Spence

On 22 July 1824, with her sister Mary, she left home for school at Doncaster. On 15 July 1828, with her parents, her eleven siblings, and three servants, she went to Newcastle by steam.^1A

In mid 1830 she fell ill with the measles, and was confined to bed at the same time as seven of her sisters.²

She married [M3] Joseph Watson on the 12^th March 1835, at the meeting house in North Shields; it was a most interesting occasion, as she was married in a double wedding with her sister, exciting quite a sensation in the town. On the eve of her wedding she had written to Joseph:

They had twelve children: Lucy (1836), [M2] Robert Spence (1837), Esther Mary (1838), Joseph (1840), William Joshua (1841), Sarah Jane (1842, Township of Elswick), Emily (1844, b. Elswick Villas, near Newcastle-on-Tyne), Charles John (1846, b. Elswick Villas), Ellen (or Helen) (1848, b. & d. Gresham Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne), Sarah Anna (1849, b. 1 Gresham Place), Herbert (1852, b. 2 Gresham Place), and Gertrude (1854, Gresham Place); all births were recorded by Durham Quarterly Meeting, the two eldest (at least) being born at (probably 8) Claremont Place, Gateshead.⁴

She wrote a list of ‘Questions for her children, at the close of the sabbath day’:

In November 1835 she was one of two Newcastle women appointed to attend Monthly Meeting. In December 1840 she signed the testimony to Margaret Bragg, at Newcastle Monthly Meeting. In 1841 and 1860 she was named in the wills of her father and her husband.⁵

The 1841 census recorded Sarah Watson at Summerhill Terrace, Westgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, living with her husband, four children, two servants, and a third person, probably also a servant.^5A

At the latter end of May 1842 Sarah and her family spent a week visiting her father in North Shields. While there they visited the supposedly haunted Willington Mill, on 23 May.^5B

Robert's friend Henry Tuke Mennell reflected that Robert inherited from his mother "that character of loving sympathy which we all realised and so much appreciated" in her; the "great attraction to that home to us young people was the mother, the most loving and lovable of women" . . .⁷

In 1848 her daughter Sarah Jane died at Gresham Place, Newcastle. In April and October 1849, March 1852, April 1853, February 1854 and August 1858 she attended Monthly Meeting, on behalf of Newcastle Women’s Preparative Meeting. In March 1850 she recorded a memorandum:

This is the fifteenth anniversary of our marriage. May the year now commencing bear, as its close (if life be permitted us), a fairer retrospect for myself, of duties more fully performed towards my dearest husband and children. May I endeavour, with better help, to be a more true helpmate to him than I have hitherto been, endeavouring, as best I can, to lighten or share his many and arduous cares. Oh! how I long that we may help each other in the pursuit of better and more enduring things than any which this world can offer.^7A

The 1851 census recorded her living at 2 Gresham Place, Saint Andrew, Newcastle upon Tyne, with her husband, five children, and two house servants. Shortly after October 1853 her father’s estate was finally wound up, upon the last of her siblings attaining their majority; Sarah was presumably the beneficiary of 1/11^th (a bit over Ł2000). In October 1856 she recorded her thoughts on the vanity of speculation about the afterlife.^7B

By 1861 Sarah was living at Bensham Grove with her family. She was one of the two Newcastle women who attended Monthly Meeting at Sunderland in July 1862. In April she took her son Herbert to school in York, staying at Scawin’s Hotel; she wrote him a letter of advice, and wrote again when he left school in March 1865. In January 1866 she similarly wrote ‘a few words of love and counsel’ to Gertrude, on her starting school. At the time of the 1871 census she was living at Bensham Grove with her husband, three daughters, brother-in-law, and three servants. She died there on the 15^th August 1871; she died of dysentery, followed by four days' diarrhoea. She had been very feeble for many months, but was still well enough to entertain the idea of going to Rothbury, when she became suddenly worse. For the final days of her life she was quite unconscious. Her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Spence Watson, recorded that 'so lovely did she look in death, so peaceful & happy that we could indeed believe that Death had for her been robbed of its sting.' She was buried in Jesmond Cemetery on the 17^th of August - a large number of friends following her to the grave.⁸

Among the sentiments expressed in correspondence to Joseph after her death were the following: ‘Your dear wife was one of the very earliest of the friends whom Mrs. R---- made on coming to Newcastle, and she has always retained a grateful recollection of the many acts of considerate kindness then shewn her.’ [She was] ‘simple and unpretending’, and ‘one whose unaffected kindness rendered my two years in Newcastle one of the happiest portions of my life; indeed, your house was more my home than anything else.’ ‘. . . her piety, sincere and deep-rooted as it was, was unobtrusive, and was shewn by acts rather than words.’ . . . ‘whilst her hopes for eternity were fixed upon her God and Saviour, her earthly affections were all ours.’ ‘It was a life that seemed so beautifully, as far as I can judge, to have fulfilled its purpose, and one therefore, which God will find, some higher sphere to fill in the perfect life.’^8A

*** For an exhaustive treatment of the lives of Joseph and Sarah Watson, you are welcome to download this .pdf file. Note that it is a very large file - 21 Mb. ***

3 Spence (1939); Dictionary of Quaker Biography; PRO RG 6/527, /1245; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 169; In Memoriam Sarah Watson

4 DQB; RG 6/1149; The British Friend; Percy Corder (1914) The Life of Robert Spence Watson. London: Headley

5 Minutes of Newcastle Preparative Meeting (Women’s) 1834–1878, TWAS MF 194; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 169; Death Duty Registers, PRO (IR 26&27)/1722; husband's will

7A daughter’s death certificate; minutes of Newcastle Preparative Meeting (Women’s) 1834–1878, TWAS MF 194; In Memoriam Sarah Watson

7B HO 107/2405 f74 p68; father’s will, PRO PROB 11/2080; In Memoriam Sarah Watson

8 daughter's death certificate; Corder (1914); census returns (1861: RG 9/3800 f39 p27, 1871: RG 10/5051 f. 64 p. 25), death certificate, DQB, Gateshead Observer 19 Aug 1871, Elizabeth Spence Watson: 'Family Chronicles/Home Records', and supplement; minutes of Newcastle Preparative Meeting (Women’s) 1834–1878, TWAS MF 194; In Memoriam Sarah Watson

N2. ROBERT SPENCE

Robert Spence was born on the 10^th February 1784, at Whaite Mill House, Hartwith come Winsley, Kirby Malzard, Yorks. The house still exists, though it is now somewhat dilapidated.¹

Around 1788-9 he was inoculated against smallpox. He was, however, already infected, and came down with the disease, during which he was blind for eleven days.²

He was taught locally at first, then for a time at a boarding school at Burntyeats. From 1794 to 1796 he was at Ackworth school, still usually residing at Hartwith. He then went on to Gildersome school for a year (he was there in April 1797).³

