This is a quote from Shakespeare’s Richard II that refers to the interrelatedness of early Quakers, who only married within the faith.
In this fascinating book, he tells of his Quaker family, stretching back to the very beginning of the Society over 350 years ago. The story starts with George Fox’s right- hand man, James Lancaster, whose Bible is still in the family possession, and which still bears the water stains from when James was fleeing persecution across Morecambe Bay and it was dropped in the sea in 1661. This passed to his daughter Dinah, who married John Nicholson, who came from an old seafaring family from Whitehaven. Their great Granddaughter was Eliza Nicholson, who married Professor John Barlow, the eminent Veterinary scholar at Edinburgh University. Their son was the renowned Quaker peace worker, John Henry Barlow, the pre-eminent Quaker Statesman of his generation, as The Times obituary wrote. The book also tells of other well-known Quaker names, including the author’s cousins from the Carr, Taylor and Cadbury families; his great, great Grandfather, Samuel Bowly, fierce anti-slavery campaigner with Wilberforce, as well as eccentrics such as John Neild, who donated all his money to Queen Victoria which enabled her to buy Balmoral!
Quaker historian Ben Pink Dandelion says in his Foreword “This book is a treasure trove of family and wider Quaker social history….we should be very grateful for Antony’s work and the affirmation it brings of a Quaker way of life and a Quaker set of values that continue to offer so many of us strength and hope.”
Quaker authority Edward Milligan writes: “This book provides glimpses of national Quaker preoccupations during the last four centuries, and deserves a wide readership.”
Richenda Elton Lady-in-Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen: “Her Majesty was interested to learn of your family connection with John Neild who left a considerable part of his estate to Queen Victoria and is most grateful for a copy of your
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