Joshua I'ANSON

GEDCOM Note

Hedley, of ancient Northumbrian origin. Joshua and
Beatrice removed from Wensleydale, long the home of the
I'Ansons, and settled at Blackwell, near Darlington, about
1749. He was engaged in the Hnen- weaving business, for
which Darhngton had become famous. The parents of
Beatrice had also removed to Darhngton a few years before.
Beatrice Ianson died 29 xii. 1770, and was buried in the
Friends' Burial Ground, Darhngton. Her husband died
25 iii. 1786.

Ten children were born to Joshua and Beatrice Ianson.
The migration southward noted in the previous generation
increased in this. Daughters of the family became Emson of
Poplar, Waddington of London, and Knight of Essex. The
eldest daughter, Ann, married William Kitching, of Dar-
lington. Joshua, the eldest surviving son, married Hannah
Moses, of Cockfield, Co. Durham'^ ; from one of his four
children descend the Jansons of Tottenham and Reigate.
This child, William, was not a Friend by birth, his mother
being a non-member, but he joined Friends shortly before he
went south in 1792. He was of Lloyd's shipping firm. He
married Mary Hill, of London, and resided at Bruce Grove,
Tottenham. His granddaughter, Ehzabeth, married James
Hack Tuke, the banker and philanthropist of York and
Hitchin, and another granddaughter, Sarah Jane, married
Cornelius Hanbury, Junr., of Stoke Newington.

James, the next son of Joshua and Beatrice Ianson,
trod a troublous course in connection with the Society
of Friends, and came into a wide notoriety in connection
with his appeals to the Yearly Meeting, the final court of
judgment in matters of dispute. The following precis of the
case is taken from official documents : —

James lanson, son of Joshua Ianson, of Darlington,
removed from Leeds (after residing there many years and having

207

The lanson Family

been married to a person not a Friend), to London, and desired
a certificate from Stockton M.M. ; but it was refused him on
the ground that he had forfeited his privilege of membership
and so could not be recommended to London. He appealed
to the Quarterly Meeting, but before his appeal was heard
his M.M. disowned him, in Twelfth Month, 1777, but did
not sign the " denial " till the next meeting. The appeal
was decided against appellant. Several Friends were appointed
to visit J. L in London, but they reported him not sufficiently
repentant. The appeal was carried on to the Yearly Meeting,
which decided that the M.M. acted rightly but too hastily
in disownment, and ordered the minutes of the M.M.
and Q.M. in this case to be expunged and the condition
of the appellant to be regarded as before any action was
taken.

" A paper of denial " against J. lanson was signed by
Stockton M.M., 8 ix. 1778. He again appealed to the Q.M.,
which upheld the M.M., and the matter came again before
the Y.M. (1779). The Y.M. once more decided that the
M.M. was to blame — this time for not consulting the M.M.
into which he had moved and hence the " denial " was set
aside and the M.M. in which the offence was committed
(viz., of marriage at Leeds contrary to Quaker order), and
that in which he lived in London, were recommended to
deal with the case. In 1779, Peel M.M. requested Stockton
M.M. to deal with him, but the latter refused on the strength
of the Y.M. decision. James lanson was reinstated in 1781
by Devonshire House M.M., and in consideration of his
reform and of his having married a Friend, Stockton M.M.,
on his return to Darlington, accepted his certificate and that
of his vwfe, Miriam.

In 1799, other trouble arose ; after his wife Miriam's
death in 1797, he became entangled in another matrimonial
offence and was disowned by Friends, 19 viii. 1800.

208

The lanson Family

James lanson's first wife was Judith Wade ; his second was
Miriam, widow of Robert Bell, of London, and daughter of
Henr^ and Hannah Umfreville, of London ; and his third
wife was Jane Brockill, of Richmond. Three children of
James — Sarah, WiUiam and Beatrice — ^were received into
membership by Stockton M.M. in 1791, as " offspring of
hiarriage contrary to rules," but a few years later all three
were disowned for " marrying out " !

John lanson, fifth son of Joshua and Beatrice Ianson,
left his home in the north in 1768, " in the station of a servant "
(perhaps, assistant), for London. In 1770, he married Elizabeth,
daughter of Henry Umfreville, and, later, Mary Clayton.
From his only surviving son, James (1777- 1827), come the
Umfreville Jansons.

