Laura Conyngham with a vegan birthday cake. Photo: by Alison Mitchell
Eye - 14 June 2024
From George Fox 400 - Four hundred flags! and Foxing preserves - to Getting to know Gerard
Four hundred flags!
Friends in Exeter recently threw open their doors to celebrate with the local community.
Local Friend Laura Conyngham told Eye: ‘Exeter Meeting’s “Fox 400” event was publicised in nearby streets, the High Street and at the university. It attracted young people, young families, enquirers and Quakers, some of whom we hadn’t seen for a while.
‘400 flags of homemade bunting decorated the street, Meeting house and garden. Homemade lunch, vegan birthday cake and cream teas were much appreciated. We were brought together through parachute games, a bug hunt, a 400-year timeline, mental health workshop, singing and circle dancing. On each hour we offered a fifteen minute Meeting for Worship…
‘We are thrilled with how the day felt.
‘The next day Terry Faull from Cornwall and I were on BBC Radio Devon’s Breakfast Show, and at Exeter’s Meeting for Worship one family was back and there were even more young people.’
Eye couldn’t resist hearing Friends’ voices directly, and you can too until 27 July, at: https://bit.ly/Fox400Exeter.The segment that features Laura can be heard from one hour thirty-nine minutes. As well as elaborating on the event itself, Laura paints a lively picture of George Fox – his family, his challenges being left-handed, and the travels he undertook – and shares the Quaker decision-making processes with listeners.
Terry appears two hours and ten minutes into the programme as Mel Osborne’s ‘Have Faith’ guest. He delves into George Fox’s journey through Cornwall, culminating in his imprisonment in Launceston for refusing to swear an oath and the ructions that his imprisonment caused, with Oliver Cromwell getting involved in his release.
Foxing preserves
As anyone who has delved into their family history can tell you, historical records can throw up some unexpected surprises.
As excitement grows for celebrations to mark George Fox’s 400th birthday, Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) shared a nugget of information with their Facebook followers.
According to Elfrida Vipont’s biography, George Fox and the Valiant Sixty, gaps in the historical record about George Fox’s early years are due to some unexpected repurposing of parish records. She writes: ‘The relevant pages of the baptismal records of Fenny Drayton Church were torn out by the sexton’s wife, some time in the eighteenth century, to make covers for her preserves.’
Eye hopes she didn’t have too many bumper crops over the years! For a video by the Quaker Tapestry, events listing, songs, and a Birthday Pack to download, Friends can visit: https://fwcc.world/fox.
Getting to know Gerard
‘Gentle, teasing, funny without being cruel’ – this is how Gerard Hoffnung’s cartoons were described during a recent radio programme exploring this Friend’s work and life.
Eye thanks Josephine Rado, of Reading Meeting, for drawing attention to the episode of Great Lives that was released on 1 April this year and can be heard at: https://bit.ly/HoffnungGreatLives.
She told Eye: ‘There was much made of his Quakerism and his two children were present on the programme as he was being discussed.’
Gerard Hoffnung was only thirty-four when he passed away, but the programme explores how much he crammed into his short life.
His cartoons, poking fun at musicians and conductors, are familiar to many, and the Hoffnung Concerts sold out quicker than Liberace.
His children, Emily and Benedict Hoffnung, share memories of their father, with Benedict in particular recalling the experience of getting to know him through his work and those who worked with him.
Twenty-three minutes into the programme, Gerard Hoffnung’s serious side comes into focus.
He undertook prison visiting and worked with the Howard League for Penal Reform, and became a Quaker at this stage in his life.
Comments
1655/56, George Fox was imprisoned for many months in Doomsdale, a
dungeon that formed part of Launceston Castle in Cornwall, England. A meeting for worship will be held there on 7th July for Friends from Devon and Cornwall.
By Jackie Carpenter on 13th June 2024 - 9:26
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