Family Notes

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Quaker Reference Notes

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol ii, p 609:

SKEFFINGTON, GEORGE, owner of a large salmon fishery in Newfoundland: fl. 1700-1729.

Born probably in Bristol of Quaker parents, Skeffington was established as a small trader in Bonavista by about 1700. There he practiced the trades of ships chandler and cooper. During the winter months he sold rum and wine on credit, and was reimbursed with interest at the end of the fishing season. Soon he recognized that there was a potentially lucrative trade in freshwater fish (salmon). Although the rivers of Newfoundland were rich in salmon, few attempts had been made to develop inland fishing. Leaving a capable factor to manage the chandlery business during his absence, Skeffington, with the help of a few adventurous hired hands, was soon netting large catches of salmon. He was able to sell his fish to the merchant ships touching at Bonavista, and for a time thrived without opposition. In the winter of 1704-5, however, a French expedition, led by Auger de Subercase, attacked the English settlements in Newfoundland. Skeffington, as one of the town's leading men, was in charge of the Bonavista settlement when news arrived of the approach of a French force under Testard de Montigny. Perhaps in order to save his property, perhaps because of his Quaker principles, Skeffington promptly surrendered the town and agreed to pay a ransom. When the French withdrew they took Skeffington with them, and he remained for some months at Placentia (Plaisance) before an exchange of prisoners procurred his release.

On his return to Bonavista, he continued to explore the lakes and rivers north of the town [i.e. Bonavista Bay], taking care not to overfish any particular water. In September 1718 Skeffington proposed to set up a joint fishery with William Keen, a merchant of St. John's. Skeffington was to organize the actual fishing, while Keen would provide the salt and necessary equipment. The enterprise was not particularly successful, however, partly because interlopers encroached on the area claimed by the partners; Keen lost 120 pounds in the deal.

Fishing in the interior of Newfoundland was difficult and dangerous. The men had to construct dams, clear the rivers, and build houses for curing the salmon; provisions were scarce and the weather was harsh. The Beothuks [Red Savages] frequently wandered across the fishing areas looking for ochre. In 1721 they killed some of Skeffington's men; they also broke his dams, took away his nets, and made off with his provisions and gear. During 1724 they [Red Savages] were again troublesome, and Skeffington petitioned the government for two boats with six soldiers apiece, with which he proposed to keep the country free from Indians. He was granted a guard and no doubt contributed to the destruction of the Beothuks.

Despite the manifold problems, Skeffington's fishery was extensive. In 1720 he had succesfully petitioned the crown for salmon fishing rights for 21 years in a large area around Bonavista. During this year it was estimated that he employed 30 men, and sent abroad 530 "tierces" of salmon, valued at 30s. a tierce, together with fur and seal oil to a value of 6,000 pounds. By 14 Oct. 1729 Skeffington had disposed of his fishery and, as he figures no more in the Newfoundland records, he presumably retired to England.

PRO, CO 194/6, 194/7, 195/7. PRO, CSP, Col., 1720-21, 1722-23, 1724-25, 1728-29. Prowse, History of Nfld. Michael Godfrey, "Newfoundland salmon pioneeer," Fish Trades Gazette (London), 4359 (7 Jan. 1967).

"L'Expedition de M. de Montigny a Terreneuve en 1705 APQ Rapport 1922-23 pp (290-298). I have this in French.

"Recueil de ce qui s'est passe au Canada, au sujet de la guerre tant des Anglais que des Iroquois, depuis l'annee 1682. AN, col., F3, 2, ff. 100-29. It was published in Le Blant (see DCB and obtain a copy of vol ii, p 122) pp170-272.

925 Bayly St. #51

Pickering, On.

Canada, L1W-1L4

26 Nov 1986

Archives Nationale du Quebec

1210, avenue du Seminaire

PO Box 10450

Sainte Foy

Quebec

G1V 4N1

Dear Sir;

Would you please advise if the following document is available at your archives and how a copy might be obtained:

"L'Expedition de M. de Montigny a Terreneuve en 1705." APG Rapport, 1922-23, 293-98.

Sincerely

Thomas R. Cole

Letter from the Quebec Archives in French dated 19 Jan 1987, translated:

as per your letter on 26 Nov, I unfortunately have to inform you that it is impossible to find the document you mention in your letter. It is a transcript from the colonial archives and we do not have the instruments (tools) which would enable us to trace quickly. Hoping this is to your satisfaction.