He became apprenticed in the drapery business to his brother John Spence of Yarm, where he next went. While there, he formed an attachment with a young woman "of a very respectable family, but her circumstances in life rather low." Following the disapproval of his relatives, he eventually broke it off. In 1804, shortly before his apprenticeship expired, he was released to go into partnership with Joseph Procter as a linen and woollen draper in North Shields. On putting up his share of the capital, he was to take of the profits from the 1^st April 1805.⁵

In August 1807 he visited William Wordsworth; from a later period (1829 and 1835) two letters survive from Wordsworth to Robert Spence, referring to his father-in-law Robert Foster.⁶

In 1808 he lived at the Wooden Bridge. In April 1809 he was made an overseer of the poor for North Shields. In the next month he suffered an attack of typhus fever. In November 1808, in March, September and December 1809, and in January, March, June and July 1810, he was one of two representatives from Shields at Newcastle Monthly Meeting. In September 1809 he was one of four Monthly Meeting representatives to Quarterly Meeting.⁷

On 11 August 1808 Robert wrote to Robert Foster, desiring to visit Hebblethwaite now that Foster had learned of his attachment to his daughter Mary; the sensitively written letter appears defensive, as he should have spoken with Foster first. In July 1810 Monthly Meeting appointed David Sutton, Joseph Unthank and Thomas Robson to inquire into Robert’s clearness to marry. No obstacles were found, and on the 29^th August 1810 he married [N22] Mary Foster, at Brigflats meeting house. Not long afterwards the business of Procter & Spence, Woollen drapers, and agents for Sir Cha^s Loraine & C^o was removed from the Wooden Bridge (the Low Street) to the house at the corner of Howard Street and Tyne Street. The ground floor was converted into a shop, and Robert and Mary lived upstairs. The business sold a wide range of items, including bombaziene, tartan, carpet and hats.⁸

The couple had 18 children, though not all survived: Mary (1811), Mary (1813), [N1] Sarah (1814), Elizabeth Foster (1815), Rachel (1816), Robert (1817), John Foster (1818), Joseph (1819), Thomas (1821), Jane (1822), Ann (1824), Margaret (1824), Ann (1825), Margaret (1825), Hannah Maria (1827), Frances (1829), Emma (1830), and Lucy Fisher (1832); all were born at Howard Street, North Shields. At the registration of each birth (1811-32) Robert was described as a draper (in 1815 a linen & woollen draper, specifically).⁹

In October 1810, in February, April and November 1811, and in February, July, August and September 1812, he was one of the Shields representatives to Monthly Meeting. In September 1811 he was appointed as a Monthly Meeting representative to Quarterly Meeting. In August 1812 he first signed the Monthly Meeting minutes as Clerk. On the 7^th January 1813 he appeared before the Lieutenant at Newcastle on account of being balloted for the local Militia.¹⁰

In November 1813, in March, May, September, November and December 1814, July and September 1815, in June, August, November and December 1816, in July, October and December 1817, and in January, March, May, August, October and December 1818 he was a Shields representative to Monthly Meeting. From December 1814 Myles Birket Foster was his assistant Clerk. That quarter Robert was one of the four representatives to Quarterly Meeting, as he was again in June 1816, September 1817 (with David Sutton), and December 1817. In February 1818 he stood down as Clerk in favour of Myles Birket Foster.^10A

In 1818 his business diversified: on the 1^st August he went into copartnership with Chapmans as the North and South Shields Bank. After this date he is often alternatively described as a banker.¹¹

In August, October and December 1818, in July and September 1819, in January, March, June, September and November 1820, in May, August and November 1820, in May, August and November 1821, in January and March 1822, and in February 1823 he was a Shields representative to Monthly Meeting. He represented Newcastle Monthly Meeting at Quarterly Meeting in June 1819, June 1820 and June 1822. In January 1820 he was reappointed as Clerk to Newcastle Monthly Meeting, with Jonathan Priestman as his assistant.^11A

In April 1821 he was a legatee and co-executor of the will of Robert Foster.¹²

In May 1823 he went to London, to present an anti-slavery petition to the House of Commons. By June 1823 he was no longer Clerk to Newcastle Monthly Meeting, but he represented Shields there that month and December 1823, as well as in July and September 1824, in March, April, July, September, and November 1825, in February, May and November 1826, and in January, March, May, August, October and December 1827. He acted as clerk at the May and September 1825, February 1826, and October 1827 meetings. In November 1824 he was executor of the well of Thomas Kettlewell, ship-owner of North Shields. In February 1826 he received a letter from Isaac Crewdson, requesting a banking apprenticeship for his nephew. Over April/May 1827 he spent a week in Scotland. In August that year he acted as coexecutor of Robert Foster’s will; he himself was left Ł1,200, but from this had to pay an annuity of Ł40 to Margaret Foster. That year his business appeared in the local directory as ‘Robert Spence & Co., linen & woollen drapers, Howard street, North Shields.’ In January 1828 he was appointed an overseer by Newcastle Monthly Meeting. He was one of the two Newcastle representatives to Monthly Meeting in March, July and October 1828, and one of four representing Newcastle at Quarterly Meeting in Darlington that June. In October, described as a draper of Newcastle, he was listed as one of the trustees of the meeting house and burial ground. He was regularly subject to seizures for non-payment of church rates - for example, a distress warrant was issued against him for Ł1.3s.4d, on the 30^th December 1828. He attended Monthly Meeting in February, May, July, September, and December 1829, in February, June, September (twice), and December 1830. By August 1829 he was Treasurer of the North and South Shields Ferry Company. In March 1830 he was one of three men appointed to enquire into Edward Richardson’s clearness to marry. On the 17^th May 1830 he had an interview with the Duke of Wellington, in North Shields. He attended Monthly Meeting in February, October, and December 1831. On New Year’s Eve of 1831 he petitioned the trustees of Lord Crewe’s Charity, as secretary to the Committee for relief of the indigent, North Shields. He represented Newcastle at Monthly Meeting in April, August, October and December 1832, in January, June, August, and October 1833, and in February, May, July, August, and December 1834. In August 1834 he spent a week touring Scotland, including a visit to General Meeting for Scotland at Edinburgh.¹³

With Myles Foster, he bought the goodwill of ‘the Raff’, an old timber business, for Ł600; they were partners as ‘Spence & Foster, Raff Merchants’; they kept a yard for water-seasoning floating timber, near Milburn Place, North Shields. But in May 1829 he and Foster advertised that they had declined the business of raff-merchants and canvas agents at North & South Shields. In November 1830 he chaired a meeting of the inhabitants of North Shields at Ward’s, Commercial Hotel, Howard Street, to consider setting up a subscription for the wives and families of seamen shipwrecked, or returned in unsuccessful ships from Greenland, belonging to the port of Newcastle; he became a committee member, and subscribed Ł2. By Christmas 1830 he was Chairman of the North and South Shields Fire Assurance Company. In February 1831 a public meeting set up the Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Shipwrecked Mariners; Robert was one of three trustees and a committee member; he donated Ł5 and gave an annual subscription of Ł1. In October 1831 he was a freeholder signatory to an open letter to the High Sheriff of Northumberland, requesting a meeting to discuss the Reform Bill. In December 1831 he was appointed Treasurer to the Tynemouth soup kitchen.¹⁸

