ABSTRACT
On Saturday 29 August 1657 John Lilburne, being 'very sicke and weake in bed', passed away while on parole at Eltham, Kent. His heavily pregnant wife, Elizabeth, possibly with their three surviving children, was with him during his final moments in a house he had recently rented so that she might be near her friends when she gave birth. A Quaker source lamenting that he had died a prisoner, 'Beareing a Testimony for Truth', identified Lilburne's place of death as the 'Kings house'. This chapter explores the last three and a half years of Lilburne's life. The standard biography is Gregg's Free-Born John, which, while still valuable, needs updating. It focuses on Lilburne's contrasting experiences in Jersey and Kent. The dominant themes are habeas corpus, defiance, and suffering. The chapter offers an assessment of the wider significance of Lilburne's personal trajectory from Leveller to Quaker.
