The Foster family of Cold Hesledon, Hawthorne, Lancaster, and Sedbergh

Robert Foster = Mary Burton

     |         ↳ other children

Mary Foster = Robert Spence

      |         ↳ other children

Sarah Spence = Joseph Watson

      |         ↳ other children

Robert Spence Watson = Elizabeth Richardson

      |         ↳ other children

Mary Spence Watson = Francis Edward Pollard

N22. MARY SPENCE born FOSTER

Mary Foster was born on the 2^nd May 1790, at Hebblethwaite Hall, Sedbergh, Yorkshire. In 1799 she rode with her sister in a post chaise, behind the coffin, at her grandmother's funeral. Still normally resident at Hebblethwaite, in 1802 she began school at Trinity Lane Friends' School, York.¹

In 1808, with her sister Elizabeth, she went on a visit to Newcastle, Shields and Sunderland, when friendships were formed which led eventually to the marriage of Elizabeth to Anthony Clapham of Newcastle (1809), and of Mary to [N2] Robert Spence. Two days before Elizabeth's wedding, with others, Mary gathered two clothes baskets full of nuts, for her wedding dinner; she was a bridesmaid at the wedding. Mary's own wedding took place on the 29^th August 1810, at Brigflats meeting house.²

The couple had 18 children, though not all survived: Mary (1811–1811), Mary (1813–1873), [N1] Sarah (1814–1871), Elizabeth Foster (1815–1876), Rachel (1816–1844), Robert (1817–1890), John Foster (1818–1901), Joseph (1819–1889), Thomas (1821–1839), Jane (1823–1845), Ann (1824–1824), Margaret (1824–1824), Ann (1825–1859), Margaret (1825–1851), Hannah Maria (1827–1856), Frances (1829–1829), Emma (1830–1855), and Lucy Fisher (1832–1858); all were born at Howard Street, North Shields. Before the birth of Lucy Fisher Mary was in very delicate health for 8 or 10 weeks, arising from a severe cold taken whilst paying a visit at Tynemouth, and "a very troublesome cough had harrassed her exceedingly" until about eight days before the birth; she had convalesced at Benwell.³

In 1827 she inherited Robert Foster's dwelling house in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, under his will. In 1841, living in North Shields, Northumberland, she was named as co-executor in the will of her husband Robert Spence.⁴

From 14 to 23 August 1834, with her father and two of her sisters, she toured Scotland, taking in a visit to General Meeting for Scotland.⁵

By the beginning of August 1838 she had subscribed 10s. to the Royal Victoria Asylum for the Blind.⁶

She was an overseer in Shields meeting from 1821, and an elder by 1837. She attended Newcastle Monthly Meeting in February 1835, and, with Robert, regularly attended the Monthly Meeting of Ministers and Elders—in June, September and December 1837, then every quarter until June 1846, only missing March 1842, June 1843, June and December 1844, and March 1845. In December 1840 she signed the Monthly Meeting testimony to Margaret Bragg.⁷

At the time of the 1841 census she was recorded as living with her husband and family in Howard Street, Tynemouth, with two nephews and four servants.⁸

In October 1845 she was co-executor of her husband's will, proved at Durham. As beneficiary, she was left furniture and personal effects of her choice to the value of £1000, plus £800 p.a. for life, payable twice yearly in two equal instalments. She died on the 6^th October 1846, after eight days of continued fever, at Howard Street, Tynemouth.⁹

Mary Foster was the sixth child and second daughter of [N23] Robert and [N158] Mary Foster.¹⁰

1 TNA: RG 6/1073, /1074; Myles Birket Foster sr, 'Memoir of Robert Foster'; The Mount School, York. List of Teachers and Scholars 1784–1816, 1831–1906 (1906) York: Sessions

2 Philip Spence (1939) Robert and Mary Spence; Robert Spence Watson in John William Steel (1899) A Historical Sketch of the Society of Friends 'in Scorn called Quakers' in Newcastle & Gateshead 1653–1898. London & Newcastle, Headley Bros. : 116-7; RG 6/710, RG 6/1562; Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 168

3 Robert Spence letters in possession of Peter Robson; RG 6/628, /775, /1149

4 Durham Probate Records (Robert Foster 1827): Death Duty Registers, (IR 26&27)/1722

5 Philip Spence (1939)

6 The Newcastle Courant, 1838-08-03, issue 8542

7 The British Friend; 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

8 TNA: HO 107/826/3 f8 p8

9 husband's will in TNA: PROB 11/2080; Spence, op. cit.; death certificate; death/burial digest; The British Friend; Durham Chronicle, 1846-10-09

10 RG 6/730, /1073, /1074, /1142; Myles Birket Foster sr, 'Memoir of Robert Foster', Ms, family papers in possession of Michael Richardson

N23. ROBERT FOSTER

Robert Foster was born in Lancaster, Lancashire, between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning of the 24^th April 1754. He was brought up in a Quaker household.¹

He spent seven or eight years at the school of John Jenkinson, of Yealand Conyers, where he acquired a good English education and the rudiments of classical knowledge. He afterwards went to the Free School at Sedbergh, where he boarded with James and Mary Burton, at The Hill, whose daughter Mary he subsequently married.²

By 1771 he had been marked out for a career as a physician, but this was not to his liking.³

When he was about 18 years old he went to sea, and after making three voyages to the West Indies with Captain Roper, in the Marquis of Rockingham, he was apprenticed, at the beginning of 1772, as a storekeeper in St John's, Antigua by his grandfather and great-uncle, [N94] Myles and James Birket, who were then West India Merchants; this would have been seen as part of his own training as a young merchant. In Antigua (Lat. 17^o 05, as he noted) he lived amongst slaves in the towns, and frequently went into the country to collect debts and visit slave managers. In 1774 after paying a short visit to Lancaster, he went again with Capt. Roper for the last time to Antigua, as supercargo. In March 1775 he was on the Dolphin, bound for Dominica.⁴

In late 1775 he surprised his family by writing home for a gun and bayonet. At this time he stayed in Antigua, against his masters' wishes, and in breach of his apprenticeship. His actions were already sufficiently distressing to his family that his grandfather told James Birket that he thought it was a more severe stroke to him than when he lost his only son. About the end of May 1776, at the start of the American dispute, he made up his accounts, quitted his store, collected together a few sailors from the Lancaster ships, and entered on board the government brig Endeavour, Lieut. Francis Tinsley commander, carrying four guns, which was fitted out in Antigua to cruise against the American privateers; the brig saw several severe actions. His friends didn't hear of his going on the Endeavour till the 9^th March 1777, when James Birket wrote as follows in his Diary:

There is an account in town from the West Indies that Robert Foster, my nephew, has entered on board a Man of War's Tender, as mate and midshipman, to the inexpressible grief and anxiety of his father, grandfather, relations and friends. Oh foolish boy! Farewell! every tender reflection and connection with his best friends.⁵

He had fallen so far in the family's esteem that in August 1778 James Birket described his actions as being "for the sake of a little illgotten pelf". Foster was clearly already expecting to inherit Hebblethwaite Hall, and was explicitly warned that he was putting his inheritance in jeopardy.⁶

Foster himself later testified that he had been a midshipman, second master and pilot of the Endeavour; while on the Endeavour, again, he used to spend a great deal of time among slaves, having been acquainted with them before. On the 20^th June, 1778, he left the Endeavour at Spithead, and went on board the Defiance (64 guns, Samuel Cranston Goodall, Esq., commander), laying in Portsmouth Harbour, on the 21^st. On the 8^th July he entered as master's mate on board the Jupiter, 50 guns, Francis Reynolds commander. He was probably induced to make this change to the Jupiter from his father, grandfather, and great uncles being well known to Capt. Reynolds, they having been amongst his most influential supporters in several contested elections in which he stood along with Sir George Warren for the Borough of Lancaster. The Jupiter was a new ship, launched at Rotherhithe in 1778. On 8 July that year she was moored at Deptford Dockyard. The Lieutenant's logbook for that day only records "Received some men from the Rendezvous"—there is no mention of either Robert Foster or the Defiance. The ship lingered at Deptford till the 27^th July, before beginning her cruise, which took her to Finisterre in October, after a number of extended moorings at Long Reach, the Nore, Spithead, Bouly Bay, Jersey, Guernsey Roads and Plymouth Sound. On the 21^st October 1778 the Jupiter had an engagement—described as "warm" in the logbook—with the French ship Triton, 64 guns, at the very time she saw her consort going off. Six men were killed; Mr Roberts, the master, and eight men were wounded. Mr Roberts died the following day, and Captain Reynolds immediately sent for Foster from his quarters, and appointed him Master; he managed the ship for the remainder of the action.⁷

Between 1772 and 1778 Robert Foster visited Dominique, Grenada, and all the British islands of the West Indies except Jamaica.

On the 21^st April 1779, on the principle of rewarding merit, Reynolds, who had the command at Lisbon, appointed Robert Foster acting Lieutenant of the Pelican, 24 guns, Henry Lloyd commander, in the place of Mr Sumpter, deceased. He served in this capacity until the 31^st July. From his appointment until mid May the ship was moored in the River Tagus. She then went to sea, cruising off the Portuguese coast. Foster recorded in his logbook a number of incidents of giving chase, etc., and on the 7^th June guns were fired and a ship was boarded. Discipline aboard ship may have been a problem—Foster recorded a number of incidents of his giving a dozen lashes for offences including drunkenness and desertion. Towards the end of June the ship moored for a week off Alcantara, before a further three weeks' mooring in the River Tagus. On the 21^st July Foster noted laconically, "at 9 PM engaged a French ship of 40 Guns—¾ past 10 left off with 5 Men Killed & 19 Men Wounded, [;] Reparing the Rigging—". During the last week of July the Pelican was moored at Spithead.⁸

Foster didn't have sufficient service for the appointment as Lieutenant, and was disgusted when the Lords of the Admiralty would not confirm him in the position. By August 1779, though he had talked of returning home and taking up farming, he was expected to go as 5^th Lieutenant aboard the Marlborough, sailing to join the grand fleet under Sir Charles Hardy.⁹ He stayed behind at Portsmouth, however, probably having heard the news of the death that month of his only brother Myles, at Ulverston. His sister Elizabeth wrote to her brother, urging him to endeavour to obtain leave to visit his father. On the 5^th September, as her father and herself were on their way to meeting in Lancaster, they met him. They immediately turned back much affected, and his father retired to his room quite overcome. Robert took off his sword and tossed it under a book-case, where it remained during his stay. The following Sunday he went to meeting in the uniform of a lieutenant of a man of war, to the great surprise of Friends. He withstood all the remonstrances and solicitations to quit the service, and returned to Portsmouth the next day. It appears from his log-book that he went on board the Hornet sloop of war, 14 guns.¹⁰

The Hornet was moored in Portsmouth Harbour until the beginning of November. Foster remained in the navy for this period, after his visit to Lancaster. It appears that Admiral Sir Thomas Pye offered him a Lieutenant's commission aboard the Ajax, 74 guns; but on the 3^rd November his uncle James Birket wrote in his diary, "Robert Foster came home this morning after a long fighting campaign in sundry Men of War. He quitted the fighting trade at his grandfather's request, and seems to be a very sensible youth." His friends, who had been greatly distressed by his desertion from those peaceable principles in which he had been carefully educated, no doubt laboured earnestly while he was with them to induce him to leave the service; and their labours, seconded by his own convictions, seem to have wrought a wonderful change in this young officer. He became a man of peace, and in after life avoided conversation about his naval career, and certainly never gloried in his former exploits. According to one account, he had his naval cutlass converted into a large domestic carving knife. Robert Foster was never disowned for his violation of Friends' principles—in May 1781 he was visited by sundry Friends appointed by the Monthly Meeting, to whom his acknowledgments appear to have been satisfactory, as no further notice seems to have been taken of his case.¹¹

Over January and February 1780 Foster spent seven weeks at Kendal, also visiting the Rawlinsons at Graithwaite and his cousin James Birket at Birket Houses, as well as skating on Lake Windermere. In April he went with his uncle to the Quarterly Meeting at Kendal. On the 24^th he set off on foot for Sedbergh, to see after some repairs of an old peathouse, and the gable end of the kitchen at Hebblethwaite. It is probable that he was most of his time at Sedbergh, as his uncle James Birket—who appears to have recorded in his diary most of his movements—does not mention him again till the 3^rd of October, when he recorded that Robert Foster and Mary Burton came there from Sedbergh, then set off again for Sedbergh by way of Milnthorpe on the 17^th.¹²

In August 1780 he was still hoping for a position as master of a merchant ship, but the opportunity never arose. Instead, his maternal grandfather wanting a manager for his estate near Sedbergh, in Yorkshire, which Foster afterwards inherited, he went to reside at Hebblethwaite Hall, and settled down as an agriculturist. His grandfather gave him the stock and let him have the farm of 331 acres rent free. No one could know much less about farming than he did, but he had the assistance of an excellent bailiff, John Cooper. He was industrious and worked hard. His style of living was much that of other north country farmers; masters and servants taking their meals at the same table in a room called 'the house,' a little superior to the kitchen, but with a stone floor and no carpet. "Rob^t Foster often had company, then the servants except perhaps his Housekeeper, took their meals in the Kitchen. he had also a small carpeted room call' d the parlour, but the 'House' was always the dining room, and when he had visitors used to carpeted rooms, peices of Board cover' d with carpet were placed under the table for their Feet. He used to say "When we are at Rome, we must do as they do at Rome."" A black fleece and a white fleece from his own sheep, carded and spun by his housekeeper and woven in the neighbourhood, formed the cloth (called self grey) for his working clothes. Amongst his various acquirements he had gained some knowledge of medicine and common law—the first he made useful in prescribing for the poor and the second in drawing out Wills and settling the disputes of his neighbours. It was once said of him that "Where mystery was to be unravelled, confusion brought into order, or truth made conspicuous, he was capable above most men." He erected a mill on the estate, for the better employment of the poor; established a school for their education, and became a sort of father, physician, lawyer, and judge among his dependents and country neighbours.¹³

Robert Foster would seem to have filled quite a public position in the locality. He would seem to have received the money for taxes: land tax, window and constable taxes. He received a warrant for the Surveyor of the High roads; and he let the repairing of conduits on the Turnpike to J. Blackburn for 42/–. When there is an exceptional fall of snow he raises the Hamlet to cut drifts. He goes to town for the auditing of the Parish accounts. He attended a vestry meeting for putting out parish apprentices. He signs a bond for the suppression of thieves; and gives 7/6 towards a charity for the relief of the poor. Busy as Robert Foster must have been as an agriculturist, he was assiduous in his attendance at every Meeting at Brigflats, the Monthly, the Quarterly, and the General, besides going to Meeting at many of the other towns; yet he found time for study and for reading: he was a member of the local Book Club.¹⁴

Having while in the navy painfully felt the want of good water, he often regretted seeing so much running to waste. He was of a very kind and benevolent disposition, and thought of having painted on the door of his house¹⁵:

To every housless child of want
	My door is open still
And though my portion be but scant
	I give it with good will.

—but his sister Elizabeth said she thought he had better not, as it might subject him at times to very undesirable company.

