Joshua Whitaker (abt. 1675 - abt. 1719)

Born about 1675 in Yorkshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Jane Banister (Parker) Whitaker — married 1693 in Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died about 1719 at about age 44 in Isle of Man [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Robin Wood [send private message] and Carol Miller [send private message]

Biography

This biography is heavily influenced by the work of James Mark Valsame, which you can find here:
http://www.valsamides-design.com/whitaker/joshuawhitaker.html.

JOSHUA WHITAKER was born about 1670-1680, probably in present day Lancashire, England. Many family histories have his birth location as Grindleton, Lancashire, England, formally in West Riding of Yorkshire. Many early Whitaker families lived nearby in Lancashire. Some significant seats of the family are Holme Chapel, Padiham, Simonstone, Read, and Whalley. Grindleton was the seat of the Puritan sect called Grindletonians. Grindleton also stands at the foot of Pendle Hill, where George Fox (1624–1691), the founder of Quakerism, received the visions that convinced him to launch his sect. A number of other unorthodox sects arose in the region around the same time.^[1] It is possible that Fox was influenced by Grindletonian thinking. All of these fact seem to support this are as a likely location of his birth, but there is in fact no evidence that shows that this Joshua Whitaker was born here.

Joshua was first identified in Record of the Whitaker Families of North Carolina dated March 29, 1874, compiled by Henry Whitaker (1811-1883) of Fairview, Buncombe County, North Carolina.^[2] This document states:

The first account was Joshua Whitaker I know not when born, he was lost in the battle at the Isle of Man, in Europe, in the Prodestan [Protestant] War, and left sons, Peter Whitaker, born in England, died in Penn., [Peter] left one son. Great-Grandfather William Whitaker, born in England, died in Rowan Co., NC. Great-Grandmother Elizabeth Carlington [Carleton], born in Ireland, left five sons and three daughters.

Unfortunately, no reference has been found of any battle or religious skirmish on the Isle of Man period between 1700 and 1720. We do not know of the historical event that Henry Whitaker was referring to in this account. The International Genealogical Index compiled by the LDS shows several christenings for the name Joshua Whitaker. A Josua Whittaker, son of Josua and wife Anne, was christened April 9, 1677 at Basford, Nottinghamshire. ^[3] Likewise, a Joshua Whittiker, son of John, was christened December 12, 1680 at Bingley, Yorkshire. ^[4] There was also a Josuah Whitaker, son of John, christened August 30, 1687 at Bury, Lancashire. ^[5] It is unknown whether any of these records pertain to our ancestor Joshua Whitaker.

There is a burial record for a Joshua Whitaker, aged 43 years, dated September 26, 1719 recorded in the parish register of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate Church, London, England. ^[6] It's been said that this entry is this ancestor; but no proof has been found to support this claim. This idea may have first appeared in a letter written by descendant Martha Whitaker of Dallas, Texas dated July 3, 1942:

Joshua Whitaker, born in England 1676, a Quaker enthusiast, was killed in a religious disturbance in England. His burial record was found in St. Botolph's Church, Bishopgate, London dated Sept 9, 1719. In 1721, Joshua's wife (maiden name Jane Parker) with her four children, William, Peter, Robert, and Catherine came to America, Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles from Philadelphia.

Some sources have suggested that Jane Parker's family were members of St. Botolph's church in London, which would explain why Joshua Whitaker was buried there. Little documentary evidence has been produced to support such a thesis.

Issue:

WILLIAM WHITAKER, b. about 1700-1705 [February 10, 1701] Lancashire, England, d. after 1759 Rowan (Davidson) County, North Carolina; md. February 13, 1722 (13 d, 12 mo, 1722) Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, ELIZABETH CARLETON, b. June 18, 1701 (18 d, 4 mo, 1701) Ballyleakin, Kings County (Offaly), Ireland, d. between 1751-1784 Rowan (Davidson) County, North Carolina, daughter of MARK CARLETON and SUSANNA WATSON. William Whitaker and his wife Elizabeth obtained a certificate of removal from the Bradford Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1751 (15 d, 6 mo, 1751) and migrated to Rowan (Davidson) County, North Carolina.