Sincerely yours

Sonia Chasse

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Re: Quakers downtown Toronto library, open Tues. & Thur.

Jane Sweet- Monday? Librarian- 921-0368/ 486-5578.

Jane Zavitz- Pickering College, Newmarket, 389 Second, Newmarket-Gormley, 887-5000

Dorland Friends Collection

Pickering College

Newmarket, On., L3Y 4X2

Jan/1990.

Dear Tom Cole,

Here is the article I referred to yesterday on the phone. It may not assist you in family research- since you mentioned Mitchell in 1699 [TC Note- this was earlier 1669? Capt Mitchell, a Quaker, mentioned in James Yonge]. Jack Ross, the author, now lives in Argenta, B.C. and can be reached through that address, if you think he might be helpful for your particular search- it is possible since he looked over the Newfoundland Quaker scene with interest for a number of years while at the univ. in St. John's.

Good luck with your research,

Jane Zavitz

Archivist/CYM

PS- Flyer on CFHA for your interest- we encourage and need support. JVZ.

Address for Jack Ross, RR#1. Cooper Creek, Kaslo, BC., V0G 1M0.

Included in this letter and photocopied in the Dorland Friends Collection at Pickering College- 16 Jan. 1990 "WHO WERE THE FIRST QUAKERS IN CANADA by Jack C. Ross, from Issue #12, June 1975 Newsletter: Quaker History in Canada, Canadian Friends Historical Assoc.-3-, pp 3-7.

"WHO WERE THE FIRST QUAKERS IN CANADA?

by Jack C. Ross

from Issue #12, June 1975 Newsletter: Quaker History in Canada, Canadian Friends Historical Assoc.-3-, pp 3-7.

When and where was the first Quaker establishment in Canada? The answer depends on how the question is phrased: the first Monthly Meeting? The first families? The first settlement? The first Friend? Or, Canada as it was, was to become, or is now?

All, I suppose, are secondary questions, for the more important matter must always be: when was the spirit manifest among those who listened and responded? I accept as basic J. Ormerod Greenwood's demonstration in Quaker Encounters that the essentials of Quakerism were independently discovered in many countries in the mid-seventeenth century, and the religion of the Inner Light to which George Fox contributed clarity, order and form was only the best known. Thus I suppose that we must speak, regarding Canada, both of Children of the Light who first set foot on this land, and those who met the boat.

Still, we must take care to be accurate when we do make historical statements about the Society of Friends, and regarding the issue broached in the first paragraph, there has been great carelessness. Here are some examples.

A recent book by Margaret Springer, The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) - an Introduction, may reach a number of information seekers who visit our meetings. She says, "the first Quakers in Canada came from the American colonies in the late 18th century. They settled in the Maritimes, and in many counties of what is now southern and south- eastern Ontario". (p.7). She adds that further settlers came from Britain in the 19th century. This is general enough to be fairly accurate, except it excludes the earlier direct settlers from England among whom there may have been Friends, and it excludes Newfoundland, not one of the Maritimes.

An earlier version comes from Arthur Dorland's The Quakers in Canada, A History, the most widely known historical work on Canadian Friends. He says. "so far as we know the first Quakers in Canada came from the Island of Nantucket to Barrington, Nova Scotia, fourteen years before the United States declared their independence". (p.30). He is correct that this was a relatively small settlement and ultimately not significant for the growth of Quakerism in Canada. But yet it is factually misleading. I shall now present two kinds of evidence for the existence of Quakers in Newfoundland at least 60 years before the settlement in Nova Scotia: the one inferential and the other decisive. Dorland's map, which runs of the page before Newfoundland, might have to be revised in the next edition.

A renewed Protestantism began to take hold in England at the end of the 17th century with unambiguous Protestants on their thrones. One of the results was the formation of gospel societies. George Keith, former Quaker turned bitter foe, was active in one of these, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and there were many Keithites in the American colonies. His vigorous anti-Quaker propaganda infected the entire SPG, which took conversion of the Quakers as one of its passions. In or just before 1700 the SPG sponsored a fact finding tour of North America by Thomas Bray, D.D. He passed by Newfoundland, toured the colonies, and returned to write a book, A Memorial Representing the Present State of Religion on the Continent of North America, 1700. Bray he was and bray he did, loud and long about many things. He did not set foot on Newfoundland, but interviewed a passenger on his boat who had been there. Sensitive as he was about Quakerism, he reported none in Newfoundland. This would seem to establish the earliest date to consider in relation to the following materials - no Quakers there, worth converting, at least, before 1700.