In March 1781 he was bitten by a suspected mad dog, taking medicine in case of infection, at the request of his uncle James Birket, though the skin had not been broken. In May 1782 he injured his thumb, and though he treated it with camomile and wormwood he eventually had to send for a doctor from Kendal, who laid open the ball of the thumb, with apparent success, and received a guinea for his service.¹⁶

At the beginning of September 1783 he attended the funeral of his grandmother Jane Birket. That year he succeeded to The Wood estate, in Cartmel, by the will of his great uncle James Birket.¹⁷

On the 1^st March 1784 he married [N158] Mary Burton—who had been his housekeeper, and had nursed him in his illness in spring 1782—at Brigflats, near Sedbergh, Yorkshire; he had already been contemplating marriage with her by July 1782. Many of his relations thought that, situated as he then was, he had made a judicious choice. His old friend Prof. Adam Sedgwick was of opinion that Foster proved "that love is in conflict mightier than fire and sword, for he was smitten by one of the youthful Sisterhood as by a fire from a masked battery, and brought to the ground, never again to rise to his former strength." Their children, all born at Hebblethwaite Hall, were: Myles Birket (1785–1861), Dodshon (1786–1790), James (1787–1861), John (1788–1818), Elizabeth (1788–1857), [N22] Mary (1790–1846), a stillborn child, Jane (1794–1797), Isabel (1796–1799), and Sarah (1797–1869). At the end of the March 1784 he canvassed for William Wilberforce, in the county election.¹⁸

In the Spring of 1785 Myles Birket died. Foster acted as his grandfather's executor, affirming at Amounderness on the 27^th October 1785. Birket's will left him both the Hebblethwaite Hall and Sarthwaite estates, as well as two iron furnaces in Halton and Leighton, Lancashire, with the buildings, lands, utensils, materials, and stock in trade, and the residue on his estate. After the two estates became his own, he let it, retaining in his own hands only sufficient for the keep of two cows and two horses, besides the woods and plantations in which he took great interest, planting thousands of trees, chiefly larch, with his own hands. It was a saying of his, that "a larch would buy a horse before an oak would buy a saddle." He cut down a great quantity of old trees (principally oaks), and what was left, after timbering a substantial farmhouse, barn, &c., that he was then building, he sold. John Hunter, a friend from Wensleydale, became his tenant, and removed with his wife and ten children to the new farm house at Hebblethwaite in the spring of 1788. There were some poor families in the neighbourhood of Hebblethwaite, living an idle life, the children uneducated and unemployed; with a view to raise their condition, he built a small mill for spinning coarse woollen yarn. This gave employment to some, and others at their own houses, by knitting the yarn into large stockings (called 'bump stockings'), such as were worn by men engaged in the Greenland Fishery; also into caps, gloves, mittens etc. Their children got some education, and in many respects their condition became much improved. When a stock of knitwear had accumulated Foster took a journey on horseback to Newcastle, for the purpose of disposing of them. His first call was on William Spencer, a slopseller on the Quayside, who, without giving him time to speak said "I cannot attend to you, I am engaged." Foster bid him "Farewell" and was leaving the shop, when he called him back and said "You are not like other travellers, I see you take an answer when it is given to you, what have you got?" On seeing the samples he asked the prices, and Foster told Spencer that it was his first journey on a business of which he was very ignorant, and which he had entered upon mainly for giving employment to some poor families. He then asked Spencer's opinion as to prices and he not only gave him an order, but mentioned some shops at Shields, where he might use his name as an introduction. He added "Now my good Sir, let me tell you, without you get somebody to join you, that understands the business better than you do, I fear you will be a loser by your actions." Spencer continued to be his best customer. Foster proceeded on horseback to North Shields, where he arrived in drenching rain. In searching for an inn at the Wooden Bridge, he lost his way, and continued along the Low-street to the extreme end of the town. Seeing a bridge at a distance he urged his horse through a high tide to reach it and then found it to be the Low Lights Bridge, far beyond the point he aimed at. He asked a man if he knew any inn where he could put his horse and get something to eat. The man said he did not think there was one, but seeing that Foster was a Friend, said "There's Mr. Taylor, one of your sort of people who lives upon the bank, I daresay he will give you something to eat, and I think they have a stable." (Taylor, incidentally, was a friend of Captain Cook). Foster then did what was not known to have been done before—rode up to the Low Lights Stairs to Henry Taylor's back door, told him his adventures and said "being wet and hungry and almost at my wits end what to do, I was advised to come here, Wilt thou take pity on me?" Taylor said "Yes, but thou had better go into the kitchen and get thy clothes dried, and they will give thee something to eat." After a while Taylor looked in upon him and said he was going out to call on Bartlett Gurney, a friend from Norfolk then in town on a visit (a Norwich banker). Foster said "I know him." Taylor, looking at his rustic-clad visitor, rejoined "Why, does thou know Bartlett Gurney?" He said "Yes, and I should like to see him if thou has no objection to take me with thee." They then went together and Taylor was much surprised to see the cordial way in which Gurney received Robert Foster and introduced him to his relative John Walker, of Dockwray Square. Taylor finding his visitor of a different class to what from his dress he took him to be, invited him to stay all night promising not to put him into the kitchen again. Foster said, In the condition I was in, it was the best place. This singular introduction was the origin of an intimacy between them and their families which continued for many years.¹⁹

In 1787 he purchased the Dovecot Gill estate.²⁰

Around 1790 George Birkbeck—later to be the pioneer of adult education—resided at Hebblethwaite Hall while at school in Sedbergh. In 1791, at the request of William Wilberforce, Foster gave evidence before a Select Committee of the House of Commons on the slave trade. Myles Foster recounts an incident from this visit:²¹

He was waiting in the Lobby of the House. several friends were there, but they took no notice of their rustic looking brother, untill they saw a very cordial meeting take place between him and Captⁿ Reynolds, who was in the uniform of a Post Captⁿ in the Navy. Who said to him,

		Why Foster, whatever are you now?
Foster. 	I'm living in the West riding of Yorkshire on an Estate my Grandfather left me, near Sedbergh.
Reynolds.	Are you married?
Foster. 	Yes. And I have six children, and there'

s another on the stocks. I lost one.
Reynolds.	Then I insist upon standing Godfather to your next child.
Foster. 	But I am a friend, and we don'

t baptize our children.
Reynolds.	I know you don'

t, but I had forgotten that. What are you doing here?
Foster. 	I came up to give evidence of what I saw of the slave trade, when I was in the West Indies.
Reynolds.	I am very glad I met with you. We have seen some service together. How are your frds at Lancaster.

When Captⁿ Reynolds left him, the friends flock' d round him, and he received so many invitations, that he said he need not have gone without dinner for a week. But he refused them all, and said, What makes you so very kind now? You saw me before and took no notice of me. Why do you do it now?

In March 1793 he was co-executor of his father's will, proved at the PCC in London; he inherited only £100 under the will, in recognition of how well he had already been provided for. That year he took his son Myles to John Hall's school at Newton in Bolland. On the 30^th December 1795 he witnessed the marriage of John Laycock and Ann Winn, at Brigflatts.²²

In February 1796 he took into partnership Joseph Dover, who had been brought up in the woollen trade, and greatly extended his business, built another mill and manufactured several kinds of coarse woollen cloth: travelling into adjacent counties, particularly into Cumberland, to see his purchases of wool weighed and packed, and also to pay for it (it was Foster who attended to the books), he formed wide acquaintances and made many friends. At this period Foster took great pleasure in his plantations, and in botany and teaching it to his children, often taking some of them with him in his country rambles for that purpose, in which he found some rare plants.²³

In the spring of 1799 his wife, in returning with him on horseback from Kendal Quarterly Meeting, was exposed to wet, and took a severe cold which terminated in consumption. She died on the 9^th November 1799, aged 46. After this afflictive bereavement Robert's sister Elizabeth went to live with him. She was a very superior woman, and her society was a great advantage to his daughters and a comfort to himself. She continued to be a frequent visitor to Hebblethwaite Hall after Robert's second marriage, at Brigflats, on the 25^th February 1802, with Margaret Burton, the widow of John Burton, brother of his first wife. This marriage produced no children.²⁴

In 1802 he was described as a yeoman, of Hebblethwaite Hall, West Riding, Yorkshire. He continued an active, useful, and benevolent life at Hebblethwaite, in the enjoyment of domestic happiness and of social intercourse with the worthies around, who were attracted by his accomplished mind and genial disposition, to his retired but hospitable dwelling, till the autumn of 1812.²⁵

William Wordsworth spent a week at Hebblethwaite in 1804 or 1805, having first met Robert Foster in 1804. Of the first meeting the poet's sister Dorothy wrote: "a very pleasant conversation we had—he is a very sensible and entertaining Man and seems to have an independent Manly Mind, intended for something better than bartering for wool. We were very much pleased with him." Wordsworth gave Foster a letter of introduction to Robert Southey, who wrote to Richard Duppa on the 23^rd March 1806:

Oh! Wordsworth sent me a man the other day, who was worth seeing; he looked like a first assassin in Macbeth as to his costume—but he was a rare man. He had been a lieutenant in the navy; was scholar enough to quote Virgil aptly; had turned quaker, or semi-quaker, and was now a dealer in wool somewhere about twenty miles off. He had seen much, and thought much; his head was well stored, and his heart in the right place.

It is five or six and twenty years since he was at Lisbon, and he gave me as vivid a description of the Belem Convent, as if the impression on his memory was not half a day old. Eldridge's acquaintance, Thomas Wilkinson, came with him. They had been visiting an old man of a hundred in the vale of Lorton, and it was a fine thing to hear this Robert Foster describe him.²⁶

In 1808 Dorothy Wordsworth referred to him as "our good Friend". William Wordsworth later wrote, in a letter to Robert Spence in 1829, of "your excellent Father in Law—whom I was always so glad to see on his periodical visits to my neighbours. I have not forgotten my own visit to Hebblethwaite . . ." And in a later letter to Robert Foster's grandson Dodshon he wrote: "I can assure you I not unfrequently recall him to my mind and with much pleasure."²⁷

Coleridge was also an acquaintance. Another of his intimate Cumberland friends was John Fletcher of Greysouthern; they corresponded in Latin. He used to read Greek with [O2] Edward Richardson.²⁸

The geologist priest Adam Sedgwick recalled:

. . . sometimes when he drove over to visit the brotherhood in Kirthwaite, or at other times when, tempted by the bright weather, to make a short cut over the hills on foot to the old vicarage of Dent, he would halt a few hours in friendly intercourse with my father. I remember his presence well, when I was but a little boy: his dark complexion which had been made darker by a tropical sun; his small and regular features; his dark and bushy eyebrows; his earnest and grave look, which at first sight gave to me an impression of sternness. But all that feeling went off when he began to speak; for his voice was pleasant, and his discourse at once earnest and genial. Even in my childhood I felt joy whenever he came to the vicarage; and I used to creep behind his chair that I might hear him talk. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, and a grave outer garb of a quaker cut; but I never thought that he looked quite like a quaker. He had not the soft, bland expression of a good old quaker Statesman; and he had a confirmed habit of slovenliness, which was utterly unlike the precise and perfect neatness of all other men of his grade in the Society of Friends. . . . He loved the society of boys who had risen to the upper classes of the [Sedbergh] school; and he had resumed his study of the classics and become a very accomplished Latin scholar. Sometimes he half alarmed us, when he took down some ancient classic and began to discuss a point of criticism. We thought we had enough of such matters when before our Schoolmaster. But our fears were of short duration; for he was soon carried on by his love of the author; and then, in a way peculiar to himself, he would roll out a noble translation of some favourite passage. It might be from one of the orations of Cicero, or some pregnant and pithy chapter out of the works of Tacitus, or it might be some burst of indignant scorn and mockery out of one of the old Roman Satirists. These were days of delight to the schoolboys who had the honour of being admitted to such genial and healthy visits. Sometimes, but rarely, he and my father had discussions at the vicarage on subjects of religious ordinances; but I think I may say with full assurance that no word of bitterness ever escaped from the tongue of one or the other. They agreed in many of the great essentials of Christian truth: and they agreed that the end of all religious ordinances was to bring the heart—the fountain head of all true religious emotion—into conformity, both in thought and outward act, with the revealed will of God.²⁹

In mid-May 1809 Robert Foster went on a visit to London, with his son Myles, in quest of a possible position for him. They stayed principally at Bromley, where Robert was confined by illness for a few days. In mid-June they moved on to Bristol, staying a few days with George and Hannah Fisher at Hillside; then visited their cousins Samuel and Rachel Lloyd at Birmingham, followed by a night in Liverpool, before reaching home again on the 28th June.³⁰

In June 1812, Foster had a severe attack of rheumatic gout, a complaint to which he was subject. This appears to have decided him to sell his landed estates, which he carried into effect the following February. Hebblethwaite Hall, Sarthwaite, Gill House, Burnt Mill, and Dovecoat Gill estates were sold by auction at the Kings Arms in Sedbergh, to Warwick Pearson, Esq., of Kirby Lonsdale, for £10,800; The Wood went to John Wakefield of Kendal, for £5,000 or more. It was with great regret he parted with Hebblethwaite Hall: his grandfather Myles Birket had wished him to entail Hebblethwaite upon his eldest son, Myles Birket Foster, and it had been a hundred years in the family, but the step seemed necessary to enable him to make a fair disposition of his property. Early in November 1812 Robert Foster, with his wife and daughter Sarah, removed to a house in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, which he afterwards purchased; the move to Newcastle was so that he could be near his children, who had most of them removed to that locality. His removal certificate, dated 29^th December 1812, was received by Newcastle Monthly Meeting, and David Sutton and Daniel Oliver were appointed to visit the family. Robert's son John, who had become a partner with Anthony Clapham in the soap making business, then went to reside with his father. Here he maintained the same character of active usefulness and benevolence as long as his health permitted.³¹

In February 1814, April 1815, and July 1816 he was one of two Newcastle representatives to Monthly Meeting. In July 1815, with George Binns and four others, he was appointed to a committee of Monthly Meeting to attend to the Friends' schools. He and David Sutton were two of the four representatives from Newcastle at Quarterly Meeting in September 1815. His daughter Mary Spence related that, as they were returning from meeting one Sunday morning in heavy rain, a neighbour offered her father an umbrella. Foster's answer was civil, but emphatic: "I am obliged to thee, James, I despise them!"³²

On the 9^th January 1818 he suffered a very afflicting bereavement by the death of his son John of typhus fever, aged 30; John had lived with him, and died at his house in Newcastle.³³

Sedgwick recalled, again:

The last time I saw Mr Robert Foster was at Newcastle, I believe in the year 1821, while I was upon a geological tour. The load of years had then been resting upon him: but his heart had not become cold; for the old man received me with the warmest welcome; and then he walked with me, (no longer with his firm step of former years,) and shewed me some of the neighbouring establishments on the river Tyne. He seemed to be again in his own element; and all the persons connected with the shipping interests of the river treated him with marked respect and confidence. After a while he said, "We will go and rest ourselves at the study of one of my friends. You will like to know him, for he is a man of genius and a great humourist." It was Bewick, the well-informed naturalist and celebrated engraver upon wood; and we had a long and delightful interview with that great artist and humourist of Newcastle. It was I believe on the day following that I saw for the last time my aged and honoured friend Mr Foster; whose name I retain in grateful memory, associated with many endearing thoughts of the friends and scenes of my early years.³⁴

Foster had for some time entertained an opinion that the Society of Friends didn't have good ground for its scruple against the payment of Lay Impropriate Tithes. He wrote his reasons at great length, and sent them to several influential members of the society. Some of them agreed with him, others didn't; and the Society wasn't prepared to let go a testimony, on account of which many of its members had suffered persecution. A change afterwards took place, and a few years later, on the subject being brought before the Yearly Meeting, an alteration was made in the rules respecting Impropriate Tithes very much in accordance with his views.³⁵

On 30 April 1821 he wrote his will:

This is the last Will and Testament of me Robert Foster of Northumberland Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, that is to say —

Having already given to my Sons Myles Birket Foster and James Foster and to my Son in Law Anthony Clapham their full respective shares of my Estate and Effects, and also given to my Son in Law Robert Spence a part thereof out of that part which remains at my disposal and is all that I possess — first I order and direct my Executors hereinafter named to pay all my just Debts. I give and devise to my daughter Mary Spence Wife of Robert Spence aforesaid my freehold house in Northumberland Street in Newcastle upon Tyne aforesaid in which I now dwell to have and to hold the said freehold house with all it's [sic] rights privileges and appurtenances to her the said Mary Spence her heirs and Assigns absolutely forever. I also give and bequeath to my said Son in Law Robert Spence Twelve hundred pounds subject to the payment of an Annuity of Forty pounds to my Wife Margaret Foster, the first payment to commence within one Month after my decease. And I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Foster all the Rest and Residue of my Estate and Effects of what nature and kind soever (except to my said Wife such of my own Furniture, besides her own, that she shall choose) subject also in like manner to the payment of an Annuity of sixty pounds to my said Wife during her Life and I appoint the said Robert Spence Myles Birket Foster and Anthony Clapham Executors of this my last Will & testament

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 30^th day of the fourth month 1821.

