Archive of eighteenth century Friend goes online
Notebooks and letters from Joseph Wood made available online
The diaries, letters and notebooks of Yorkshire’s Joseph Wood are now online, part of the University of Leeds’ Quaker collections.
The Joseph Wood Archive consists of 100 notebooks, more than 600 letters, and a selection of papers related to Quakerism. The notebooks contain Wood’s account of his life and faith, and are important not only for their content, but also for their construction. They are handmade books, many of them bound in contemporary wallpapers, decorative papers and pen drawings. Digital images of the covers are available in the catalogue records.
Most of the letters in the collection were written to Wood, a number of them from people asking for advice. Among the other papers are documents relating to Quaker Meetings. These include testimonies, meditations and Meeting papers. There are also printed documents on subjects such as education and slavery.
Karen Sayers, an archivist at the University of Leeds, told the Friend: ‘The Joseph Wood Archive is an invaluable primary source for researchers into the lives of Quietest Quakers and their communities.’
Wood’s writings present an intimate and revealing picture of his work as a minister and his views on Quietest belief. The notebooks are also a rich resource for local and social historians on many aspects of society in Georgian England,’ she added.
Joseph Wood (1750-1821) was a cloth merchant and a member of High Flatts Meeting. He spent more than four decades travelling through England ministering at Meetings.
