WILLIAM STOUT (1665-1752): More than just a shop-keeper

William Stout was born in 1665, lived his whole life in and around Lancaster in North West England, and died there in 1752. He came from a family steeped in the traditions of the Church of England, but towards the end of his teenage years he decided to join the Society of Friends and became a second-generation Quaker. After serving a seven-year apprenticeship with a prominent local Quaker, he set himself up as a shopkeeper and trader. It is as a shopkeeper that he is today best-known, primarily because he wrote the manuscript of an autobiography which was only published nearly a century after he died.This is the first general biography that describes his life and work and sets them into their proper historical and geographical context. I took on the challenge after my interest was captured by a quick read through the autobiography. The Stout that jumped out of the pages was a more human, more complex, and more intriguing character than other writers had suggested. He was no saint, but he tried hard to always do the right thing and he acted with great integrity, shaped and informed by his Quaker faith.