The Spence household kept three servants; one, who was with them from about 1833 to 1840, was an escaped slave from Virginia.¹⁴

In July 1835 Robert chaired a meeting of the North Shields Auxiliary Bible Society, in the Baptist chapel. In January 1836 he was one of those desiring a meeting for opposing the Newcastle to North Shields railway being for passengers only, not coal, as was the local staple.^14A

Robert was present at Monthly Meeting in February, May, September, and November 1835, in March 1836, in April, June, July, and December 1837. At the July 1837 Monthly Meeting he was given responsibility for burial notes and birth statements for Shields. In June, September, and December 1837, with Mary, he represented Newcastle at the Monthly Meeting of Ministers and Elders; both were Elders, and both continued to attend these meetings every three months until December 1841. Robert was one of the two Shields representatives to Monthly Meeting in May, August, and September 1839, in August and October 1840, and in February and December 1841. In June 1839 and February 1841 he was one of the four Monthly Meeting representatives to Quarterly Meeting. In December 1840 he signed the testimony to Margaret Bragg, at the Monthly Meeting in Newcastle. In March 1842 he was one of the two representatives to Monthly Meeting of Ministers and Elders, at Sunderland; Mary joined him in this capacity for the next four meetings (held quarterly), and for the last two meetings of 1843, though he had a different companion in June that year; Robert attended all but the first meeting of 1844, accompanied in September by Mary; both attended the June 1845 meeting, which proved to be Robert’s last.¹⁵

In 1838 the banking business amalgamated with a Sunderland bank as the Newcastle, Shields and Sunderland Union Joint Stock Banking Company. The goodwill of Chapmans was sold for Ł20,000. The North Shields branch continued to work almost independently, with Robert Spence as manager until 1845. The bank's address in 1847 (presumably as it was in Robert's lifetime) was 10 Howard Street, North Shields. It was in 1847 that the bank failed, its business being picked up by Woods & Co., and later absorbed into Barclay's.¹⁶

In January 1838 he chaired a meeting of the Indigent Sick Society. My March he was on the provisional committee of the Tyne Dock Company. In November he chaired the monthly meeting of the Tynemouth Natural History Society. In early July 1839 chaired a public meeting in the Library Room, Howard Street, which set up a subscription for relief to the families of the victims of the ‘disastrous calamity’ at Hilda Wallsend Colliery; he subscribed Ł5.0.0. On the 20^th January 1841 Robert Spence, banker of North Shields, made his will, with provision for his wife, and a trust for his children during their minority. Robert Spence was first treasurer under the Shields Town Improvement Act, and was Borough Treasurer for Tynemouth after the incorporation; in this capacity he had to pay the town watchmen. He was also in charge of the town fire engine. He was a manager of the Jubilee and Kettlewell schools. He was an advocate of gas lighting for North Shields.¹⁷

He absolutely forbade singing in his house, and strongly disapproved of 'theatre'.¹⁹

He was one of the most respected residents in his adopted town, ably filling many of its public offices. His presence, rendered conspicuous by his height, his long white hair, and the somewhat dignified gait enjoined by the Quakerism of that day, was long remembered by some of the older inhabitants of the harbour towns. He was a man of considerable literary taste and culture, and the valuable collections of books and manuscripts which were made by his son owed their origin to him. Among them is the original manuscript of The Journal of George Fox.²¹

His kindness extended itself to all around him in a remarkable degree, but the privations of the poor especially excited his warm sympathy, and he was much occupied not only in giving them personal relief but also in devising and assisting various benevolent associations for the amelioration of their condition. The regard which was born for him was shown by the general closing of the shops on the day of his funeral.²²

On the 2nd August 1845 he made a codicil to his will, amending provision for his wife and children. After an attack of dizziness and a severe fall, and having been twice bled, he died at 7:30 pm on the 17^th August 1845, in Howard Street, Tynemouth. He was buried on the 22^nd at Stephenson Street, North Shields. His will, made in January 1841, was proved at Durham on the 9^th October 1845, and in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on the 8^th August 1848. His estate was sworn under Ł25,000.²³

1 PRO RG 6/789, /1571; Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence; my own knowledge or hypothesis

3 Spence (1939); Ackworth School Centenary Committee (1879) List of the Boys and Girls admitted into Ackworth School 1779-1879, Ackworth

6 Spence (1939); Ernest de Selincourt, ed. (1967-82): The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, 2^nd edⁿ, Oxford)

7 Spence (1939), TNA PRO RG 6/710, RG 6/1562; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 167 & 168

9 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); Robert Spence letters in possession of Peter Robson; RG 6/628, /775, /1149

11 Spence (1939); Death Duty Registers, PRO (IR26&27)/1125; Dictionary of Quaker Biography; death certificate; PRO (IR 26&27)/1722; wife's death certificate; children's entries in marriage digest; sons’ marriage certificates

13 Minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 169; Spence, op. cit., Durham Probate Records (Robert Foster, 1827); History, Directory and Gazetteer of Durham and Northumberland; petition in Northumberland Record Office, catalogued in www.a2a.org.uk; The Newcastle Courant, 1824-11-20, issue 7728, 1829-02-21, issue 8040, 1829-08-15, issue 8064

15 Minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 169; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting of Ministers & Elders, TWAS MF 180; Robert Spence letters to Robert Foster, in my possession

16 Spence (1939); White's Newcastle & Gateshead Directory, 1847; Memoirs of John Wigham Richardson

17 The Newcastle Courant, 1838-01-26, issue 8515, 1838-03-02, issue 8520, 1838-11-16, issue 8557, 1839-07-05, issue 8590; Northern Liberator, issue 91, 1839-07-13; will, TNA PRO PROB 11/2080; Spence (1939)

18 Spence (1939); Myles B. Foster (1860) Ms Memoir of Robert Foster; The Newcastle Courant, 1829-05-23, issue 8053, 1830-11-27, issue 8131, 1830-12-25, issue 8135, 1831-03-19 & 1831-04-02, issues 8147 & 8149, 1831-10-08, issue 8176, 1831-12-24, issue 8187

21 Welford (1875) Men of Mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed. London: Walter Scott, III:426

23 Will, TNA PROB 11/2080; Spence (1939); death certificate; PRO (IR 26&27)/1722; death/burial digest; PROB 11/1280

N3. ROBERT SPENCE

Robert Spence was born on the 6^th August 1742, at Darley, Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire. He was brought up a Friend.¹

He married, first, Deborah Hardcastle, at Dacre in Netherdale, on the 1^st December 1774. They had two children: John (1775) and Hannah (1777).²

In 1779 he inherited his father's copyhold estate, except for the cross building, as well as half the residue of the estate; he was co-executor of his father's will with his brother John.³

