A Day in the Life of Oliver Heywood While Imprisoned for the Faith

[VirginiaHuguenot]

The following extract from Oliver Heywood's Diaries was written in 1685 describing a typical day spent while he served time in prison for nonconformity (his wife was jailed with him part of the time):

(1) After our rising, we kneeled down; I went to prayer with my wife; (2) she in her closet, I in my chamber, went to secret prayer alone; (3) then I read a chapter in the Greek Testament, while I took a pipe; (4) then read a chapter in the Old Testament with Poole's Annotations; (5) then writ a little, here [diary], or elsewhere; (6) at ten o'clock I read a chapter in Proverbs; went to prayer with my wife, as family prayer; (7) then writ in some book or treatise I composed, till dinner; (8) after dinner, Mr. Whitaker and I read our turns for an hour in Fox's Acts and Monuments, last edition; (9) then went to my chamber; if my wife was absent I spent an hour in secret prayer; God helped usually; (10) after supper we read in Book of Martyrs; study, go to prayer; we read in Baxter's Paraphrase on the New Testament.