The sixth son of Joshua and Beatrice Ianson was William,
born at Blackwell, near Darlington, 16 x. 1751. He was a
linen manufacturer, of Darlington, and active in the interests
of the Society of Friends, and was an Elder for some years.
He married Mary Kitching, in the Friends' Meeting House,
Darlington, 15 x. 1778. Henry Howson and Jonathan
Hedley were appointed by Stockton M.M. to see to the
orderly holding of the meeting on the occasion. William
Ianson's death, 31 x. 1822, is said to have been accelerated by
a fall down some steps.

William and Mary (Kitching) Ianson had six children,
of whom a son and daughter died in infancy. The eldest
son, John, followed his father's occupation. It is said that he
was the first private person in DarHngton to drive a pair of
horses and that he named one " Huckaback " and the other
" Diaper."

The two remaining sons, James and Joshua, married
sisters, daughters of John Dixon, of Cockfield. James married Sarah Dixon in 1808, and they had two children,
a son and a daughter. James lanson was in the same hne of
business as his father and elder brother. My great-uncle left
a written communication addressed to his children giving
some particulars of his early life and rehgious experience,
most of which narration has been transferred to the pages of
Piety Promoted. He wrote : —

As I grew up an inclination for drawing and reading drew me from my more
childish amusements. Entomology was, I think, my first pursuit, but botany
and ornithology held me longest engaged. The excess of ardour with which
I at times pursued these studies almost precluded the possibiHty of attending
seriously to anything else, and the most important of all pursuits, that whicli
affects our eternal well-being, was, alas ! often entirely neglected.

Of him the editor of Piety Promoted wrote : —

He was a man of an unassuming, retiring character, amiable in private life,
and of unspotted integrity. ... He was not of a strong constitution, and
for several years suffered much from poor health.

With his friend and relative by marriage, William Back-
house, he prepared a little volume of quotations from the
writings of Archbishop Fenelon, Lady Guion and de MoHnos,
which was titled A Guide to True Peace, or, a Method of
attaining to Inward and Spiritual Prayer, first printed
at Stockton in 181 3. It contains seventeen short chapters
under headings such as On Faith, On Prayer, On Spiritual
Dryness, On Defects and Infirmities, On Mortification, On
Conversion, On Virtue. The little book met with ready
acceptance and passed through twelve editions between 181 3
and 1878, printed at Stockton, York, London, Manchester,
Frome, Hobart in Tasmania, and at Stavanger in Danish.
James lanson died at Croft at the early age of thirty-seven.
He was, apparently, not a Minister, but for some years an
Elder. His widow survived him for a quarter of a century.

The lanson Family

James and Sarah lanson's son, Charles, was a well-known
and greatly respected inhabitant of Darlington, of which
town he was mayor in 1871. He was an Elder among Friends.
In 1834, " cousin Charles " married Gulielma Coventry, of
London. They had six children ; the one best known to
me was the youngest son, James, who was interested
in family history. He was a J. P. for Darlington, Governor
of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Director of the local
Technical College, and partner in the firm of Charles lanson
& Co., of the Whessoe Iron Foundry. He lived with his
unmarried sister, Sarah Jane, who survives him. Most of
the descendants of Charles and Gulielma lanson left the Society
of Friends.

Mary, the sole surviving daughter of William and
Mary Ianson, married William Cudworth, grocer and
druggist, of DarHngton, whose widow she remained for
over fifty years, and whose business she carried on for many
years.

William Cudworth was the eldest son of Abraham and
Mary (Fitton) Cudworth, of Painthorpe, near Wakefield,
and was born prior to the time when his parents became
Friends. See Some Account of the Family of Cudworth^
compiled by Joseph J. Green, 1898.

We now come to the youngest child of William and
Mary Ianson — my grandfather, Joshua Ianson. He was
born at Darlington, and was apprenticed to a farmer, William
Stickney, of Holderness, within Hull Monthly Meeting.
Prior to his marriage, 27 vii. 1810, with Ann Dixon, he returned
to the land of his nativity and established himself as a farmer
at Low Walworth, near Darlington, within Stockton Monthly
Meeting. The following is copied from the official Quaker
records of liberation for marriage. The Edward Pease men-
tioned was the " father of railways " and supporter of George

212

The lanson Family

Stephenson. Edward Robson was a descendant of the
Hedley clan.