He married as his second wife [N14] Sarah Walker , at Gildersome, Yorks., on the 30^th April 1783; he was at that date a butcher, of Hartwith, Kirby Malzard, Yorks. - which he remained till his death (in 1795, 1797 and 1810 he was described as a yeoman). They had six children: [N2] Robert (1784), Thomas (1785), Abraham (1786), Thomas (1788), Rachel (1790), and Sarah (1792).⁴

He made his will on 22 June 1793, with codicils on 30 July. Together they are summarised in the following terms:

He was of a remarkably generous disposition and this used sometimes to lead him into errors; his open free and easy manners were a disadvantage to him, and the means of leading him more into company than was profitable.⁵

He died on the 9^th September 1793, after two apoplectic fits. His body was buried at Hardcastle Garth on the 12^th.⁶

N4. JOSEPH SPENCE

Joseph Spence was born on the 1^st April 1715, at Menwith Hill, Hampsthwaite, Yorks.¹

He married [N11] Grace Bramley on the 10^th June 1739, at Dacre; at that date he still lived at Menwith Hill. Their children were: Joseph (1740/1), [N3] Robert (1742), Mary (1744), John (1746), Grace (1749), Mary (1754), Sarah (1755), and Rachel (1761).²

His circumstances as to this world's wealth were during the early part of his life and for a considerable time after his marriage, rather straightened, yet by an unremitting attention to business frugality and industry, he was in the course of a few years enabled, not only to exercise the rights of hospitality to his friends, but to give to his children as their necessities required it, such assistance as set them comfortably forward in life.³

In November 1769 Joseph Spence, of Menwith Cum Darley, made his will. He left Ł8.00 p.a. to his wife Grace Spence; also the enjoyment rent-free of the two low rooms in the cross building or Heckling shop, a new feather-bed and bedding, one cupboard, the clock, a long table, and anything else she thought proper to furnish her a room; he left his son Robert the copyhold estate he then lived on, including all the appurtenances, except the cross building; he left the cross building - the two upper rooms & the Heckling shop - to his son John, and on the death of Grace also the two Cow (low?) rooms in the said building; to his daughter Grace Dowgil Ł200, to his daughter Sarah Spence Ł200, to his daughter Rachel Spence Ł200; to his brother Abraham twenty shillings p.a.; the residue to be divided between Robert & John.⁴

In 1774 he was described as a linen weaver of Darley, Hampsthwaite; in 1779 he was said to have been a shopkeeper.⁵

He died on the 4^th February 1779, and was buried at Dacre Friends' burying-ground on the 8^th.⁶

1 Digest of Births, Yorks.; Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends’ House Library, typescript) – which says birth on 2^nd March 1714/15 or 1715/16; PRO RG 6/1571

N5. JOSEPH SPENCE

He married, firstly, [N10] Sarah ____ , in 1700. They lived at Menwith Hill, Hampsthwaite. They had seven children: John (1701), Abraham (1703), Mary (1706), Hannah (1710), Sarah (1710/1), Rachel (1713), and [N4] Joseph (1714/5).²

He married, secondly, Hannah Hardcastle, in 1717. Their children, born in Yorkshire, were: Peter (1718/9) and Abraham (1719).³

1-4 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); PRO RG 6/1091

N6. JOHN SPENCE

John Spence was born in 1633 and baptised in Hampsthwaite. He joined the Society of Friends by convincement.¹

He married [N9] Mary Inman on the 30^th December 1660, at Henry Settle's, Harefield, in Netherdale. At that time he lived at Menwith Hill, Hampsthwaite; he was later recorded as living in Darley. Their children were: John (1663), Mary (1666), Hannah (1668), Sarah (1670), Rachel (1672/3), [N5] Joseph (1677), and Abraham (1679); all were born in Yorkshire.²

In 1682 "At a Quarter Sessions held at Wetherby on the 9th and 10th of the Eleventh Month, eighty one Persons, summoned thither by Warrants, appeared, and were told by the Clerk, that they were severally indicted for Absence from their Parish-Churches, and required to traverse their Indictment, which they refusing to do, the Court tendred to them all the Oath of Allegiance, and upon their Refusal to take it, committed them to Prison, namely /. . . / John Spence" . . .³

He was imprisoned in York Castle for non-payment of tithes, and died there on the 4^th August 1696. His body was buried the next day in York Friends' burying-ground.⁴

1 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript), Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence

3 Joseph Besse (1998) Sufferings of Early Quakers. Yorkshire 1652 to 1690. York: William Sessions

N7. GEORGE SPENCE

George Spence lived in Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire, married [N8] ____ ____ , and died in 1657. Their children were: Christopher (1631), [N6] John (1633), and five others.¹

1 parish register; Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript). He was either born and baptised in Hampsthwaite in 1605, son of Leonard Spence [Dictionary of Quaker Biography & parish register], or baptised in Hampsthwaite on the 20^th March 1612/3, son of John Spenc [parish register].

N8. ____ SPENCE born ____

____ ____ married [N7] George Spence. Their children were: Christopher (1631), [N6] John (1633), and five others.¹

N9. MARY SPENCE born INMAN

She married [N6] John Spence on the 30^th December 1660, at Henry Settle's, Harefield in Netherdale. Their children were: John (1663), Mary (1666), Hannah (1668), Sarah (1670), Rachel (1672/3), [N5] Joseph (1677), and Abraham (1679); all were born in Yorkshire.²

On the 12^th June 1670 she was apparently fined under the Conventicle Act for attendance at meeting at Bainbrigg Pastures.³

1-2 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); PRO RG 6/1091

3 Joseph Besse (1998) Sufferings of Early Quakers. Yorkshire 1652 to 1690. York: William Sessions

N10. SARAH SPENCE born ____

Sarah ____ married [N5] Joseph Spence in 1700, and lived at Menwith Hill, Hampsthwaite. They had seven children: John (1701), Abraham (1703), Mary (1706), Hannah (1710), Sarah (1710/1), Rachel (1713), and [N4] Joseph (1714/5).¹

N11. GRACE SPENCE born BRAMLEY

She married [N4] Joseph Spence on the 10^th June 1739, at Dacre. Their children were: Joseph (1740/1), [N3] Robert (1742), Mary (1744), John (1746), Grace (1749), Mary (1754), Sarah (1755), and Rachel (1761).²

N12. ROBERT BRAMLEY

Robert Bramley lived at Whitmore House, Bramley Head, Fourstone, Yorkshire, in 1713 and 1739.¹

1-2 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); PRO RG 6/1571

N13. CHRISTOPHER BRAMLEY

In 1655 Christopher Bramley was imprisoned in York Castle for six months for speaking to the priest of Usborne; also in the same year he was imprisoned for 17 months as a contemner of magistracy for asking "Whether any Persecutor feared God."¹

In 1656, then living in 'Wheikesley' (Whixley), Christopher Bramley, "for going to a meeting upon the first day of the week, was sett in ye stocks by the Constable of ye same Town by warrt from the sd. Justice Dickinson, where he was kept for 6 houres."²

