John Sharples, Deputy Governor of the Isle of Man

James Earl of Derby, Lord Strange ordered John Sharples, his kinsman, to defend the Isle of Man from any attack by Cromwell, thereby including John in the "Wars of the Three Kingdoms". John was therefore a Royalist but did not live to see the Restoration of Charles II to the throne (1660)

The growth of the Quaker faith burgeoned during the later stages of these Wars. John Sharples was not a Quaker but his supposed son (or relative) Samuel was.

Note: Confirmation is needed linking Samuel (a Quaker soldier of the Isle of Man) to his supposed father, John, soldier and for a brief time the Dep. Gov. of the Isle of Man.

Any appreciation of the challenges faced by this man and his Royalist family should include a study of The Battle of Preston in 1648. The fortunes of the Sharples family, that lived in nearby Freckleton, must have fallen precipitously. The death of the family's protector, James Earl of Derby, Lord Strange, may have left them even more exposed to the wrath of Cromwell.

With the temporary fall of the monarchy occasioned by the end of the English Civil War and the death of James Stanley in 1651 the feudal grip on the people of the Isle of Man started to recede. James Stanley had been the feudal Lord of the Isle of Man ("Lord of Man"), where he was (widely) known as "Yn Stanlagh Mooar" ("the Great Stanley"). Others on the island may have harbored other sentiments.

How fitting is it that Samuel, a child of Dep. Gov. John Stanley's, then chose the Quaker faith as an alternate course life?