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___? POSTLETHWAITE ___?-___? |
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Elizabeth "Betty" WHINFIELD ___?-1793 |
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Richard (?) POSTLETHWAITE 1722-___? |
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Richard POSTLETHWAITE c1759-1819 |
Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* served as a Curate at Olney in Buckinghamshire, during 1785-87. Here he met the famous poet, William Cowper, and the "Divine", John Newton, authors of the Olney Hymns. There is a record of correspondence concerning Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* by Cowper. The earliest mention by Cowper of Richard is in a letter addressed to Lady Hesketh on Sept. 29, 1786 archived in the Cowper and Newton Museum at Olney.
"The name of the present Curate is Postlethwaite. He is like all other Curates, poor, and drinks no beer finding I suppose the waters of the [river] Ouse less expensive."
Also, John Newton said of Richard:
"Postlethwaite is a good man but young and warm. He knows little more of the world than if he had lived all his days in a wood."
On Jan 31, 1788, the Rev. Richard Postlethwaite*, Clerk, was inducted into the Rectory of Nevendon, Essex. The Parish records from St. Peter's Church in Nevendon show that he had 3 children, John, James, and Enoch in Nevendon and a woman named, Susannah. These records also show that Enoch and Susannah died and were buried at Nevendon in 1793 and 1794, respectively, but they do not show Richard's marriage to Susannah, nor do they show any record of any child born there to Richard or Susannah named Samuel. It is therefor assumed that all four of these dependencies were adopted.
The Parish records of St. Mary's, Upper Street, Islington (now part of west London) show that Richard was a Rector of the Church of St. Mary's in the Parish of Darlaston in the county of Staffordshire , from at least July 5, 1799 through Feb 2, 1800. During this same period, one [perhaps Rev.?] Samuel Phillips performed a marriage, and Richard Postlethwaite* conducted the marriage of a William Phillips to an Elizabeth Sheldon. The Church at Darlaston was experiencing rapid growth in its congregation and there may have been two services each Sunday to accomodate the growing population. Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* was installed as Rector at St. Gomanda's Church in Roche, Cornwall, on Feb 7, 1800. While at Islington (then in Staffordshire), on Nov. 27, 1799, Richard married Benedicta Applyby, the daughter of Thomas Appleby of London. Richard and Benedicta settled at Roche, Cornwall, where they had 9 children between them from Sep, 1800 through Apr, 1813.
Richard died on June 14, 1819 in London.
There is considerable mystery concerning the identity of Samuel Adkins Phillips whom James Phillips said was his "brother". Was there a Rev. Richard Phillips, or was Samuel a son of the [Rev.?] Samuel Phillips who appears to have been with Rev. Richard Postlethwaite at Darlaston, or was he an adopted son of Rev. Richard Postlethwaite? There is also a strong possibility that Samuel Adkins Phillips was a part of a Phillips family long known to have existed in Roche for many years.
As far as anyone in the family knew, James had said that his father was the Rev. Richard Phillips, Rector at a small Anglican Church [St. Peter's] in Nevendon, Essex County, England, and his mother was Susan [or Susannah] Meade, who died in Nevendon. James said that he thought his mother died when he was about 7 years old. James said that his father had been relocated to serve as the Rector at a small Church in Roche, in Cornwall in about 1800. James also stated to his daughter, Cornelia, that Samuel Adkins Phillips joined him on his emigration to New York in 1818, and that Samuel was his brother.
However, no record of any Rev. Richard Phillips has been found in Nevendon. Instead, a Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* was found to be the Rector at both St. Peter's Church in Nevendon, Essex, and at the St. Gomanda Church, Roche, Cornwall, at the same time as James indicated that his father was supposed to be in those places. There is also no record of any birth or baptism of any child named Samuel [or Samuel Adkins] Phillips or Postlethwaite at Nevendon. There is, however, a record of a birth [on Apr 22, 1792] and Christening [on May 5, 1792], the second of 3 sons, of a James Postlethwaite* in Nevendon. The birth date is exactly the same as that given for James Phillips*, who became the Professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC.
The perception that James Phillips* conveyed to his daughter that his mother died when he was about 7 years old, differs from the record that shows that Susannah Postlethwaite died in 1794, when James would have only been only 2 years old. This difference is significant, in that he could not have recalled an event that took place when he was only 2 years old.
Current thinking identifies Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* almost certainly as not the real father of James Phillips*, and that James Phillips was adopted and Christened with the name of James Postlethwaite*. It is also now thought that Samuel Adkins Phillips (1790-1872) did accompany James on his emigration to New York City in 1818, but that he is not a full brother to James, and may be either more distantly related, or may not be related to him at all.
James Phillips* appears to have had a cognitive memory of a "mother figure" who died when he was about 5-7 years old. This person could have been whatever woman raised him during the 5 years from his real mother's death in 1794 through 1799. One possibility, yet to be verified is that the brothers, James and John Postlethwaite were adopted by a Rev. Samuel Phillips and his wife in Darlaston, Staffordshire (or perhaps in another place, such as Richard's home town of Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, or someplace closer to Nevendon, Essex), after their caregiver, Susannah, died in Nevendon in 1794. Samuel Adkins Phillips may have been a natural son of this Rev. Samuel Phillips and his wife. Thus, it is possible that for the five year period from 1794 through 1799, James and John Postlethwaite were raised as brothers to a Samuel Phillips in the family of a Rev. Samuel Phillips and his wife at Darlaston, or elsewhere. This theory also opens up the idea that Susan Meade was the wife of Rev. Samuel Phillips, and died in 1799, whereas, James' and John's actual mother was Susannah ___?, whose surname is yet unknown.
