Hi Ben Thank you for the message re Quakers and licences. I don't have any paper proof of my Shewell's being Quaker,s so will check all my notes to see where the idea originally appeared. Regards beth in NS

Members of the Worthington family may have read two books produced by my brother Philip M. Worthington - THE WORTHINGTON FAMILIES OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND (1985) and THE WORTHINGTONS OF FAILSWORTH AND THEIR DESCENDANTS (2005) - both books published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd., of Chichester. The first deals with the Worthingtons of Lancashire - 12th century to 1600 - and the second covers c. 1550-2000, re the descendants of Thomas Worthington of Failsworth (Manchester) ... Lancashire, Staffordshire, and South Africa. At the end of last year, the inaugural meeting took place of members of the WORTHINGTON 17th CENTURY PROJECT: this was established to (a) try to link the ancient Worthington families of Worthington, Blainscough, Crawshaw, Shevington, Turton (all Lancashire) etc. to one another; (b) try to establish whence came Nicholas Worthington, who reached the US in 1649; (c) try to fine the link of Manchester Worthingtons to one of the old families in (a): this line is that of Captain John Worthington, who reached America in the latter part of the 17th century; and (d) try to find the link of the Cheshire Worthingtons back to one of the old families in (a). Many of the Cheshire families in the 17th century were Quakers - from the Styal area near Wilmslow: their antecedants were established there from early in the 16th century. One line at least moved (via Ireland) to America, arriving there early in the 18th century: that of Robert 'the Quaker' Worthington. Whereas American sources give many particulars of the various Worthington families once they had crossed 'the pond', linking such families 'back to Lancashire' is of major importance. Anyone who has any details to provide on any of the above topics is asked to e-mail me at worthington@guadalmina.com. Likewise, if anyone is willing to become a reseracher, please let me know ... and I shall put you in touch with my brother, who is the family archivist in the UK, and the 'spearheader' of the 17th century project. Kindest regards. Stuart Worthington

Hi everyone - I agree with Margaret's sentiments. Thank you Ben for getting this site up and running. Hope it succeeds. I was for a time subscribing to Quaker Roots but after a while I unsubscribed as Chris said it was predominantly for those with American Ancestry. So I fervently hope this site does really well. My paternal ancestors hail from Lancashire. Whilst my great grandmother was supportive of the Quaker Movement, she was not a Quaker, but her mother, Sarah Gill was a Quaker, achieving Quaker membership when she was 67 years old after Convincement. She was born around 1799 and gave birth to my great grandmother, Hannah Gill in 1823. Hannah was illegitimate and Sarah never married. Sarah's parents were Thomas Gill and Mary Smith. I assume that they were not Quakers, indeed I have not found any evidence that they were, except that Sarah's mother, Mary Gill is buried in the Quaker Meeting House in Crawshawbooth, Lancashire together with other members of the Gill family including Sarah and her brother, John. John, despite having sought to become a Member was refused. I have not found any information so far concerning Sarah's father, Thomas Gill. We know he was a Clogger as so many of the Gill family were and that he was probably born in Crawshawbooth but where he originated from I don't know, so I hope that eventually the Gill name may be recognised by other Listers. The Gills, notably, John were linked with Margaret Page's family, the Binns and a few years ago, Margaret and I co wrote an article about this connection for the Lancashire F.H.S. Kind regards to all, Sue Christou North Wales Researching Gill - Birtwistle

Hi list, My Quaker family is as follows: GRAY, Berkshire and London from about 1681. John GRAY, s.o. John GRAY, salesman and Mary, was a distiller from Southwark who married Mary NEWMAN in 1727. Their numerous offspring included Newman GRAY, wine and brandy merchant, apprenticed to Jonathan STEELE, distiller and Quaker. John GRAY's brother Abraham born 1712 was a cooper and married Rebecca WALKER, born 1718 Cumberland d.o. John and Rebeccah WALKER. Newman GRAY married Jane WILKINSON d.o. Joseph WILKINSON and Jane STEEL of Cumberland in 1772. They had one surviving adult daughter Hannah GRAY born 1779 who married out. The NEWMAN family also come from London. Mary NEWMAN born 1710 Cripplegate was the daughter of Jonathan NEWMAN, born 1676, Houndsditch, a baker from Houndsditch and Katherine WRIGHT from Guildford who married in 1707. Jonathan, a draper, was born in 1676 to John NEWMAN, Baker, and Elizabeth RYLY who married in 1672. I have fairly detailed records of these people and some of their descendants until around the early 1800s. I have records for many of Hannah's descendants but not of any of the other GRAYs. Best wishes Eira

On the web page http://kildare.ie/library/KildareHeritage/Surnames/page10.html there is mention of Boakes being an old Quaker name in Kildare. Does anybody know any more details of this or any sources to which I can refer in England. Alan Boakes

I have just joined the list and the families that are my main interest are the following: James BURTON (1811 - 1886) married Betty SPENCER (1812 - 1884) about 1833 in the area around Rawtenstall, Lancs. Nine children: Thomas 1834 Richard 1836 Isabel 1838 John 1840 Spencer 1842 Jonathan 1844 Burton 1847 Joseph 1850 Mary Ann 1854 Any further information about this Quaker family or their forebears would be welcomed and appreciated. Henry Oddie

