The Quaker movement was founded in England in the mid 1600s by George Fox. It was a time of great social and religious turmoil following the English Civil War and the execution of the King.
At the age of 19, he set out on a deep search for a more authentic spiritual life than that offered by the churches of the time.
This link will take you to the NZ Quaker website’s Our History pages (new tab):
https://quakers.nz/our-history
It’s quite detailed and includes local history as well as events in England.
One curiosity of Quakers is the language and terminology we use—much of it unchanged from the 17th century! A “translation guide” for Kiwis in the 21st century can be found here