In the 11^th & 12^th months of 1660 he was among 229 West Riding Quakers imprisoned for refusing to take the oath of allegiance. In 12^th month 1661, still a resident of Whixley, he was imprisoned in York Castle for tithes.³

1-2 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); Joseph Besse (1998) Sufferings of Early Quakers. Yorkshire 1652 to 1690. York: William Sessions. An account found on the Internet gives more detail [accessed 2009-02-02; in an email to me the source has been identified as Edmund Bogg (1894) From Eden Vale to the Plains of York]:

N14. SARAH SPENCE born WALKER

Sarah Walker was born on the 8^th June 1760, at Driglington, Birstal, Yorkshire. She was brought up a Friend.¹

She married [N3] Robert Spence on the 30^th April 1783, at Gildersome, Yorks. They had six children: [N2] Robert (1784), Thomas (1785), Abraham (1786), Thomas (1788), Rachel (1790), and Sarah (1792).²

Some time before 1809 she married, secondly, William Stotheart. Her son Robert gives the following account of the circumstances:

My poor Mother having I believe given way to the artful insinuations of an old servant, who had resided with her before and since my fathers decease and had got one or two of her own brothers introduced as men servants, and my mother thinking she had been rather slighted by some of her relations who ought to have encouraged and cheared her, got into a low & depressed state of mind, and in some strange delusive whim took off with one of these Brothers called W^m. Stotheart, to the chapel or church & they were married, none of my relations had courage or inclination to inform me of the state of things [...] My father in law, is now, a very strict and scrupulous Methodist, but they are surrounded by such a numerous train of hungry relations that seem like a tribe of locusts, and my poor Mother does now get but very little out to Meetings.⁴

From 1821 to 1822 she lived at Hardcastlegarth - which still survives, practically unchanged.⁵

She died at North Shields on the 1^st April 1822, and was interred on the 4^th in the Friends’ burial ground at Stephenson Street, near North Shields.⁶

1 Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript), Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence; PRO RG 6/228, /1245

N15. ROBERT WALKER

He married, first, Hannah Firth on the 25^th October 1743, at Liversedge meeting house, Yorks., at which date he was a clothier of Batley, Yorks. They had three children: John (1744), Mary (1747), and Hannah (1752); all were born at Staincliffe.²

He was appointed an Elder when young, and was serviceable in meetings for discipline. In 1751, ‘in much brokenness of spirit,’ he was called to the ministry, in which he appeared with few words and mostly in his home neighbourhood until 1756, after which with the unity of Friends he at different times visited most parts of England, and travelled once to Ireland.³

His first wife died on 5 March 1752, and on 31 October 1753—a clothier, of Sunnybank in Batley, Yorks.—he married, secondly, [N20] Hannah Hopkins, at Liversedge meeting house. The couple had five children: Robert (1755), Joseph (1757), [N14] Sarah (1760), Thomas (1763), and Benjamin. In 1756, a clothier of Drighlington, he was instructed (with Joseph Dickinson) to purchase a plot of ground for a new meeting house for Gildersome; this had been erected by the 28^th October that year.^3A

He regularly represented Gildersome at both Monthly and Quarterly Meeting. The latter was always held at York, some 30 miles away, whilst the former were held in rotation at Bradford, Leeds, Halifax and Sherbroad near Todmorden. He was responsible for the collection of monies raised for Monthly Meeting and Gildersome School. He also looked into the ‘clearness’ of couples wishing to marry and into the ‘worthiness’ of those asking to become Friends. In 1768 he was appointed to investigate the marriage of Daniel Lees to a non-member.^3B

He frequently had goods sequestrated for refusal to pay tithes, as the following table shows^3C:

In December 1770, then living at Gildersome (near Leeds), he was cited by the Vicar of Birstall. In addition to his activities in the Ministry, Robert was concerned about education for Quaker children, and in early 1772, when Gildersome Monthly Meeting leased a farm near Gildersome, which appeared to them to be a likely place to establish a school, he was among a dozen Friends appointed to form a Committee to oversee the farm and the school. The school opened on 21 Sept 1772, with John Ellis as Headmaster. On 24 May, 1773 Ellis presented the school’s accounts to Monthly Meeting. Among the entries was a line, which read: “Robert Walker for rent . . . 19 shillings & 10 pence”. This suggests that Robert and his family moved from Driglington to Gildersome in late 1772 or early 1773 and rented the house near the school. Robert’s daughter, Mary was appointed the first ‘housekeeper’ at the new school.⁴

In 1773 he visited North America, where he laboured with much fervency of spirit "& was favoured with a Sense of the then approaching Troubles in that part of the World, & delivered many faithfull Warnings, suitable Caution & Instruction, greatly to the encouragement of the upright hearted." He was in America till 1775. His daughter, Elizabeth Walker,

told James Jenkins that Robert had endeavoured to allay an impetuous spirit which had arisen among the people generally, and among many Friends – a bitter hatred of the Mother country, complaint of its injustice and tyranny; plans for resisting its authority were almost everywhere concerted. The same resentful spirit animated the meetings of the newly formed Congress, and when Robert Walker heard of this in April 1775, just before he was due to return home, he felt a deep concern to pay them a religious visit; he was able to speak to delegates only a few hours before he set sail for his return to England.

Without entering into discussion of political matters, he earnestly told Congress that he had prayed to God on their behalf, that He would guide them in all their proceedings and give them the divine blessing. Many members were much impressed by his words, but after he had gone, a young man stood up and informed Congress that ‘however specious appearances might be, the man who had just left them, was no other than a spy (employed by the British Government), who had assumed the character of a Quaker preacher, in order to conceal his designs ... and that if he was taken up, and properly scrutinised it would be so found'.

After the rising of Congress, a military officer and twelve men were ordered to surround the house of the Friend (Joshua Fisher) where Robert lodged, by break of day. This they did, but were unable to find the so-called English spy; the Friend was able to tell them that the captain of the ship had called for Robert the previous evening, as the wind was fair and they were to sail immediately. A fast sailing cutter was sent in pursuit down the Delaware, but as it came within sight of the ship, a fog came on and the pursuers were obliged to return to Philadelphia without taking back the supposed spy.⁵

Robert Walker’s own journal, it should be noted, confirms that he addressed the Continental Congress at Philadelphia in late 1774, but Jenkins’s account of Walker’s being accused of spying, and of the pursuit down the Delaware, has been dismissed as ‘family legend,’ in a 1989 article in Quaker History.^5A

In 1779 he was a clothmaker, of Gildersome, in the parish of Batley, Yorks. Living in a little cottage there, with his own hands he wove woollen cloth for Leeds market.⁶

On the 7^th June 1780 he was present at Gildersome meeting, in the company of Sarah Stephenson. An elder, and a minister 34 years, he was "much devoted to the Lord's Service, of an humble Mind, & exemplary upright Conversation, accompanied with innocent Chearfulness; was properly concerned that his temporal affairs might be conducted reputably." James Jenkins, who knew him well, described him as “a preacher eloquent by nature, whose ministry and conversation sometimes reminded him of William Penn's words about George Fox, “learned without education, and polite beyond all the forms of good-breeding”.⁷