The first Newfoundland Quaker about whom there is definite information is George Skeffington (also spelled Skiffington, Sceffington), a rare name that is still found in rural Newfoundland. Professor Keith Matthews, Newfoundland historian, traces the name to Poole and Dorsetshire. Poole had many Quaker sailors.

The incidents regarding Skeffington are contained in Henry Cadbury's "Now and Then" occasional column, number 59, Friends Intelligencer, 1945. His source is a book by James Bowden, which I have been unable to locate, but I have found the records upon which Bowden must have relied, and recapitulate the essence here. I encountered Henry Cadbury in New Jersey in 1968. Hearing that I was going to Newfoundland, he told me the story of George Skeffington, and asked that I investigate further. I promised I would, but Henry Cadbury died before I could complete the task. This is my attempt to fulfill that obligation.

Cadbury tells Skeffington's story in his usual witty fashion. Skeffington was a fishing vessel master whose charge was exploiting the rich cod fishery off Newfoundland each Spring as soon as the ice permitted ships to land, and to establish shore stations for the season. The first master to land each year was named "Admiral" of the port for the season, the second his assistant, and so on. Skeffington apparently landed first at a Newfoundland port, perhaps Bonavista ("Buena Vista") in 1705. A French commander from Placentia, a French fortress (recently restored) on the south coast, attacked the garrison where a Lt. Moody had established Skeffington as leader. Our hero hastily surrendered to avoid fighting, though the island on which he was situated was fortified with 120 men and eight guns (cannon).

A payment of 250 pounds was demanded, which Skeffington agreed to pay from his personal account. Cadbury's account has him taken hostage to Placentia and soon released. He was noted some years later as a settler, building facilities and catching salmon 40 miles north of Cape Bonavista, which would put him well out to sea. He is last heard of in 1729, but nothing more is known of his Quakerism.

Cadbury also notes, from Bowden, a French account that puts Skeffington, or someone like him, at another place. It is this account that introduces the possibility, far less definite than the evidence regarding Skeffington, for a number of Friends in Newfoundland, in 1705 but not before 1700. I will turn now to original sources from the military records of the Colonial Office in St. John's.

The colonial records of 1703, the first complete and accessible account, make no mention of Skeffington, but there are notes of events in which he might well have appeared had he been there. Equally, the military records do not note the presence of anti-militarists nearby, which would have threatened them, since war was expected constantly, the French garrison being only 75 miles distant by modern roads.

Fishing masters testified in St. John's in 1704, but Skeffington was not among them.

A memo of 4 May 1705 from Whitehall explains reasons for putting the garrison in the hands of the "Captain of Convoy".

In June, 1705, there were reports of attacks by French and Indians.

On June 30 there was a memorial of an attack on June 15. A French force attacked many harbours and destroyed St, John's, except the fortress, after which a sub-force under M. de Montigny went north, destroying settlements as they went, and attacked "Kitty Vitty".

The last named place is now known as Quidi Vidi, but has had many similar names. It is a few hundred meters north of the St. John's harbour and could have been reached in a few minutes. The account does not make very good sense here.

A petition to the Queen was dispatched on 19 June, 1705, by 150 merchants, but Skeffington was not among them - evidence, I think, that he was not in or near St. John's then. If at Quidi Vidi his signature would have been solicited.

The next minute, in June, sets the attack the previous January, which is supported by tales of winter hardships undergone by the French north to Bonavista.

The records then show, apparently a late entry, a visit by Skeffington, 29 March, 1705, from Bonavista. He was given provisions and "means of defense" and asked to be a spy for the garrison. The note is from one J. Moody, commander at St. John's whom we may assume had little understanding of Quakers. Or perhaps Skeffington was a dissembler of a not- very- Quakerly sort who took the arms but later dumped them at Bonavista.

