Friends
For 2023, I’m writing responses to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Days prompts provided by Amy Johnson Crow on her ”Generations Café” website and Facebook page.
The Quakers – formally called The Religious Society of Friends – feature in significant portions of my family tree. I have found Quaker ancestors in several of my lines – in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland. Interestingly (maybe), not in Pennsylvania, which is the classic place to find Quaker ancestors in the American colonies.
For today’s essay, I’m writing about my 8th great-grandfather, Ralph Newby (1611-1682) who, with his wife Dorothy Hinchley (1617-1711), were early followers of George Fox and converted to the Quaker faith in the late 1640s; after that, they moved to Ireland to escape religious persecution of Quakers in England. They never came to America, but I wanted to tell you about them anyway.
The founder of the Quaker movement, the Religious Society of Friends (later simply “Friends”), was George Fox (1624-1691) born in Leicestershire, England. In his early years, he was influenced by the Puritans around him, but his religious views evolved in a personal way. He came to believe that rituals were not important for worship, that anyone could be a minister, and that religious experience is not confined to a church building.
His religious views set him at odds with civil authority, and he was imprisoned several times through the 1650s, 1660s, and 1670s for blasphemy, for refusing to take oaths of allegiance, and for refusing to take up arms. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Fox’s opposition to authority and his refusal to take up arms in defense of the King put him further at odds with civil authority. He became interested in visiting the colonies, but his imprisonment made that impossible. He then visited Ireland, where he preached against the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church.
So where does Ralph Newby fit into this story? Ralph and his wife, Dorothy Hinchley, were among Fox’s earliest converts to the Quaker movement, being converted sometime after 1648. They moved to Ireland to escape persecution of Quakers in England. Ralph died in Dublin in 1682, and Dorothy followed him years later, dying in 1711. Both of them were buried in a Quaker burial ground near St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Unfortunately, this burial ground no longer exists, as the land was sold in 1805 for the building of the Royal College of Surgeons. Tim and I were in Dublin in 1995. We had no idea about my connection to the Quakers in the city.
The first child of Ralph and Dorothy was William Newby (1636-1704), my 7x great-grandfather. William was born in England and married Isabel Turner in New Kent County, Virginia in 1650. I don’t have good information on when William came to Virginia. William was one of the first Quakers to settle in Virginia, being active in the Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting and later in the Somerton Monthly Meeting of Nansemond County. This is in what is currently known as Chesapeake and Suffolk in Virginia.
William and Isabel had several children in Virginia before moving to North Carolina after persecution of Quakers began in Virginia with the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660. Among their children was my 6x great-grandfather, John Newby (1650-1692), born in Suffolk, Virginia, and died in Perquimans, North Carolina.
Records show that William and Isabel were active in the Quaker movement in Perquimans County. They had six children, including my 5x great-grandmother, Rebecca Newby (1676-1717). Rebecca married Jacob Overman in 1699 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina.
Anyone with Quaker ancestors is grateful for the meticulous meeting records kept by the group. I was able to find specific information about where my Quaker ancestors lived, what their status was in the community, how many children they had, and other interesting facts. At a time when official government records were sparse or nonexistent (North Carolina in the late 17th century, for example), Quaker records are sometimes the only available way to document the lives of these ancestors.
I liked this story. There is a beautiful Quaker meeting house in Easton, Maryland. Too bad that your wandering Quaker relatives couldn't have attended there. The Quakers have always interested me. Leicestershire. Didn't know that.