PETER WHITAKER, b. about 1700-1705 Lancashire, England, d. before March 26, 1759 East Caln, Chester County, Pennsylvania; md. February 17, 1724/25 (17 d, 12 mo, 1724/25) Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, MARY HUNTLEY, daughter of WILLIAM HUNTLEY. She married secondly June 18, 1767 (18 d, 6 mo, 1767) Bradford Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, JACOB WAY. Mary (Huntley) Whitaker Way of West Caln devised her will in Chester County, Pennsylvania on December 23, 1785 (Proven February 10, 1786; Chester County, Pennsylvania Will Book 8, p. 38).

ROBERT WHITAKER, b. about 1700-1705 Lancashire, England; md. November 28, 1725 (28 d, 9 mo, 1725) Chester County, Pennsylvania, MARY HALL. Robert Whitaker moved to Cecil County, Maryland, where he devised his will on February 25, 1754 (Proven March 14, 1754; Maryland Wills, Liber 29, p. 133).

CATHERINE WHITAKER, b. about 1700-1710 Lancashire, England; md. November 18, 1724 (18 d, 9 mo, 1724) Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, CHARLES HOLMAN. She was received from the Dublin, Ireland Monthly Meeting by the New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 10, 1723 (10 d, 3 mo, 1723). On September 12, 1724 (12 d, 7 mo, 1724), she requested a certificate of removal to join the Newark (Kennett) Monthly Meeting, which received her on October 3, 1724 (3 d, 8 mo, 1724).

Research Notes

Robert and Margaret Lisle

Popular genealogical theory has traditionally identified Joshua Whitaker's parents as ROBERT WHITAKER and his wife MARGARET LISLE of Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England. Robert Whitaker was christened May 19, 1639 in Padiham Parish, Lancashire, England, the son of ROBERT WHITAKER of Simonstone. Robert Whitaker was admitted at Magdalene College in Cambridge on June 30, 1656. He was ejected from the established Church of England by the Act of Uniformity of 1662 [Note: The Act of Uniformity was an English statute enacted in 1662 during the reign of Charles II which required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer in church services. It also required episcopal ordination for all ministers. The purpose of this statute was to reintroduce episcopal rule back into the Church of England after the Puritans had abolished many features of the Church during the Civil War. As a result of this Act, nearly 2,000 clergymen left the established Church of England]. Robert Whitaker settled at Burgate (Fordingbridge), Hampshire, where he was licensed as a Presbyterian minister in April, 1672. Whitaker kept an academy at Fordingbridge, and he was the first minister of a dissenting congregation there. He died in January, 1718. Whitaker's wife Margaret Lisle was born about 1651, the daughter of JOHN LISLE (ca. 1610-1664) and ALICE BECONSAWE (ca. 1614-1685) of Moyles Court, Hampshire, England. Robert and Margaret (Lisle) Whitaker's children were TRYPHENA WHITAKER born August 14, 1673; JOHN WHITAKER born September 4, 1674, buried January, 1675; JOHN WHITAKER born December 22, 1675; JAMES WHITAKER born June 10, 1677; JEREMIAH WHITAKER born April 22, 1679; MARY WHITAKER born December 29, 1680, buried June 15, 1683; DANIEL WHITAKER born December 25, 1682; and ROBERT WHITAKER born March 14, 1686. According to the parish register of Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England, Margaret Whitaker, wife of Robert Whitaker of Burgate, was buried on March 27, 1686.

