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Thomas Tomkinson (1631–1710) was an English Muggletonian writer born at Ilam, near Dovedale, in Staffordshire. His parents, Richard and Ann, farmed at Sladehouse and Thomas took over the business as a yeoman farmer even while his father was alive.〔Rev Dr Alexander Gordon of Belfast "Ancient and Modern Muggletonians" Liverpool: privately printed (1870) p. 38〕 His faith was initially Presbyterian〔Thomas Tomkinson "Truth's Triumph" Covent Garden: W. Smith (1823) p. 258〕 but in 1661 he read a book by Laurence Clarkson (presumably ''The Lost Sheep Found'') and became attracted to Muggletonianism. Earlier, in February 1652, he had had a revelatory experience similar to the one Lodowicke Muggleton reported in 1650 but without any experience of the direct voice of God which had come to John Reeve and which was the foundation experience of Muggletonianism. Since John Reeve died in 1658, these dates mean that Tomkinson was one of the first prominent Muggletonian personalities not to have known Reeve personally. ==Life== Tomkinson visited London and met Lodowicke Muggleton on Mayday 1662. He returned to Staffordshire and married, Ann, shortly afterwards. He converted a sizeable number of family, friends and neighbours to the new faith, enough to make himself a nuisance to the parish authorities. He said he managed to keep the peace only "through a little money and friendship".〔Christopher Hill, Barry Reay and William Lamont "The World of the Muggletonians" London: Maurice Temple Smith (1983) p. 44〕 On 9 December 1664 he was blessed by Lodowicke Muggleton. In 1674 he found himself in serious trouble on account of his beliefs and, to evade arrest, contemplated emigrating to New England but was talked out of it by Muggleton. Around 1680 he moved permanently to London. It is unclear how he made his living. Part of the time he followed Muggleton's trade of tailoring but he also had plans to wholesale cheese and butter in the capital. He still signed his writings, however, as from Sladehouse. On 10 July 1684, Thomas and Ann's daughter, Anne, was blessed by Lodowicke Muggleton. Lodowicke Muggleton died in 1698 and Tomkinson is credited by Professor Lamont as "the man who prevented the religion from imploding after Muggleton's death" which is what Muggleton himself thought would happen.〔William Lamont "Last Witnesses" Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing (2006) p. 113〕 He is thus crucial to how a small sect survived. Tomkinson was Muggleton's literary executor, preparing and editing Muggleton's autobiographical "Acts of the Witnesses" leaving out some of the more contested astronomical assertions. Tomkinson is quite open in his introduction as to the deletions he made. Thomas Tomkinson died in London in 1710 and was succeeded as unofficial leader of the Muggletonians by Arden Bonell (? – 1746) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Tomkinson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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