Note 41:1 — Chapter V · GERRARD WINSTANLEY

Both Gerrard and Winstanley are common names in that part of Lancashire which lies between Wigan and Liverpool. In the Wigan Parish Register there is an entry under the above date—“Gerrard Winstanlie, son of Edward Winstanlie.” The first pamphlet he wrote, The Mystery of God concerning the whole Creation, is dedicated “To my beloved countrymen of the County of Lancaster.” In his time the term “countrymen” had a more contracted meaning than now, and implied a common nativity of a Shire or Parish: indeed it still has this meaning in some parts of Cheshire.