Austin, Ann (?-1665), was an early Quaker missionary from England. She traveled to North America to spread her faith. The Quakers also are known as the Religious Society of Friends.
In 1655, Austin left her husband and children in England and traveled to the Caribbean island of Barbados, then an English colony, with fellow Quaker Mary Fisher. In Barbados, the women preached the Quaker message. They then set out to preach and teach as Quaker missionaries in New England, the northeastern region of what is now the United States. They arrived in Boston, in Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1656. The colony was governed by English Puritans, religious reformers originally from the Church of England. Austin’s birth date is unknown, but she has been described as being stricken in years (not young) when she arrived in Boston.
Austin and Fisher were arrested soon after they arrived in Boston, even though there were no laws against Quakers there. Puritan authorities thought they held dangerous, blasphemous (profane), and heretical opinions as described in anti-Quaker literature from England. Heretical beliefs differ from those of an established religion. The authorities first confined Austin and Fisher to the ship on which they had arrived, then sent them to prison. The Puritans feared that the women were part of a Quaker “invasion” that would undermine the civil and religious order of their colony.
While in prison, Austin and Fisher were denied food and light. Their books were burned, and they had no access to paper, ink, or pens. The citizens of Boston were forbidden to speak to them or offer them any comfort. Citizens who violated this ruling were subject to fines. Authorities examined the women in a reportedly brutal manner to determine whether they were witches. The jailer took their Bibles and bedding to pay his fees.
After being imprisoned for five weeks, Austin and Fisher were deported to Barbados. They worked as missionaries there for several months, then returned to England. In 1658, Austin was among a group of Quakers who went to jail for preaching in a public place. She left no published writings, but her signature appears on a petition that Quaker women sent to the English Parliament in 1659. The petition was a protest against forced payment of the tithe, a tax paid to the Church of England. Austin died in 1665, during an outbreak of plague in London known as the Great Plague.