In 1785 with a certificate from his monthly meeting he visited Friends in London, and afterwards, because his health was worsening, went to the house of Thomas Phillips at Tottenham, where he died on the 24^th September. During his illness he had said, ‘I have seen my way into London, but not back; but am quite resigned to the Lord’s will.’ And on the morning before his death, taking his leave of those gathered around him, he said, ‘Weep not for me, I am going home; and shall be gathered as a shock of corn fully ripe:’ . . . He was buried on the 29^th, from Devonshire House meeting house, at the Friends' burying ground in Whitechapel, a large concourse of Friends accompanying. Some time later a ‘Memorial of Robert Walker’ was written and signed by approximately 90 Friends, in and on behalf of Brighouse Monthly Meeting, held at Bradford the 24th day of the 3rd month, 1786. He is depicted here in the following terms: “He was much devoted to the Lord’s service, of an humble mind and exemplary upright conversation, accompanied with innocent cheerfulness, was properly concerned that his outward affairs might be conducted reputably, and was greatly esteemed”.⁸

He was a man who having passed through deep baptisms of spirit, in preparation for the work of the ministry, became eminent therein. The multitude could not judge of, neither did they know, his frequent suffering descendings with the seed, when crucified in the hearts of the people, as in the streets of spiritual Sodom and Egypt; and considering himself as an unworthy minister thereto, he was clothed with resignation to the dispensation of the day. Great was his industry, and yet many were the trials of his faith for the supply of temporal things. Though unadorned with human literature, he was instructed in the school of Christ, as a good Scribe to whom was committed the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom, wherein all necessary accomplishments were acquired, and displayed in gospel simplicity.^8A

1 PRO RG 6/1090, /1495; Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript)

3A Spence, op. cit.; Martin Gillett, quoting marriage digest; Jean Mortimer (1990) Quakers in Gildersome, Leeds: 26–27; www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/therbwalker; RG 6/1090, /1276

5 DQB; The Friend (Philadelphia) 79:53; Mortimer, op. cit.: 51–3, citing The Records and recollections of James Jenkins, ed. J. William Frost, Texts and studies in religion, vol. 18, New York & Toronto, 1984: 318–9

5A Mortimer, op. cit.: 51–3, citing John M. Moore: ‘An English Quaker minister’s visit to colonial America, 1773–1775’, Quaker History78:103–113, 1989

N16. JOHN WALKER

John Walker was born in Cleckheaton, Birstall, Yorkshire, and baptised on 25 February 1689 at St Peter’s church, Birstall.⁰

He married [N17] Sarah Chappell on the 12^th January 1714/5, at Rastrick meeting house; at that date he was a clothier, of Staincliff, Batley parish, Yorks. Their children were: William (1715), [N15] Robert (1716/7), Hannah (1718), Mary (1720), Elizabeth (1723), Ruth (1725), Sarah (1727), Ruth (1732), and Judith (1733).¹

On occasions he had goods sequestrated for refusal to pay tithes, as the following table shows:^1A

Date	Demand & charges (s:d)	Goods taken	Value (£:s:d)
7mo 1715		Oats	0:10:6
7mo 1717		Oats, pease and beans	1:15:0
10mo 1722	9:8	Malt	0:9:10
7mo 1740		Oats	0:9:0

John Walker of Staincliffe in Batley Parish died on 28 December 1742. His body was interred in the Friends’ burial ground at Liversedge.²

Description	Value (£-s-d)
Goods in Housebody (kitchen and eating area)
One range, fire point and tongs	0-4-0
Two iron pots and posnet	0-10-0
One clock	0-10-0
One table and nine chairs	0-7-6
One chest and dresser, 2 pewter dishes, 4 plates	0-10-0

Goods in Parlour
One range, 2 beds and bedding	0-15-0
One chest (blanket box) and chest of drawers	0-5-0

Goods in little Parlour
One bed and bedding	0-10-0

Goods in Shop
One pair of looms and one pair of geers	1-0-0

Chamber and bed and bedding	0-6-0
2 pairs of stock cards, 2 scribbler boxes	0-4-1
Seven stone of coloured wool	1-10-0
Six stone of copar (a dye)	1-10-0
Six stone of white wool	1-10-0
Warpin oak and creel	0-2-6
One table	0-3-0
One cloth at Leeds	5-0-0
At Mr Blades, 2 woven lengths	0-10-0
At Davensons, 1 woven length	0-5-0

Goods in Barn
One parcel of hay and straw	1-0-0
One cow and gelding	3-0-0
Lath Cross, 2 days work of wheat	1-0-0
All the husslements about the house	0-5-0
Total	21-1-1

N16A. JOSHUA WALKER

Joshua Walker was born on 31 Mar 1657 in Staincliffe, of Batley parish, Yorkshire.

On 25 Oct 1687 Joshua married Jane Overin at the Birstall parish church of St Peter. They had one known child, born at Heaton: [N16] John Walker (1689).

N16B. ROBERT WALKER

Robert Walker was born in Littletown, Liversedge, Yorkshire, and was baptised on 28 May 1622 in the Birstall parish church of St Peter.

On 8 May 1654 he married (N16P) Elizabeth Walker of Batley, at All Saints parish church, Batley, Yorkshire. They had eight children, all born at Staincliffe and baptised at All Saints, Batley: (N16A) Joshua (1657), an unnamed son, Anne (1662), Alice (c. 1664), Elizabeth (1667), Robert (1668), John, and Samuell (1673).

Robert Walker of Woodowsome in the Townshipe of Batly, yeom. My body to the earth, from whence it was taken, in a decent and Christian buriall at Batley church. After payment of debtes and funerall expenses, Elizabeth, my wife, (yo) have all that messuage house called Woodowsome wherein wee now live with all laths, barnes, etc., and all those three closes of land called the Ing, the Wood close, and ye long lands untill Samuel, my son, attaine the age of twenty and one yeares; and all the rest of my land I do order to be letten dureing my sons nonage for ye raiseing of certaine somes of money to use of my executors for ye dischargeing of certaine debtes as they come due and payable. And then my will is that Samuell, my son, enter to my whole estate of housing and land, alloweing to Elizabeth Walker, his mother, dureing her life a third part of my houseing and land, to witt, the west part of the house called ye over parlour, ye milke house and butterie, and two chambers over them. Further I do order that Samuell, my son, do out of my lands pay what debts are undischarged by ye rentes and profittes afore in his non age sett appart. Item, my mind is that my said son shall pay to my two daughters, viz., Alice, wife of Samuell Carr of the townshipe of Deusbury, and Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Walker of the township of Liversedge, the summe of twenty poundes a peece within four yeares next after he come to age, to either of my said daughters the summe of five pounds per annum dureing ye said four years. It.(item) all ye rest of my goods I give to Elizabeth, my deare and loving wife, and Samuell, my son, whome I appoint sole exors of this my last will.