Cadbury apparently also used D.W. Prowse's A History of Newfoundland, 1895. Prowse cites the French account of the raids, I could not find the original among French histories of Newfoundland. The one of interest was on "Quidimity", another name for Quidi Vidi. There were 72 English fishing there. M. de Montigny attacked with some "Canadians and Indians" (p.265), and "there a Reformer of the Tremblers, a Quaker (un religionnaire de la Tremblade un Quakre), who was their commander". The rest of the story resembles the one concerning the hasty surrender at Bonavista. The added feature of interest is the character given the fishermen, collectively. The men were cooperative with the Indians who were their captors, voluntarily organizing themselves daily to be counted. When one attempted to escape, they pursued him and brought him back, where upon the French, without trial, "had his head broken on the spot where he was taken" (p.265). The date of this was about March, 1705. Does that sound like a Quaker garrison of fishermen? By circumstances they could not anticipate being put in a position of defending a military post when they needed to be about their urgent business of making a living!

Another account, from Lord Dartmouth, has Skeffington paying a ransom of 4,000 pounds.

What can we conclude from this miscellany of data, with all its contradictions? Cadbury concludes that there were either one or two Quaker groups, and lets it go at that. There are problems with either conclusion. How could there have been an attack on Bonavista after an overland trip, following an attack on St, John's in January, if Skeffington was in St. John's 29 March requesting supplies and accepting arms, which must have been before the surrender? The French account seems possibly confused, and perhaps the editor did not distinguish Quidi Vidi from Bonavista, an understandable second hand error. Further, it is unlikely that Skeffington, or any other fisherman, stayed the winter in Bonavista, since the practice was to return to England with the catch if possible. Further, there is no island at Quidi Vidi on which there could be a fortress. The fortress, a log stockade, is on a cliff overlooking the harbour where the fishing village was established. The harbour itself is very narrow, big enough for only small boats and cannot receive ocean-going craft. If there were 70 fishermen there they would have been very crowded indeed, and not very wise in choice of location.

The only thing certain is that there was a Quaker named George Skeffington in St. John's on 29 March 1705, the first specific date for the existence of a Quaker in Newfoundland, and according to one way of looking at it, in Canada. Less definite but fairly likely, there was a group with him, some of whom were probably Quakers or strongly influenced by Skeffington. The site was more likely Bonavista than Quidi Vidi.

Skeffington was not the only Quaker sailing master. There were many, and some of them came from the port towns where ships departed for Newfoundland. There is no reason to assume that Skeffington was the first.

Cadbury notes that a George Skeffington "of Newfoundland" was recorded as a minister in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys "in 1700". Perhaps he was established in the fishery at that early date.

No matter which option among these facts we choose, it is no longer possible to make simple and unqualified statements about first Quakers in Canada like the ones cited above. Alas for simplicity.

Jack Ross is a member of the Society of Friends, originally from the States. He is Professor of Sociology at Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BRAY, Thomas, D. D.

1700 A Memorial Representing the Present State of Religion on the Continent of North America. London: William Downing.

CADBURY, Henry J.

"Mr. Skeffington", Friends Intelligencer, 1944, reprinted in Henry J. Cadbury, Friendly Heritage, Norwalk, Conn.: Silvermine Publishers, 1972.

DORLAND, Arthur G.

The Quakers in Canada, A History. Toronto: Ryerson, 1968.

GREENWOOD, J. Ormerod.

Quaker Encounters, 3 vols., York: Sessions of York, 1975, 1977, 1978.

PROWSE, D.W.

A History of Newfoundland. London: MacMillan, 1895.

SPRINGER, Margaret.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) - An introduction. Argenta, B.C.: Argenta Friends School Press, 1978.

Re: George Keith.

see Newsletter No. 26, March 1980, Some lesser known separations in the Society of Friends, by David L. Holden.

Re; The name "Skeffington" appears four times in the 1982 Toronto telephone directory! The name is also familiar along the north- west coast of England, around the original Quaker country. Editor.

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Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

Friends House

Euston Road

London NW1 2BJ

England

Recording Clerk: Donald HD Southall, Assistant Recording Clerk Christopher Thomas.

The Library 8 ii 1990.

Thomas Cole

925 Bayly Street #51

Pickering, Ontario

CANADA, L1W 1L4

Dear Friend,

Early Newfoundland Friends.

Thank you for your letter, received on the 23rd of last month. I'm sorry to say that I've drawn an almost complete blank. You may well have covered some of the ground already, but I'm enclosing on a separate sheet a list of possible sources checked which haven't produced anything helpful. Also enclosed is a copy of a piece by Henry J. Cadbury, reprinted in Friendly Heritage (1972): you probably have it, but it seemed worth sending, just in case not. HJC is usually reliable in his more depressing statements on source material (penultimate sentence but one). There is also an early reference - 1656- to Newfoundland (copy enclosed) in Thurloe's State Papers, reprinted in the Journal of Friends Historical Society vol 8 (1911); and of course Fox writes of Esther Biddle having been there in that year (Fox, Journal (Cambridge, 1911) vol 2 p334.

