Joseph Gurney Bevan (1753 - 1814)

Born 18 Feb 1753 in London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Plumstead) Bevan — married 27 Aug 1776 (to 1813) in London, England

Died 12 Sep 1814 at age 61 in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Joseph Bevan is Notable.

Joseph was a Friend (Quaker)

Joseph was the son of Timothy Bevan and his second wife Hannah Gurney (widow of Nathaniel Springall). He was born in London on 18 February 1753.^[1]

On 27 August 1776 Joseph married Mary Plumsted/Plumstead (daughter of Robert Plumsted/Plumstead, draper - member of the Drapers Company - London, by trade an ironmonger, deceased, and his surviving wife Hannah) at the Quaker Meeting House near Devonshire Square, London.^[2] They had no children.^[3][4]

In 1775 Joseph took on sole responsibility for his father's pharmacy business in London, retiring in 1794, having lost a significant amount of his capital, due to the scrupulosity of his business practices and his generosity.^[3][4] He moved to Stoke Newington, Middlesex in 1796.^[4]

Joseph is best known as a Quaker writer, writing a number of religious works, some in defence of the Quakers. He served as clerk of London Quaker Yearly Meeting in 1794. He was an opponent of slavery. He was a staunch upholder of traditional Quaker beliefs and testimonies, and one contemporary Quaker diarist, James Jenkins, referred to him as "our chief disciplinarian".^[3][4]

Joseph's wife died on 23 May 1813. He himself suffered from failing health and eyesight in his last years.^[3][4] He died in Stoke Newington, Middlesex on 12 September 1814 and was buried on 18 September at Bunhill Fields Quaker burial ground, London.^[5][6]

Joseph's Will was dated 20 July 1813 and proved on 22 October 1814. It shows him to have been a wealthy man despite the loss of some of his capital in his pharmacy business. In it, among other provisions, he:^[7]

• described himself as of Stoke Newington, Middlesex, gentleman
• named the following relatives:
  • his brother Silvanus Bevan
  • his cousin Silvanus Bevan the younger
  • his cousin Paul Bevan
• appointed as executors his brother Slivanus Bevan, his cousins Paul and Silvanus Bevan, and William Allen, druggist, of London

Sources

1. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/329, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Quarterly Meeting of London and Middlesex: Gracechurch Street Births, FindMyPast
2. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/510, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Monthly Meeting of Devonshire House, Houndsditch, London: Marriages, FindMyPast
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Edward H Milligan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, 2007, p. 47
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by David J Hall for 'Bevan, Joseph Gurney', print and online 2004
5. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/416, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Monthly Meeting of Gracechurch Street, City of London: Burials, FindMyPast
6. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQ19-PLT : 11 December 2014), Joseph Gurney Bevan, 18 Sep 1814, Burial; citing p. 48, Gracechurch Street, London, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
7. ↑ The National Archives, ref. PROB 11/1561/368, Discovery Centre catalogue entry

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 4, pp. 445-446, entry for 'BEVAN, JOSEPH GURNEY (1753–1814)', Wikisource
• Wikipedia: Joseph Gurney Bevan
• British Library catalogue, search results for "Joseph Gurney Bevan', search undertaken 27 March 2023