Joshua Ianson, son of William and Mary Ianson, of Darlington, has laid
before us his intentions of marriage with Ann Dixon, daughter of John and
Elizabeth Dixon, of Cockfield, and having produced a few lines from the
young woman and her parents signifying their consent, and his father, being
present [his mother had died a few months previously], informs us that it has
his consent, we appoint Edward Pease and Edward Robson to pubhsh the same
in Darlington Meeting on a first-day, and also to enquire into his clearness, and
report to our next. The clerk is desired to give him a few Hnes certifying
his orderly proceeding with us [for him to present to the Monthly Meeting to
which his intended belonged].
Stockton M.M., 15 V. 1 8 10.

Edward Pease reports that enquiry has been made respecting the clearness
of Joshua Ianson from other marriage engagements, and the needful pubhcation
having been made in Darlington Meeting and nothing appearing to obstruct
the accomplishment of his intended marriage, this Meeting directs the clerk
to give him a certificate of his clearness, addressed to Staindrop M.M.
Stockton M.M., 19 vi. 1810.

The various moves and removes of my grandparents can
be traced in the birthplaces of their children, provided, of
course, that they were all born " at home." The first two
were born at Low Walworth and the next two at Lynesack,
near Cockfield, in the Dixon country, within Staindrop
Monthly Meeting, into which the parents removed in August,
181 3. The fifth child was born at Black Boy.

In 1824, the family moved northward into Newcastle
Monthly Meeting, and settled at Sunderland, where the
sixth child was born — my mother. In May, 1838, the last
change of residence took place — to Bishop Auckland.

I do not know exactly when Joshua Ianson exchanged
a farm for a colliery ; it was probably when or soon after he
left the neighbourhood of Darhngton. His interest in coal
mining was, I beHeve, disposed of to the Peases, who worked
the pits with greater success than did my grandfather.

Joshua Ianson was a member of the first committee in
charge of the Friends' Boarding School, at Great Ayton, in
Cleveland, and he attended the first General Meeting in 1842
as a representative from Darhngton Monthly Meeting. At
the Jubilee of the institution in 1891, his daughter, Ann, was
one of the four survivors of the first Hst of subscribers {History
of Great Ay tori School^ 1891, pp. 41, 86).

Joshua Ianson died comparatively young, 6 xi. 1842 ; his
widow, who was born a few days before her husband, lived on till
27 ii. 1856, with her two unmarried daughters, Sarah and
Ann.

The eldest child of Joshua and Ann (Dixon) Ianson,
Mary, died at Ackworth School in her fourteenth year. The
second child, Elizabeth, lived to be eighty-four. She married
John Dodshon,^ in 1838, and had a large family, born at
Stockton-on-Tees, one only now living — Mary Ann, the
second daughter. William, the third son, was for long a
prominent figure in the civic and religious life of Stockton.
Under him the wholesale grocery business developed con-
siderably. He was a bachelor and had the misfortune to lose
his right arm in middle life. John Dodshon, Junr., was the
eldest and his two unmarried sons are the only represen-
tatives of the family in the next generation. Of John, Junr.,
we read in l^he Annual Monitor for 1873 : —

It was his lot to mix much with men greatly absorbed in business, and he was
exceedingly jealous of being himself led away by an undue devotion to secular
engagements. ... He often spoke of his enjoyment of the Httle, quiet
gatherings of Friends in some country districts where he delighted to spend
his First-days when on business journeys.

He was a tea-merchant and lived at Leytonstone. My
father visited him there while attending the Yearly Meeting
in 1870.

215

The lanson Family

Sarah, the third daughter of Joshua and Ann Ianson,
married in 1870, William (Henry) Brewin, of Cirencester.
She was a recorded Minister and was a thorough Dixon in
mental make-up. While residing in the West of England
I was a frequent visitor at her home, Birchfield, Cirencester.
She presented me with silver teaspoons on my first marriage.
There is an account of William Brewin in ^he Annual Monitor
for 1883.

John Dixon lanson was the first son. He married twice,
his second wife being Jane Tace, a daughter of George
Dixon, of Newcastle. He had twelve children, of whom
Elizabeth Ann became Applegarth and Fanny became Warne.
Several of the sons are married and there are descendants.
They are not Quakers. Uncle John was a farmer living at
Hallowell. He had much of the Dixon about him.

The younger son was James. While he was engaged
in the construction of the Maryport and Carlisle railway my
mother kept house for him at the former place. He married
Mary Rutter, of Swansea, and settled in Darlington as a civil
engineer. He was a recorded Minister. His seven children
were the companions of our childhood, but all are now deceased
and there are but two of the next generation.