Rob^t Foster

[Witnesses: George Abbatt, Henry Charlton, Joseph Spence]

In July 1821, February 1822 and November 1823, Robert represented Newcastle at Monthly Meeting. During his residence in Newcastle he was a frequent attender of the Yearly Meeting in London, an additional inducement being to visit his son James, who had settled in the metropolis. He was accustomed to make these journeys by sea in a collier, sometimes taking his wife or daughter with him; he also went three or four times to Holland, his object being chiefly to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the Dutch language. He was a director of the Newcastle Savings Bank, which he attended diligently while health permitted. He made his will in 1821, having already provided for Myles, James and his sons-in-law Anthony Clapham and Robert Spence. In April of that year he was visited in Newcastle by James Losh, who had tea with him; Losh found him "a singular person, formerly a very active and gallant officer in the Navy, a good classical scholar and a considerable mathematician." In March 1823 he attended his sister Elizabeth's funeral at Lancaster; then in May he attended his son James's wedding to Rachel Foster, combining this with a visit to Yearly Meeting. In March 1824 Robert was a signatory to an open letter to the Mayor of Newcastle, requesting that he call a meeting for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for the Improvement and gradual Emancipation of the Slave Population of the British Colonies. That month he was granted administration of his father's will, as only surviving executor. By March 1825 he had subscribed £1 to the Infant School Society, in Newcastle. In February 1824 he had had a slight attack of paralysis, and a few weeks afterwards his wife had a stroke of the same character, but much more severe. Notwithstanding this however, she survived her husband eight years. Robert also recovered from his slight attack, but his general health was shaken and gradually became more and more feeble. His last illness continued for many months and was attended at times with severe bodily suffering, which he bore with great patience, and though always diffident of speaking of his religious attainments, and for several weeks before his decease deprived of the power of speech, yet he evinced great tranquillity and sweetness of spirit, in the near prospect of his final change. Nurse Chicken, who was engaged when his wife was taken ill, was most kind and attentive to both the invalids.³⁶

The 1827 History, Directory and Gazetteer of Durham and Northumberland describes him as a gentleman, of 53 Northumberland Street, Newcastle. At his death, which occurred at his house in Northumberland Street on the 15^th June 1827, he was again described as a gentleman. He was buried on the 20^th in plot 19 of the old graveyard in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. His will was proved at Durham on the 25^th August, his estate being sworn under £4000 (£197,960 at 2005 values).³⁷

The Annual Monitor wrote of him:

Robert Foster was a man of extensive classical attainments, yet of unaffected humility. His inflexible integrity and watchful circumspection of conduct were conspicuous, and endeared him to various ranks. In fulfilling the duties of social life, he was an amiable example; he was especially careful not to speak evil of any one, and to discourage the practice in others. In the exercise of Christian hospitality he was liberal, but those who could not return the obligation were the peculiar and tender objects of his care.³⁸

The Newcastle Courant, on the 23^rd June, reported:

He was a man of extensive literary and classical attainments, remarkable for his unaffected humility, his inflexible integrity, and for the sincerity and simplicity of his character. He was particularly careful not to speak evil of any one, and equally so in discouraging this practice in others. In fulfilling all the social duties of private life, he was a bright example, and his memory will long be cherished and revered by a numerous circle of friends.³⁹

The Kendal Chronicle on the 30^th June 1827 reported:

The late Robert Foster was a scholar, a gentleman, and a philosopher, in the most expanded sense of the word, and last and most valuable of all, a Christian. It may with justice be said of him, that he was a man cautious in advising, scrupulously honourable in promise, and capable above most men, when mystery was to be unravelled, confusion brought to order, doubt made certain, or truth conspicuous. He has lived to a good old age, and has gone down to the grave with a character free from stain or reproach, dearly loved by many, and esteemed by all.⁴⁰

Robert Foster was the eldest child of [N24] Dodshon and [N93] Elizabeth Foster.⁴¹

1 TNA: RG 6/1616A, RG 6/1209; Percy Corder (1914) The Life of Robert Spence Watson. London: Headley; Lancaster City & Maritime Museum LANLM.1993.38.1

2 Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon; RSW in John William Steel (1899) A Historical Sketch of the Society of Friends 'in Scorn called Quakers' in Newcastle & Gateshead 1653–1898. London & Newcastle, Headley Bros. : 111; Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

3 Robert Foster's shorthand notebook, James Birket letter to Francis Farley 1772-02-15; Foster (1860)

4 Foster (1862); RSW in Steel (1899): 111; evidence given by Robert Fo(r)ster to the House of Commons Select Committee on the Slave Trade, 1791-03-01; MS poem by Myles Foster (at Lancaster Maritime Museum); Elder, Melinda (1997) 'Dodshon Foster of Lancaster and the West Indies (1730–93)', Lancaster Maritime Journal, Vol. 1, p. 17; Robert Foster's shorthand notebook; James Birket letter to Robert Foster 1775-03-24; Foster (1860); a diary in cipher, 1771, written in Antigua while working for his uncle's business in Lancaster, is understood to still be in the possession of Spence descendants [letter to me from Charles Spence, 1986-06-27]

5 Foster (1862); RSW, loc cit.; James Birket letters to Robert Foster 1775-09-29, 1775-10-27, and to Francis Farley 1776-10-07; Foster (1860)—has the date of James Birket's diary entry as 3^rd September

6 James Birket letter to Robert Foster 1777-08-06

7 Foster (1862); RSW in Steel (1899): 112; Lieutenants' logbooks at the National Maritime Museum, ADM L/P/60 (Pelican), ADM L/J/144 (Jupiter), and ADM L/H/113 (Hornet); evidence given by Robert Fo(r)ster to the House of Commons Select Committee on the Slave Trade, 1 Mar 1791; Foster (1860)

8 Foster (1862); RSW, loc. cit.; Lieutenants' logbooks at the National Maritime Museum, ADM L/P/60 (Pelican), ADM L/J/144 (Jupiter), and ADM L/H/113 (Hornet)'; Foster (1860)

9 James Birket letter to Thomas Backhouse 1779-08-30

10 Foster (1862); RSW, loc. cit.; James Birket letters to Thomas Backhouse 1779-08-30 and Absalom Thornton 1779-09-07; Foster (1860)

11 Lieutenants' logbooks at the National Maritime Museum, ADM L/P/60 (Pelican), ADM L/J/144 (Jupiter), and ADM L/H/113 (Hornet); RSW, loc. cit.; Foster (1862); James Birket letters to William Thornton 1779-11-09, Absalom Thornton 1779-12-10, Robert Foster 1781-01-03, 1781-04-11, 1781-04-28, 1781-06-07; Foster (1860); the carving knife story is given in Jan Reynolds (1984) Birket Foster. London: Batsford

12 Foster (1860)

13 Foster (1862); RSW, loc. cit.; James Birket letters to Thomas Backhouse 1780-02-23 and Robert Foster 1780-09-15; Foster (1860)

14 Madge, Mrs BH 'Notes on the Diary Kept by Robert Foster, at Hebblethwaite Hall', typescript

15 Foster (1860)

16 Madge; James Birket letters to Robert Foster 1781-03-11, 1781-04-11

17 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire; Madge; Foster (1860)

18 RG 6/1081, /851, /155; RSW in Steel (1899): 113; Corder (1914); Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster; Adam Sedgwick (1870) Supplement to the Memorial of the Trustees of Cowgill Chapel. Cambridge: CUP: 57; Foster (1871); Foster (1862); Robert Spence Watson in Steel (1899): 113; Madge; Madge; James Birket letter to Robert Foster 1782-07-25

19 grandfather's will, Lancashire Archives WRW/A/R111a/53; RSW in Steel (1899): 113-5; Frankland; Foster (1860)

20 Foster (1873); Foster (1860)

21 Godard, John George (1884) George Birkbeck, The Pioneer of Popular Education. London: Bemrose: 11; Foster (1873); Foster (1860)

22 TNA: PROB 11/1229; RG 6/710; Foster (1860)

23 RSW in Steel (1899): 116-7; Foster (1860)

24 RSW, loc. cit.; Foster (1862); RG 6/710, /851, /1562; Foster (1860)

25 RG 6/710, /851, /1562; Foster (1862)

26 Ernest de Selincourt, ed. (1967–82) The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, 2^nd edⁿ, Oxford; RSW, loc. cit.; Foster (1862); Southey, Charles Cuthbert, ed. (?1849) The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, Vol. II, pp. 29-30; Foster (1860)

27 de Selincourt, ed. (1967–82)

28 RSW, loc. cit.; Ann R. Foster in Steel (1899): 155; Foster (1860)

29 Sedgwick, op. cit.: 54-5

30 Foster (1860)

31 RSW, loc. cit.; Foster (1873); Foster (1862); sale poster; Frankland; Foster (1860); extracts from deeds, in possession of current owner of Sarthwaite (2003); list of removals, and testimonies & certificates 1812–1820, TWAS MF 168 & 188

32 Anne Ogden Boyce (1889) Records of a Quaker Family: The Richardsons of Cleveland. London: Samuel Harris: 24; minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 168 & 169

33 Foster (1860)

34 Sedgwick, op. cit.: 58-9

35 Foster (1860)

36 minutes of Newcastle Monthly Meeting, TWAS MF 169; RSW, loc. cit.; Death Duty Registers, (IR 26&27)/1125; Foster (1862); Durham Probate Records DPRI/1/1827/F9; Foster (1860); Journal of the Friends' Historical Society 50.3: 183, 1963; The Newcastle Courant, 1824-03-27, issue 7694, and 1825-03-19, issue 7745; Lancashire Record Office WRW/A  R145B/65 Dodshon Foster 1793 & 1824

37 History, Directory and Gazetteer of Durham and Northumberland; Death Duty Registers, (IR 26&27)/1125; Spence, op. cit.; Steel (1899): 219; Durham Probate Records DPRI/1/1827/F9; TNA: RG 6/228, /778; Foster (1860); Liverpool Mercury, 1827-06-29

38 Foster (1862); Foster (1860)

39 The Newcastle Courant, 1827-06-23, issue 7863

40 Foster (1862)

41 Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Foster (1860)

N24. DODSHON FOSTER

Dodshon Foster was born on the 1^st September 1730, at Hawthorne, Durham. In 1737 he inherited £900 from his great-uncle Robert Forster, late a merchant of Rotterdam; his great-uncle also left to Dodshon and his two brothers, to be divided equally, all his wearing apparel, books, and other papers, except any account books required by his executors.¹

He maintained links with Furness throughout his life, and also with Kendal, where an aunt had settled. On attaining the age of 21, in 1751, he received a legacy of £120 from his grandfather Nicholas Dodshon. Around 1751–2 he was made a freeman of Lancaster. As Melinda Elder, historian of the Lancaster slave trade, tells it:

He was, at this time, not only purchasing land along the quayside but also making his first investments in Lancaster shipping. Clearly not without some initial resources, he must be regarded as the archetypal entrepreneur of his day. His earliest known investment was in the Barlborough, a brand new vessel built at Lancaster and fitted out for the African slave trade. This small 40-ton snow made four successive voyages to Africa and the West Indies between September 1752 and October 1757. During these years the Barlborough transported over 550 slaves to Jamaica and Antigua, which was a considerable number given the size of the ship. Foster also had shares in a second, larger, slave ship, the Bold, which sailed for 150 slaves in 1755. With five successful voyages in as many years, his youthful opportunism had clearly paid off handsomely. It also enabled the captain who had served him on both these vessels to become a prominent slave merchant himself in time.

As the senior partner in both these vessels, Dodshon would have been one of Lancaster's foremost slave traders at a crucial time when the trade was being firmly established at Lancaster and when lucrative profits could most easily be made. In his early twenties he was also the youngest. This did not prevent him from serving as Port Commissioner in 1755 as one of an elected team concerned with the running and development of the port. Dodshon had already earned himself both money and status within the established merchant community at Lancaster.²

The Barlborough was probably the first Lancaster guineaman to visit Jamaica, which she visited three times, in 1753, 1754 and 1756. In 1753 she stayed 17 days, and returned with 10 puncheons of rum. In 1754 she stayed 63 days, and returned with 62 hogsheads and tierces sugar, 5 tons fustick, 40 bags ginger, 40 tons mahogany, 23 bags cotton.³

A merchant of Lancaster, he married [N93] Elizabeth Birket on the 3^rd July 1753, at Lancaster Friends' meeting house. Their children, all born in Lancaster, were: [N23] Robert (1754–1827), Jane (1756–1758), Myles (1759–1779), and Elizabeth (1764–1823).⁴

Foster also invested in the Bold, 70 tons, which in 1756 cleared Barbados for Lancaster with 64 hogsheads and 19 tierces sugar, 11 puncheons rum, 7 tons logwood, and 14 bags cotton. Dodshon Foster, with John Heathcote, were Lancaster's youngest entrepreneurs in the African trade.

