A Bit of Irish Quaker History:
Our
friend Florence Dickson of N. Ireland sent the following article "The
Quakers in Lurgan" to me (John Hollingsworth - John of Giles ..... Valentine)
several months ago. Florence has
frequently taken time out of her busy schedule to assist the
Hollingsworth
visitors to N. Ireland in their quest to learn more about their
ancestors, Henry Hollingsworth of Rathfriland and Valentine
Hollingsworth, Sr. of
Ballymacrandle (these two Hollingsworth families appear to be unrelated).
Thank
you Florence for sharing this information with us!
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The Quakers in Lurgan:
In the year 1654 Lurgan was the site for the establishment of the first Quaker
meeting in Ireland initiated by the well known Quaker William EDMONSON.
Quakerism, which had its origins in England, became strong during the English
civil war period of the 1640's when such "radical" thought was
fostered by the army. By the 1650's Lurgan presented an ideal location
for the Quakers. It was unwalled, non-corporate, and guild free.
Linen weaving in North Armagh in similar fashion to peasant cloth techniques in
England required transformation of technique by an injection of help and skill
from outside the area. This the Quakers and others supplied.
History has shown us however that even in Lurgan the Quakers were not free from
persecution. Christopher HILLARY had been a member of the Militia in
Lurgan under a Captain DRAPER. When he was convinced of "the
truth" and accepted Friends ways he could no longer for conscience sake
bear weapons and refused to carry out his duties. As punishment he was
put on a thing they call the wooden horse with three muskets at each leg and
ordered to sit till four inches of match was burned and afterwards committed to
gaol. At the following Assizes he was cleared by proclamation, but kept
in prison for fees.
The Quakers were extremely good at keeping records. A record of the
sufferings of Friends in Ireland was kept and in the period until 1751 a total
of 972 Friends were committed to prison and goods to a value of £98,403 were
distrained. When one transfers this amount into current values one
realizes the extent of the distress which was suffered by a relatively small
community.
The new settlers comprised a fairly wide cross-section of trade people and
with the arrival of the Huguenots in Warringstown and Lisburn, a good base of
skills were present to create initiative.
After establishing itself in the town of Lurgan - in the later half of the seventeenth
century Quakerism had made a definite rural move to the surrounding rural
townlands.
By 1664 William EDMONSON and his brother John had moved to a farm in County
Cavan, having given up their Lurgan shop. William LYNASS, Mark WRIGHT and
Mark SAWYER had also moved to rural Lurgan areas.
By the late seventeenth century the rising commercial power of the Quakers was
reflected in the business affinity between Lurgan's leading Quaker Robert
HOOPE, and Arthur BROWNLOW (the lord of the manor), in their joint venture when
purchasing the Richmond estate, which was more or less co-extensive with the
parish of Tartaraghan, West of the Upper Bann. This purchase was an early
indication that the local Quaker community might not put down deep roots in an
urban setting and would, for the most part, depart from Lurgan and settle in
rural parts nearby.
By 1693 at least fourteen Quaker families were dwelling in Lurgan town.
This urban concentration was probably related to the growth of the town's linen
industry. The mutual well being of all Quakers could best be advanced by
having some in the country and others in town. Marketing and some degree
of bleaching and finishing were down in town, whilst flax-growing, spinning and
weaving were
all country based.
By this stage the Quaker community was no longer subject to persecution and in
fact was favored by the Brownlows because of their contribution to the
prosperity of the town through their industry and enterprise. Their
particular ways were tolerated and they no longer posed a threat to the
ecclesiastical establishment. By the end of the century most of the
original pioneers of the movement had died and the fire which characterized
their radical message had waned.
Although a number of the Friends, especially those in the linen trade, were
very wealthy, it is clear that many were
in poor circumstances. Failure of harvest at recurring
intervals produced real suffering and waves of emigration to North America were
evident about 1729, 1750 and 1770.
From the middle of the eighteenth century reports on the state of the meeting
indicate that the Lurgan Friends were concerned about their poor spiritual
health and vigor.
Families which had prospered in the linen trade moved in circles which had a
lifestyle very different from that which was recommended by Friends.
Adherence to the quaint form of address and plain clothes, persistence in
refusing legal oaths and avoiding the payment of tithes and other Quaker
peculiarities were of little value in furthering their commercial interests and
thus were gradually abandoned.
The general spirit of the age which is often designated as the Enlightenment
produced many factors which affected traditional Christian faith. By the
late eighteenth century some friends were voicing difficulties over the
authority of the Bible, particularly with reference to parts of the Old
Testament, and were exalting the role of direct revelation. These
Friends, who were popularly called "New Lights", were also critical
of traditional forms of Quaker testimonies which did not radically address the
demands of contemporary life.
