The Society of Friends in Kempston Hardwick

The Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, was founded by George Fox in the middle of the 17th century. A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers Volume I was published in 1753 and covers acts against Quakers from 1650 to 1689 throughout the country. Each county has a chapter and that for Bedfordshire notes that in 1661 a Quaker from kempston hardwick died for his beliefs: "On the 1st Day of the Month called January, John Rush of Kempston Hardwick, finished his Testimony against Tithes , by laying down his Life in Prison, where he had been confined about a Year at the Suit of one Wells, the Priest of Wilkhamstead".