As Quakers, their involvement in the slave trade is particularly interesting, since Friends' consciences were frequently scrutinized, as evident in the Lancaster Meeting House records. . . . Their interests were not, however, long-lasting. By April 1758 Dodgson [sic] Foster was advertising the Barlborough for sale [by auction at the Sun tavern in Lancaster] and his fellow Friend had been dead for a month. Foster's enthusiasm for slaving may have been dampened by Heathcote's departure, but, in any case, the trade had come to a near stand-still at this time as a result of the Seven Years War, and once the initial panic was over, war-time trade, away from the more vulnerable south, was on offer once more at Lancaster. Foster was by this time concerned in a West Indiaman, the Hawke, with his father-in-law, which had sailed between the islands and South Carolina in 1757.

The number of apprentices Dodshon enrolled as owner of this vessel suggests he had already fared extremely well as a merchant. Moreover, his marriage into an established merchant group trading direct with the West Indies would have given Dodshon ample opportunities for investments outside the slave trade should he need them.⁵

In 1759 Foster is known both to have bought furniture from the Lancaster firm of Gillows and to have supplied them with mahogany.⁶

In 1764 he was left five shillings, by the will of his uncle Nicholas Dodshon.⁷

"His obvious and early successes may well explain why his name does not figure prominently in later mercantile records."⁸ They also meant he was at liberty to accompany his ailing wife Elizabeth on a lengthy health-seeking stay in Bristol from May to July of 1766. The diary he kept at this time still exists. During this period his young family were no doubt sent off to stay with relatives as he himself had been many years previously and this practice evidently continued, to an extent, with his wife's death later that year.⁹

Around 1772 he decided to move out of his house on St George's Quay, his home for almost 20 years. In fact he held on to the family dwelling together with its adjoining three-storey warehouse, leaving them to his unmarried daughter Elizabeth when he died. Still fronting the quay today, adjacent to and upriver from the Custom House, both had been erected on the lots he had purchased at the very start of his merchant career. On May Day 1772 he removed to Parvus Hall.¹⁰

In August 1778 he wrote to Capt. Francis Reynolds, RN, to thank him for obtaining a transfer from the Endeavour to the Defiance, for his son Robert, though he disapproved of Robert going to sea. In late August 1779 he received the news of the illness of his son Myles, setting off with a doctor in the early hours of the following morning, but receiving news of his death, en route. In 1785 he received a legacy of £100 under the terms of the will of his father-in-law Myles Birket. In 1790 the grandson who bore his name died at his house in Lancaster, aged just four. Dodshon himself died at Lancaster on the 2^nd January 1793, and was interred on the 6^th next to his grandson in the Quaker burial ground in Lancaster.¹¹

His will—made on 14 December 1789—was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury at London on the 4^th March 1793 by his children Elizabeth and Robert Foster, and Robert Routh, executors. He bequeathed to his son Robert £100, which had been bequeathed to him by his (DF's) father-in-law Myles Birket, but which Robert, as Birket's sole executor, had not paid; and, as Robert had been so amply provided for in Birket's will, and on Robert's own recommendation, the whole of the rest of his estate was left to Elizabeth. The estate is described as "All those my two Messuages or Tenements with the Warehouse Edifices and Buildings and all and singular other the Hereditaments and premises with the Appurtenances thereunto belonging situate and being on Lancaster Quay in the said County of Lancaster and erected upon two front Lotts of Ground number 34 and 35 purchased by me of the Trustees and Commissioners of Lancaster Quay and also upon a certain part of a Back Lot numbered 32 purchased of John Heathcote of Lancaster aforesaid Merchant all which said premises adjoin to a certain Street called Marton Street extending from the front of the Quay back to the vicarage wall and now in the several occupations of Joseph Sharp Anchorsmith and John Dansen as Tenants thereof"; as well as "all my right Tithe and Interest of in and to the sum of seven hundred pounds three per cent reduced Bank Stock or Annuities bequeathing to me in and by the last Will and Testament of my late uncle John Birket deceased", and the residue of his estate.¹²

After Elizabeth's death, apparently intestate, Robert Foster, as surviving executor, was on 29 March 1824 granted, by the Consistory Court of Lancaster, the administration, with will annexed, of his father's will. Apart from personal estate and effects in the Province of Canterbury, he affirmed that at the time of his death Dodshon Foster's estate within the Archdeaconry of Richmond (for which the Consistory Court acted) was valued at under £1500 (£84,045 at 2005 values).¹³

Dodshon Foster was the third child and third son of [N25] Robert and [N88] Elizabeth Foster.¹⁴

In 2023 Lancaster City Museums published a valuable podcast on Dodshon Foster and his diary, putting his association with slavery into the context of Lancaster Quakers of the time, describing how this is perceived by Quakers today, and the lessons now drawn for reparative justice. Ann Morgan, of Lancaster Friends, also has a fuller presentation on Lancaster Quaker involvement in slavery, and the response today from Britain Yearly Meeting.

1 TNA: RG 6/1579; digest of Durham Quaker births: index; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Durham wills, DPRI/2/14A p131

2 Melinda Elder (1997) 'Dodshon Foster of Lancaster and the West Indies (1730–93)', Lancaster Maritime Journal, Vol. 1, pp. 14-5; Durham wills, DPRI/1/1732/D5. A snow is a square-rigged vessel with two masts.

3 Melinda Elder (1992) The Slave Trade and the Economic Development of Eighteenth-Century Lancaster, Halifax: Ryburn, pp. 66, 96, 127. Fustic is a yellow dye.

4 Elder (1992): 127-8; Elder (1997): 15

5 RG 6/1209, /1616A; Foster (1871); Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon; Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

6 Letter to me from Susan Stuart (Gillows historian), 2000-05-05

7 uncle's will, Durham wills, DPRI/1/1764/D7

8 Elder (1997): 16

9 loc. cit.; Dodshon Foster's diary (Lancaster Maritime Museum); RG 6/1209

10 Elder (1997): 17; Myles Foster poem (Lancaster Maritime Museum ms)

11 RG 6/1168B, /1562; Foster (1862); Foster (1871); father-in-law's will, Lancashire Archives WRW/A/R111a/53; Elder (1997): 17-8; James Birket letter to Robert Foster 1779-08-24

12 TNA: PROB 11/1229/194

13 Lancashire Record Office WRW/A  R145B/65 Dodshon Foster 1793 & 1824

14 RG 6/1579

N25. ROBERT FOSTER

Robert Foster was born at Hawthorne, Durham, on the 4^th August 1694.¹

On the 3^rd February 1723/4, gentleman of Hawthorn, he was party to the lease and release of a moiety of Letch Close, the Peake, White Well Close, Milbank Close, Repattford Close, Long Bank, East Pasture, the Intack and Long Garth, all at Hawthorn, from Isabel Forster, Elizabeth Brough, and Thomas Brough, for a consideration of £680.²

He married [N88] Elizabeth Dodshon on the 10^th November 1726, at Shotton. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, were: Thomas (1727–1782), Robert (1729–1794), and [N24] Dodshon (1730–1792).³

In 1732 he received a legacy of five shillings from his father-in-law Nicholas Dodshon. In 1737 he inherited a watch from his uncle Robert Forster, under the terms of the latter's will; his uncle also left him an annuity of £20 a year, for life, as well as one tenth of the residue of his estate, to be equally divided between the three children. On 9/10 July 1739 he signed a Lease and Release, by way of mortgage, to James Carr of Framwellgate, of a moiety of Letch Close, the Peake, White Well Close, Milbank Close, Repattford Close, Long Bank, East Pasture, the Intack and Long Garth, all at Hawthorn, and the Letch 12a. and Mill Close 21a., all at Hawthorn, for a consideration of £1050. There were further mortgages for £100, 3 June 1740, and for £50, 17 January 1740/1741, endorsed.⁴

On the 16^th October 1739, as executor of his father's will, he was party to a quit claim by Nicholas Dodgson of Hawthorn, gentleman, and Frances his wife (formerly Frances Forster); Warren Maud of Sunderland near the Sea, colefitter (administrator of his late wife, formerly Mary Forster); and Alice Forster of Hawthorne, spinster. All their claims upon lands, under the will, were devised to Robert, in consideration of the legacies due to them: £337 10/-; £335 6s 4d; £378 respectively.⁵

A merchant, he died at Hawthorne (where he had been living in 1753) on the 16^th February 1755.⁶

Robert Foster was the eldest child of [N26] Thomas and [N85] Sarah Forster.⁷

1 TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England

2 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/64

3 Foster (1871); Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon

4 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1732/D5 and DPRI/2/14A p129; according to Durham will DPRI/1/1764/D7 he was left five shillings in the will of his brother-in-law Nicholas Dodshon, but if the will wasn't proved until 1764, as appears to be the case, he can't have actually received this; catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/76

5 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/75

6 RG 6/1209; Foster (1871); Melinda Elder (1992) The Slave Trade and the Economic Development of Eighteenth-Century Lancaster, Halifax: Ryburn, p. 127

7 RG 6/1579

N26. THOMAS FORSTER

Thomas Forster was born at Hawthorne, Durham, on the 10^th October 1662.¹

He married [N85] Sarah Hornsby on the 22^nd July 1691, at Wallnook meeting. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, were: Margaret (1692–1703), [N25] Robert (1694–1755), Hannah (1696–1699), Thomas (1698–1724), Sarah (1701/2–1777), Mary (1702–1709), Margaret (1705–1722), Frances (1707–1760), Joseph (1709–1709), Mary (1710 – after 1733), and Alice (1713–1755).²

On 26/27 May 1708, a maltster of Hawthorne, he was party to a lease and release of East Pasture and Whittell Close, Hawthorn, from John Robinson, yeoman of Hawthorne, his maternal uncle, for the consideration of an annuity of £5 for life.³

On 10/11 May 1709, a yeoman of Hawthorn, he was party to a lease and release and quit claim, from Thomasine Thompson and Alice Robinson, of the Broadmere, the Moor and the Couper Close, Hawthorn, for a consideration of £210.⁴

On 3 April 1716, a yeoman of Hawthorne, he signed Articles of Agreement for the sale to him by George White of various closes of land specified, and two thirds of The Moor and White's expectant interest in one third of The Moor on the death of his mother, all at Hawthorn for £800.⁵

A yeoman of Hawthorne, he made his will on the 23^rd December 1717:

In dei nomine Amen I Thomas Foster of Hawthorne In the County of Durham yeom^~: being in good health of body & of good & perfect memory for which i bless Almighty God, & considering the uncertainty of this life do make & ordain this my last will & testament. I do hereby give & devise to my sone Thomas al those my Lands at Hawthorn moor house formerly ye Lands of Thomas Maize Containing by estemation eighty Acres Into how many Closes it now Is or hereafter may be divided, as also ye Moor Com^–only called Whites Moor Containing by estemation sixty acres Into what percels soever it now Is or hereafter may be divided, with proviso y^t my sone Robert may take of it about halfe an acre Joyning upon Wolfes Coopes for makeing a new hedge if the same Is not done by me In my life time which hedge my sone Robert shal make & for ever maintain at his own proper Cost as a bounder betwixt them, as also nine acres late ye Moor of Thomas Wolf together with six acres late yet Moor of Thomasan Thompson, al which said Lands lying within the township of Hawthorne I give & devise to my sd sone Thomas to him & his heires & assines forever with this special Condition notwithstanding yet he shal pay to his Mother Saray my now wife the yearly rent or sum^–e of twenty pounds of Lawfull money of Great Brittain In lieu of her thirde at two times or terms In the year, yearly & every year for & dureing her natural Life, the first payment to begin six months next after my decease & so to be Continued without any manner of deduction w^tsoever And al the rest of my Lands & tenements w^tsoever and wheresoever I do hereby give & devise to my sone Robert to him & his heires forever together with al my personal estate whatsoever, the household stuf only excepted which I do hereby give & bequeath to my dear & Loveing wife to be at her sole disposal as She pleaseth, al which said Lands & tenements & personal estate given to my sone Robert are upon this special Condition & shal be Chargeable with ye several & respective yearly and other sum^–es hereafter mentioned, first with the payment of the yearly rent of sume of Tenn pounds to Saray my wife for & dureing her natural life on acc^t of her thirds & the further yearly rent or sume of Tenn pounds to each of my daughters viz Sarah, Margret, Frances Mary & Alice, for & until they attain their respective ages of one & twenty years, al the sd paymts to begin within six months next after my decease, & so to be payd halfe yearly to each of them til they attain ye respective ages aforesd without any manner of deduction whatsoever, being what I do hereby appoint for their maintenance & education: also with the further sum^–e of Three hundred pounds of Lawful money of great Brittain to every one of my said five Daughters aforenamed to be payd to each of them when they shal attain to their several & respective ages of one & twenty years & my mind & wil Is, yt, if default be made by my sone Robert his heires or assines for y^e paym^t. of any of ye said sum^–es to any of my said five daughters at y^e respective times aforesd, that then such Child shal have full power to enter upon all or any part to y^e said Lands & tenements or personal estate & to sell Mortage or dispose of ye same for such sum or sum^–es as default shal be made for ye payment of together with al such Cost & Charges as they or any of them shal expend or be put to for recovery thereof & my minde & wil Is & I do hereby order & appoint that if any of my daughters shal happen to dye before they attain ye age of one & twenty years that then such portion or portions shal goe to the rest of my surviving daughters equally among them And I do hereby Commit ye tuition of al my daughters to their mother, & require them to give her due obedience In al things. And In Case of her death I Comit y^e tuition & further Care of them to my trusty & Loveing Friends John Walton of Shildon In ye County of Durham ye younger And to Edward his brother In Sunderland. And Lastly I make My sone Robert sole executor of this my last wil & testament In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this sixteenth three & twenty day of December annoq~ Dom^~. 1717

[Witnesses: Rob^t Byers, Tho House, Delavall Beaumont.]⁶

He died on the 24^th September 1723, at Hawthorne.⁷

Thomas Forster was the eldest child of [N27] Robert and [N82] Margaret Forster.⁸

His will was proved at Durham on 5 August 1732.⁹

1–2 TNA: RG 6/1579

3 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/28

4 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/65 and /66

5 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/42

6 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/73; Durham original wills DPRI/1/1732/F7

7–8 RG 6/1579; Foster (1871) says he died on 24 September 1728

9 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/73; Durham original wills DPRI/1/1732/F7

N27. ROBERT FORSTER

Robert Forster married [N82] Margaret Robinson on the 20^th November 1659, at Shotton, Durham. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, were: Margaret (1660–1704/5), [N26] Thomas (1662–1728), Robert (1664–1736/7), Mary (1666–1737), and Richard (1668 – ?). He lived in Cold Hesledon, in the County Palatinate of Durham.¹

He was an early follower of George Fox.²

On the 23^rd May 1666, a yeoman of Hawthorne, he was party to a Feoffment from Nicholas Salvin of Croxdale, of a cottage and garth on the west side of Hawthorn town street, for a consideration of £10; livery of seisin endorsed.³

He died at Hawthorne in December 1674, his burial on the 10^th being recorded by Shotton monthly meeting.⁴

Robert Forster was the son of [N28] Thomas and [N81] Alice Forster.⁵

1 TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon

2 Foster (1871)

3 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/5

4 RG 6/1579; Foster (1871)

5 Foster (1871)

N28. THOMAS FORSTER

Thomas Forster married [N81] Alice ____. Their children were: [N27] Robert (? – 1674), Thomas (? – 1696), and perhaps Alicia (bapt. 1628, Easington).¹

A dissenter in 1640, he lived in Cold Hesledon. As "Thomas ffoster" he appears in the 1642 Protestation Return for "Hesselden".²

On 30 April 1666 Thomas Foster of Cold Hesleden, in the parish of Dalton, yeoman, was party to a Quit claim to Thomas Foster of Hawthorne, in the parish of Easington, of the long garth 1a. 1r. 0p. and a frontstead belonging thereto at Hawthorn; the deed recites an agreement to exchange certain lands; livery of seisin endorsed.³

1 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1696/F8; Easington parish register (Durham RO EP/Ea 1/1 M42/967); TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England. In late 2000 I purchased a copy of this work to which Joseph Foster himself had made marginal notes in pencil. These make it abundantly clear that Foster no longer accepted that the connection could be made to the earlier extensive Forster lineage included in the version of this work as published. In view of this, and until further work can be undertaken on this line, I have curtailed the Forster line at the point indicated by Joseph Foster's notes.

