Edward Shippen 1639 - 1712

Baptized at St Oswalds Church 0n the 5th March, 1639 -  Edward Shippen was the sixth child of William and Mary Shippen (Nunnes).  His father William Shippen formerly of Hillam and Monk Fryston was overseer of the poor and overseer of the highways and was described as a prosperous yeoman.  It doesn’t take much imagination to work out who was breaking the stones and filling ruts in the tracks.
Edward emigrated in 1668 to Boston at the end of the reign of the Stuart kings where he was to become a wealthy merchant and influential landowner.  He joined the Society of Friends in 1671, possibly converted by his then first wife Elizabeth Lybrand and was persecuted later on account of his choice of faith.  What is intriguing is how did he hear about and apply to emigrate.   Did he have any association with Quakers near Methley - there were none recorded in the village, however it is recorded that a house in Oulton nearby was actively being used for meetings by Quakers.   Where did he set sail from, was it Plymouth?  Bristol? and how was it funded?   The Raleigh ships sailed from Plymouth to settlements in Virginia and the Carolinas and were funded by the export of tobacco.   Why was he chastised for his religion in New England which had originally been founded by the Pilgrim Fathers(Puritans) in 1620, who themselves had left a country simmering with religious intolerance.  It would seem there were great differences between the Quakers and the survivors of the Puritans of Boston.
In 1694 he moved his family and business to Philadelphia where he held property and the following year was elected to the Provincial Assembly and was chosen as Speaker.   In the charter of 1701 granted by William Penn he was named as Mayor and retained that position for two years (clearly a man of influence).   He was involved in the Assembly in various offices until his death in 1712.
He has been described as a man of courage, energy, integrity, intelligence and sagacity - he certainly impressed William Penn the Quaker Governor with his abilities despite his continuing use of the powdered wig!
Known in his time as the biggest man and owner of the biggest house and biggest coach in Philadelphia.  His ‘Great House’ was surrounded by large gardens with an extensive variety of shrubs and flowers.
He married three times : at Boston in 1671 to Elizabeth Lybrand (8 children); in 1689, to Rebecca (Howard) Richardson (1 child); and in Philadelphia in 1706, to Esther (Wilcox) James 2 children).

His Grandson, Edward purchased the land on which is now the township and college of Shippensburg.  This man also went on to serve as Mayor and Justice of Philadelphia.
His great-grandson, Edward Shippen was to become Chief Justice of Pennsylvania after studying law in England. This Edward was a moderate loyalist during the War of Independance and despite a low level of internment his stated neutrality enabled the family to maintain a prominent social life during the period of the revolution.   His Grand-daughter Margaret (Peggy) was to wed General Benedict Arnold who held the keys to West Point. After being passed over for promotion General Arnold plotted to betray the position to the British. When this act of treason was foiled, he joined and later fought with the British army.
I am indebted to Deborah Towey of Glenside PA who provided me with a considerable amount of information from sources in the USA and who is continuing with local research June2001.

Rogue or what? Certainly a character -  from 1348 to 1375 William, or would he be Billy to his friends figured about a dozen times in the Court Baron although not always as the villain.   Before him, his parents Adam and Christina also faced the court on numerous occasions - mostly for brewing and selling ale against the assize, either too weak or in small measures.
William Prann was first recorded in the Manor Rolls in 1360 for wrongfully witholding a quantity of lead. (this would have been transported from the Yorkshire Dales probably by pack animals). Did he hijack it, or steal it, and what was it used for, would it be arrowheads, roofing or drainage?   Two years later he was chosen by the tenants for the office of Reeve (rentcollector) for which he took an oath.   During those years he was often brought before the court for the non repair of ditches (others, including the Rectors faced the court re. drainage, I assume both surface water and foul drainage)
In 1368 he was assessed for holding a swarm of bees belonging to the Lord of the Manor. possibly one of the de Methley Lords.  It would seem that he spent more time in front of the court than was expected of the Reeve that in 1369 he asked the Lord to excuse him from the Office -  which was agreed.
In 1374 he was fined for taking 2 cartloads of wood from enclosed land on Methley myers (Mires) and in 1375 he was fined for not cleaning his ditches at Oldrodegappe (possibly Royds at the western edge of the village?)
Fortunately we can abstract some information from the rolls about William Prann, pity that there is no other source of information, Im sure he would have been a larger than life character in this village in Dicks days (literally).

