Vokins, Joan

Joan Vokins (née Bunce) (c. 1630–1690) was the wife of a yeoman farmer in the Vale of White Horse in Berkshire, England. About 1663, she was converted to Quakerism by Oliver Sansom, husband of her sister Jane. Sansom became leader of the Quaker community that formed in the Vale, with the two sisters as his leading associates. Jane specialized in administrative and social matters while Joan strove to deepen the faith by preaching and exhortation. In 1678, following instructions from the central Quaker authorities, the Vale Quakers reorganized into separate men’s and women’s meetings. Vokins was instrumental in overcoming strong opposition to the principle of women’s meetings from Quakers elsewhere in the county. In 1680, she traveled to visit Quaker communities in the American colonies and extended her journey to Barbados, where women’s meetings were under discussion. In 1686, despite declining health, she undertook a further journey to Ireland. She died in 1690 on her way home from a national Quaker meeting in London.