2 Foster (1871); Protestation Return

3 catalogue entry for Durham Record Office D/X 649/4. NB This may relate to his son Thomas.

        Durham will DPRI/1/1662/F12 is for a Thomas Foster of Haselden, with a wife whose name is frustratingly difficult to read, but looks like Ellce—which could clearly be Alice; this Thomas names children John, Richard, Mary, Will:, and Thomas, but makes no reference to Robert.

NB the Durham Record Office material looks to be a promising line of enquiry. I have only seen the online catalogue references—research in the original documents could be illuminating.

N81. ALICE FORSTER born ____

Alice ____ married [N28] Thomas Forster. Their children were: [N27] Robert (? – 1674, Thomas (fl. 1654–1680), and Alicia (bapt. 1628, Easington).¹

She lived at Cold Hesledon.²

She was buried at St Andrew's, Dalton-le-Dale, on the 21^st December 1682.³

1 Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Easington parish register (Durham RO EP/Ea 1/1 M42/967); TNA: RG 6/1579

2 Foster (1871); TNA: RG 6/1579

3 Seaham Super Index

N82. MARGARET FORSTER born ROBINSON

Margaret Robinson was baptised at Easington, Durham, on the 8^th April 1638.¹

She married [N27] Robert Forster on the 20^th November 1659, at Shotton, Durham. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, Durham, were: Margaret (1660–1704/5), [N26] Thomas (1662–1728), Robert (1664–1736/7), Mary (1666–1737), and Richard (1668 – ?).²

She died on the 25^th January 1710/11, at Hawthorne.³

Margaret Robinson was the daughter of [N83] Thomas and [N84] Ann Robinson.⁴

1 "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch: 19 September 2020, Margaret Robinson, 1638

2 TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon. She may have been born at Easington, Durham, in 1638, where FamilySearch records baptisms of Margaret, daughter of Thomas Robinson, in both 1634 and 1638. Foster (1871) says Margaret (the daughter) was born in 1674.

3 RG 6/1579; Foster (1871)

4 FamilySearch; Foster (1871)

N83. THOMAS ROBINSON

Thomas Robinson of Hawthorne, Durham, married [N84] Ann ____. Their children included Anthony (1636 – 17xx, b. Shotton) and [N82] Margaret (? – 1710/1).¹

He was still living at Hawthorn in 1659.²

He probably died in 1677, and it was probably his inventory that was taken on 15 May that year, as follows³:

1 TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England

2 RG 6/1579

3 Easington Wills; Durham Original Wills, DPRI/1/1677/R11/1

N84. ANN ROBINSON born ____

Ann Robinson of Hawthorne married [N83] Thomas Robinson. Their children included Anthony (1636–17xx, b. Shotton) and [N82] Margaret (? – 1710/1).¹

In 1636 she was living at Hawthorn.²

Of Hawthorne in 1659, she died on 10 June 16xx [year illegible].³

1 TNA: RG 6/1579; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England

2–3 RG 6/1579

N85. SARAH FORSTER born HORNSBY

Sarah Hornsby married [N26] Thomas Forster on the 22^nd July 1691, at Wallnook meeting, Durham. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, were: Margaret (1692–1703), [N25] Robert (1694–1755), Hannah (1696–1699), Thomas (1698–1724), Sarah (1701/2–1777), Mary (1702–1709), Margaret (1705–1722), Frances (1707–1760), Joseph (1709–1709), Mary (1710 – after 1733), and Alice (1713–1755).¹

A widow, of Hawthorne, in 1737 her brother-in-law Robert Forster, late a merchant of Rotterdam, left her, in his will, an annuity of £10 a year for her life, as well as "all the Horses Mares & Geldings with there Sadles Bridles & other trappings & furniture which I shall have at my death".²

Her body was buried at Hawthorne on the 1^st April 1738, the event being recorded by Shotton monthly meeting.³

Sarah Hornsby was a daughter of [N86] Michael and [N87] ____ Hornsby.⁴

1 Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon

2 Durham wills, DPRI/2/14A p131

3 TNA: RG 6/1579; Foster (1871)

4 Foster (1871)

N86. MICHAEL HORNSBY

Michael Hornsby lived at Witton Gilbert, Durham.¹

He married [N87] Francis Fuster, on the 27^th June 1657, at St Nicholas Durham. Their children were: [N85] Sarah (? – 1738), a son (? – probably before 1697/8), and Frances (? – after 1697/8).²

Of Witton Gilbert, he voted for John Tempest in the 1675 County Election, and for Sir Charles in the 1679.³

In 1689 he was occupying property in Witton Gilbert owned by John Hornsby of Tynemouth.⁴

On 16^th July 1692, of Witton Gilbert, he sealed a release to Martin Nicholson.⁵

He made his will on the 16^th January 1697/8:⁶

In the Name of God Amen I Michaell Hornsby of Witton Gilbert in y^e Countie of Durham taylor being of sound & perfect mind & memory tho weak in bodie doo mak this my last will & testament in maner & fforme ffollowing ffirst I resign my Soull into ye hands of almighty god hoping through ye meritts death & passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ to have ffull and ffree pardon & fforgiveness of all my sins & to inheritt everlasting Life, my bodie I committ to ye earth to be decently interred att the discrettion of my executorix, hearafter named, & as touching such worldly estate as it hath pleased allmightie God to bestow upon me I give & devise ye same as ffolloweth ffirst I will & devise that all my Debts & ffuneral expenses shall be paid and discarged, I give & devise to my grandson Michaell Hornsby his heires & assignes all that my mesuage or tenement with the appurtances in witton gilbert afforesaid wherin I now live & I doe ffurther give to my grandson Michaell Hornsby all y^e rents Isues & proffits of y^e said premises dureing his minoritie upon condition ffollowing that is to say that he y^e said Michaell Hornsby his heires and assignes shall and will pay or cause to be paid unto Thomas Hornsby Brother of ye said Michaell y^e sume of ffive pounds of lawfull money of England att his age of on & twentie yeares or marige whether shall ffirst happen out of ye house and issues rents or proffitts & further I will that it shall & may be lawfull ffor Thomas Foster of Hawthorn or his asigns to lett take & [reseive?] all y^e rents & proffitts which may arise from ye same and to put fforward y^e same ffor y^e use of y^e said Michaell untill he shall attaine to y^e age of on & twentie yeeares or marrige whether shall ffirst happen and if it happen that y^e same Thomas shall dye, that then ye said ffive pound shall cease & go to y^e use of y^e said Michaell Hornsby, I hearby further give to my daughter ffrancis all my household stuff bills Bonds & personall estate whatsoever and doe heareby apoint & make her my Sole executrix of this my Last will and testament, & I do hearby revoke disanull & make void all former wills & testaments by me hearetoffore made & declare this to be my last will & testament In wittnesse wherof I have sett my hand & seale to this my last will & testament this sixteenth day of January in reigne of william ye third King of england scotland ffrance and Ireland in y^e yeare of our Lord 1697

[Witnesses: James Midleton, Richard Watson, John Sheeles]

He died before the 5^th May 1698, on which date an inventory was made, showing him possessed of:⁷

1 Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; TNA: RG 6/1579

2 "England Marriages, 1538–1973," database, FamilySearch: 10 February 2018, Michaell Hornsbie and Francis Fuster, 27 Jun 1657, citing St Nicholas, Durham, Durham, reference index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, FHL microfilm 0962965 IT 7; Durham wills, DPRI/1/1689/H27

3 1675 poll book; 1679 poll book

4 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1689/H27

5 Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University

6 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1689/H27

7 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1698/H7

N87. FRANCIS HORNSBY born FUSTER

Francis Fuster married [N86] Michael Hornsby, on the 27^th June 1657, at St Nicholas Durham. Their children were: [N85] Sarah (? – 1738), a son (? – probably before 1697/8), and Frances (? – after 1697/8).¹

1 "England Marriages, 1538–1973," database, FamilySearch: 10 February 2018, Michaell Hornsbie and Francis Fuster, 27 Jun 1657, citing St Nicholas, Durham, Durham, reference index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, FHL microfilm 0962965 IT 7; husband's will, DPRI/1/1689/H27

N88. ELIZABETH FOSTER born DODSHON

Elizabeth Dodshon was born on the 28^th February 1702, at Lowhills, Durham.¹

She married [N25] Robert Foster on the 10^th November 1726, at Shotton, Durham. Their children, all born at Hawthorne, were: Thomas (1727–1782), Robert (1729–1794), and [N24] Dodshon (1730–1792).²

She died at Hawthorne on the 1^st November 1730, at Dodshon's birth. Her body was buried at Hawthorne the next day.³

Elizabeth Dodshon was the daughter of [N89] Nicholas and [N92] Elizabeth Dodshon.⁴

1 TNA: RG 6/1341; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England

2 Foster (1871); Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon

3 RG 6/1579; digest of Durham Quaker burials: index; Foster (1871)

4 Foster (1871)

N89. NICHOLAS DODSHON

Nicholas Dodshon married [N92] Elizabeth ____. Their children were: Elizabeth (1702/3–1730), Nicholas (1705–1764), Ann (? – after 1736/7), and William (? – after 1766). He lived in Shearborn, Durham, from 1702 to 1705.¹

In 1713 he was named in the will of his brother John.²

He made his will on the 14^th December 1730:³

I Nicholas Dodshon of Lowhills in y^e County of Durham yeoman, Doe Make & Ordain this My Last Will & Testament, in Manner & Form as follows, Being of Sound & Perfect Mind & Memory, Prais'd be God for itt. Imprimus, I Give & Bequeath to my Loving wife Elizabeth Dodshon the Thirds of my Lands & housing att Sherbern & Pittington for her Life; and one Milk Cow, & a horse or a Mare, & y^e half of my houshold Goods to Dispose of att her Death.

Item, I give & Bequeath to my Daughter Ann Dodshon one Hundred & Seventy Pounds, to be paid her out of my Lands & houseing att Sherburn & Pittington, Aforesaid; If she Live to attain to the Age of One & Twenty or Marry, which shall first happen; And y^e half of my household Goods, & fifty Pound more out of the said Estates att her Mothers Death; And if I happen to Die before She attain y^e Age of one & Twenty, or Marry, My Will and Mind is that She Shall have Ten Pounds every Year Paid her Untill She Marry or Recieve the Whole Legacy of Two hundred & Twenty Pounds, But if She happen to Marry before her Mothers Death, She is to have One hundred & Seventy Pounds Paid, & the half of y^e household Goods & y^e Fifty Pounds Paid to her, or her Heirs if it so happen She have any; Twelve Months after her Mother's Death.

Item, I Give to My Son Robert Foster five Shillings ~ Item I Give to My Grand Son Thomas Foster half a Guinea; Item, I Give to my Grandson Robert Foster half a Guinea, to be paid by My Executor hereafter Named, When they Attain to y^e age of twenty one years. ~

Item I Give to My Grandson Dodshon Foster One Hundred & twenty Pounds, to be paid to him When he Attains the Age of one & Twenty, if he so Long live; But if he happen to Live & be Left to be brought up, & Educated with & by My Son Nicholas Dodshon, than my Will & Mind is that he Shall have but Eighty Pounds if he Live to Attain y^e Age of One & Twenty; And if he happen to Die before he attain that Age, than My Will & Mind is that My Grandsons Thomas & Robert Foster Shall have Each of them Forty Pounds, if they Live to Attain y^e Age of One & Twenty, to Recieve it. ~ Item I Give to My Son Nicholas Dodshon the two parts of My houseing & Lands att Sherburn and Pittington Aforesaid And the other third part after his Mothers Death, and all My Goods & Chattels Whatsoever, & hereby doe Make him My Executor of this My Last Will & Testament, he paying all My Just Debts & Legacys. I Doe Revoke all other Wills & Testaments, & Doe proclaim this to be my Last Will & Testament, As Witness My hand & Seal this 14^th Day of December, Anno Do: 1730.

I Likewise doe Nominate & Appoint William Chilton & Nicholas Dodshon of Sherburn to be Trustees of this My Said my said Last Will & Testament. ~

[witnesses: John Clark, William Calvart, William Mason]

His body was buried by Wallnook meeting, Durham, on the 6^th January 1730/1.

