Quakers of the Lands End Meeting

By George Pritchard
 Quakers of the Lands End Meeting

In 1656 George Fox the founder of the Quaker movement

entered the lives of the people of West Cornwall. Below we

give some of the story of how this happened and what

followed.

When we came to Ives, Edward Pyot's horse having cast a

shoe, we stayed to have it set; and while he was getting his

horse shod, I walked down to the seaside. When I returned I

found the town in an uproar. They were haling Edward Pyot

and the other Friend before Major Peter Ceely, a major in the

army and a justice of the peace. I followed them into the

justice's house, though they did not lay hands upon me."

Quaker link

These words record the arrival of George Fox the founder of

the Society of Friends and two colleagues to the Town of St

Ives in Cornwall in the year 1656. The Society ( otherwise

known as Quakers ) was growing in numbers and many of the

establishment saw it as a threat. Fox argued that to anyone

could contact God at anytime. He said that people did not

need to go to church or have the guidance of a priest. This

was seen as seditious especially as he also argued that the

bible stated that people should not swear allegiance to

anyone or anything other than God. Members of the sect

refused to pay their tithes which were used to pay for the

priest.

Many local magistrates were determined to put an end to

Fox's and his Society of Friends and Major Ceely of St Ives

was amongst these. Fox had written an open pamphlet to the

people of the seven parishes of the Lands End. This had

been circulated before his arrival so the population were

expecting him and his friends. In his journal Fox records the

following:-

"When we came in, the house was full of rude people;

whereupon I asked if there were not an officer among them to

keep the people civil. Major Ceely said that he was a

magistrate. I told him that he should then show forth gravity

and sobriety, and use his authority to keep the people civil; for
I never saw any people ruder; the Indians were more like

Christians than they.

This first visit of George Fox to St Ives in 1656 ended with

him and his two friends being taken to Launceston Jail,

(which was in the castle) here they remained for nine weeks.

Fox wrote the following about the Jail:

"The place was so noisome that it was observed few that

went in did ever come out again in health. There was no

house of office in it; and the excrement of the prisoners that

from time to time had been put there had not been carried out

(as we were told) for many years. So that it was all like mire,

and in some places to the tops of the shoes in water and

urine; and he would not let us cleanse it, nor suffer us to have

beds or straw to lie on.

At night some friendly people of the town brought us a candle

and a little straw; and we burned a little of our straw to take

away the stink. The thieves lay over our heads, and the head

jailer in a room by them, over our heads also. It seems the

smoke went up into the room where the jailer lay; which put

him into such a rage that he took the pots of excrement from

the thieves and poured them through a hole upon our heads

in Doomsdale, till we were so bespattered that we could not

touch ourselves nor one another. And the stink increased

upon us; so that what with stink, and what with smoke, we

were almost choked and smothered. We had the stink under

our feet before, but now we had it on our heads and backs

also; and he having quenched our straw with the filth he

poured down, had made a great smother in the place.

Moreover, he railed at us most hideously, calling us hatchet-

faced dogs, and such strange names as we had never heard

of. In this manner we were obliged to stand all night, for we

could not sit down, the place was so full of filthy excrement.

The first report of Quakers at Sennen appears in the a book

by Norman Penney, " The Record of Sufferings of Friends in

Cornwall ". Mr. Penney transcribed a record kept by Thomas

Lower the step son-in-law of George Fox. Thomas Lower

reported that in 1657 John Ellis, whose home was at Brea

Farm on the Sennen- St Just boundary was summoned

before the local justice Peter Seeley (Ceely) and charged with

failing to raise his hat to Seeley and James Launce. The

argument was that, as appointees of the government, Seeley

and Launce should be shown respect by people raising their

hats when meeting them. George Fox reported a similar

instance in his biography and just as in his case, John Ellis

was taken to the " Doomsdale " at Launceston for refusing to

remove his hat. This was to be his first of many visits there.

The year was 1657 and on his release he returned home to

Brea Farm where he and others had set up a group of

Friends or Quakers.

It was the Quakers practice not to pay the tithes or cost of

repairs to the church (Steeple House) and as a result they

were often beaten and had their property removed. A record

of these happenings was kept in the " Book of Sufferings "

and a number of the entries are produced below.

1657:
John Ellis had a horse taken from him by Thomas Quarum

and Richard Whiteforde who farmed the tithe of the priest of

Sennen ( Joseph Hull ).

Nicholas Jose had taken from him at harvest time 39 sheaves

of rye for failing to pay his tithe. This was done by officers

acting for priest Hull and no warrant was produced.

1658.

As Nicholas Jose was traveling along the highway he was

attacked by Thomas Treave the elder of Sennen. Treave beat

him with roapes and threw stones at him resulting in Jose

being injured. Jose later reported the attack to Michael

Richards and John Saundry the local constables but could not

get them to act.

