Zephaniah Kingsley Sr.

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Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. (April 11, 1734 – circa 1792) was an affluent British merchant, a loyalist during the American Revolution and one of the seven founders of the University of New Brunswick, Canada's oldest English language university. He was the father of slave trader and plantation owner Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the grandfather of Anna McNeill Whistler — better known as "Whistler's Mother" in the painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 by her son (and Kingsley's great-grandson) James McNeill Whistler.

United Empire Loyalist British Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies

United Empire Loyalists is an honorific which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor-General of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America during or after the American Revolution. The Loyalists were also referred to informally as the "King's Loyal Americans". At the time, the demonym Canadian or Canadien was used to refer to the indigenous First Nations groups and the French settlers inhabiting the Province of Quebec.

American Revolution Political upheaval, 1775–1783

The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from Great Britain, becoming the United States of America. They defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in alliance with France and others.

University of New Brunswick university

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North America. UNB was founded by a group of seven Loyalists who left the United States after the American Revolution.

Contents

Early years

Son of Elizabeth Wright and Benjamin Kingsley, Zephaniah was born in Leake (Lincolnshire, England) into a third-generation family of Quakers. As a young man, he moved to London to become a cloth merchant. There he met Isabella Johnston (possibly of Dumfries, Scotland), whom he married in 1763 at the Church of St Mary LeBow, in London. After a brief stay in London, the couple moved to Bristol, where Kingsley established a retail business. In 1768, Kingsley filed for bankruptcy, and the family moved back to London the following year.

Lincolnshire County of England

Lincolnshire is a county in eastern England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards (18 m), England's shortest county boundary. The county town is the city of Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters.

Quakers family of religious movements

Quakers are members of a historically Christian group of religious movements formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, Society of Friends or Friends Church. Members of the various Quaker movements are all generally united in a belief in the ability of each human being to experientially access "the light within", or "that of God in every one".

St Mary-le-Bow Church in City of London

St Mary-le-Bow is a historic church rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666 by Sir Christopher Wren in the City of London on the main east–west thoroughfare, Cheapside. According to tradition a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of Bow Bells.

Colonial America and the American Revolution

Kingsley emigrated with his wife and children to Charlestown (Province of South Carolina) in December 1770. Within three years, he had become a successful merchant of imported goods, owning several high-end properties and entering into multiple business partnerships.

Charleston, South Carolina City in the United States

Charleston is the oldest and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline and is located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had an estimated population of 134,875 in 2017. The estimated population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 761,155 residents in 2016, the third-largest in the state and the 78th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

Province of South Carolina UK possession in North America

The Province of South Carolina was originally part of the Province of Carolina in British America, which was chartered by eight Lords Proprietor in 1663. The province later became the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Kingsley remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Before the fighting started, Kingsley endured many hardships as a result of his loyalty to the Crown. During the 1774 disturbances opposing the Tea Act, Kingsley (along with other merchants) was forced by a violent mob to dump his tea consignment into the water. Mobs intimidated loyalists, going house to house, tarring and feathering some, and pressuring them to leave. Despite such harassment, Kingsley refused to sign the loyalty oath required by the patriots. [1]

American Revolutionary War 1775–1783 war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, which won independence as the United States of America

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

Tea Act 1773 act

Tea Act 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the financially struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea, smuggled into Britain's North American colonies. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliament's right of taxation. Smuggled tea was a large issue for Britain and the East India company, since approximately 86% of all the tea in America at the time was smuggled Dutch tea.

Patriot (American Revolution) American colonist who rejected British rule in the American Revolution

Patriots were those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rejected British rule during the American Revolution and declared the United States of America as an independent nation in July 1776. Their decision was based on the political philosophy of republicanism as expressed by spokesmen such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Paine. They were opposed by the Loyalists who supported continued British rule.

Between 1775 and 1779, when the Continentals were in control of Charleston, Kingsley was imprisoned three times for refusing to bear arms against the Crown. By 1780, the British had regained control of Charleston. Kingsley was appointed to a commission that helped promote loyalty to the British government.

Continental Army Colonial army during the American Revolutionary War

The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the ex-British colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the rule of Great Britain. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and volunteer troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war.

By 1782 the revolutionaries had regained Charleston and Kingsley's sizeable property (consisting of several townhouses and thousands of acres in the surrounding countryside) was confiscated. He was also banished from South Carolina by the Assembly. On December 14, 1782 Kingsley temporarily left for England in one of the last of the 300 British evacuation ships that left Charleston.

South Carolina State of the United States of America

South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.

South Carolina General Assembly

The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and the upper South Carolina Senate. Altogether, the General Assembly consists of 170 members. The legislature convenes at the State House in Columbia.

Canada

Back in Bristol, Kingsley obtained a new line of credit and in 1784 emigrated to Saint John in the newly created Colony of New Brunswick. There he sought, and obtained, land grants that the Crown gave to Loyalist refugees. [2] He became a prominent businessman in the colony, owning many stores and importing his merchandise from Europe in his own ships. [3] He also acquired townhouses in Saint John and Fredericton. By 1785, Kingsey was reunited with his family in New Brunswick.

Kingsley was very active in the social life of early New Brunswick. One of his ships (the True Briton) brought £500 in relief money from London that the London Quakers sent to assist needy Loyalist colonists. [1]

On December 18, 1785, Kingsley and six other notable citizens petitioned Governor Thomas Carleton to establish "an academy or school of liberal arts and sciences at Fredericton". This eventually became Canada's oldest English language university, the University of New Brunswick. [4]

To his Excellency Thomas Carleton Esquire Governor Captain General, and Commander in Chief, of the Province of New Brunswick, and the territories thereunto belonging, Vice Admiral Chancellor &c &c &c

Your memorialists whose names are hereunto subscribed, beg leave to represent, and state to your consideration the Necessity and expediency of an early attention to the Establishment in this Infant Province of an Academy, or School of liberal Arts and Sciences.

Your Excellency need not be reminded of the many Peculiarities attending the Settlement of this Country The Settlement of other Provinces has generally originated in the voluntary Exertions of a few enterprising Individuals, unincumbered, and prosecuting their Labor at their Leisure, and as they found it convenient, and most for their Advantage – Far different is the Situation in which the loyal Adventurers here find themselves – Many of them upon removing had Sons, whose Time of life, and former Hopes, call for an immediate attention to their Education – Many publick advantages, and many Conveniences would result to Individuals could this be affected within this Province, the Particulars of which it is unnecessary to ennumerate – Your Memorialists do therefore most earnestly request your Excellency will be pleased to grant a Charter for the establishing, and founding such an Academy ... [5]

Death

In 1791, the Kingsleys moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. probably died a year later. [1] His wife Isabella died in New York City on December 14, 1814, at age 77 and was buried at the Quakers' Houston Street Cemetery in Manhattan. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Schafer, Daniel (2013). Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the Atlantic World: Slave Trader, Plantation Owner, Emancipator. University Press of Florida. ISBN   0813044626
  2. ↑ Provincial Archives of New Brunswick's Index to New Brunswick Land Grants [1784–1997])
  3. ↑ Dubeau, Sharon. New Brunswick Loyalists : a bicentennial tribute. Agincourt, ON: Generation Press, 1983. p.84)
  4. ↑ "The Petition of 1785", pamphlet, prepared by Archives and Special Collections, Harriet Irving Library, 03-86. University of New Brunswick
  5. ↑ "The Founders' Petition of 1785"
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