An inventory of his effects was made on 14 November 1689. The will was proved in the manor court of Batley on 15 May 1690.

N16C. ROBERT WALKER

Robert Walker was born in Littletown, of Birstall, Yorkshire, and was baptised on 17 November 1592 in the Birstall parish church of St Peter.

He married (N16O) Anne Peele on 21 January 1621/2, at St Peter’s, Birstall. They had one child, born at Littletown: (N16B) Robert (1622).

He died in 1683 and his body was buried on 6 November 1683, probably at St Peter’s Church.

N16D. WILFREY WALKER

Wilfrey Walker was born in Littletown, a small hamlet in the manor of Liversedge, of Birstall Parish, Yorkshire, and was baptised on 14 October 1562 at the church of St Peter.

Some time after 1588 he was left 20 shillings, a pair of Walker sheres and an equal share of shereboards and handles, the tools of a woollen manufacturer, in his father’s will.

He married (N16N) ____ before 1592. They had three known children, all described as of Little Liversedge: (N16C) Robert (1592), Elizabeth (1594), and Ciselie (1597).

His name appeared in the Feet of Fines as a Plaintiff in the Trinity Term of 1592, for lands at Heckmondwike.

He was among the freeholders listed in a 1608 survey of Liversedge manor, holding land for which he paid an annual rent of one shilling and sixpence. In 1614 Sir Philip Carey, who was granted the rights to the manor by James I, sold off various farms so enabling tenants to own their own estates. Of the 456 acres of land to be sold, Sir Philip claimed half for himself and proposed that the remainder should be divided amongst the 32 other freeholders in proportion to the parish ‘Lay’ they paid. The land was to be divided into three kinds, ‘best, worse, and worst’, and each freeholder had an equivalent share of each kind according to the amount of his lay. At this time Wilfrey Walker was the 13^th largest freeholder, with a lay of 7d. He received 1 acre 1 rood 12 perches of the best land, 1a. 3r. 3p. of the worse, and 1a. 3r. 4p. of the worst, totalling 4a. 3r. 19p.

N16E. WILLIAM WALKER

About 1555, now of Rawfold, a farm about half a mile north of Littletown, he married (N16J) Alice Rayner. The couple took up residence at Rawfold, where their eight children were born: James (c. 1556), John (c. 1559), (N16D) Wilfrey (1562), Francis (1562), Roberte (1565), Henry (1566/7), Alice (1567/8), and Anne (1568).

In 1571 a list of ‘Free rents in Liversedge’ named 22 freeholders, among whom was William, who paid 6d, the 5^th highest listed.

In the name of God Amen the 21st Daye of November in the 31st year of the reigne of our Souvriegne Ladie Elizabeth and in the year of our Lord God 1588. I William Walker of Liversedge in the Countie of York, yeoman poore in bodie but yet of good and perfect remembrance do make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following That is to say First I comitt my bodie to the earth from whence it came to be buried when it shall please god to appoint. Also my will is that all my true and lawful debts be first discharged of all my whole goods. Item I give unto Anne Walker my daughter, [. . .] etc.

To Anne my daughter; 1 cupboard, 1 great arke, her late mother’s chiste & apparill,20s. To Frances my son; £3, and half the boards in shoppe with 1 pair of Walker sheres. To Wilfrey my son; 20 shillings, 1 pair of Walker Sheres. To Francis & Wilfrey; My Shereboards and Handles equally betwixt them. To John my son; 10 shillings and a pair of Walker sheres. To James my son & heir; all the timber and the laith with my Tenters. To Robte & John, sons of my said son James; to either of them one Ewe. To Alice Walker, my brother’s daughter; one Ewe. To Jane Moorehouse my maid servant; one bering Ewe.

His wealth is verified by his large “shoppe” which contained 3 pairs of “Walker sheres” and several “shereboards” for the production of cloth, and lands valued at 77 days work.

William Walker of Little Liversedge died in 1588/9, and his body was buried in St Peter’s church yard in Birstall on 17 January 1588/9.

N16F. WILLIAM WALKER

About the year 1560 his landholding was recorded as follows: (The measure of value of the land is according to days of work, where every ancient messuage is accounted for 2 days, and a cottage for 1 day, where also 3 days mowing of meadow is set against 5 days work.)

The [illeg.] 6 days; the Middlewheatroid, 4 days; Willanlaye, 2 days; the Cawfell [illeg.];

He died in 1562 and his body was buried in St Peter’s church, Birstall, on 23 September 1562.

N16G. WILLIAM WALKER

William Walker was born in Littletown, Liversedge Township, in Birstall, Yorkshire.

The records of the lay subsidy of 1523 show him paying 2s. tax on 40s. income from his land; he was one of only six men of sufficient wealth in the manor to pay this tax.¹

N16I. ____ WALKER born ____

____ ____ married (N16F) William Walker. They had at least two children, born at Littletown: (N16E) William (c.1528), and Wilfrey (c.1529).¹

N16J. ALICE WALKER born RAYNER

Alice Rayner was born about 1528/9 in the manor of Liversedge. After her mother’s remarriage, shortly after 1532, she and her brother William were put in the care of William Rayner, their grandfather. Wm. Rayner subsequently entered into a deed with one John Stubley (a friend and neighbour) which provided that he (Stubley) should, after William’s death “have rule, government and custody of the infant heir”—assumed to have included both of John Rayner’s children, William and Alice.

About 1555 Alice married (N16E) William Walker. The couple took up residence at Rawfold, where their 8 children were born: James (c. 1556), John (c. 1559), (N16D) Wilfrey (1562), Francis (1562), Roberte (1565), Henry (1566/7), Alice (1567/8), and Anne (1568).

Alice died in 1571 and was buried on 17 April in St Peter’s parish church, Birstall.

N16K. JOHN RAYNER

John Rayner was lord of the manor of Liversedge. He married (N16M) Alice Rayner, and they had two known children: William and (N16J) Alice. He died about 1532.

N16L. WILLIAM RAYNER

After 1532 William Rayner became guardian of his grandchildren, and subsequently entered into a deed with one John Stubley (a friend and neighbour) which provided that Stubley should act as their guardian after William’s death.¹

N16M. ALICE POSTHUMA RAYNER, born de LIVERSEDGE

After John’s death, about 1532, she remarried one James Dymonde, leaving her two children in the care of William Rayner, their grandfather.¹

N16N. ____ WALKER born ____

____ ____ married (N16D) Wilfrey Walker. They had three known children, all described as of Little Liversedge: (N16C) Robert (1592), Elizabeth (1594), and Ciselie (1597).¹

N16O. ANNE WALKER born PEELE

Anne Peele married (N16C) Robert Walker on 21 January 1621/2, at St Peter’s, Birstall. They had one child, born at Littletown: (N16B) Robert (1622).

N16P. ELIZABETH WALKER born WALKER

Elizabeth Walker was born in Birstall in 1624, and was baptised there on 12 October 1624, in St Peter’s church.