James Myers was beaten up by parson Hull whilst the

parson's wife held him.

In 1660 parliament invited Charles I son to return as king.

Cromwell had been dead for two years. Under King Charles II

the Church of England regained some of the power it had lost

under Cromwell. It it was deemed an offence to hold Society

meetings but Friends continued to meet at each others

homes. If the authorities caught them they were arrested and

faced imprisonment and the " Book of Sufferings " records the

following:

1660.

On the 29th of February 1660 the home of George Reed was

raided by the constables and the following arrested. George,

John and Tobyas Read and John Tonkyn of Sennen. They

were taken before Walter Vincent and John Vivian, Justices

at Truro who committed them to Launceston jail where they

remained for around 7 -8 weeks.

1662

On the 27th of August 1662 A Captain Jones arrested the

following at a meeting at the house of Nicholas Jose:-

Nicholas Jose, George Reed, William Roberts, Edward

Auger, John Reed, John Mathew, Sampson Jeffrey, Richard

Hunt, Degory Vingoe, John Tonkyn.

Also arrested where 5 women:-

Johan Penwarden, Mary Penwarthen, Jane Wilkey, Anne

Treeeve and Blanch Bosistowe.

By 1662 there were around 1,300 Quakers in prison and

Justice William Godolphin added to the number by sending all

the above to Launceston jail. They appeared before the

Judge at the next assizes. Four of them Nicholas Jose,

George Reed, William Roberts and Edward Auger were

indicted and fined 40s each and committed to prison until this

was paid. The rest were also committed until they could find

sureties for their good behavior. All of these latter group were

held for three x assizes without any charge being laid against

them and they each served almost two years in prison. The

other four who had been fined were kept in prison for five and

a half years.

There were those who saw the persecution of the Quakers as

a means of enriching themselves. Hugh Jones was a local

Sennen Justice who lived at Penrose Manor. He would fine

Quakers and then remove goods worth much more than the

amount of the fine. He would then either pay the fine to the

court and pocket the difference or in the case of goods which

had been confiscated pay the fine and keep the goods. Here

are some instances of this practice.

1670.

Taken from John Wallish by Richard Warren and Martyn

Millarde constables and Nowell Roberts and Mathew

Humphrys wardens off the parish. Who came on the 6th day

of the 4th month 1670 and distrained by a warrant from Hugh

Jones, called a justice, two milk cows, two oxen and three

heifers to the value of £20 for a fine for attending a meeting

though John Wallish was a prisoner at Launceston at the

time.

Also taken from Jane Wallish by the aforesaid officers for her

being at the same meeting one milk cow worth £3 4s for a

fine of 5s imposed upon her.

Also William Roberts for attending the same meeting had four

milk cows, sixteen sheep and two rearing calves taken away

on a warrant from Hugh Jones.

Also taken away from George Reed of the parish of Sennen

by John Mathew and Nich: Wallish constables and John &

Thomas Terreeve wardens by a warrant from Hugh Jones for

his permitting the aforesaid meeting to take place in his house

and for being present at the same, 3 Milk cows and one horse

being worth £12

Taken from Nicholas Jose for attending the same meeting

One brasse pan and one chair worth £1 for a fine of 5s. Jose

was also in prison at the time.

Taken from Thomas Richards (also in prison) one brasse pot

worth 8s.

So from this one meeting Hugh Jones had secured ten milk

cows, two oxen, three heifers, one horse, two rearing calves,

one chair, one brass pan and one brass pot.

The persecution of the Quakers by Hugh Jones continued

and in 1677 he sent George Treweege to collect goods to the

value of £25 12s 6d from the shop of Nicholas Jose, all taken

as a fine for the non-payment of his tithe. Jose owned one

and a half acres of land. Each year Jones sent his clerk at

Harvest time to take sheaves of corn from Jose and other

Quakers

In 1685 there was a pardon for all Quakers but in the two

years prior to this Hugh Jones had sent a number of Sennen

Quakers to prison:

1683

John Mathews, Isaac Chappell, John Tonkyn, Richard

Richards, Jone Olivy and Wilmott Richards sent by Hugh

Jones, Justice, for attending a meeting to Launceston Gaol.

They came before the infamous Judge Jeffreys. After careful

consideration he discharged the prisoners.

1684
Again Justice Jones imprisoned John Mathew, Richard

Richards, Jenkin Vingoe, John Tonkyn and Samson Olivey

for unlawful assembly in Sennen. Judge Montague set them

all free.

In 1685 James II came to the throne and the Society of

Friends was recognised by the state. The hard won rights to

worship God as they choose had led to the deaths of many of

them as a result of their time in prisons such as Launceston.