No primary source record has been found indicating that Robert Whitaker and his wife Margaret Lisle had a son named Joshua Whitaker. It is quite UNLIKELY that our ancestor Joshua Whitaker was a son of this couple. Firstly, they resided at Fordingbridge, Hampshire in southern England, geographically distant from the areas in Lancashire which popular family tradition maintains were the birthplaces of both Joshua Whitaker and his wife Jane Parker. While a Joshua Whitaker was buried in London in 1719, there is no concrete evidence that he is identical with our ancestor or that our ancestral family had resided in London prior to their residence in Ireland. Likewise, Joshua and his wife Jane (Parker) Whitaker became members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), while no evidence has been found showing any affiliation between Robert Whitaker's family and that religious group. Indeed, Joshua and Jane Whitaker's religious affiliation would have likely made them of an entirely different social and economic caste than the Robert Whitaker family of Hampshire. In summary, there is no evidence of a direct genealogical link between Joshua Whitaker and the Robert Whitaker family of Fordingbridge, Hampshire. This erroneous theory has been widely advanced in the past, most likely due to the appeal of its connections to historical figures John Lisle and his wife Alice (Beconsawe) Lisle.

Jane (Parker) Whitaker

The origins of JANE (PARKER) WHITAKER are equally ambiguousl. It has been popularly asserted that she was the daughter of John Parker and his wife Elizabeth Bannister of Lancashire, England. These names probably originate from a marriage record dated July 4, 1668 in the Parish Register of Leyland, Lancashire showing the union of John Parke to Elsabeth Banister, both of Leyland. It should be noted that in the original record, the groom's surname is Parke rather than Parker. There are actually a number of christenings for the name Jane Parker appearing in the International Genealogical Index. They include Jane, daughter of John Parker, christened May 10, 1668 at Chorley, Yorkshire; Jane, daughter of John Parker, christened January 4, 1672 at Flixton, Lancashire; Jane, daughter of Richard Parker, christened April 20, 1672 at Great Harwood, Lancashire; Jane, daughter of John Parker, christened October 30, 1673 at Burnley, Lancashire; and Jane, daughter of Henry Parker, christened July 19, 1674 at Burnley, Lancashire. It is not known whether any of these parish register entries pertains to our ancestor, and there are doubtless many other entries for the name during this period as well.

The identification of Joshua Whitaker's wife Jane as a Parker appears to originate from various letters and affidavits given by Reverend William Garrett Whitaker of Nebraska. Reverend Whitaker led a campaign from 1894 to 1908 to reclaim monies held by the Bank of England which he believed were owed to the descendants of John Whitaker of Pennsylvania, the son of Peter Whitaker. Reverend Whitaker alleged that John Whitaker had loaned money to the British Crown during the American Revolution, for which he received a bond that was never redeemed by himself or his descendants. Reverend Whitaker traveled to England in 1894 and 1901 to find proof of his claim, and also traveled extensively throughout Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and numerous other states looking for Whitaker descendants. He solicited money from relatives to support his venture, and was eventually brought to trial in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was convicted on charges of mail fraud on July 21, 1908. Whitaker insisted on his innocence, and claimed that the Bank of England and the United States Government conspired together to thwart his plan to reclaim the supposed monies, which he alleged amounted to millions of dollars. Even though Reverend Whitaker was convicted of mail fraud, many descendants today feel that his claims may have been true. C. Bruce Whitaker gives an account of this trial in his 1989 genealogy The Whitaker Family of Buncombe County, North Carolina (pp. 315-320). Among Reverend Whitaker's claims was one asserting that the descendants of Jane (Parker) Whitaker were entitled to the estates of the Parker, Townley, and Clayton families of Extwistle, Lancashire. In a written statement made by Reverend William G. Whitaker on April 6, 1903, he alleged:

The estate and monies of John Parker of Extwistle Hall in Lancashire, England; The Banister Estate, The Townley estate, and the Clayton Estate, all fell to the next of kin of Robert and Jane Parker, the only heirs at law of John Parker and Elizabeth (Banister) Parker. The said Robert Parker having married, had a son Banister Parker who also married Anna Townley, had a son Robert Parker who was the sole heir in England to the four above named estates, he having died in 1794 leaving but one son Banister Parker, who died in 1795 and left no children. Therefore the entire estates of Robert Parker and Anna (Townley) Parker, fell by right and equity and his will, to his next of kin, which were the descendants of his great Aunt Jane Parker who, an old antiquarian says, married a Whitaker and went to the united states in the early part of the 1700s and had issue when she left here. This he told me as I visited him."