His will was proved at Durham on the 5^th August 1732.³

Nicholas Dodshon was the son of [N90] Nicholas and [N91] Ann Dodshon.⁴

1 TNA: RG 6/1341; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; son's will, Durham wills, DPRI/1/1764/D7

2 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1713/D4

3–4 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1732/D5; RG 6/1579

5 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1682/D6

N90. NICHOLAS DODSHON

Nicholas Dodshon married [N91] Ann ____. Their children were: John (? – 1713), [N89] Nicholas (? – 1732), Elizabeth (? – ?), Thomas (? – ?), Robert (? – ?), Richard (1682 – ?), and Anne (1682 – ?).¹

He made his will on the 29^th April 1682:²

In the name of god Amen I Nicholas Dodshon of Wingate Grainge in the County of Durham yeom^~ being sick and weake in body but in perfect mind and memory thankes be to god do make constitute and ordeine this my last will and Testament in maner and forme following revokeing and adnulling by these p^~sents all and every Testament and Testaments will and wills heretofore by me made and declared either by word or writeing and this is to be taken oenly for my last will and Testament and none other And first being penitent from the bottom of my heart for my Sins past humbly desireing forgiveness for the Same I give and comitt my Soule unto Almighty God my Saviour and redeemer in whom and by the meritts of Jesus Christ I trust and beleive assuredly to be Saved & to have full remission and forgiveness of all my Sins and that my Soule with my body att the generall day of resurrection shall rise againe in the joy and through the merits of Christs death and passion possesse & inheritt the Kingdome of Heaven prepared for his elect and Chosen And my body to be buried in Such place where itt shall please my executors or Trustees hereafter named to appoint And now for the setling of my temporall estate and Such goods and Chattells as itt hath pleased God farr above my defects to bestow upon me I do order give & dispose the same in man^~er & forme following that is to say First I do give and devise legate and bequeath unto my eldest Sonne John Dodshon All that my Tenement farmehold & Husbandry lying and being in the Townp^~p Territoryes and feilds of Shinckliffe in the County of Durham Togeather w^th all houses edifices buildings Lands meadowes Closes pastures grounds Com^~ons and Com^~on of pasture w^th all and Singular of itts ways Easments and appurtences whatsoever thereunto belonging or in any wise appertening late in the tenure or occupac^~on of Ralph Hodgshon and w^ch I now hold of the right Worp^~pful the Dean and Chapter of Durham by Lease thereof bearing date the five and Twentyeth day of April in the nine and Twentyeth yeare of his Maj^ies Reigne that now is for the terme of one and Twenty yeares under the yearly rent of Fower pounds Six Shillings eight pence To have and to hold the said Tenement farmehold and Husbandry in Shinckliffe aforesaid with the appurtences thereunto belonging unto my Said Sonne John Dodshon his executors Adm^rs: and assignes for and dureing all the residue and remainder of the terme of one and Twenty yeares yett to come & unexpired togeather w^th the benefitt of reneweing the Said Lease when and as often as occasion Shall require or he or the Supervisers of this my last will & Testament hereafter named Shall thinke fitt and Convenient Itm: I do hereby devise legate give and bequeath unto my Second Sonne Nicholas Dodshon All those my five parts (the whole being divided into Six) of one Tenement Farmehold and Husbandry lying and being within the Township Territoryes and feilds of Shinckliffe aforesaid Togeather w^th: all houses buildings Landes meadowes Closes pastures Com^~ons and Com^~on of pasture grounds and all and Singular the appurten^~ces to the Said Five parts belonging late in the tenure or occupa^~con of William Pell or his assignes and w^ch: I lately purchased of William Lylburne of the Towne & County of Newcastle upon Tyne [Esqr^~ ?] and also held of the Deane and Chapter of Durham for the Terme of one and Twenty yeares under the rent of Two pounds Thirtene Shillings one Penny halfe penny To have and to hold the same unto my Said Son Nicholas Dodshon his executors Adm^ers and assignes for and dureing all the residue and remainder of the terme of one and Twenty yeares yett to come and unexpired togeather w^th the benefitt of renewing the Said Lease Itm: my will and minde is and I doe hereby give and bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Dodshon the Sume of Eighty pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto her when She Shall attaine unto the age of one and Twenty yeares or be married whether shall first happen w^ch: Said Sume I doe hereby order limitt and appoint to be paid as followes that is to say by my Said Sonne John Dodshon the sum^me of fifty pounds of lawfull money of England part thereof fourth and oute of the Lands by me herein and herby given and bequeathed unto him and in the meane time that he Shall and do pay unto my Said daughter Elizabeth the Interest & considerac^~on for the same halfe yearly untill she shall attaine the Said age of one and Twenty years or be married for and towards here maintenance or educac^~on And I doe hereby order limitt and appoint the sume of # # Thirty pounds residue thereof to be paid by my Said Nicholas Dodshon forth and oute of the Lands by me herein & hereby given and bequeathed unto him and in the meane time that he shall and do likewise pay unto my Said daughter Elizabeth Dodshon the Interest and Considerac^~on for the Same halfe yearly untill She Shall attaine the age of one and twenty yeares or be marryed for and towards her maintenance and educac^~on Item I do give devise and bequeath unto my Sonne Thomas Dodshon the Sum^~e of one hundred pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto him forth & oute of my Stock of goods Chattells and houshold Stuffe when he shall attaine unto the age of one and Twenty yeares and in the meane time my minde and will is that he shall have the Interest or Considerac^~on for the Same paid unto him halfe yearly for and towards his maintenance and educac^~on And in case my Said Sonne Thomas Dodshon Shall happen to dye before he attaine the Said age of one and Twenty yeares then my minde & will is and I do hereby order give and devise the Said Sum^~e of one hundred pounds to be equally divided and amongst my three children John Nicholas and Elizabeth and the Survivor and Survivors of them Item I do give devise and bequeath unto my Sonne Robert Dodshon the Sum^~e of one hundred Pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto him forth and oute of my Stocke of goods Chattells and houshold Stuffe when he shall attaine unto the age of one and Twenty yeares and in the meane time my  minde and Will is that he shall have the Interest or Considerac^~on for the Same paid unto him halfe yearly for and towards his maintenance and educac^~on Item I doe hereby give and bequeath unto my Loveing wife Anne Dodshon the Sum^~e of Eighty Pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto her forth and oute of my Stocke of goods Chattells and houshold Stuffe within Six months next after my death & decease in full Satisfacc^~on and recompence of her share part and proporc^~on of all my goods and Chattells whatsoever And whereas my Said wife Anne Dodshon is att the time of the makeing of this my Said last will and Testament w^th: Childe now for a Provision for the Said Childe when itt shall please God the Same Shall be borne my will and pleasure is that in case the Same Child Shall prove a Male then I do hereby give devise & bequeath unto Such Male Childe So to be borne as aforesaid the sum^~e of Eighty pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto him forth and oute of my Stocke of goods Chattells, and Houshold Stuffe when he shall attaine unto the age of one and Twenty yeares and in the meane time that he shall have the Interest or Considerac^~on for the Same paid unto him halfe yearly for and towards his maintenance and educac^~on But in case the Same Childe So by the grace of God to be borne as aforesaid Shall prove a female then I do hereby give devise and bequeath unto Such Female Child the Sum^~e of Sixty pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid unto her forth and oute of my Stocke of goods Chattells and Houshold Stuffe when She Shall attaine unto the age of Twenty one yeares or be married and in the meane time that she shall have the Interest or Considerac^~on for the Same paid unto him halfe yearly for and towards his maintenance and educac^~on Item my Will and minde is and I do hereby declare that in Case my Said Sonne John Dodshon Shall happen to dye before he Shall attaine unto the age of one and Twenty yeares that then my Said farme and the Lands in Shinckliffe so by me limited given & bequeathed unto him as aforesaid Shall remaine and come unto my Said Sonne Nicholas Dodshon And in Case my Said Sonne Nicholas Dodshon shall happen to dye before he attaine unto the age of one and Twenty Yeares that then the Lands in Shinckliffe So by me limited given and bequeathed unto him as aforesaid Shall remaine and come unto my Said Sonne John Dodshon And in case my Said Two sonns John and Nicholas Shall happen to dye before they attaine unto the Severall ages of one and twenty yeares without isse issue of their bodyes lawfully begotten then my minde and Will is that all my Said Lands in Shinckliffe aforesaid Shall remaine and come unto my Said other Soons Thomas Dodshon and Robert Dodshon Item all the rest of my goods and Chattells Lands & Tenements whatsoever my debts Legacyes and funerall expenses being discharged defrayed and paid I give and bequeath unto my Said Two Sonns John Dodshon and Nicholas Dodshon And I do hereby constitute nominate and appoint my Said Two Sonns John and Nicholas Dodshon executors of this my last will and Testament Item I doe hereby nominate constitute and appoint my loveing brothers John Dodshon of Church Merrington in the County of Durham yeom^~ And Robert Leighton of Shotton in the Said County yeom^~ to be Supervisors of this my last Will and Testament and Guardians to my children John Nicholas Elizabeth & Robert Dodshon and the child So by the grace of God to be borne as aforesd And I doe hereby further order and my minde and will is that the Said John Dodshon and Robert Leighton shall & may dureing the Minority of my Said Sonns John and Nicholas forth and oute of the rents & profitts of my Said Lands in Shinckliffe when and so often as occasion shall require & they thinke itt convenient to renew the Leases of the Deane & Chapter of Durham for the terme of one and Twenty yeares yett nevertheles to and for the Several uses Intents & purposes herein before menc^~oned limited and appointed and oute of Such rents and profitts to deduct and pay all Such Fynes charges and other expences as they shall or can agree for in that behalfe as also their expences for and about their Labour and paynes in takeing & goeing about the renewall of Such Leases or otherwise for or about their Labour and paines in and about the management and transacting of my Estate for or towards the benefitt or advantage of my Said Children or any of them Item my further minde and Will is And I do hereby order and declare that if itt shall So happen or fall oute that the value of my Stocke of goods Chattells or houshold stuffe will not amount unto the payment of my just debts funerall Expences and the Severall legacyes herein by me given and bequeathed unto my loveing wife Anne Dodshon and my Sons Thomas Dodshon Robert Dodshon and the childe so to be borne as aforesaid That then my Said Two Farmes in Shinckliffe herein by me limited unto my Sons John Dodshon and Nicholas Dodshon Shall be lyable unto and chargeable w^th: the payment of the remainder of Such my debts and legacyes as my Said personall Estate will not amount unto The Same to be paid rateably and proporc^~onably according to the Severall and respective yearly values of the Same Severall Lands And I do hereby order and appoint my Said Supervisors John Dodshon and Robert Leighton to enter into the Said Lands and to raise Satisfye and pay Such Sum^~es of money oute of the rents and profitts of the same Item my Will and minde is and I do hereby declare that in case my Said two Sonns John Dodshon and Nicholas Dodshon Shall happen to dye before they attaine unto their Severall ages of one and Twenty yeares without issue of their bodyes and that my Landes and Tenements in Shinckliffe aforesaid Shall remaine and come unto my Said Sonnes Thomas and Robert Dodshon as herein before is limited and appointed and that my Said daughter Elizabeth Dodshon be then liveing then I do hereby order and appoint my Said Sonns Thomas and Robert Dodshon to pay unto my Said daughter Elizabeth Dodshon the further Sum^~e of one hundred pounds forth and oute of the Said Lands w^ch. Said Sum^~e of one hundred pounds I do hereby give unto my Said daughter as a further Augmentac^~on and increase of her fortune and porc^~on In witnesse whereof I have hereunto Sett my hand and Seale this Twentyninth day of Aprill in the fower and Thirtyeth yeare of the reigne of our Soveraigne Lord Charles the Second by the grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King defender of the faithe & Annoq^ue dic^t: 1682:/

[Witnesses: James Snell, Arther Mowborne, Christopher Bee]

And whereas since the makeing of this my last will and Testament my now Wife Anne hath bin delivered of a Sonne and daughter the Sonne called Richard and the Daughter Anne Now for the p^reventing of any Suites or Differences which may arise upon this my Will touching the filial porc^~ons of my said Sonne Richard and Daughter Anne I do hereby Devise unto my said Sonne Richard Eighty pounds in satisfacc^~on of his filiar porc^~on and Legacy given and bequeathed to him by this my Will to be paid to him with Interest out of my p^ersonal Estate in manner and forme as in this my Will is directed And to my said Daughter Anne the Sum^~e of Sixty pounds in Satisfacc^~on of her filiall porc^~on and Legacy given and bequeathed to her by this my Will to be paid to her with Interest out of my p^ersonal Estate in manner and forme as in this my Will is directed: And my Will is that this Clause or Codicill shall be taken and construed as parte of this my Will In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seale the sixteenth day of July An^~oq^ue dic^t: 1682/

[signed]

[Witnesses: James Snell, Christopher Bee, Anne Byarley]

The will seems also to have been proved in 1682.²

1–2 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1682/D6 and DPRI/1/1713/D4

N91. ANN DODSHON born ______

Ann ____ married [N90] Nicholas Dodshon.  Their children were: John (? – ?), [N89] Nicholas (? – 1732), Elizabeth (? – ?), Thomas (? – ?), Robert (? – ?), Richard (1682 – ?), and Anne (1682 – ?).¹

Of Shearborn, Durham, when she died, she was buried on the 21^st December 1696.²

1 Durham wills, DPRI/1/1682/D6

2 TNA: RG 6/1341

N92. ELIZABETH DODSHON born ____

Elizabeth ____ married [N89] Nicholas Dodshon. Their children were: Elizabeth (1702/3–1730), Nicholas (1705–1764), Ann (? – after 1736/7), and William (? – after 1766). She died after 1736/7.¹

1 TNA: RG 6/1341; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; son's will, Durham wills, DPRI/1/1764/D7; I have a note that she was born Elizabeth Radclyffe, but have lost the source of this information.

N93. ELIZABETH FOSTER born BIRKET

Elizabeth Birket was born at Lancaster, Lancashire on the 3^rd February 1729.¹

Described as of Lancaster, she married [N24] Dodshon Foster on the 3^rd July 1753, at Lancaster Friends' meeting house. Their children, all born in Lancaster, were: [N23] Robert (1754–1827), Jane (1756–1758), Myles (1759–1779), and Elizabeth (1764–1823).²

From the end of May to at least mid July of 1766 she was on a visit to Bristol with her husband. Throughout this period she was ill with a griping digestive disorder, and subject to all manner of treatments, from issues being cut in her arms, with issue plasters of orange and common pease; to bleeding; to drafts of asses' milk; to camomile tea; to chalk, cinnamon, brandy and nutmeg in hot well water. The symptoms of her malaise, and her treatment, were all described in great detail in Dodshon Foster's diary, which ends with her still sick.³

She died on the 11^th September 1766, at Lancaster, and was buried on the 14^th in the Moorside burial ground.⁴

Elizabeth Birket was the eldest child and eventually sole heiress of [N94] Myles and [N155] Jane Birket.⁵

1 Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; TNA: RG 6/1616A

2 RG 6/1209, /1616A; Foster (1871); Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon; Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

3 Dodshon Foster's diary (Lancaster Maritime Museum)

4 RG 6/1209, /1616A; Foster (1871)

5 RG 6/998, /1616, /1616A; Foster (1871); Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London

A note on the portrait: The original of this image is held by Lancaster Museum, where it's described as of "one of the ladies of Dodshon Foster's family". Identification is not certain, therefore. However, Lancaster Museum confirms that this engraving was enclosed with Dodshon Foster's diary, at the time of donation, which—given his wife's central role in the diary—is very suggestive. Additionally, Sheila O'Connell, Curator of British Prints at the British Museum, has stated that, although she was unable to find a reference to this portrait in the standard catalogues of mezzotints, "it is quite likely that this portrait is of a lady of the 1750s or 60s." The only women of the right age in Dodshon Foster's immediate family are his wife and his two sisters-in-law, and in the circumstances the former seems far more likely. [private email communications]

N94. MYLES BIRKET

Myles Birket was born at The Wood, Cartmell Fell, Lancashire, on the 21^st September 1697, his birth being registered by Swarthmoor monthly meeting.¹

When he was seven years old he was sent to his Uncle Willans at Castlay near Sedbergh, and went to school to Chas Winn of Milnthorpe. He took learning exceedingly well, and was also a stout husbandman, being the best mower in that part. "He afterwards went to Amsterdam, Dantzick, Hamburgh, &^c and stay' d some time, where he learned the Teutonick through the medium of the Latin, in both of which languages he was a great proficient." On his return, he settled as a West India merchant, in partnership with his brother James.²

He married [N155] Jane Westray at Whitehaven in May 1729, and was given Hebblethwaite Hall, in Yorkshire, by his father, on his marriage. Their children were: [N93] Elizabeth (1729/30–1766), James (1730/1–1757), Deborah (1738–1762), and Margaret (1746–1751); all births were recorded by Lancaster monthly meeting.³

On 18 February 1731/2 Myles Birket of Lancaster and Jane his wife signed a deed for the customary bargain and sale of Lowmoor to John Wilson of Graythwaite p. Brigham, yeoman, for £50. The property had formerly belonged to Deborah Robinson of Fellside p. Brigham, spinster, the later wife of James Westray of Cockermouth, apothecary "(Late father and mother of the said Jane)"; reciting that the £50 principal of the 31 December 1705 deed [(No. D DI/1/107)] is still unpaid. Signed by the Birkets. Receipt at foot for the £50, paid on 18 February 1731/2.⁴

