Blaikling, Francis

Blaikling, Francis an English minister of the Society of Friends, was born at Winder, near Ledberg, Yorkshire, in the year 1631, and inl 1652 was converted under the preaching of George Fox. "He gladly received the truth in the love of it, and faithfully walked in it, and cheerfully suffered for it, not only extreme spoiling his goods, but a long imprisonment in York Castle." He became an accredited minister among Friends some time after his conversion. "In a plain testimony, he hit the mark both in reproof to the wicked and the comfort of true mourners in Zion." Among Friends he was a man well beloved and esteemed, and lived a useful, exemplary life. He died Jan. 20, 1704. See Evans, Piety Promoted, 1, 282-283. (J. C. S.)