Who Was James Parnell?

Yesterday I wrote more about the trial delays for the teenager James Parnell. To be clear, he was already in prison when ten-year-old Thomas Lightfoot was jailed for talking back to a theologian. In my fictional account, the boys’ joint trial and imprisonment represents a dramatic and heartfelt moment in Tom’s journey. Their experiences are intended to convey all the deeply felt convictions of the Spirit-filled youth at that time, the Valiant Sixty who grew to be an organization of more than 60,000 English Quakers, all standing against the established church and the means by which it supported itself financially.

We only follow his brief life for a time, but unlike Thomas, James Parnell is well-remembered today as a regular tourist stop at Colchester Castle. So who was this diminutive little Quaker?

At 17, he is recorded as being present when George Whitehead (also 17 but having been in ministry for three years by this time and making quite the name for himself) decided to go minister in Norwich. James was notably small for his age, and quite sickly—probably from having rickets as a child, which was not uncommon at that time. In spite of having great difficulty in movement, he had left his home and walked 60 miles to meet Whitehead up north in Yorkshire. Where it is cold even in summer, and we’re talking mini Ice Age here.

In Parnell’s first courthouse appearance he was branded a pamphleteer, meaning he wrote content meant to incite action. He did the unthinkable, leveling accusations against all organized churches and their “tithe-mongering.” The Tithe-Mongers were basically tax collectors who made the rounds of peoples’ homes in the parish and took their ten percent. We can assume they made this a liberal share of whatever goods they might find. This practice left families without food and necessities, causing a hardship severe enough to embolden the populace to revolt.

James was also accused, according to court records, of heckling a minister during a church service. One did not heckle one’s parish minister. This was a local leader with his own connection to law enforcement—the parish jail. He could also call upon the local government, and it became an issue for town mayors faced with complaints from both pastors and villagers who claimed the Quakers were disturbing the peace.

As a thought leader, Parnell was highly effective, helping to build a significant group of believers in Cambridge and surrounding areas. There is a moving summary of his life in this post about Overcoming Limitations, which I recommend as a quick read. Another site, YouthQuakeNow tells about his life in context with Colchester.

As far as why I used James as a tidy help to my story, I couldn’t imagine Tom sauntering into a university hall or courtyard alone, though I suppose perhaps he could have had some errand or work there that might have put him in front of such personages. But it seems clear to me that Tom was parroting language he had heard elsewhere but did not understand fully. And so it helps my story to imagine him riding the coattails of the older boys. Parnell, having already taken his faith to great lengths, provides the perfect escort as well as the comparative element so we can view Tom’s unremarked imprisonment against the well-documented events of Parnell’s life and death.

And to that end, since tourists can and do visit his last prison cell, I decided to depart from fantasy and return James to the correct court and prison, although one year later, to follow the rich narrative to his demise. There is never enough cruelty in the pen (certainly not this one) to match what people in their hatred have actually done to their perceived enemies.

For those who have read Chapter 4 previously, I apologize because now you have to read it again. I had only stubbed it out before and now we have the full goings-on that lead to the change in venue.

-Sally