William Mead (bef. 1627 - 1713)

Born before 14 Nov 1627 in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Fell) Meade — married 28 Jun 1681 in London, England

Died 3 Apr 1713 after age 85 in Goosehays, Essex, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marie Keeton [send private message]

Biography

William was a Friend (Quaker)

William Mead, son of Richard, was born in 1627 and was baptized at Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, on 14 Nov in that year.

When a young man he went to London, entered into a prosperous business as a linen draper in Fenchurch Street, and prospered. He was admitted to the freedom of the Merchant Taylor's Company on 9 Jan 1655/6 by patrimony in virtue of his father's membership, was admitted to the livery in 1658 and acted as Master in 1706. After a time he lived at a house in Highgate. He was a Captain in the London Trained Bands, a military body now represented by the Honourable Artillery Company.

Prior to 1670 he joined the Society of Friends and held a leading position among them and several times waited upon the King with George Whitehead and others. He was once imprisoned with William Penn, founding father of Pennsylvania and the American Quakers, at NewGate in 1670^[1] for preaching in the street.

Lauderdale House was once a country retreat for a well-known Quaker, William Meade. In 1677 the wealthy linen merchant bought the House as a second home. Seven years earlier, 1670, he had appeared in court, a defendant in a sensational human rights trial along side William Penn.

About 1684 he purchased the estate of Goosehays, about three miles from Romford in Essex. He wrote in conjunction with Whitehead and others several vindications of "the people called Quakers." One of these was delivered to the House of Lords, 21 Feb 1701.

MARRIAGES

William Mead married and lost his first wife, Mary Lawrence, in 1679. Their child, Jonathan, died in 1680.

He was married in the Devonshire House Meeting in London in 1681 to Sarah Fell,^[1] fourth daughter of Judge Thomas Fell. Judge Fell died in 1658, and Margaret Fell, his widow, was married in 1669 to George Fox. Mead by his marriage with Sarah became Fox's stepson. She was beautiful, an eloquent preacher and a good Hebrew scholar and was the correspondent of Penn and Barclay. She died at Goosehays on 9 Jun 1714. George Fox was a frequent visitor at Highgate and at Goosehays, and in his Journal frequently refers to Mead.

DEATH and ESTATE

William died at his estate in Goosehays on 3 Apr 1713, aged 86, and was buried in the Friends' Cemetery at Barking.^[2]

Mead by his will left to Nathaniel Mead, his "dear and only child," his estates in London, Middlesex, Kent, Essex and Surrey, and many legacies to the poor among Quakers and others.

Research Notes

Did he go to America with Penn and return to ENG? Research needed.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} The Family of William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania, Ancestry and Descendants. By Howard Malcolm Jenkins Pgs. 40-50.
2. ↑ TribalPages.com - sourced online family tree.

See also:

• WikiTree
• Henry J. Mead, William Mead, Quaker, & his relations, Family History Tracts, Vol 33, SOG Library, London.
• https://www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk/about-us/our-history/william-mead
• https://www.ushistory.org/penn/margaret_fell.htm