Now they had the law on their side Justice Hugh Jones found

other ways to continue his harassment of members of the

Lands End meeting. William Bottrell the nineteenth century

historian records this story in the third volume of his "Stories

and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall":-

"As the notion of the transmigration of souls is not at all new

to Cornish people, you may imagine that, in some former

state of existence, you lived out west about the time that old

Justice Jones resided in Penrose, and was long the

unquestioned tyrant of that part of the country. In

complaisance with the good pleasure of the justice, many old

men in the parish, even farmers, did the work on his farms of

Penrose and Brew, for no other payment than his worthless

promise that their sons should not be impressed and sent off

to serve the king on board a man-of-war. It seems that in the

time of this ancient edition of Colonel Peard, the magistrates

were entrusted with warrants which empowered them to draft

off whomsoever they pleased for the king’s service, and to

gratify their ill-will they had only to intimate to the press-gang

that the disliked were eligible men.

Old Jones’s usual mode of proceeding was to compel all the

laboring class to go to church every Sunday (in case of non-
attendance these guardians of the law might also fine or imprison).
The justice would be first to leave the church, and would remain in
the churchyard (where those who feared him were collected to learn
his pleasure) until he had intimated what work he wished to have
done, and by whom, during the week. When he wanted any extra
hands during the week, as was often the case in harvest, furze-
carrying, and other times of work requiring quick dispatch, he
would hoist a flag on a flag-staff which used to be placed in a large
holed stone, which was perforated for that purpose, and built into
the top of the angle found by the green court and garden walls. It
was a common saying that not to give anyone sufficient wages was
like old Jones’s payment, of a kick in the rear, which many, who
neglected their own harvest work to save the old justice’s corn,
richly deserved. But he was not long allowed to domineer over the
poor folks of the west. Many of the old families belonging to the
parish among whom the Vingoe's of Treville, were the most
important, did all they could to check his proceedings. This ancient
Norman family, who had held Treville ever since the Conquest, and
had been the wine-tasters to unknown Norman chiefs for equally
unknown ages, regarded old Jones, for all his riches, as nothing but
an upstart stranger in the west; yet they did not succeed in bringing
the justice to act in a reasonable way until a. smuggling crew came
to their aid. Most of the young men of the west country (many of
them farmers’ sons) belonged to this band, as well as two young
men of Morvah - a Daniel and a Ustick, who were related to the
Vingoe's, and might be styled gentlemen. Their head-quarters were
at Priest’s Cove and Pendeen, as best suited their convenience. One
fine day in the harvest, when old Jones had summoned folks from all
over the parish to save his corn, the smugglers, taking the law into
their own hands, marched down to Penrose well-armed, took the
old justice and his man (as big a rogue as himself) from the house,
hung them head downwards to a tree in the town-place, and gave
them the bastinado until they were within an inch of giving up the
ghost; then made the old sinner give them money to treat the men,
and sent them off to pass a jovial day, “One and All,” at the First
and Last. Before the smugglers left, they told the justice that, if he
ever attempted to practice any of his old tricks again, they would come some
fine morning when he least expected, and take him off to his cousin Davy
Jones’s locker, and from this time he had such a wholesome fear of the
smugglers that he seldom left his den, nor anymore interfered in the
neighborhood. "

Whether William Bottrell's story is fact or fiction we do not know.

The Jones family left the Sennen area shortly after the death of
Hugh Jones in 1715 with one son James setting up a shipping
business in Plymouth.

KNOWN QUAKER FAMILIES FROM SENNEN:-

Chappell, Ellis, Jose, Mathews, Myers, Olivy, Reed ,

Richards, Stevens, Tonkin, Vingoe, Wallish, Williams.

A RECORD OF SOME QUAKER BIRTHS.

1668: Jane Wallish dau of John and Marye of St.Just 15 Apr.

1671: John Wallish son of John and Mary Wallish of St.Just

10 Apr.

1673: Elizabeth Wallish dau of John and Mary Wallish of

St.Just 16 Aug.

1702: Mary Wallish dau of Robert and Ann Wallish 30 Mar.

1715: John Wallis son of Nicholas and Prudence Wallis 1

Nov.

A NUMBER OF WEDDINGS TOOK PLACE AMONGST THE QUAKER

COMMUNITY

1657: John Reed of Sennen s. of George & Ann Reed to

Margaret Penwarthen of Buryan.

1658: Tobias Reed of Sennen s. of George & Ann Reed to

Margaret Thomas of Market Jew

(Marazion) d. of John & Francis Thomas.

1665: Jenken Vingoe to Mary Read of Sennen Mary d.. of

George & Ann Reed.

1672 5 December: Ann Reed of Sennen d. of George & Ann

Reed to Nicholas Wallish s. of Digory Wallish.