David Dunderdale 1771  - 1824

Founder of the Castleford Pottery, items of which are zealously collected and extremely expensive. Their basic products were described as ‘Queens’ or ‘cream coloured ware’ and later ‘Parica’ with double twisted handles, open work baskets, dishes, stands and plates.  Their Black and Egyptian ware (basalt) manufactured for use at funeral services were of a superior quality and design - all much sought after.   Included in their product list were the ‘relief modelle’ distinctive types of stoneware known to collectors as :- ‘D.D. and Co., Castleford.’ ‘ D.D.and Co., Castleford Pottery’ and ‘Castleford Pottery.’

Dunderdale lived at the highly visible Dunsford House, Methley (see Gallery Places) near to Methley Bridge (Calder).  He was a churchwarden and overseer of the poor there, he was also First Lieutenant of the Pontefract Volunteers in 1798/99 - a man quite clearly involved in the community of this village.   He is buried in St John’s churchyard Leeds, his premature end possibly affected by damage to his export business and trade and finally his business as a result of losses experienced in the Peninsula War.

His pottery was successful and items were much sought after, creating wealth and regular employment in Castleford and Ferrybridge.  Mr Pulleine of Methley was one of two collectors of Dunderdale pottery but nothing is known of their whereabouts now.  Eleven items of another collection can be viewed in the Yorkshire museum at York.                 Pic. Glazed porcelain with moulded decoration outlined in blue enamel, painted landscape in chocolate enamel. Castleford; early 19th cent. height 5 in.

Timothy Bright Rector 1591 to 1615
Priest for 24 years, although the village wouldn’t have been very sure of that, because he wasn’t there very often, he was described by the later Rector, Dr Lucius Smith as a ‘very negligent pastor to his flock’.  In addition to his position at Methley he was accepted as Parson of the parish of Barwick-in-Elmet in 1594 where he took up residence. Timothy Bright’s negligence had been noted earlier when the new Lord of the Manor, Mr Savile had a spat with him over certain tithes. He had been hauled before his Bishop and the Archbishop of York on numerous occasions mostly on matters regarding neglect of the parish and the rites of the church.  It was claimed that since his inception the catechism was not being taught according to church requirements, he seldom attended morning prayers or evening prayers on Saturday.  He was not always available for baptism and marriages, even the dead were being buried by laymen contrary to the usage of the church.

Timothy Bright would have been among the first of churchmen to be ordained in accordance with the new form of faith after the reformation.   However this was not the reason for the dereliction of his duties.  It would seem that the blessed incumbent had other things on his mind.  Before taking holy orders he had studied and worked in medicine and it would appear that negligence to his parochial duties was the result of his continued interest in medical matters    He, it seemed preferred blood letting and and administering potions rather than administering the word.  Evidence some of the journals and books to which he claimed authorship :- A Treatise on Melancholia, an early shrink? Therapeutica on Restoring Health He enjoyed the protection of Queen Elizabeth with her letters patent authorising him to the teaching and production of learned books.
His most well known work and publication was a book entitled An Arte of Short, Swifte and Secrete Writing by Character   Yes, he was the inventor of an early form of shorthand and published the first book on the subject. Isaac Pitman eat your heart out!
Its not difficult to deduce that rates of pay at the infirmary did not compare with benefaction from the two parishes, its my opinion that the much derided Timothy was applying his talents to the betterment of man in a different and subsidised way.