Index

to

A note on Joanna Southcott and her passports to heaven

by

F.B. Dickinson

Devon Notes and Queries Queries vol. 2, no. 8, (1903) pp. 241-242.

Prepared by Michael Steer

Joanna Southcott was a native of Gittisham, the daughter of William and Hannah Southcott, respectable people, the father a very small farmer. She was baptised at Ottery St. Mary, on 6 June, 1750. Nothing remarkable during the first forty years of her life. She was in domestic service, and moved to Exeter. She claimed to have visions and made prophecies, garnering a large body of fanatical adherents. By the sale of her sealed passports to heaven she obtained a very respectable revenue, and from being a poor working drudge she blossomed into a woman of substance. Her followers in Exeter were recognized by the peculiarity of their dress, somewhat in the fashion of that of the Quakers, the men being particularly distinguished by wearing a long beard at a time when beards were not generally adopted. Google with the Archive Organization has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. The Internet Archive makes available, in its Community Texts Collection (originally known as Open Source Books), books that have been digitised by Google from a number of libraries. These are books on which copyright has expired, and are available free for educational and research use. This rare book was produced from a copy held by the New York Public Library, and is available from the Internet Archive.