Anne Clayton’s Beliefs
and Free Speech.
Colorful Clayton
Connections
by Teresa Martin Klaiber, Dec. 2019
One
of the earliest marriages recorded in Aldingham Parish, Lancashire, England is
that of Henry Clayton and Esther Townson 27 April 1600.[i]
Lancashire
is a maritime county bounded by the Irish sea. In 1648, during Henry Clayton’s
lifetime, the Scots, directed by the Duke of Hamilton, and Cromwell, fought a battle at Preston within Lancashire County. Many were slaughtered. Henry and a son Edmond
both survived the battle.
Son, Edmond Clayton was born 05 April 1602 in
Lancashire, England.[ii] Edmond had a daughter Anne (born about
1628) who became a servant at Swarthmoor Hall. She was one of six known
siblings including John (this compiler’s ancestor) who migrated to America and
settled in British New Jersey.
Swarthmoor postcard (c2155 ebay)
Swarthmoor
Hall had been inherited by Thomas Fell. Fell supported Cromwell yet managed to retain
a position as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. His wife, Margaret Askew
Fell, was one of the earliest sponsors of George Fox. George Fox, founder of
the Quaker movement, arrived at Swarthmoor Hall in June 1652 as he traveled
around England. Fox had already been in
jail 12 months for illegal preaching by the time he arrived at Swarthmoor. The
Parish priest confronted Fox. As a
servant in the household it is likely Anne heard or even witnessed this
event.
Margaret Fell was an avid supporter of Fox.
Between 1652 and her death she is said to have published many pamphlets
including one titled Women’s Speaking Justified which supported the role
of women in Quaker ministry. After
Thomas Fell died she remarried to George Fox in 1669. The Quakers, especially the ones known as the Valiant Sixty attempted
to convert others to their understanding of Christianity, travelling both
throughout Great Britain and overseas. Anne Clayton accepted the Quaker faith with open arms.
Some of these
early Quaker ministers were women. The Valiant
Sixty were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England, who spread
the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the 17th century. They were
also called the First Publishers of Truth. There were actually more than sixty
of them. Among the females listed is
Margaret Fell. While Anne does not appear in the list, her brother Richard Clayton, yeoman, is one of the Valiant Sixty. After researching Anne I am a bit puzzled why she was not one of the females on the list.
On 24 March 1654/5 “Anne Clayton, late of Swarthmore, spinster, was indicted for interrupting the parson of Aldingham stated ‘Come down thou greedy dogg, woe unto thee’…”[iv] Aldingham was historically in Lancashire. Anne Clayton would be jailed, for her
believes, and whipped in Lancashire Castle in 1655.[iii]
In the Great Book of Sufferings the
writer (Hookes) recorded accounts for 1654-1657 called “For Speaking the truth
in Steeplehouses, Marketts and other places…” On the side of the page he
recorded the name of the accused Quakers who received fines as well as jail
sentences. In a bracketed group the
following women are Mary Clayton, Anne Clayton, Mary Lyongill, and Jane Ashburner.
Anne had joined the ranks of women-preachers. Anne
also wrote to Margaret Fell in October 1655 on behalf of a meeting in Lancaster
and requesting a copy of news from London “wee would have thee to send us a
copie of that letter [v]which thou received the
last from London as shortly as thou canst conveniently.” Anne’s brother, Richard Clayton wrote
Margaret Fell the same year “...& as for the noote y thou writs of I know not
whether I have receued it or not, for I have been receued 3 from thee sence I
came into this contry but as for out ward things there is noe want, soe deare
one if thou be free a copy of this then may send to my deare mother and sister
at Lancaster.” Sharing correspondence was their only way to network with others. Richard’s letter certainly implies that he
and Anne’s mother, Margaret was also accepting the words of Fox.
“The desire to dispense with all social
differences even led Anne Clayton in A Letter to the King to address the
returning sovereign as her ‘dear Friend’ …’”[vi] in 1660. She asked him to let his mind attend
on reading, hearing and reject not the counsel of the Lord…and signed it “From
a Love of thy Soul, Anne Clayton.”[vii]
Anne Clayton is said to have carried the
Quaker message as far as Barbados[viii] prior to arrival in
America. It is said that she travelled to Barbados to be with Fell family
members. Henry Fell, a Quaker missionary was already in Barbados by 1656. Margaret Askew Fell Fox had a daughter named
Margaret who married John Rous of Barbados.
At this point in this compiler's research, no documented account of her preaching there has been located.
She later married Nicholas Easton, who would
become the Governor of Rhode Island, in Newport[ix]. Governor Nicholas Easton gave property to
Anne, at their marriage called Easton’s Point.
After Easton’s death she married Governor Henry Bull. Anne Clayton
Easton Bull sold sixty-five acres known as the Point farm to the Society of
Friends. She lived until 30 January 1707.
Ann Bull signature, property of Newport Historical Society
For further reading, I recommend The Valiant Sixty by Ernest E. Taylor published in 1947. It gives details about how the Sixty functioned and includes information on a fund that was volunteered by those with means, among those that were helped personally by the fund was Richard Clayton described as an owner of a small estate.
[i] Ancestry.com," database, Ancestry.com,
Lancashire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records.
[ii] Lancashire: Aldingham & Coniston - Aldingham Parish
Register, 1542-1695 and Coniston Parish Register, 1599-1700
[iii] Raymond
Martin Bell, Some New Jersey Families...Clayton (Washington,
Pennsylvania: self 413 Burton Ave., Washington, PA 15301, 1983), .
[iv]
The Household Account Book of Sarah fell of Swarthmoor Hall footnote 59 page
541
[v]
Women and Epistolary Agencey in early Modern Culture, 1450-1690 page 215
[vi]
Female Friends and the transatlantic Quaker community…Naomi Rebecca
Pullin.Thesis, University of Warwick. 2014
[vii] https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A79925.0001.001/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext letter to King Charles
[viii]
Quaker Women 1650-1690. Earlham College -Plowshares page 45
[ix]
Bronner, Edwin, Dictionary of Quaker Biography