SKEFFINGTONS. The source for James Bowden's reference is presumably Philadelphia MM minutes for 31. x. 1700 [January 1700/1]: they are printed in Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Publications vol 6 (1917): I enclose a photo copy of pg73, corrected from a microfilm here of the originals. There are no Skeffingtons recorded in our Digest Registers of Births, Marriages and Burials for Bristol & Somerset Quarterly Meeting, nor (since Poole had a long-standing trade with Newfoundland) for Dorset & Hants QM. Nor are they in the indexes to the end of the 18th century to the London Two Weeks Meetings (mainly marriages, but some certificate of removal) or London Six Weeks Meeting (recording disownments in the London area). They don't appear in the indexes to the Journal of Friends Historical Society, Russell Mortimer's edition of the Bristol Men's Meeting minutes to 1704, or Hinshaw's American Quaker Genealogy volumes for New York or Philadelphia in the right period. (Admittedly the latter only cover some monthly meetings within the yearly meeting). They are not in our indexes to signatories to epistles received from other yearly meetings by London YM to 1801; we have none in our Dictionary of Quaker Biography (either existing or intended entries); there are none in `Ministers deceased 1700-1843' (LSF MS Vol 13). None appear in our card-catalogues of printed or manuscript material (although we wouldn't want to claim that these are anything like complete) with the exception of some Irish, non-Quaker, 20th century Sheehy Skeffingtons. I did wonder whether they might have been Irish Friends, but there is nothing in Olive Goodbody's Guide to Irish Quaker records (Dublin 1967) or Quaker records, Dublin: abstracts of wills (Dublin 1957).

NEWFOUNDLAND. Apart from the 1656 references in JFHS (above), nothing in this period. There are a good many references in the Pendle Hill index to Thomas & William Evans, eds., The Friends library (Philadelphia, 1837-1850, 14 vols) to the banks of Newfoundland, but little to the land (and none to Skeffingtons). The only useful section, and you will know it already, comes in vol 14 pp 3-4, `Brief memoir of the life of John Croker' (1672-1727), which had first been published in ¯Barclay's select series vol 6 (London, 1839), and recounts his capture by French privateers in 1689 or 1690, sailing from Pennsylvania to Newcastle upon Tyne. He was stranded with others on an island off the coast of Newfoundland, and from there got to the mainland (TC Note - i.e. main island- Nfld.), to `Renuse' where there was an English settlement, and by `Todes Cove', another fishing settlement to St. John's. We have a manuscript "Something by way of journal or part of the life of John Croker" (LSF MS Box D3/5): this is clearly a copy, since the journal and some later letters with an account of his death are all in the same hand (18th century). The `Brief memoir' follows the manuscript in general terms; although spelling, grammar and sentence structure have been revised and modernised in a number of places for smoothness, the information all seems to be there. Francis Dymond contributed an article `John Croker' to Friends quarterly examiner 1887, pp 225-249, but apart from a few sentences on Croker's ancestors it is taken directly from the `Brief memoir'.

I'm sorry nothing more useful turned up: if it should. I'll let you know; and if you discover more of George Skeffington, we would be interested to hear.

Yours sincerely,

Malcolm Thomas

Librarian

Two pages of references entitled NEWFOUNDLAND dated 9 ii 1990 included with the above letter from London Friends House: [TC Note- I believe it was my letter of inquiry into Quakerism which prompted them to begin a file on Newfoundland, likewise I believe my inquiry here in Ontario caused the creation of a separate Newfoundland file.]

PAGE 1.

There appear to be few references to Newfoundland itself, although a good many to Friends crossing the Atlantic passing the banks of Newfoundland and often meeting fishing vessels there. There is, for example, nothing in Arthur G. Dorland, The Quakers in Canada: a history. (Toronto, 1927, repr 1968), although at the time of writing Newfoundland was not, of course, a part of Canada.

1656.

Esther Biddle (1629?-1696) there. "Alsoe this yeere Capt: Marshall & Jo: Parrott: & others went for Turkey: & Esther Beedle: to new founde lande:" (Norman Penney, ed., Journal of George Fox (Cambridge, 1911) vol 2 p 334.

