Published in 2015 by
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Copyright 2015 Matthew Niblett
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IBT Studies in Prophecy, Apocalypse and Millennialism 1
ISBN: 978 1 78076 878 6
eISBN: 978 0 85773 715 1
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
. Portrait of Joanna Southcott, by William Sharp (1812). Source: National Portrait Gallery, London.
. Portrait of Rev. T.P. Foley. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. Exeter Cathedral in the early nineteenth century, engraving by R. Sands (1825). Source: author.
. Cover of Southcotts The Strange Effects of Faith, 1st edn (1801). Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. Embroidered sampler made by Southcott (1807). Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford
. Portrait of William Sharp, by G.F. Joseph (c.1820). Source: National Portrait Gallery, London
. Cover of The Evangelical Magazine, January 1805. Source: author
. Portrait of Thomas Paine, by William Sharp (1793). Source: National Portrait Gallery, London.
. Portrait of Robert Southey, by H. Edridge (1804). Source: National Portrait Gallery, London
. Thomas Rowlandson, Southcott Excommunicating the Bishops (1814). Source: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. This image can also be found in the colour plate section.
. Rev. T.P. Foleys decorated frontispiece to Southcotts works. Source: Rare Books Collection, Princeton University Library.
. Seal of Hannah Crossley. Source: Joanna Southcott Collection, Princeton University Library.
. Cover of The Third Book of Wonders, 1st edn (1814). Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.131
. Charles Williams, Delivering a Prophetess (1814). Source: Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University Library. This image can also be found in the colour plate section.
. Thomas Rowlandson, A Medical Inspection (1814). Source: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. This image can also be found in the colour plate section.
. Cot for Shiloh. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford. This image can alo be found in the colour plate section.
. Gifts for Shiloh. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. Rev. T.P. Foley, annotated personal copy of Southcotts writings. Source: Rare Books Collection, Princeton University Library.
. Southcotts memorial tablet, St Johns Wood burial ground. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
Plates
. Thomas Rowlandson, Southcott Excommunicating the Bishops (1814). Southcott believed that 24 bishops of the Church of England would have to gather to verify her visitation. This cartoon depicts Southcott with her seal around her neck and William Tozer chasing away those who refused her invitation. Source: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
. Charles Williams, Delivering a Prophetess (1814). This cartoon, sketched at the height of interest in Southcotts phantom pregnancy, depicts her surrounded by medics and her followers (possibly Townley and Underwood). Source: Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University Library.
. Thomas Rowlandson, A Medical Inspection (1814). Southcott is depicted showing the signs of her pregnancy to a trio of doctors. Her follower William Tozer is shown as a demon in Shilohs cradle while her box of sealed prophecies is evident in the bottom right. Source: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
. Oldswinford Rectory, Worcestershire. Home of the Reverend T.P. Foley and a frequent refuge for Southcott. Source: Tony Hisgett and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
. Embroidered quilt made by Joanna Southcott (1808). Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. Shilohs Cradle. This cot was presented to Southcott by her followers in anticipation of the birth of Shiloh in 1814. Made of satinwood and inlaid with gold, the crib was estimated to have cost 200: a significant sum at the time. At the head the word Shiloh is depicted in Hebrew above which is an embroidered gold crown. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. Gifts for Shiloh. Southcotts followers presented many gifts for the anticipated divine child, including these fine leather baby boots, satin and lace bonnets, silver ladle, and banner welcoming Shiloh, the Prince of Peace. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
. The Banner of Israel. Embroidered panel depicting Joanna Southcott as the Woman clothed with the sun (Revelation 12:1). This was made in 1917 at the Royal School of Needlework from a design commissioned by Mabel Barltrop, founder of the Panacea Society. Source: Panacea Charitable Trust, Bedford.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research underpinning this book stems from the Prophecy Project based in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford. This research centre was established by Professor Christopher Rowland and by Dr Jane Shaw in 2002 with the aim of researching and uncovering the significance of a series of prophets connected with Joanna Southcott. The centre has been supported through the generosity of the Panacea Charitable Trust and I would like to acknowledge my thanks to the trustees. I am also extremely grateful to the Friends of Princeton University Library for providing a Library Fellowship Grant allowing for study of their impressive archives during Winter 2010, where I was generously assisted by Linda DOlivera, Gretchen Oberfranc, Stephen Ferguson, and Daniel Linke.
Many debts have been incurred in researching the material for this study. The librarians and staff of the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the London Metropolitan Archives, Worcestershire Record Office, and Princeton University Library were unfailingly helpful in assisting my enquiries. Special thanks are also due to Jeremy Bourne of Blockley Heritage Society for kindly providing access to the Societys archives, and to Gordon Allan and David McLynn whose assistance with the special archive at the Panacea Society was both generous and invaluable.
I also owe thanks to all those with whom I have been able to discuss this work in full and in part: such discussions were extremely useful for refining the study. Audiences at various seminars and conferences in Oxford, Nottingham, Princeton and the Dr Williamss Library Seminar in London have given me the opportunity to test out my arguments. I would like to make special mention of illuminating conversations with fellow scholars including, in alphabetical order: Gordon Allan, Sarah Apetrei, Alina Birzache, Nancy Cho, Daniel Linke, Philip Lockley, Deborah Madden, Gretchen Oberfranc, Abhijit Pandya, Tony Pannett, Isabel Rivers, Christopher Rowland, Jane Shaw, and Ruth Windscheffel.