In another affidavit, Reverend Whitaker stated:

Jane (Parker) Whitaker, who was the daughter of John Parker, and Elizabeth (Banister) Parker, was born in 1673 and married Joshua Whitaker in about 1696, came to America in 1722 after the death of her husband in 1708. She died in Chester Co. Penn. 1727. John and Elizabeth Parker had but 3 children, Robert, John and Jane Parker. John died at the age of three years. Robert married Anna Townley, had a son Banister Parker, who married Anna Clayton, they had a son Robert Parker, who never married but who inherited all of his father's estates, and died in 1776 an exceedingly wealthy man. He was a sea merchant, had vessels sailing to India and to all points of the then commercial world. He was the last heir of the line of Robert Parker and Anna (Townley) Parker. Then at his death all of his estates, monies and vessels with all his effects were devised and fell to his next of kin of his Great Aunt Jane (Parker) Whitaker, deceased, late of Chester Co. Penn. I have copies of the sale of his cargos, vessels, and other effects after his death, therefore, William Whitaker, son of Joshua Whitaker, deceased, and Jane (Parker) Whitaker, who came to America in the year 1720 and in 1722 married Elizabeth Carlton in Chester Co. Penn after the birth of his children, came to Rowen C. North Carolina in 1755. They had 5 sons, Marcus, who went to South Carolina. Samuel who went to Georgia. Joshua Whitaker who married Mary Reed. (they both died in Rowen, now Davison Co. N.C. In from 1795 to 1810 near Fairview on Sand Creek and on Gashee Creek). William Whitaker Jr. married in Rowen Co. N.C. and a number of his heirs are still in that section of the state, John Whitaker went to Clearmont, Sarah Whitaker married Charles Wilson. Susen Whitaker married Hugh McCrary, Jane Whitaker married Eldad Reed . . .

Extwistle Hall is located off Todmorden Road near Thurston Brook and Lee Green Reservoir, southeast of Briercliffe, Lancashire. There is a pedigree for "Parker of Extwistle" in the The visitation of county palatine of Lancashire, made in the year 1664-5, by Sir William Dugdale (Chetham Society, Volumes 84-85 and 88, 1872-1873). The visitation pedigree shows that JOHN PARKER (b. ca. 1634, md. JANE FOSTER) was the son of ROBERT PARKER (d. 1636) and his wife MARY SCARBURGH. John and Jane (Foster) Parker had a son ROBERT PARKER who was one year old in 1664. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry (Centenary (15th) edition, 1937, p. 1753) contains a more detailed summary of this same Parker family:

John Parker, of Extwistle, md. Jane, dau. of Henry Foster, Southampton, and widow of Col. Francis Malham, a Cavalier Officer, by whom he had issue, 1. Robert, his successor. 1. Mary, md. 1st Benjamin Waddington, of Ellerton, Gledow, Yorks, and 2ndly, Richard Assheton, 2nd son of Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton, Lancs. 2. Elizabeth m. Thomas Lister, of Arnoldsbiggin, Yorks, ancestor by her of Lord Ribblesdale. 3. Jane m. Edward Parker, of Browsholme, Yorks. The only son, Robert Parker, of Extwistle, High Sheriff, Lancs, 1710, m. Elizabeth, dau. and co-heir of Christopher Banastre, of Bank, Lancs, by whom he had a very numerous family. He d. 1718, leaving a son and successor, Banastre Parker, who transferred in 1719 the family seat from Extwistle to Cuerdon Hall, to which he had succeeded in right of his mother. He m. Ann, dau. and co-heir of William Clayton, of Fulwood, M. P. For Liverpool, and d. 1738, leaving with other issue, an eldest son, Robert Parker, b. 1727; m. Anne, only dau. and sole heir of Thomas Townley, of Royle, Lancs, by whom he left issue, 1. Banastre, his successor. 2. Thomas Townley, who inherited from his brother. 1. Anne, m. Richard (Crosse) Legh, of Shaw Hill, Lancs, and of Adlington, Chester. Mr. Parker d. 1779, and was s. by his elder son, Banastre Parker, m. Anne, dau. Of William Hulton, of Hulton Park, Lancs, d.s.p. 1788, and was s. by his brother, Thomas Townley Parker, High Sheriff (1793) Lancs, m. 16 Oct 1787, Susannah (who m. 2ndly, Sir Henry Philip Houghton, Bt., and d. 2 Dec 1852), only dau. And sole heir of Peter Brooke, of Astley, Lancs, representative of the ancient family of Charnock of Charnock, and d. 8 Jan 1794, leaving two daus., a son . .

As will be noted, the genealogy of the Parker family described by Reverend Whitaker varied throughout his different statements, and does not entirely agree with the published pedigrees of the family given in Burke's Landed Gentry. While it is not impossible that Jane (Parker) Whitaker might have had some genealogical relationship to the Parker family of Extwistle Hall, Lancashire, documentary evidence is entirely lacking as to her true parentage and ancestry.

It is established that Jane (Parker) Whitaker was a member of the Society of Friends and accompanied her children to Pennsylvania. Her existence can be documentarily proven, as she was one of the witnesses of her daughter Catherine Whitaker's marriage to Charles Holman at the Kennett Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania on November 18, 1724 (18 d, 9 mo, 1724). In the record, Catherine Whitaker is referred to as the daughter of Jane Whitaker. William Whitaker and Peter Whitaker also signed the marriage certificate. Shortly thereafter on February 17, 1724/25 (17 d, 12 mo, 1724/25), Jane also witnessed the marriage of her son Peter Whitaker to Mary Huntley at the Kennett Monthly Meeting. William Whitaker, Catherine Holman, and Charles Holman signed the certificate as well. It is unknown when Jane (Parker) Whitaker died. Reverend William G. Whitaker alleged that she died in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1727. Genealogist and historian C. Bruce Whitaker relates a tradition that Jane may have moved with family members to Greenwich, Cumberland County, New Jersey.

Sources

1. ↑ Pastoor, Charles; Johnson, Galen K. (2009-09-28). The A to Z of the Puritans. Scarecrow Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-8108-7039-0. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
2. ↑ Whitaker, Henry, Garren, Jesse and Jenkens, Henry. Record of the Whitaker Families of N.C. Record of the Whitaker Families of N.C. Salt Lake City, Utah : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1983. Recopied Feb. 14, 1939, at Salt Lake City, Utah, by Lorah J.W.N. Beeks, a descendent of William Whitaker and Elizabeth Carlington of N.C..
3. ↑ Nottinghamshire Archives; Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England; PR5910; Reference: PR5910 (Ancestry.com. Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. Image 17)
4. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBMM-18H : 21 March 2020), Joshua Whittiker, 1680.
5. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPLZ-PYP : 19 September 2020), Josuah Whitaker, 1687.
6. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P69/Bot4/A/003/Ms04517/001

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Acknowledgements

• This person was created through the import of Consolidated Coningsby.GED on 11 March 2011.

• Whitaker-1209 was created by Tom Culver through the import of Culver1_2014-04-05-11.ged on Apr 5, 2014.

• Thank you to Dee Beach for helping to create WikiTree profile Whitaker-822 through the import of Paternal Family Tree Keffer Sisson.GED on Apr 9, 2013.