"There is an English shipp come in here from Newfoundland. The master hath beene on board of us. There is not, they say, one person in the shipp, officer or marriner, but are all Quakers. I feare they will meete with affronts from these people, and I heare they have beene in danger alreadye for not putting off their hatts to the Portugueses, when they have saluted them in the streetes." (Letter, E. Montagu to Secretary Thurloe, 16 Sept 1656, aboard the Naseby in the Bay of Wyers, in the River of Lisbone, State papers of John Thurloe vol 5 p 422, quoted in JFHS vol 8 no 4 (Oct 1911).

1689/90:

"Something by way of journal or part of the life of John Croker (1672-1727)." (LSF MS Box D3/5): copy (18th century). This or a similar manuscript forms the basis for `Brief memoirs of the life of John Croker' in John Barclay, ed., Barclay's select series vol 6 (London, 1839), pp 290-297 and Thomas and William Evans, eds., The Friends library (Philadelphia, 1837-1850, 14 vols) vol 14 pp 3-5. Francis Dymond, `John Croker' Friends quarterly examiner 1887, pp 225-249, apart from a few sentences on Croker's ancestors adds nothing to the `Brief memoir'.

1700:

"... several ministers from other parts of America visited the meetings in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys. Among these may be noticed George Skeffington of Newfoundland, in 1700..." (James Bowden, The History of the Society of Friends in America vol 2 pp 231-232). Philadelphia MM minutes as edited in Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Publications, vol 6 (1917) state (p73): "George Sheffington [sic) late of Newfoundland having been travelling upon the service of Truth in these parts, appeared at this meeting signifying his departure and desired a Certificate from us to friends, where he may have occasion to travel, whereupon Thomas Storey, Nicholas Waln, & Griffith Owen or any two of them are desired to write him one and sign it, with as many more friends as are free on behalf of this meeting..." (The spelling has been modernised; the original minute reads `Skeffington' and includes the underlined phrase.)

1700-1729:

Henry J. Cadbury, `Mr. Skeffington', Friendly heritage, 1972, pp 81-83, on George Skeffington at Bonavista, surrendering an island to the French in 1705. He may also have been at Quidimity (?). He had a grant of the salmon fishery in Newfoundland until 1729.

PAGE 2.

SOURCES FOR WHICH INDEXES WERE CHECKED FOR REFERENCES TO NEWFOUNDLAND.

London YM minutes: none.

London Yearly Meeting for Sufferings minutes: vol 33 (Feb 1772: Quaker books to be sent, through Moses Neave of Poole, for deposit at a library in Placentia, Newfoundland."

London YM Epistles Received: none.

LSF MS and printed books card-indexes: none.

Journal of Friends Historical Society vols 8 p 169; 9 p91; 25 pp 36, 48; Supplement 24 p 16.

Thomas & William Evans, eds., The Friends library (Philadelphia, 1837-1850, 14 vols):

vol 2 p 125 William Edmondson.

vol 3 pp 346-348 Thomas Shillitoe, 1826.

vol 4 p 208 Sarah Stephenson, 1801.

vol 4 p 271 Henry Hull, 1810.

vol 5 pp 380, 420 John Griffith, 1750 & 1765.

vol 6 p 37 Thomas Chalkley, 1719.

vol 8 p 65 Thomas Scattergood, 1794.

vol 11 p 151 John Burnyeat, 1673.

vol 12 p 426 Martha Routh, 1794. [TC Note check Richard Routh, Loyalist & Nfld Chief Justice].

vol 14 pp 3-5 John Croker, 1689/90.

All except the last referring to the Banks of Newfoundland, or the sea between Newfoundland and the British Isles.

see also letter to T. Cole, 8 ii 1990 (LIBRARY CORR).

Public Archives of Canada

395 Wellington St.

Ottawa

K1A 0N3

Letter dated 18 Feb 1990 re: French documents.

Quaker records in NC, the "Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy" by William Wade Hinshaw is an excellent source for NC Quakers.  It contains the records and minutes of 33 monthly meetings of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends.  I found the volume at my local library, and I'm sure most larger libraries would have it.   

You might also check the "Quaker Corner"  at http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/ .  I ordered some records from Jerry Richland through this site, and they arrived promptly and were also quite reasonable.