1672: Stephen Reed of Sennen s of George & Ann Reed to

Elizabeth Ellis d. of John and Phillippa Ellis of St.Just

Witnesses:- Nicholas John, William Roberts, George Read,

Jenken Vingoe, Charles Ellis,

John Wallish, Sampson & Richard Daniel, John Mathew,

William Lawry, Nicholas Wallish, Tobyas Read, Dorothy Ellis,

Briget Ellis, Philip Ellis, Blanch Bosustow, Lowdy Ellis, Ann

Reed.

1674: 14 Dec. William Lawry of St.Just and Jane Wallis dau

of Thomas Wallis.

Witnesses:- John Ellis, Nicholas Jose, Thomas Wallish,

Nicholas Wallish, Richard Dennis, Sampson Dennis, Tobias

Reed, William Roberts, , William Provis, John Mathew, Isaak

Chappell, Thomas Richard, John Tonkin, Hugh Ladnor,

Jenkin Vingoe, John Edwards,

Thomas Bennett, Phillip Ellis, Marye Ellis, Honner Jose,

Marye Jose, Sarah Read, Ann Wallish, Sarah Wallish, Joane

Mathew, Elizabet Thomas,

Ref. Cornwall Records Office SF 84 page 181.

1679: 4th Nov., John Stevens of Treag to Mary Jose dau of

Nicholas Jose

.
Witnesses: Nicholas Jose, George Reed, Tobyas Reed.

Charles Read, Richard Dinnys (Dennis), Will Roberts,

Nicholas Wallish, Jenken Vingoe, Richard Richards, John

Williams, Isaac Chapple, John Mathews,

Elizabeth Jose, Honour Tregelles, Ann Reed, Honour Roch,

Ref. Cornwall Records Office SF 232. recorded in Marazion

Quarterly Meeting Book.

1685: 4th July, Charles Rowd to Mary Tonkin at Troofe.

Witness Jenken Vingoe and others.

1701: 3rd July, Robert Wallish of St.Just and Ann Edwards

dau of Edward Edwards at Marazion

Witnesses:- None shown

BURIALS AT THE QUAKER BURIAL GROUND, BREA.

5 Jun.....1677: John Wallish of St.Just.

25 April1687: Seth Vingoe son of Jenkin Vingoe of Sennen.

6 Feb....1690: Ann Wallish wife of Nicholas Wallish of

Sennen.
16 Apr..1702: Ann Wallish wife of Robert Wallish of Sancrett

(Sancreed)

.............1703: Mary Wallish

26 Oct. 1705: Jenkin Vingoe of Sennen

29 Feb..1708: Mary Vingoe widow of Jenkin Vingoe.

3 Mar.. 1714: Richard Dennis of Buryan.

11 Jan..1715: Margaret Reed wife of Tobias.

28 Jan..1716: Sampson Olivey

22 Dec.1723: Jane Dennis of Buryan

22 Sep..1724: William Bottrell of Sancreed.

31 Aug 1730: John Ellis of Penzance

16 Jan..1733: John Williams of Sennen.

25 Mar.1733: Prudence Wallish of St. Levan wife of Nicholas

Wallish of St.Levan at Brea.

1 Mar...1737: Jane Richards of Sennen w of Richard of Paul.

KNOWN LANDS END MEETING QUAKERS BURIED ELSEWHERE.

3 Sept. 1695: St Just Parish church, Ann Reed, A Quaker,

[Wife of George Reed & mother of

 Tobias.]

12Mar1698: St Just Parish Church, Tobias Reed, A Quaker of

Zennor. [ son of George and

Ann Reed.]

1 Jul. 1700: St Just Parish Church, Elizabeth Ellis, A Quaker

daughter of Pascoe Ellis Gent Sennen.

4 Sept. 1700 St Just Parish Church, Blanche Busustow, A

Quaker of Sennen.

KNOWN LANDS END MEETING QUAKERS BAPTISMS

AT ST JUST PARISH CHURCH.

19 Aug. 1699: John Lawry, about 20 son of William Lawry

Quaker.

3 Apr. 1700: William Lawry, about 23, a Quaker.

18 Apr. 1715: Bryan Lawry, son of Quaker parents.

18 Apr. 1715: Jane Lawry, Daughter of Bryan and Grace

Lawry.

29 Mar.1718: William Lawry, son of Bryan and Grace Lawry

above Quakers.
7 Jun. 1718: Ann Daughter of John and Jane Lawry, Quaker

converts.

Jan. 1721: Thomas Son of John and Jane Lawry.

The Wallis' named in this list were descendants of John

Wallish and Jane Drake and Nicholas Wallish and Dorothy.

In 1683 William Lawry, age 92,says he went to Bosworlas as

a tenant to John Wallish the grandfather of Francis Wallish,

about 60 years since and was a tenant for 30 years. William

mentions John Wallish the elder, and John his son, also

John Wallish father of Francis.

I would like to thank Kenneth Wallis and Carlene Harry

for some of the information used in the preparation of this page.

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