Joseph John Gurney (1788 - 1847)

Born 2 Aug 1788 in Earlham, Norfolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Fowler) Gurney — married 18 Jul 1827 in Melksham, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Eliza Paul (Kirkbride) Gurney — married 21 Oct 1841 in England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 4 Jan 1847 at age 58 in Earlham, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Joseph was a Friend (Quaker) his views and actions led to a schism among American Quakers, England

"Joseph John Gurney (2 August 1788 – 4 January 1847) was a banker in Norwich, England and a member of the Gurney family of that city. He became an evangelical minister of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and his views and actions led, ultimately, to a schism among American Quakers." ^[1]

Birth and Earlier Life

Joseph John Gurney was the son of John Gurney and Catherine Bell. He was born at Earlham, Norwich, Norfolk on 2 August 1788.^[2][3] Quaker birth records give his name as just Joseph Gurney, but he is known as Joseph John Gurney.

Because he was a Quaker, he was not allowed to be a student member of Oxford University, but he spent two years there being educated as a private student.^[4]

Life

In 1805 Joseph started working for the Gurney family's bank. Because an uncle of the same name, Joseph Gurney-27, was a partner in the bank, he added the middle name John to his name to avoid confusion. He became a partner of the bank himself in 1809. As a banker he took a personal interest in clients: for instance, he wrote to one depositor advising him to live within his means. His banking involvement made him a wealthy man.^[4]

Following the death of his brother John in 1814, Earlham Hall, Norfolk became his residence.^[4]

Joseph John was an active Quaker. In 1818 he was recognised by Norwich Quaker Monthly Meeting as a Quaker minister. From then he declined to do anything that he considered in conflict with his Quaker principles: one effect of this is that he rejected then idea of standing for election to Parliament. He had qualms about being so rich and whether he could reconcile his being a banker with his Quakerism. He used some of his wealth for charitable activity, and in later life had a particular concern over the poverty of unemployed people in Norwich.^[4]

In 1837-1840 Joseph John travelled in North America and the West Indies. His principles led him, before he embarked, to transfer a third of his share of his bank's profits to other partners who would be handling the running of the bank in his absence. In 1839 he published a work on the abolition of slavery, in which he was especially critical of bans on educating black people. The next year he published letters he had sent from the West Indies. He also interested himself in the prison reforms promoted by his sister Elizabeth (Gurney) Fry. In 1840-1841 he and Elizabeth Fry visited countries in mainland Europe, where they had discussions with leading figures on prison conditions and slavery.^[4]

As a Quaker, Joseph John sought to move British Quakerism towards a more evangelical, and traditional Christian, character. An 1824 publication, Observations on the Religious Peculiarities of Friends, displayed a degree of approval of the beliefs and practices of other Christian denominations.^[4] More writings on theology followed.^[5]

In America Joseph John is recorded as instigating at least one conversion to Quakerism which was recorded in terms akin to descriptions of evangelical conversions in other denominations.^[6] His 1837-1840 tour of America helped to promote a split between evangelical Quakers (Gurneyites) and those of a more mystical persuasion (Wilburites or Conservative Friends) in America in the 1840s, and there was criticism of him from some Quakers.^[4]

Marriages and Children

Joseph John married three times. On 10 September 1817 he married Jane Birkbeck at Wells Quaker Meeting House, Norfolk.^[7][8] They had two stillborn daughters and one son and one daughter,^[9] including:

• a stillborn daughter buried at Norwich Quaker burial ground on 11 July 1818^[10][11]
• John Henry, born at Earlham, Norfolk on 4 July 1819^[12][13]
• Anna, born at Earlham, Norfolk on 21 December 1820^[14][15]

John Joseph's first wife Jane died on 10 June 1822.^[16][17] On 18 July 1827, at Melksham Quaker Meeting House, Wiltshire, 1827 Joseph John married Mary Fowler, daughter of Robert Fowler, a deceased grocer of Melksham, and Rachel Barnard.^[18] They had no children.^[4] Mary died on 29 September 1835.^[19][20]

On 21 October 1841 Joseph John married Eliza Paul Kirkbride,^[5] daughter of Joseph Kirkbride deceased, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Mary Paul. There were again no children of the marriage.^[4] The marriage was registered in the Darlington district of County Durham in the 4th quarter of 1841.^[21]

Death

On 22 December 1846 Joseph John was thrown from his pony while riding home from Norwich. He seemed to have sustained no significant harm, but about a week later he became seriously ill from what must have been an internal injury. He died at Earlham Hall on 4 January 1847.^[4][22] He was buried at Norwich Quaker burial ground^[23] on 12 January.^[24] A lengthy obituary appeared in the 1847 edition of the Quaker publication the Annual Monitor.^[25]