A prominent Quaker merchant (freeman of Lancaster, 1724–25), he appears in the Barbados records of the 1730s, and was concerned with his son-in-law Dodshon Foster in a West Indiaman, the Hawke, which sailed between the islands and South Carolina in 1757. He was not among the Lancaster merchants who engaged in the slave trade, but there were pragmatic considerations as well as moral, for not participating. In 1746 he shared ownership of an iron forge with Abraham Rawlinson. In 1750 he was one of the port commissioners appointed by the act originating that body.⁵

In 1771 he bought the Sarthwaite estate, for £386.⁶

In 1777 he was much distressed by the actions of his grandson Robert Foster, which had "gone near to bring thy Grandfather's gray hairs w^th sorrow to the grave, for he mourned day and night for a long time, and he told me that the death of his only son he thought did not affect him so deeply." About 1780 he appointed Foster as manager at Hebblethwaite. He also owned property at Sarthwaite in Lancashire.⁷

In May 1782 he gave Robert Foster 12 guineas. In June of 1783 (?), on an excursion with Foster, he lost his gold watch; on his return home he was described as "much fatigued and very ill." James Birket's letters show that he had been unwell on a number of occasions from 1781 onwards.⁸

He made his will on the 20^th November 1783:

I Myles Birket of Lancaster in the County of Lancaster Merchant being of sound and disposing Mind Memory and Understanding do make Publish and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following, that is to say,—

In the first Place I Order and direct that all my just Debts and Funeral Expences shall be Paid off and discharged by my Executor hereinafter named I Give and Devise unto my Grandson Robert Foster and to his Heirs and Assigns All that my Estate called Hebblethwaite Hall situate and being in the Parish of Sedbergh in the County of York with All the Buildings Lands Grounds Chief Rents Boons Manorial and other Rights Privileges Annexations Hereditaments and Appurtenances whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining To Hold the same Estate and Premisses with the Appurtenances unto the said Robert Foster his Heirs and Assigns absolutely for Ever I also give and Devise unto my said Grandson Robert Foster and to his Heirs and Assigns All that my other Estate called Sarthwaite Purchased by me from Joseph Holme situate lying and being in the said Parish of Sedbergh with all the Buildings Lands Grounds Rights Privileges Annexations Hereditaments and Appurtenances to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining To Hold the  said Estate and Premisses with the Appurtenances unto the said Robert Foster his Heirs and Assigns absolutely for Ever. I Also Give Devise and Bequeath unto the said Robert Foster and to his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for Ever All my Part Share and Interest of in and to All those two several Iron Furnaces situate and being in Halton and Leighton in the said County of Lancaster commonly called Halton and Leighton Furnaces with the Buildings Lands Ground Utensils Implements Materials and Stock in Trade thereunto belonging And All my Right Title Term and Interest of in and to the same with their Appurtenances I Give and Bequeath unto my grandaughter Elizabeth Foster her Executors Administrators and Assigns All those my two Messuages or Dwelling Houses with the Backbuildings and Appurtenances Held by Lease under the Corporation of Lancaster aforesaid situate and being upon the Green Area adjoining to and Fronting certain Streets in Lancaster aforesaid called Chapel Street and Cross Street and now in the several Occupations of myself and my Son in Law Dodshon Foster And All my Estate Right Title Term and Interest benefit and right of Renewal therein and thereunto. I Give and Bequeath unto my Son in Law the said Dodshon Foster the Sum of One Hundred Pounds I Also Give and Bequeath unto Mary Nicholson, who hath Lived with me since her Mothers Decease the sum of Twenty one Pounds which said two several Legacies I order and direct shall be Paid by my Executor hereinafter named at the end of twelve Months next after my Decease All the rest Residue and Remainder of my Real and Personal Estate and Effects whatsoever wheresoever and of what nature kind or quality soever that I am or shall be Seized Possessed of interested in or in any wise of Right Intitled unto I Give Devise and Bequeath unto my said Grandson Robert Foster his Heirs Executors and Administrators for Ever and I do Nominate constitute and Appoint my said Grandson Robert Foster sole Executor of this my Will And I do hereby Revoke annull and make void all former and other Will and Wills by me at any time heretofore made and declare this alone transcribed upon two Sheets of Paper to be and contain my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I the said Myles Birket the Testator have to the first Sheet hereof set my Hand to this present and last Sheet my Hand and Seal the Twentieth Day of November in the Year of our Lord One Thousand seven hundred and eight three. —

Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said Testator Myles Birket as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his Presence at his request and in the Presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our Names as Witnesses thereto . . . . . Thos Hinde Junr Tho: Shepherd Edw Parker

He died at Lancaster on the 3^rd October 1785, and was buried at the Friends' burial ground there on the 6^th. His executor and grandson Robert Foster affirmed at probate in Amounderness on the 27^th October 1785, the estate being valued at above £1000.¹⁰

Myles Birket was the eldest child of [N95] James and [N152] Elizabeth Birket.¹¹

1 TNA: RG 6/1267, /1616A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London

2 Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

3 RG 6/809; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; Frankland; Foster (1860)

4 A2A, deed D/DI/1/120

5 RG 6/998, /1209; Melinda Elder (1992) The Slave Trade and the Economic Development of Eighteenth-Century Lancaster, Halifax: Ryburn, pp. 27, 116, 117, 128, 213; Melinda Elder (1997) 'Dodshon Foster of Lancaster and the West Indies (1730–93)', Lancaster Maritime Journal, Vol. 1, p. 16; Hamer, Philip M. & George C. Rogers, eds (1970) The Papers of Henry Laurens. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, p. 50n; Gentleman's Magazine, 1785, Vol.55, p 836

6 Foster (1860)

7 Joseph Foster (1862) The Fosters of Cold Hesledon; The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967): 267; Foster (1873); James Birket letter to Robert Foster 1777-08-06

8 Mrs B.H. Madge 'Notes on the Diary Kept by Robert Foster, at Hebblethwaite Hall'; James Birket letters to Robert Foster 1781-04-28, 1781-07-27, 1783-03-11

9 will, Lancashire Archives WRW/A/R111a/53

10 RG 6/1168B; Foster (1871); Gentleman's Magazine, 1785, Vol.55, p 836; will, Lancashire Archives WRW/A/R111a/53; Frankland; Foster (1860)

11 RG 6/1084, /1267, /1616A

N95. JAMES BIRKET

James Birkett was baptised at the Priory Church, Cartmel, Lancashire, on the 11^th October 1668.¹

He was given The Wood by his father, in 1692. On the 8^th June 1693 he married, as his first wife, Elizabeth Goad (1665/6–1694), at Swarthmoor meeting. She died in 1694, and he married, secondly, [N152] Elizabeth Hinde, at Lancaster meeting house, on the 15^th September 1696. Their children were: [N94] Myles (1697–1785), Margrett (1699–1787), Thomas (1701–1759), James (1706–1783), John (1709–1789), and Richard (1712 – ?).²

From 1694 to 1712 he lived at The Wood, in Cartmell Fell, Lancashire. In 1696 he was described as a yeoman.³

He purchased Hebblethwaite Hall in 1712, for £840, from Wm Godsalve, of Rigwaden.⁴

In June 1713 he attended London Yearly Meeting.⁵

In 1719 he was a part owner in the Betty gally, which was lost on its first voyage, "by the carelessness and negligence of the master, to the total loss of the owners."⁶

In 1722–3 he was described as a freeman, of the Wood in Cartmel, merchant. In June 1722 he witnessed his daughter Margaret's wedding at Height meeting house. In 1722 he was also described as a yeoman, of Wood, Cartmel.⁷

The autobiographer William Stout, of Lancaster, tells a sorry tale of Birket's mismanagement of his and his wife's affairs:

But her husband James Birket being then possesed of a very good estate, both reale and personal, to the value of one hundred pounds a year, and supposed to be improving, and very capable to manage this concern, we thought our trust was needles[s]. And with the consent of his said wife, we assigned over the trust to him, and tooke yearly for some years a declaration in writing under his wife's hand, of her satisfaction of her husband's management of this concern. And it continued so for above twenty years, but, in this time, the said James Birket undertook merchandizing and other projects he did not understand, and engaged in partnership with men of declining circumstances and expensive company, so as to waste his estate and what he had in trust for his wife, and became bankrupt [ . . . ] considering that her husband had with her a good portion at marriage, and at her brother's death a good estate, in all, first and last, the value of two thousand five hundred pound. And in makeing up the bankruptcie, there was no more than five shillings in the pound for the creditors.⁸

In 1729 he gave Hebblethwaite Hall to his son Myles, on his marriage.⁹

He died before the 10^th March 1739/40.¹⁰

James Birkett was the eldest known child of [N96] Myles and [N149] Elizabeth Birket.¹¹

1 "England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975," database, FamilySearch (: 11 February 2018, James Birkett, 11 Oct 1668), citing index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, FHL microfilm 0599511 V. 28, IT 2, 0844820 V. 96, IT 1

2 TNA: RG 6/590, /807, /998, /1084, /1267, /1616A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London; The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967); Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

3 RG 6/998, /1084, /1267, /1616A—which gives surname as "Berket"; The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752

4 Foster (1873); Frankland; Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

5 The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752 :169

6 Marshall, ed., (1967): 179

7 RG 6/1616A; Marshall, ed., (1967): 270; A2A

8 Marshall, ed., (1967): 157-8

9 Frankland; Foster (1860)

10 RG 6/1616A

11 FamilySearch; Foster (1873)

N96. MYLES BIRKET

Myles Birket was born in 1640.¹

He married [N149] Elizabeth Birket in 1666. Their children were: [N95] James (1668 – before 1740), Esther (d. in infancy), and Mary (1673–1710).²

In 1678 he purchased Birket Houses, in Cartmell Fell. The following year he purchased the Wood estate, in Cartmell Fell, for £240; he removed there with his family, and lived there till at least 1693.³

In 1685, with four others, he was "prosecuted in the Exchequer for Tithes, at the suit of Thomas Preston, of Holcar, Esq; and by a false Return of Non est Inventus (though they were so far from absconding, that they offered themselves to the Bayliffs) a Sequestration was obtained against them, by which their Cattle and Goods were carried away to the Value of 82 l. 1s. 8d."⁴

In 1696 he was a witness as his son's wedding. He made his will in 1717, leaving his gavelock and iron mell to his grandson Myles.⁵

Late of Birkethouses, Myles Birket died at Crook End at Ed: Harrisons, on the 27^th February 1719/20, and was buried at Height in Cartmell on the 1^st March.⁶

Myles Birket was the eldest son of [N97] James and [N102] Esther Birket.⁷

1–2 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London; FamilySearch

3 TNA: RG 6/1616A—which gives surname as 'Birkett'; Foster (1873); Myles B. Foster (1860): Ms Memoir of Robert Foster

4 Joseph Besse (1753/2000) Sufferings of Early Quakers. Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham & Northumberland, Isle of Man, Lancashire. ed. Michael Gandy. York: Sessions: 329

5 RG 6/998; Foster (1873)

6 RG 6/1084, /1267, /1616A

7 Foster (1873)

N97. JAMES BIRKET

James Birket of Birket Houses was born in 1622–3. He married [N102] Esther Sandys on the 28^th November 1637, at Hawkshead parish church, Lancashire. Their children were: [N96] Myles (1640–1719/20), William (? – after Feb 1678), and James (? – 1717).¹

In 1660 co-executor of the will of his father-in-law [N103] David Sandys.

James Birket was the son of [N98] Myles Birket .²

1 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London; E.S. Sandys (1930) The Family of Sandys, Barrow in Furness; privately printed

2 will of David Sandys, Lancashire Archives DDSA/1/2/8

3 Foster (1873)

N98. MYLES BIRKET

Myles Birket, of Birket Houses, in Cartmell Fell, Lancashire, was the son of [N99] John and [N101] Mary Birkhead.¹

1  Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England. Vol. I – Lancashire: London

James de Leybourn was the eldest child of [N131] Nicholas and [N145] Katherine de Leybourne.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N131. NICHOLAS de LEYBOURN

Nicholas de Leybourn married [N145] Katherine ____. Their children were: [N130] James and Mary.¹

He paid tithes in 1431 and 1435, and was on inquisitions post mortem in 1435 and 1437. In 1447 an indenture was made between him and John de Washington.²

Nicholas de Leybourn was the son of [N132] Sir Robert and [N144] ____ de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N132. SIR ROBERT de LEYBOURN

Sir Robert de Leybourn married [N144] ____ ____. Their only known child was [N131] Nicholas de Leybourn.¹

He was a Knight of the Shire in 1404, 1410 and 1422. He was recorded as holding Sleddale and Cunswith in 1404 and 1407. He was a witness in 1411, 1431 and 1437.²

Sir Robert de Leybourn was the son of [N133] John and [N143] ____de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N133. JOHN de LEYBOURN

John de Leybourn married [N143] ____ ____. Their only known child was [N132] Sir Robert.¹

He was on inquests post mortem in 1390, 1407 and 1411.²

John de Leybourn was the son of [N134] Thomas and [N142] Johanna de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N134. THOMAS de LEYBOURN

Thomas de Leybourn married [N142] Johanna of Cunswick. Their only known child was [N133] John.¹

He was a witness in 1374 and 1377, and in 1378 owed Wm. 40/-. In 1390 he held Cunswick and Sleddale.²

Thomas de Leybourn was the son of [N135] Sir Roger and [N141] ____ de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N135. Sir ROGER de LEYBOURN

Sir Roger de Leybourn married [N141] ____ ____. Their only known child was [N134] Thomas.¹

Of Skelsmergh, he is mentioned between 1332 and 1369.²

Sir Roger de Leybourn was the son of [N136] Nicholas and [N140] Margaret de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N136. NICHOLAS de LEYBOURN

Nicholas de Leybourn married [N140] Margaret ____. Their only known child was [N135] Sir Roger.¹

He was in suits against Margaret de Ros in 1280, Thomas of Kentmere in 1282, Roger de Cosin in 1294 and 1297. He held lands of William de Lyndsay in 1283. He obtained a messuage in Strickland Ketel in 1287, and free warren in Skelsmergh in 1301; he was granted Sleddale in 1306. He was a Knight of the Shire in 1304–5.²

Nicholas de Leybourn was the eldest son of [N137] John and [N139] Joan de Leybourn.³

1–3 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N137. JOHN de LEYBOURN

John de Leybourn married [N139] Joan ____. Their known children were: [N136] Nicholas and Robert.¹

He was the son of [N138] Robert de Leybourn.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N138. ROBERT de LEYBOURN

Robert de Leybourn had grant of Skelsmergh from William, duke of Lancaster, between 1238 and 1246.¹

1 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N139. JOAN de LEYBOURN born ____

Joan ____ married [N137] John de Leybourn.¹

Their known children were: [N136] Nicholas and Robert.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N140. MARGARET de LEYBOURN born ____

