The weird career Jane (Angell) Hawkins of St. Ives and New E

[John Brandon]

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y9Q6Ad ... and%22&lr=

Surely the Jaine Angell who married Richard Hawkins in July 1602 at
Bluntisham cum Earith (about 2 miles from St. Ives), per the extracted
IGI.

This information would actually constitute a small addition to the
Great Migration (1634) sketches of two of her sons, who are described
as children of "Richard and Jane (---) Hawkins."

However, she was not executed in New England as claimed above (merely
banished from the colony). One wonders if part of her religious
delusion may have been stimulated by the undeniable fact that she was
"an Angel."

See my earlier posting ...

* * * * * *

Ethel Smith's new book, _Colonial American Doctresses_ has a bio. for
Jane Hawkins, who "lived at St. Ives in England before emigrating to
America with her husband. There [i.e., in St. Ives], several
ministers found it true that 'she had much familiarity with the
devil'" [Savage, _Genealogical Dictionary_, citing John Winthrop,
_History of New England_ (1853) 2:10-11; 1:313 and following].

Much information on Jane Hawkins's career in England is found in
Antonia Fraser, _The Weaker Vessel_ (Vintage Books paperback ed.,
1985), pp. 154-55, citing the _Cal. State Papers, Domestic_ for
1628-29 (forgive the long quotes):

Women were of course forbidden to preach in the churches--on the
direct authority of mighty St Paul himself. But when a woman started
to 'prophesy' as did a pedlar called Jane Hawkins at St Ives near
Huntingdon in 1629, the matter was somewhat more complicated. 'This
rhyming preacheress', as she was later described, made a strong local
impression. For by claiming direct inspiration from God--and
expressing this inspiration in trances, descriptions of visions and
other 'prophecies'--a woman made it that much more difficult for her
voice to be extinguished; there would always be those around her,
credulous or sympathetic, who believed that this extinction was
suppressing the direct message of God. If the politics of Church and
State were introduced, the matter became more complicated still. At
the same time the dreaded implication of witchcraft, ever present for
a woman who refused to conform, was avoided if the language was
sufficiently religious in its expression to suggest possession by the
Almighty, rather than some more sinister power.
Jane Hawkins, 'having fallen into a rapture or ecstasy',
foretold on the one hand such disagreeable eventualities for the
Anglican Church as the downfall of the bishops; on the other hand she
'magnified' the ministry of the local vicar, the Rev. Mr. Tokey. When
her prophetic rhyming continued for three days and nights, it was
perhaps hardly surprising that the 200 people who listened to her
included Mr Tokey, his curate, and another 'scholar' who sat at the
feet of Jane Hawkins's bed, rapidly copying out the verses--amounting
to some thousands--which were emitted from the entranced woman. The
plan was to make a fair copy of the verses later 'with intent to print
them'. At which point however, the Bishop, less enthusiastic at
having his downfall predicted than Mr Tokey at having his ministry
magnified, had the verses seized.
When Mr Tokey refused to abandon the claims of his spiritual
patroness to be a true visionary, he was suspended, while his curate
was 'put quite away'; the Justices of the Peace were given a warrant
by the Bishop to look after Jane Hawkins herself and ensure that the
neighbours did not visit her. Reports said that the local people were
deserting their 'rhyming preacheress'; soon they were said to 'cry out
against her'. Finally the unfortunate vicar made a written
acknowledgement that Jane was an impostor, and that he himself had
been guilty of indiscretion.
It is noticeable that the Bishop's attitude to Jane Hawkins
was from the first one of suspicion on the grounds of her sex. Here
was 'a witty crafty baggage', who was deliberately stepping out of her
low station in life to make trouble for the rest of the world; he was
disgusted that she would not 'confess' to having written verses
before, or to having written them of her own accord now. To the end
he referred to 'this imposture' of the woman at St Ives; it was not
within his cognizance that someone of Jane Hawkins's ilk could have
genuinely believed in the strength of her own visions.

Fraser apparently was unaware that Jane Hawkins later went over into
New England, where she continued to make problems for the authorities.

[John Brandon]

http://books.google.com/books?id=ujUYXK ... #PPA131,M1