More recently, it has been learned that James Phillips was the son of Sir Richard Phillips, and Susannah Robinson. Sir Richard Phillips (before knighthood) was a mathematics teacher, publisher and book seller in Leicester who was jailed in 1792 for selling Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man, Susannah Robinson was the widow of John Meade, as remembered by James as "Susan Meade". Susan Meade died in 1797 within the cognitive memory of James Phillips.
In any event, there is a need to determine how James and John (aged 2 and 4, respectively) were raised during the 5 year period following 1794, after their caregiver had died, and before their father had remarried. Sir Richard Phillips seems to have married a Miss Griffiths in 1795 shortly after his release from jail, concurrently while he was still married to Susan Meade, by whom he was separated and estranged. He is also said to have married Francis Elizabeth Dunford in 1798 in Truro Cornwall.
Evidence provided by James Phillips' descendant, Harry B. Phillips, shows that Rev. Richard Postlethwaite was a scholar with publications that were made available to a pre-publication subscription list that included a number of Postlethwaite names. This is strong evidence that Rev. Richard Postlethwaite was sending copies of his published works to his relatives surnamed Postlethwaite. Thus, it seems highly unlikely that Richard Postlethwaite was using an alias surname, and had changed his surname from Phillips to Postlethwaite.
The apparent relatives listed in the pre-publication subscription list are:
Until more is known about these assumed relatives, one can only speculate whether these include his father, brothers, uncles, or cousins. The first name on the list, Captain James Postlethwaite is a likely candidate to have a published genealogy, since there was a ship built in Barrow-in-Furness in 1881 named the James Postlethwaite which appears to be named in memory of a James Postlethwaite of Gleaston, apparently of the shipbuilding firm of Petty & Postlethwaite in Ulverston, who may have died between 1879 and 1881, after he launched the ship ME Johnson, and just prior to the launching of the ship James Postlethwaite. This James could be a son or grandson of Captain James Postlethwaite. There is also a "Capt. Jas. Postlethwaite" listed in the New York Directory of 1786, who resided at 25 Duke Street. The author of these web pages believes that the two Captains are the same person.
Richard's father was also named Richard Postlethwaite*. There is a record of this Richard Postlethwaite born on March 11, 1722, in Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire. He was married to Elizabeth (Betty) Whinfield*, Betty died on May 13, 1793, in Dalton. This Richard was probably alive in about 1790, since he is listed as "Mr. Richard Postlethwaite, Fourness" on Rev. Postlethwaite's subscription list (above) This Richard and Betty were married on June 11, 1747, in Dalton, and they had the following children:
The comparisons of given names, the birth locations, and the dates between this record and the subscription list confirm that the Richard Postlethwaite*, born in 1722 at Dalton-in-Furness is the father of our Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* of Nevendon and Roche, however, it is not yet proven.
Further research focused on finding some record of Susan Meade's birth, marriage, and mention of her parents has resulted in the discovery that "Susan Meade" was born as Susannah Robinson on Feb 14, 1769 at Hedon in Yorkshire. On Sep 10, 1785, Susannah married John Meade in Danby, Cleveland, Yorkshire. John Mead, according to the NFFG web page, was born in 1717 in Collon, Lough, Ireland. His birth year may be a misprint, since that would make him a man of 68 while Susannah was only 16 years old. John died in July, 1788 in Oxford, England. The widow, Susannah (Robinson) Meade is reported to have remarried to Sir Richard Phillips in 1787 at Shipton Under Wychwood, Oxford. Since this appears to be about a year before John Meade died, there is a need for additional research to clarify the various dates.
A search for Postlethwaite family members as shown on the subscription list for Richard's publications might yield some important clues. These Postlethwaite's lived in and near Furness in Cumbria, on the West Coast of England where the coastal city of Barrow-in-Furness is now located, and nearby Dalton-in-Furness in Lancashire. Pending further research, the Rev. Richard Postlethwaite* is here listed as James Phillips' father and Susannah Meade* is listed as his mother. Samuel Adkins Postlethwaite alias Phillips (?) is listed questionably as his brother with no other proof than James Phillips' recollection as told to his children. James may have been raised in his early childhood with Samuel Adkins Phillips (or Samuel Adkins) in a Phillips (or Adkins) household, rarely being with his father, except possibly for religious instruction and education. He may have regarded Samuel Adkins Phillips (or Samuel Adkins) as his brother and he (or they) adopted Samuel's (or someone else's) "Phillips" surname for himself, instead of "Postlethwaite".
More on the Postlethwaite Family
The earliest member of the Postlethwaite family that has been found by the author of this web page is:
Matthew Postlethwayt; b. c1610, Bankside, Millom, Cumberland, England, of a family that had long been settled there, according to the entry for his 4th son, John (see below) in the Dictionary of National Biography, by George Smith, published since 1917 by the Oxford University Press.
The Dictionary of National Biography also lists the following men who used the spelling "Postlethwayt" for their surnames. These two are described in the Dictionary, as "probably brothers", and they may be grandsons or great-grandsons of Matthew Postlethwayt, of Bankside, Millom:
The author of these web pages believes that these two Postlethwayt brothers are sons of Matthew Postlethwayt (1679-1745) and his first wife, Elizabeth Rogerson.
The Dictionary of National Biography lists a Thomas Postlethwaite(1731-1798), son of Richard Postlethwaite of Crooklands, Lancashire. Thomas became the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1789-1798. Thomas Died at Bath on May 4, 1798, and is buried in the Bath Abbey Church.
The author of these web pages believes that this Thomas Postlethwaite (1731-1798) may be a younger brother of Richard Postlethwaite* (b. 1722, Dalton-in-Furness), (see above), and both were sons of Richard Postlethwaite of Crooklands, Lancashire.
Further research is needed to verify the connections, if any, between these various Postlethwaite families.