 The Quaker Family History Society is at http://www.qfhs.mcmail.com/

The Quaker (Society of Friends) site is at http://www.quaker.org.uk/

 Both these are listed on the Hampshire Family History site http://website.lineone.net/~hantshistory

Poole Parish

Dorset Record Office

Catalogue Ref. PE/PL

Creator(s):
Church of England, Poole Parish, Dorset
CHURCHWARDENS
Rates - ref. PE/PL/CW 2
COURT ORDERS

FILE-Court Order for distraining the goods of Joseph White, Richard Croker, Samual White, Thomas Nickleson, William Beshand, William Harrison, William Harrison the younger, Richard Paul and Thomas Knowles, all Quakers, for non payment of the rates - ref. PE/PL/CW 2/2/1 - date: 1766.
 

FILE-Court Order for distraining the goods of Samual White the elder, a quaker, for non payment of the rates - ref. PE/PL/CW 2/2/3 - date: 1774.

Also in Hampshire Quaker marriages dated 1663-1837 are a lot of Nfld. Trinity surnames i.e. Bayley, Moore, Rolles, Knight, Blunden, Mosley, Naftel, Martin, Strong, Embree, Curtis, White, Ford, Jewer, Lester, Pike, Vallis, Bemester, Tuffin, Penney, Randall, Sweetapple, Ayles to name a few quaker. 

Also, quite a few early Trinity surnames are showing up in the Hampshire 1663-1837 Quaker marriages i.e. Bayley 1677; Moore 1699; Rolles; Knight; Mosley; Martin; Dawes; Strong; Embree; White; Ford; Jewer, Lester 1709; Pike, Vallis; Tuffin 1689; Penney; Randall 1677; Browne; Ayles; Sweetapple. 

Hampshire Quaker registers 1663-1837 are at the PRO (Kew) in Class RG 6. They have been filmed by the LDS, and Hampshire Record Office holds microfilm copies. 

All Quaker marriages in Hampshire 1663-1837 are indexed on my website

http://website.lineone.net/~hantshistory/ 

Quakers kept many detailed records in addition to the registers.  Those for Hampshire are at Hampshire Record Office. 

Alan McGowan

Further to my earlier message, Hampshire Record Office holds Digests of Quaker registers (reference 4M54/25,26).  The Digests provide indexes to the registers of all Quaker meetings in Dorset and Hampshire.  They are not strictly alphabetical, but are arranged by the first letter of the surname.  They cover births, marriages, and burials 1638-1837. 

The following are Somerset and Dorset people mentioned in a will of 1683 from White Lackington, Dorset.  I recognise three of them as being from Quaker families. It is therefore possible that some of the others are also non-conformist and hence may not appear in the usual parish records. 

Diana 

William BENNET of Crewkerne

Malachi BLAKE of Pitminster, gent

Walter BOVET of Winsham, gent

Richard DALTON of West Chinnock

Elizabeth HASELWOOD

William HUNT of Ilminster, schoolmaster

Mary HUTCHINGS, widow

Mary JENNINGS of Curry Rivel, Mrs.,

Thomas MARSH of Ilminster

Thomas MARSHAL of Ilminster

Jone TYLER of Winsham

George WOOD

John TURNER of Crickett, minister

__ BACKALLER of Chard, minister

Jo GALPIN of Ash Priors, minister 

The witnesses to the will were:

Elizabeth BAILEY

Hannah BENNETT

Wm BENNETT

Jo CHASE

Margaret CHASE

Although these were probably servants, it is also possible that they were non-conformist, especially as two have the same surname as one of the beneficiaries (BENNETT). 

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From: Diana Trenchard  

QUAKERS

SCATTERGOOD IN LEWES, SUSSEX:

When Thomas Scattergood visited the meeting on Sunday 25th February 1789 he was not impressed. He had been born in New Jersey in 1748. As a young man he yielded to the corrupt inclinations of the vain mind, indulging in folly and forming associations, the tendency of which was to alienate him from a serious and self-denying life. Although later he was troubled by an incident when, as a schoolboy, he stole apples, it seems that the worst that he did was to indulge in sailing on the Delaware river on Sunday afternoons. After some years of trying to resist the call he devoted himself to the ministry. His tender conscience and willingness to confront others with what he considered as their failings now makes him appear an unattractive character, but it seems that he was much loved and admired in his day. Eventually he came to England where he remained for 6 years.

the Quaker Meeting House in Poole, an influential group of about 100 people in the 1700s. 

Thomas Chalkley (1675-1741) Quaker preacher.