On 8 May 1654 she married (N16B) Robert Walker, at All Saints church, Batley, Yorkshire.

They had eight children, all born at Staincliffe and baptised at All Saints, Batley: (N16A) Joshua (1657), an unnamed son, Anne (1662), Alice (c. 1664), Elizabeth (1667), Robert (1668), John, and Samuell (1673).

N16Q. RICHARD WALKER

N16R. ISABEL WALKER born ____

N16S. JANE WALKER born OVERIN

N16T. ROBERT OVEREND

N17. SARAH WALKER born CHAPPELL

Sarah Chappell was born on the 1^st January 1692/3, at Toothill, Brighouse, Yorkshire.¹

She married [N16] John Walker on the 12^th January 1714/5, at Rastrick, Yorks. Their children were: William (1715), [N15] Robert (1716/7), Hannah (1718), Mary (1720), Elizabeth (1723), Ruth (1725), Sarah (1727), Ruth (1732), and Judith (1733).²

After John’s death Sarah continued to have goods sequestrated for refusal to pay tithes:^2A

Following John’s death Sarah remained at Staincliffe with her son, Robert, and the other children that were still at home. In 1753 she moved with Robert and his family to Sunnybank in Batley, and in 1757 to Driglington, in Birstall Parish. In late 1772 or early 1773 the family moved yet again, this time to a small cottage in a field adjacent to the Quaker School in Gildersome. It is thought that the reason for Robert’s move to this location was so that his mother could escape the claws of the tithe collector as he was, at that time, planning a journey to America. Sarah Walker died at Gildersome on 29 April 1776. Her body was buried at the Friends’ burial ground at Gildersome on 1 or 4 May.^2B

N18. RICHARD CHAPPELL

Richard Chappell of Toothill, Rastricke, married [N19] Mary Preston on the 6^th April 1692, at John Eckles House, Woodhouse, Yorkshire. Their children included [N17] Sarah (1692/3), Jonathan (1694), and Ruth (1702/3).¹

By 1728 he was of Lambcoat, Huddersfield. He died on 27 April 1728 and was buried at Brighouse Friends’ meeting house on the 30th.²

N19. MARY CHAPPELL born PRESTON

Mary Preston married [N18] Richard Chappell on the 6th April 1692, at John Eckles House, Woodhouse, Yorkshire, at which date she lived in Rastricke. Their children included [N17] Sarah (1692/3), Jonathan (1694), and Ruth (1702/3).¹

Of Bradley, Huddersfield, she died on 30 September 1732. Her body was buried at Brighouse meeting house on 3 October.²

N20. HANNAH WALKER born HOPKINS

She married [N15] Robert Walker on the 3^rd October 1753, at Liversedge, Yorkshire. She lived at Thornill, Briggs. The couple had five children: Robert (1755), Joseph (1757), [N14] Sarah (1760), Thomas (1763), and Benjamin.¹

Following Robert’s death Hannah lived with her son Thomas until her own death on 29 May 1792. Her body was interred in the Friends’ burial ground at Gildersome.²

N21. ZACHARIAS HOPKINS

Zacharias or Zachary Hopkins was born on the 13^th February 1678/9, in the catchment area of Brighouse Monthly Meeting.¹

A clothier of Hunslett, Leeds parish, he married [N21C] Rachel Peart on the 12^th November 1707, at Leeds. Their children were: Mary (1708/9), Thomas (1710), Elizabeth (1712/3), Rachel (1715), Jno (1719), William (1717/8), [N20] Hannah (1720/1), Joseph (1722/3), Tabitha (1725), and Christopher.²

From 1707 to 1720 he was still resident in Hunslett, but from 1722/3 to his death he lived at Armley, Leeds.³

On 7 August 1729 he married Ursula Swales, at Malton, Yorkshire. He died soon after, on 17 January 1729/30; his body was buried in the Meadow Lane Friends’ burying ground on the 18^th.⁴

2 Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence; Robert Walker's journal (Friends' House Library Ms); Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); Martin Gillett quoting marriage digest; RG 6/1090, /1276

N21A. THOMAS HOPKINS

Thomas Hopkins of Leeds married [N21B] Elizabeth Liversedge on the 20^th April 1670, at John Horner's house, Tadcaster. Their children were: Elizabeth (1671), Sarah (1676) and (N21) Zacharias (1678/8).¹

He lived in Leeds until his death on 15 December 1680, the event being recorded by Brighouse Monthly Meeting.²

N21B. ELIZABETH HOPKINS born LIVERSEDGE

Elizabeth Liversedge of Tadcaster married [N21A] Thomas Hopkins on the 20^th April 1670, at John Horner's house, Tadcaster. Their children were: Elizabeth (1671), Sarah (1676) and (N21) Zacharias (1678/8).¹

N21C. RACHEL HOPKINS born PEART

Rachel Peart of Crake married [N21] Zacharias Hopkins on the 12^th November 1707, at Leeds. Their children were: Mary (1708/9), Thomas (1710), Elizabeth (1712/3), Rachel (1715), Jno (1719), William (1717/8), [N20] Hannah (1720/1), Joseph (1722/3), Tabitha (1725), and Christopher.¹

1 Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence; Robert Walker's journal (Friends' House Library Ms); Dictionary of Quaker Biography (Friends' House Library, typescript); Martin Gillett quoting marriage digest; PRO RG 6/1090, /1276

N21D. WILLIAM PEART

William Peart married [N21E] Dorothy ____ before 1677. Their children were: [N21C] Rachel, Isaac (1673), and Abraham (1677); the births of the sons were registered by York Monthly Meeting. In 1707 he was described as a yeoman of Crake, Yorks.¹

N21E. DOROTHY PEART born ____

Dorothy ____ married [N21D] William Peart before 1677. Their children were: [N21C] Rachel, Isaac (1673), and Abraham (1677); the births of the sons were registered by York Monthly Meeting.¹

Date	Residence	Demand & charges (s:d)	Goods taken	Value (£:s:d)
1744	Batley		Wheat and pease	0:9:0
7 mo 1745	Batley		Wheat	0:3:0
7 mo 1747	Batley		Wheat	0:6:0
6 mo. 1748	Batley		Oats	0:5:0
1749	Batley		Oats and pease	0:6:0
7mo.1750	Batley		Barley	0:10:0
9 mo 1753	Sunny Bank in Batley		Wheat, oats and barley	2:10:0
1mo 1754	Sunny Bank	18:8	29 lbs pewter	0:19:4
7 mo 1757	Driglington in Birstall		Oats	0:18:0
19th 3 mo. 1764	Driglington	12:6	4 chargers a pair of blankets, a warming pan and smoothing iron	0:19:6
29th 10mo 1771	Driglington in Birstall	15:0	Wool	0:6:0

Date	Residence	Demand & charges (s:d)	Goods taken	Value (£:s:d)
7 mo 1745	Batley		Oats and pease	1:0:0
7 mo 1747	Batley		Wheat, oats and pease	1:16:0