THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PETER BRIGGINS

This article draws attention to a little known and rarely used historical source, the diary of the early eighteenth-centmy London Friend Peter llriggins. Four areas ofllriggins' life are examined: his business, religious, family and leisure activities. It is suggested that the examination of sources such as diaries and personal correspondence can shed new light on the nature of seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Quakerism. In particular, such material can enable the development of a more subtle picture of the relationships that existed between Friends and the communities in which they lived.