Francis Bampfield (circa 1615 - 16 February 1684) was an English Nonconformist preacher, and supporter of Saturday Sabbatarianism. Born into a family of Devon gentry, he began as a conservative supporter of the Church of England, but gradually became more radical. He was expelled from the church following the 1662 Act of Uniformity, and became a Nonconformist; he spent nine years in prison, where he preached, and established congregations of Seventh Day Baptists. After his release in 1672, he spent another 18 months in jail for preaching without an alliance, and moved to London in 1674, where he continued his activities. Arrested again in 1683, he refused on principle to swear the Oath of allegiance, and was sent to Newgate Prison, where he died of fever on 16 February 1684. Biography Francis Bampfield was the third son of John Bampfield of Poltimore House, and his wife Elizabeth Drake. Like many other members of the Devon gentry, his brothers and father supported Parliament during the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. His elder brother, Sir John Bampfylde (1610–1650), was Member of Parliament for Penryn, who was excluded from Parliament by Pride's Purge in December 1648. His younger brother, Thomas Bampfield (1623–1693), was MP for Exeter between 1654 and 1660, and Speaker of the Commons for a short period on 1659. In September 1673, he married Damaris Town (died 1694); originally from Limerick, her father lost his estates in the 1641 Irish Revolt. They met when he was in Dorchester prison; after his release, she accompanied him on his preaching itineraries. Career His parents intended him for a life in the church, and had him privately educated by 'pious families'; in 1631, he entered Wadham College, Oxford, where he earned two degrees, graduating in 1638. He reacted against his Puritan upbringing by supporting reforms to the Church of England made by Archbishop Laud. Ordained in 1639, he was appointed rector in the Devon village of Rampisham; provided with a private income from his father, he spent his stipend from this position on his parishioners. In May 1641, he was made a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. Unlike most of his family, Francis supported the Royalists when the First English Civil War began in August 1642. He continued using the Book of Common Prayer, until forced to stop by Parliamentary troops; he later denounced it as an "unclean constitution of humanely invented