Ann lanson was the fourth daughter of Joshua and Ann
Ianson, a maiden lady living with her sister, Sarah, at Bishop
Auckland till the latter 's marriage,^ and then residing at
Darlington.

And then, lastly, came Maria, my mother, born 27 viii.
1828.

My mother was more of an lanson than a Dixon, being of
a retiring disposition, and illustrating " the lanson reserve."

It has been said that Maria Ianson met her future
husband at the house of her aunt, Mary (William) Backhouse,
in Darlington.^

» Some authorities state that James I'Anson, son of John, and not John
himself, was the " captain of the man-of-war " (see Burke's General Armory).

The surname P Anson is not to be confused with the Norwegian Jansen.
The pronunciation has always been as if spelt Ayanson and entries are met with in
parish registers spelt in this manner. /.• Anson is an earHer form of P Anson. I
have used the form P Anson for all before William and Margaret (Dent)
Ianson and lanson afterwards, except the branches which htc^moj anson in the
South of England.

• From this branch descended Frances I'Anson, born at Leyburn in 1766,

and married to Leonard McNally in 1787, the subject of the poem, said to have
been written by her husband, The Lass of Richmond Hill. Richmond was the
town of that name in Yorkshire, not that in Surrey. See P Anson History ;
Gentleman s Magazine, March, 1904.

3 The age at death of William Ianson has been calculated from the date
of his (supposed) birth. No independent testimony as to his age at death has
been found, which might corroborate the correctness of Mr. I'Anson's " link."

"» The following minute of Stockton Monthly Meeting, held at Darlington,
9 xii. 1777, doubtless refers to Joshua lanson, who married Hannah Moses : —

" Edward Pease acquaints this meeting that he and James Backhouse were
appointed by DarUngton Meeting to speak to Joshua lanson of the same place
for to enquire of him how he looks upon himself to stand as to membership in
Society with us he having many years since married by a Priest to a person of
another Society and served some years as a substitute in the Militia, and for
many years his conduct hath been very disorderly in frequenting Ale-houses
and drinking to excess, and for a considerable time absenting himself from
attending our religious Meetings for Worship ; they and Joseph Pease having
had a full opportunity with him in conversation, when he had nothing satis-
factory to offer in his vindication, but gave them liberty to acquaint this Meeting
that he did not look upon himself at present to have any claim as to religious
membership in our Society, but expressed a desire that his conduct in future
might be better, and that if ever it should be satisfactory to Friends, he doubted
not but that they would again restore him into unity.

" This minute is now made to stand as a record of our Disunity with him,
nevertheless that he may be enabled to be more circumspect in his conduct
in future and come to witness sincere repentance for his many transgressions,
is our earnest desire for him.

" Ordered that a copy of this Testimony be sent to Friends of Richmond
Monthly Meeting where his last place of Settlement was.

" Signed by Joseph Procter, Micah Shields, James Backhouse (clerk), and
Caleb Hedley, in and on behalf of the Meeting."

217

The lanson Family

This tale of woe has a bright ending, for Joshua's son, WilHam, made up for
the absence of a birthright hy becoming a Friend by convincement and proved
a vahaable Quaker in and around London, and left descendants who followed
in his footsteps.

5 " Uncle Dodshon " came of a Quaker family, but was not a birthright
member. He joined the Society in 1840, after having been refused admission
a few years before, and was recorded a Minister in 1845.

There is a notice of John Dodshon in The Annual Monitor for 1876. His
grandmother was a Dixon by birth, and his wife's mother was also a Dixon by
birth. There was also a distant lanson connection.

There have been several generations of John Dodshon, as the following will
show : —

John Dodshon, born 1670

(son of Christopher, of Newcastle M.M.)
John Dodshon, born 1700
John Dodshon, born 1 75 1
John Dodshon, born 1778
John Dodshon, born 181 1
John Dodshon, born 1838
John Dodshon, born 1868

^ When Ann heard of the engagement, she said to her sister : " Sarah, thou
might have told me." Sarah repHed : " Thou might have seen " (from an
account of the family written by my sister Annie).

7 When my father's sister, Elizabeth, heard of his engagement, she ex-
claimed : " How absurd, Harrie ! Thee knows nothing about her " (from an
account of the family written by my sister Annie).

William Ianson, ?i6o4-i659