Joseph John's third wife survived him, dying in 1881.^[4][26]

Joseph John's will was dated 14 March 1846 and proved on 17 February 1847. In it he:^[27]

• described himself as a banker of Earlham Hall, Norfolk
• named:
  • his wife Eliza Paul Gurney
  • his son John Henry Gurney
  • his daughter Anna Backhouse
  • his nephews Samuel Gurney and Henry Birkbeck
  • William Backhouse the younger of Darlington, County Durham, banker
  • Edward Backhouse of Sunderland, County Durham, gentleman

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia:Joseph John Gurney
2. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/981, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Monthly Meeting of Norwich: Births, FindMyPast
3. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWKC-KLT : 11 December 2014), Joseph Gurney, 02 Aug 1788, Birth; citing p. 79, Norwich, Norfolk, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10} Edward H Milligan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, pp. 217-218
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Edward H Milligan for Gurney, Joseph John', print and online 2004
6. ↑ Joseph John Gurney's Visit to Baltimore, Maryland: "US Quaker meeting Records, 1681-1935; Maryland, Baltimore; Baltimore Monthly/Eastern Western Homewood. Biographical about James Carey a Baltimore Quaker: '...But it was not till some years later, at the time of Joseph John Gurney's visit to Baltimore, that under his ministry he (James Carey, b. 20 Jan 1821) became seriously impressed and made an entire surrender of his heart to the Lord and fully accepted the doctrines and views of Friends, which were ever after so dear to him. This visit of Joseph John Gurney to Baltimore was greatly blessed both in the conversion and strengthening of member and attendants of the Baltimore Meeting." Online image and electronic transcription record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
7. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/544, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Quarterly Meeting of Norfolk: Marriages, FindMyPast
8. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWKS-527 : 11 December 2014), Jane Birkbeck, 10 Sep 1817, Marriage; citing p. 25, Lynn, Norfolk, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
9. ↑ Edward H Milligan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, 2007, pp. 217-218
10. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1050, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Quarterly Meeting of Norfolk: Burials, FindMyPast
11. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JHR1-XQF : 21 February 2023), Gurndy, 1818: mis-transcribes last name as Gurndy
12. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/561, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Monthly Meeting of Norwich: Births, FindMyPast
13. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQYC-JB7 : 11 December 2014), Jane Gurney in entry for John Henry Garney, 04 Jul 1819, Birth; citing p. 253, Norfolk, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
14. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1048, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Quarterly Meeting of Norfolk: Births, FindMyPast
15. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F77W-K48 : 11 December 2014), Jane Gurney in entry for Jane Gurney, 24 Dec 1820, Birth; citing p. 264, Norfolk, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London: mis-transcribes first name as Jane
16. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1050, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Quarterly Meeting of Norfolk: Burials, FindMyPast
17. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQLH-LMB : 11 December 2014), Jane Gurney, 14 Jun 1822, Burial; citing p. 51, Norwich, Norfolk, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
18. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/366, GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND WILTSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Wiltshire: Slaughterford: Marriages, FindMyPast
19. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/562, NORFOLK AND NORWICH: Monthly Meeting of Norwich: Burials, FindMyPast
20. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J83K-Z29 : 19 April 2023), Mary Gurney, 1835
21. ↑ England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005, FindMyPast
22. ↑ Stevens, Sylvia. “William Forster Senior and the Response of Norwich and Norfolk to Famine in Ireland, 1846-1849.” The Journal of the Friends Historical Society 65, no. 1, pg 42 (June 20, 2019). https://doi.org/10.14296/fhs.v65i1.4967. "... Joseph John Gurney ... who died in January 1847 as a consequence of a fall from his horse ..."
23. ↑ Image of gravestone on FindMyPast
24. ↑ England & Wales Non-Conformist Burials, FindMyPast
25. ↑ Quaker Deaths 1810-1918, FindMyPast and linked image of pages 50-66 of the 1847 edition of the Annual Monitor
26. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FFR-FWHX : 3 September 2022), Eliza Paul Gurney, 1 Apr 1882; citing Probate, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm
27. ↑ The National Archives, ref. PROB 11/2050/186, Discovery Centre catalogue entry

See also:

• Braithwaite, John Bevan. Memoirs of John Joseph Gurney, 2 Vols, Lippincott, Grammy & Co (Philadelphia), 1854: Vol. I, Internet Archive and Vol. II, Internet Archive
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 23, pp. 363-364, entry for 'GURNEY, JOSEPH JOHN (1788–1847)", Wikisource
• Wikipedia: Joseph John Gurney