Thomas Wight (Bandon)


Thomas Wight, 1640–1724, was a native of Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, and author of the first History of the Quakers in Ireland. His father was Rice Wight, Church of Ireland minister of Bandon and a son of Thomas Wight, A.M. also a minister and a native of Guildford, Surrey.
While a clothier's apprentice, Wight attended Quaker meeting out of curiosity. He was impressed by a speech by Francis Howgill - "Before the eye can see, it must be opened; before the ear can hear, it must unstopped; and before the heart can understand, it must be illuminated." Edward Burrough was a further influence in causing Wight to move away from the Church of Ireland to becoming a Quaker himself.
He married in 1670 and had a large family. According to the History of Bandon