Thomas Paine in Lewes

Paine monument in Thetford, England, the birthplace of Paine, with a quill pen in his right hand and an inverted copy of The Rights of Man in his left, was sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, President of the Royal Academy, and erected in 1964 - link

BOOK REVIEW: A Political Biography Of Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2013 Number 1 Volume 12

Naturally this book invites comparison with previous biographical studies, in particular the most recent. It bears out well in relationship to them. What stands out in this new work is its detailed coverage of Paine’s career and his comprehensive treatment of the controversies and issues Paine addressed. 

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The Mughal emperor Shah Alam hands a scroll to Robert Clive, the governor of Bengal, which transferred tax collecting rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company, August 1765. Oil on canvas, Benjamin West, 1818.

The Role Of The East India Company In Thomas Paine’s Radicalisation 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2012 Number 2 Volume 11

Shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia, however, Paine published an essay on ‘the Life and Death of Lord Clive’ which was highly critical of the type of ‘nabob’ whose election campaign he had supported in Shoreham. Clive’s conduct in India had been investigated by parliament.

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James Nayler, a prominent Quaker leader, being pilloried and whipped -link

`No Respecter Of Persons’: Thomas Paine And The Quakers: The Influence Of 17th Century Quaker Persecution History On Paine’s Radicalism 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2012 Number 2 Volume 11

How dared Thomas Paine, a man whose formal education had ended at thirteen, who had failed as a skilled craftsman, as a teacher, as a shopkeeper, as a street preacher, as a petty customs official in the Excise, dismissed and a debtor and bankrupt, even dare to think about government?

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`No Respecter Of Persons’: Thomas Paine And The Quakers: The Influence Of 17th Century Quaker Persecution History On Paine’s Radicalism  Read Post »

Grave of Thomas Ollive and his sister Elizabeth Paine, Thomas Paine’s second wife, who were married in March 1771. Eventually, Paine was forced into bankruptcy in 1774 and Elizabeth and Paine separated in June partly due to Paine’s long absences stemming from his work as an exciseman. Elizabeth died in Cranbrook on 17 July, 1808, and lies buried in the churchyard of St. Dunstan’s – Image from Thomas Paine Society UK Bulletin, 1999. Vol.4. No.2.

Text Of The Separation Document Between Thomas Pain [Paine] And His Wife Elizabeth, June 4, 1774 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2010 Number 2 Volume 10

This document has been purchased by the Sussex Record Office Articles of Agreement Tripartite Indented had agreed upon the Fourth day of June in the Year of our Lord 1774 Between Thomas Pain of Lewes in the County of Sussex Excise Officer of the first part Elizabeth Pain Wife.

Text Of The Separation Document Between Thomas Pain [Paine] And His Wife Elizabeth, June 4, 1774  Read Post »

Plaque marking the building in Alford, UK where Paine worked as an excise officer from 1764 to 1765 at customs office on this site – Photo by TonyMo22

Paine At The Crossroads, 1763-1768 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2009 Number 4 Volume 9

Paine’s dismissal from his excise appointment at Afford left him with a shattered career, and without immediate prospects. His regular income had slipped from his grasp, but despite his swift change of fortune and the suddenness of his dismissal, he was probably quite well placed.

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John Wesley (1703-1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a principal leader of a revival movement known as Methodism - link

Young Thomas Paine, Wesleyan Methodist Or Rational Dissenter? 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2006 Number 2 Volume 8

Paine had very enlarged ideas of the rights of others and was, upon principle, a thorough friend to the civil and religious liberties of all mankind. In conversation he was open and liberal, and at the same time serious and instructive. 

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Young Thomas Paine, Wesleyan Methodist Or Rational Dissenter?  Read Post »

Portrait of George Chalmers (Francis Oldys) in 1824

A Small Addition To The Writings On Thomas Paine (1), Quakers,

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 2001 Number 3 Volume 5

From the time that his first biographer, Francis Oldys, adopted Thomas Paine, the son of a Thetford stay-maker, as a subject, all others have accepted the fact that he fathered no children. Recent examination of records, from a long time past, suggest that he might have done. 

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Grave of Thomas Ollive and his sister Elizabeth Paine, Thomas Paine’s second wife, who were married in March 1771. Eventually, Paine was forced into bankruptcy in 1774 and Elizabeth and Paine separated in June partly due to Paine’s long absences stemming from his work as an exciseman. Elizabeth died in Cranbrook on 17 July, 1808, and lies buried in the churchyard of St. Dunstan’s – Image from Thomas Paine Society UK Bulletin, 1999. Vol.4. No.2.

Elizabeth Paine: The Wife Of A Revolutionary

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 1999 Number 2 Volume 4

Following the publication of The Age of Reason, Thomas must have come to regard Paine as a infidel – and already as someone whom he regarded as having ruined his sister’s life and embarrassed his own. When Elizabeth died, the obituary he drafted gave vent to his venom regarding Paine.

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Plaque at the birthplace of Thomas Paine in Thetford, England erected by the Antiquities Borough of Thetford. Paine was born on February 9, 1737 – Flickr

Thomas Paine – Early Life In England 

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 1980 Number 4 Volume 6

Paine, I am sure, was never “just” an exciseman, a teacher, staymaker, or storekeeper. His mental activity, interest in science, government and human relations, implied that there was far more bigger and grander things for him to do.

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John Wesley (1703-1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a principal leader of a revival movement known as Methodism - link

THOMAS PAINE: THE METHODIST INFLUENCE

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 1979 Number 3 Volume 6

Paine admired the teachings of Jesus, and he went to great lengths to free them from smothering additions, which had been drawn from the mythology of ancient cults and grafted onto them by the churchmakers who usurped Jesus’s role of teacher.

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Cover of "The case of the officers of excise" - link

Thomas Paine — The Excise Background

Thomas Paine Society UK, TPUK 1977 Number 1 Volume 6

The meteoric political career of Thomas Paine was so dazzling that it has largely eclipsed the events of his formative years during which he obtained the expertise and developed the tenacity that enabled him to respond to the opportunity afforded by the rapid changes in the American colonies.

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