Margaret ____ married [N136] Nicholas de Leybourn.¹

Their only known child was [N135] Sir Roger.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N141. ____ de LEYBOURN born ____

____ ____ married [N135] Sir Roger de Leybourn.¹

Their only known child was [N134] Thomas.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N142. JOHANNA de LEYBOURN born ____

Johanna of Cunswick married [N134] Thomas de Leybourn.¹

Their only known child was [N133] John.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N143. ____ de LEYBOURN born ____

____ ____ married [N133] John de Leybourn.¹

Their only known child was [N132] Sir Robert.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N144. ____ de LEYBOURN born ____

____ ____ married [N132] Sir Robert de Leybourn.¹

Their only known child was [N131] Nicholas de Leybourn.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N145. KATHERINE de LEYBOURN born ____

Katherine ____ married [N131] Nicholas de Leybourn.¹

Their children were: [N130] James and Mary.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N146. KATHERINE de LEYBOURN born BELLINGHAM

Katherine Bellingham married [N130] James de Leybourn.¹

Their children were: Their children were: Thomas (? – 1510), [N129] Isabella and Jenet.²

1–2 Margaret Ward (2001): The Leybournes. A Family History Spanning Ten Centuries; York: Mrs M. Ward

N147. ANN SANDYS born DALSTON

Ann Dalston married [N104] Adam Sandys. Their children were: William (? – 1613), Christopher (1577–1654), Myles (1582 – ?), Esther (1592 – after 1632), [N103] David (cal 1595–1660), and Robert (? – ?).¹

1 E.S. Sandys (1930) History of the Family of Sandys. Barrow-in-Furness

N148. ____ SANDYS born ____

____ ____ married [N103] David Sandys. Their children were: Anne (1611 – after 1660), [N102] Esther (1613/4 – ?), Frances (1616 – ?), Robert (1618 – ?), Adam (1621 – ?), Elizabeth (1625 – ?), Myles (1627 – ?), William (1628 – ?), and Christopher (1628 – ?).¹

She presumably died before 1660, as she isn't named in her husband's will.²

1 E.S. Sandys (1930) History of the Family of Sandys. Barrow-in-Furness

2 will of David Sandys, Lancashire Archives DDSA/1/2/8

N149. ELIZABETH BIRKET born BIRKET

Elizabeth Birket married [N96] Myles Birket in 1666. Their children were: [N95] James (1668 – before 1740), Esther (d. in infancy), and Mary (1673–1710).¹

She moved to the Wood estate, in Cartmell Fell, Lancashire, after 1679.²

Elizabeth Birket was the daughter of [N150] John and [N151] Mary Birket.³

1–3 TNA: RG 6/1616A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire

N150. JOHN BIRKET

John Birket of Crook, in Westmoreland, married [N151] Mary ____ .¹

1 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire

N151. MARY BIRKET born ____

Mary ____ of Crook, in Westmoreland, married [N150] John Birket .¹

1 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire

N152. ELIZABETH BIRKET born HINDE

Elizabeth Hinde married [N95] James Birket in 1696, at Lancaster. Their children were: [N94] Myles (1697–1785), Margaret (1699–1787), Thomas (1701–1759), James (1706–1783), John (1709–1789), and Richard (1712 – ?).¹

After 1707, she consented that her husband should manage her mother's trust fund. This continued for above twenty years, when her husband became bankrupt. William Stout tells what ensued:

Upon which [bankruptcy] we were called upon by his wife to produce her mother's will and inventory, and make clame of what was comited to our trust. Which we were very ready to do, but it put upon her to consider that [as] she always acknowledged her satisfaction in her husband's management, and never intimated to us any dissatisfaction or danger before he became insolvent or a bankrupt, it would not be taken well by the creditors or commissioners of bankrupt, to make a demand of it. Which, haveing considerd with her sones, who were at age, she and they gave us a discharge, and did not make any demand of it befor the commissioners; which was much to her reputation, considering that her husband had with her a good portion at marriage, and at her brother's death a good estate, in all, first and last, the value of two thousand five hundred pound. And in makeing up the bankruptcie, there was no more than five shillings in the pound for the creditors.²

She died at Lancaster on the 8^th March 1739/40, and was buried on the 10^th.³

Elizabeth Hinde was the daughter of [N153] Thomas and [N154] Margaret Hinde.⁴

1 TNA: RG 6/590, /807, /998, /1616A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire

2 The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967): 157-8

3 RG 6/1616A

4 RG 6/998, /1616A; Foster (1873)

N153. THOMAS HINDE

Thomas Hinde of Crosgill, in Littledaile, married [N154] Margaret ____. Their children were: Richard (? – 1707), and [N152] Elizabeth (? – 1739/40).¹

On the 20^th January 1660/61 it is recorded that

at Lancaster, a Party of Soldiers, some with Swords drawn and Pistols cockt, others with Muskets and lighted Matches, came to the Meeting and took away all the Men they found, and carried them to the Castle. On the 27th, the Meeting consisting of Women, only one Man, they took them also, and sent them to the same Prison with some others whom they had taken from their own Houses. The Names of the Men so committed were, . . . Thomas Hinde, . . .²

Thomas Hynde of Crossgall in Littledall, Caton, Lancashire, was a witness at his daughter's wedding in 1696.³

Thomas Hynd of Littledell died on the 28^th July 1700, and was buried in the Friends' burying ground at Lancaster on the following day.⁴

1 TNA: RG 6/1616A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire; The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967)

2 Joseph Besse (1753/2000) Sufferings of Early Quakers. Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham & Northumberland, Isle of Man, Lancashire. ed. Michael Gandy. York: Sessions: 307

3 RG 6/998

4 RG 6/998, /1616A; parish register of Caton, St Paul, Lancashire, in which he is explicitly described as a Quaker; Foster (1873); The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967)

N154. MARGARET HINDE born ____

Margaret ____ of Crosgill, in Littledaile, married [N153] Thomas Hinde. Their children were: Richard (? – 1707), and [N152] Elizabeth (? – 1739/40).¹

Margaret Hynd of Littledell widdow died on the 28^th September 1707, and was buried at Lancaster on the 30^th. Her will was proved in the same year; her estate amounted to £470, held in trust for her daughter Elizabeth Birket.²

1 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire; The Autobiography of William Stout of Lancaster 1665–1752, ed. J.D. Marshall (Manchester, 1967)

2 TNA: RG 6/998, /1616A; Marshall, ed. (1967)

N155. JANE BIRKET born WESTRAY

Jane Westray was born around 1705, and baptised on 24 January that year at All Saints, Cockermouth, Cumberland.¹

On the 15^th February 1721/2 she inherited the whole of her father's estate, with the exception of his freehold close at Ullock; though named as executrix of his will, she had been unable to perform this duty as she was still a minor.²

She married [N94] Myles Birket in May 1729, at Whitehaven. Their children were: [N93] Elizabeth (1729/30–1766), James (1730/1–1757), Deborah (1738–1762), and Margaret (1746–1751); all births were recorded by Lancaster monthly meeting. In 1738 she was described as of Lancaster.³

In 1777 James Birket told Robert Foster that "Thy Grandmother is very weakly and has been above a y^r occasion^d by something of a paralytic so that she can but with difficulty walk cross the room." In March 1783 she was "as weak as ever." She died on the 30^th August 1783; her funeral was at the meeting house at Lancaster, where she was buried on the 2^nd September.⁴

Jane Westray was the daughter of [N156] James and [N157] Deborah Westray.⁵

1 TNA TNA: RG 6/809; "England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975," Database, FamilySearch: accessed 26 June 2015), Jane Westray, 24 Jan 1705; citing ALL SAINTS, COCKERMOUTH, CUMBERLAND, reference; FHL microfilm 90,596

2 father's will, Lancashire Archives WRW/C/R255A/54

3 Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire; Joseph Foster (1871) A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England; TNA: RG 6/998, /1616A; Myles B. Foster (1860): MS Memoir of Robert Foster

4 RG 6/809, /1168B; Robert Foster's diary; James Birket letters to Robert Foster 1777-08-06, 1783-03-11

5 Foster, loc. cit.; FamilySearch

N156. JAMES WESTRAY

James Westray of Cockermouth married [N157] Deborah Robinson on 23^rd March 1705, at All Saints, Cockermouth. Their only known child was [N155] Jane (1705–1783).¹

He was an apothecary, of Cockermouth. On the 20^th March 1715 he took on Abraham Parkin as an apprentice, and on the 1^st April 1718 Tho: Bewley.²

He made his will on the 19th January 1721/2³:

I James Westray of Cockermouth in the County of Cumberland apothecary, being sick in Body, but of Perfect mind and memory, do make this my Last will and Testament, as Follows, First I give and devise to my dear & only daughter Jane Westray, all my messuages Lands & tenements whatsoever, lying and being in the County of Cumberland afores^d, to have and to hold to her the s^d Jane Westray her heires & assignes For Ever; But in Case my s^d Daughter should happen to Dy before she attain the age of twenty one yeares, without Issue of her Body, then it is my mind, and I do hereby Give & devise all the Right title Interest & Estate, which I now have, of in and to all & every the messuages Lands & tenements aboves^d (except the Close hereafter mentioned) unto my nephew Thomas Sergeant his heires & assignes for Ever; upon this Condition that he the s^d Thomas Sergeant his heires and assignes, shall and do pay or Cause to be payed, severally, unto my Brother John Westray, and to my Cousins Henry Sergeant, Mary Sergeant, & Sarah Sergeant, or their Representatives, the sume of twenty one pounds apeice, within one year next after he the s^d Thomas Sargeant shall take & Enjoy the aboves^d p^remisses, by vertue of this my will; and for the true payment of which s^d severall sumes of twenty one pounds, I do order & direct that the aboves^d Premisses are & shall stand a security. Item I give & devise to my s^d Brother John Westray all my Freehold Close lying at ullock which I lately purchased of John Peile, to hold to him his heres & assignes for Ever, in Case my s^d daughter dy before she attain the age aboves^d, without Issue of her Body & not otherwise. But if my s^d daughter sh^d marry & have Issue, before she arrive at the age of twenty one years, and sh^d dy before the s^d age, then it is my will & mind that the heires of her Body shall Enjoy all my whole Estate above devised for Ever, any thing Contained herein to the Contrary; and Case the heires of the body of my s^d daughter (if such should happen) dye Infants, under the age of twenty one years; Then the aboves^d devises to Thomas Sergeant & John Westray & their heirs for Ever, shall be in full Force & Effect to all intents & purposes. Item I give & bequeath all my Goods Chattells & personal Estate, of what nature, [sort?], or kind soever, unto my dear daughter Jane Westray, who I make sole Executrix of this my last will & testament desiring my debts may be p^d with all Convenient speed; and I do request my Friends John Giffin & Richard Baynes of Cockermouth to be supervisors of this my will and so Cause this my will & mind duely and punctually to be performed to the utmost of their Power. In wittness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & seale the nineteenth day of January Anno Dⁿⁱ 1721.

Signed sealed published & declared by the Testator in the presence of us who subscribed our names in his presence John Giffin  Joseph Noble  Ricd Baynes Junr

James Westray's death on the 21^st January 1721/2 was recorded by Cockermouth Preparative Meeting.⁴

Administration with will annexed was given to Richard Baynes and Henry Westray the brother on the 15^th February 1721/2, in Copeland, on behalf of Jane Westray as a minor. An inventory had been taken on the 27^th January, as follows⁵:

1 "England Marriages, 1538–1973," Database, FamilySearch: accessed 26 June 2015, James Westray and Deborah Robbison, 23 Mar 1705; citing All Saints, Cockermouth, Cumberland, England, reference; FHL microfilm 90,596; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire—gives bride's surname as Biblands, but Discovery confirms it as Robinson. James Westray may well have been the Jacobus Westray baptised on 29 July 1663 at Camerton, Cumberland, the son of Christopher Westray; "England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975," database, FamilySearch : 6 December 2014, Jacobus Westray, 29 Jul 1663; citing CAMERTON, CUMBERLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, FHL microfilm 90,577. If this is correct, he may well also be the James Westrey who m. Jane Ozburne at Brigham, Cumberland, on 19 November 1689; "England Marriages, 1538–1973," database, FamilySearch: 10 December 2014, James Westrey and Jane Ozburne, 19 Nov 1689, citing Brigham, Cumberland, reference, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, FHL microfilm 90,572

2 1731/2 Customary bargain and sale; Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures

3 will, Lancashire Archives WRW/C/R255A/54

4 TNA: RG 6/1025

5 inventory, Lancashire Archives WRW/C/R255A/54

N157. DEBORAH WESTRAY born ROBINSON

Deborah Robinson of Fellside, Brigham, married [N156] James Westray. Their only known child was [N155] Jane (1705–1783).¹

Before her marriage she had owned a property called Lowmoor, Ullock.²

She died before the 18^th February 1731/2.³

1 "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," Database, FamilySearch: accessed 26 June 2015, James Westray and Deborah Robbison, 23 Mar 1705; citing All Saints, Cockermouth, Cumberland, England, reference; FHL microfilm 90,596; A2A; Joseph Foster (1873) Pedigrees of the County Families of England, Vol.1, Lancashire—gives her surname as Biblands, but the 1731/2 Customary bargain and sale confirms it as Robinson

2–3 Discovery

Suggestions for further research

This page is already fairly rich with information, but this very richness means there are a considerable number of possible lines of further enquiry, which I will only shortlist here.

The line back in time from [N28] Thomas Forster remains unclear. Published works by the Victorian genealogist Joseph Foster purport to give details of earlier generations, but give no sources, and, as I've mentioned above, it appears that Foster himself came not to trust them. So the field is wide open for new research. The work that needs doing will have to be in the local record offices. The principal difficulty is that the Fo(r)ster surname is particularly common in this part of England, and there appear to be quite a number of individuals in the local area with the same names, who I haven't succeeded in differentiating. Very possibly they are all related to each other; but which is which?

Birth/baptism details for [N83] Thomas Robinson need to be located; the line back may be traceable, although the family name is common.

The line from [N86] Michael Hornsby looks like it may be interesting, and should be traceable; the first step is to establish his birth/baptism and parentage.

It would be good to find birth/baptism details for [N89] Nicholas Dodshon, although we do at least know the identity of his father, and forename of his mother; the Dodshon line looks potentially interesting and traceable.

For the Birket line, the first step, ideally, would be to find birth/baptism and parentage details for [N96] Myles Birket; although earlier generations of this line are given above, all the information needs locating in primary sources, as so far the only sources are secondary.

The whole Sandes/Sandys line back from [N103] David Sandys needs verification, as at the moment it is mostly dependent on secondary sources. Lancashire Record Office has a huge collection of The muniments of the Sandys family of Esthwaite and Graythwaite - 1482-1961, which I have barely touched, although I'm presently ordering a few of the relevant wills.

Everything from [N115] Margaret (Dixon) Sandys back needs verification, and in particular the Thornborough, Carus, and Leybourn lines need a much firmer foundation.

Birth/baptism and parentage details for [N156] James Westray need to be located; the Westray line looks potentially interesting and traceable.

Spence page | Family history home page | Website home page

This page was last revised on 2024-04-24.

© 2000–2024 Benjamin S. Beck