Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692

Stephen Crisp of Colchester, England, was a Quaker activist, traveling minister, and prolific writer. Crisp is credited with establishing the Quaker faith in the Low Countries. He was born in Colchester in 1628 to Stephen and Elizabeth Crisp. In 1648 he married his first wife, Dorothy, who died in 1684.

Crisp was convinced to join the Society of Friends in 1655 after hearing the ministry of James Parnell. In 1658 he began to publish Quaker tracts, and by 1659 he had taken the role of minister. In 1663 he made religious visits to the Netherlands, Freesland, other parts of continental Europe, and Bristol, England.

In 1683 Crisp bought the ancient St Helen's Chapel and gave it to the Colchester Quakers. His wife Dorothy died the following year, and in 1685 Crisp remarried to Gertrude Dericks Nieson, a Dutch widow, who died two year later. He was present at the death of George Fox in 1691. Crisp himself died soon afterwards, on the 8th day of the 9th month, 1692.