Confrontation between the "New Lights" and orthodox friends, which
had simmered for some time and was associated with support for or opposition to
visiting American ministers came to a head over an irregular wedding ceremony
in 1801. Elizabeth DOYLE wished to marry a local friend John ROGERS and
applied to marry without going through a round of formal ceremonies. This
permission was refused, so the couple took each other in marriage at a special
meeting held in the Friends School in Lisburn, attended by a number of
prominent friends. The newly weds were promptly disowned and also all of
those friends who had sanctioned their union by their attendance at the ceremony.
The state of Quakerism in Lurgan in 1822 was well described by John CONRAN who
was the sole remaining minister. His disappointment is evident when he
thinks of the situation many years before:
"The monthly meeting held in Lurgan (was) a very small gathering and a
poor low time. ....under painful exercise I felt on account of the
meeting (about eight or nine men), I told them I remembered when there were 63
families who were esteemed in membership and about 60 families not in
membership when I visited them"
Some Lurgan Quaker Names
LOGAN
Patrick and Isabel LOGAN Settled in Lurgan in 1671 from Scotland. Patrick
had nine children of whom only two survived childhood, James and William.
James LOGAN left Lurgan in 1699 to become William PENN's secretary in Pennsylvania.
HOOPE
From humble beginnings, during the period 1664-1700 Robert HOOPE progressed to
become one of the town's wealthiest citizens.
CAIN from Yorkshire
CALVERT from Yorkshire - an early dweller in the townland of Drumgor. In 1673
John was one of the trustees of the Quaker burial ground. He was listed
as a freeholder from Lurgan.
CHAMBERS from Yorkshire
HILLERY from Yorkshire
KIRK from Yorkshire
LINAS from Yorkshire - Will LYNAS witnessed the appointment of the trustees for
the burial ground in 1673. Will was an elder dieing in 1658.
PORTER from Yorkshire
HARLAND
The HARLAND family originally from Yorkshire were a strong Lurgan Quaker
family. George and Michael HARLAND arrived in America in 1687. George
brought his wife and young family and Michael who was unmarried found a wife in
the new
settlement shortly after his arrival. She was Dinah DIXON, originally
from Lurgan. The HARLANS as they spelt their name after arrival in
America became a widely connected and eminent family in the USA. One of
their descendants married a son of Abraham LINCOLN and another was the wife of
President McKinley.
ROBSON from Yorkshire
GREER from Northumberland - Thomas of Dungannon was a notable merchant and
active friend and his life and interests are well documented in the GREER
papers at the PRONI
TURNER from Northumberland
FOX from Cumberland
HODGSON from Cumberland
STAMPER from Cumberland
WALKER from Cumberland
BARROW from Lancashire
BRADSHAW from Lancashire - In 1670 the BRADSHAWS, of farming background leased
almost half of Dumnakelly townland. In 1711, James BRADSHAW, described as
a linen draper renewed the lease. In 1728, after two visits to Holland to
study techniques used by Dutch linen manufacturers, BRADSHAW presented an improved
version of the sleying table for looms to the Linen Board. BRADSHAW
became quite wealthy using his acquired skills, so much so that by 1750 he was
able to secure a freehold lease by paying BROWNLOW 70 guineas and a fine piece
of linen.
WEBB - Roger was the son of an earlier settler and was born in Dunmurry in
1622. He moved to Lurgan in the middle of the century and acquired a
lease of the townland of Annaloiste and part of Aghacommon.
MATTHEWS - in 1673 William and Alexander were trustees of the Quaker burial
ground. William listed as a Merchant Taylor from Lurgan, Alexander was
listed as a Blacksmith
HOLLINGSWORTH - in 1673 Valentine was one of the trustees of the Quaker burial
ground. He was listed as a freeholder from Ballymacrandle. The
HOLLINGSWORTHs settled in the district in the early 17th century.
Valentine was born in 1632 in Ballymacrandle in the parish of Seagoe.
Valentine left Ireland in 1682 for Delaware in the States. There is a
well known HOLLINGSWORTH website which covers the early history of this family.
Other names include: UPRICHARD, RICHARDSON, CHRISTY, DAWSON, HALLIDAY
Good Published Sources for Lurgan and Lurgan Quaker History:
(From which most of the above is sourced)
Lurgan : An Irish Provincial Town 1610-1970
By F X McCorry 1986
Harvest Home - The Last Sheaf
By T G F Paterson 1975
History of the Religious Society of Friends
Arthur G Chapman 1997