Greetings, So nice of you all to start a new Quaker List. I would like to post my WILSON Ancestors that I found on a trip to the British Isles in 1999. I do not know how long the family remained Quakers, as my Grandfather (born in Davenport, Iowa, USA )and his Mother(born in Ireland) were Episcopal. His Grandfather and Grandmother, George Wilson and Martha Dodson were married in 1833 at St. Nicholas Church in Liverpool, the Church of England, and all of their children were baptized there.. However, I found my 5th GGrandfather had built a home in High Wray, Hawkshead, LAN. in 1728 for his wife Barbara and they were very active Quakers. I quote from a book that I have: (Wilsons of High Wray and Kendal together with the Families connected with them. 2nd Edition. 1890) "Anthony Wilson, of High Wray, in the Parish of Hawkshead, county Lancaster, baptized at Grasmere 18th May, 1673, died 1755,iv.21(he purchased land in the parish of Hawkshead, and built the House of High Wray, Windemere, in 1728), and married 1702,v. 8, Dorothy, daughter of George Benson and his wife Margaret, daughter of George Braithwaite, of Croft Head, in the parish of Hawkshead; she was born at Stang End 1678, ii, 17 and died 1755, v. 23,." Anthony and Barbara were married on 8 May 1702 at the Quaker Meeting House in Hawkshead and they were buried in the Quaker Burial Grounds, Colthouse, Hawkshead, in 1755. Any connections??I have a lot of information about this family and would be glad to share. Bev Hannigan, Texas, USA

Hi Beth, You wrote: >I am interested in the Shewell family of Painswick c 1725?? James Henry >Leigh Hunt's father, Isaac, married Mary Shewell in Philadephia c 1770. >Her father was Stephen Shewell and according to some records was a Quaker. >Apparently 3 brothers left Painswick for America c 1723, but it is my >understanding that the ''3 brothers'' theme was often a false family story >re people going to America. is anyone on the list interested in any of >these people or places. If this is the Stephen Shewell who was born 29 June 1727, the son of Robert & Elizabeth Shewell then it is not likely that he was a Quaker. His birth to be found in the records of the Lower Dublin or Pennypack Baptist Church in Pennsylvania. If your Stephen Shewell was the one who married Elizbeth Fordham in 1750 then again it is unlikely that he was a Quaker since he applied for a marriage license which, if I am correct, a Quaker would not have done. And finally, is he was the Stephen Shewell who died 24 Dec 1809, husband of Elizabeth Shewell who died 10 Oct 1794 then again it is unlikely that he was a Quaker since they are buried at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, First Baptish Church in Philadelphia. I don't have any connection with this this family and might have the wrong Stephen Shewell. - Ed

Hello All I am interested in the Shewell family of Painswick c 1725?? James Henry Leigh Hunt's father, Isaac, married Mary Shewell in Philadephia c 1770. Her father was Stephen Shewell and according to some records was a Quaker. Apparently 3 brothers left Painswick for America c 1723, but it is my understanding that the ''3 brothers'' theme was often a false family story re people going to America. is anyone on the list interested in any of these people or places. Regards beth in NS

I suggest amending the welcome message as indicated below: Welcome to the QUAKER-BRITISH-ISLES mailing list! You are currently subscribed in "mail mode", which means that you will receive every posting made to QUAKER-BRITISH-ISLES as a separate e-mail. The directions on how to change to digest mode are given below, after a bit more information about the list: QUAKER-BRITISH-ISLES is the official mailing list for the Quaker Family History Society. Please visit our website at www.qfhs.co.uk for more information on this. - If we say this is the society's official mailing list we need to make it clear whether or not non members are welcome to subscribe. I assume we want to say that they are. The purpose of this mailing list is to act as a forum for discussion of anything that relates to Quaker family history and genealogy in the British Isles. - that is, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Subscribers from outside the British Isles are as welcome as island residents. Postings to the list must relate, however, to Quakers or Quaker families who originated here, or who later came to live in the British Isles. You do not need to be a Quaker to subscribe. - Possibly add something to the effect that postings about Quaker beliefs are only appropriate insofar as they relate to the beliefs of our Quaker ancestors. This is not the place for discussion of present day Quaker beliefs. Those interested in this should start by visiting the website of Britain Yearly meeting www.quaker.org.uk - I am not sure how best to word this There is another, longer-established, Rootsweb mailing list which may be of interest, namely QUAKER-ROOTS. This is largely dominated, however, by people interested in North American Quaker family history, which is only occasionally of interest to anyone with predominantly British or Irish ancestry. For anyone new to Quaker family history, the best starting place is My Ancestors Were Quakers: How Can I Find out More About Them?, by Edward Milligan and Malcolm Thomas. This book is unfortunately out of print at the present time, though copies may be still available through Amazon, and second-hand copies are currently available through www.bookfinder.com. - No. It is now back in print again. Revised 3rd edition (2005) available from the Society of Genealogists at www.sog.org.uk/ and soon to be available from the QFHS bookstall. Apart from the QFHS website itself, the most useful web link is likely to be the official website for Britain Yearly Meeting, which is at www.quaker.org.uk - click on the Library tab, when you get there. For Irish Quakerism, visit www.quakers-in-ireland.org. -- Chris Pitt Lewis

Thanks Ben for your enthusiasm in getting this list up and running so quickly. No doubt people will introduce themselves as they subscribe. Perhaps it is useful for people to know QFHS is not a religious group a family history society. I for one am not a Quaker but some of my ancestors were and that is what interests me. My last Quaker ancestor, Thomas Binns, was disowned age 20 for unnecessary frequenting of public houses and houses if ill-fame. Another, Grace Spence, ran away to Gretna Green to marry a non- Quaker but all ended happily in the end. Hope to hear from others soon, Margaret