foundations for a movement that would endure long after the turbulence of the English Revolution had passed.