William Biddulph

William Biddle I of London, formerly of Staffordshire, was born about 1630 and emigrated to the Province of West Jersey in 1681. In early life he had joined the Society of Friends and had undergone persecution and imprisonment by reason of his connection with that Society. A few years prior to leaving England he had bought a large acreage of land in West Jersey under the conviction that persecuted Friends would there find a safe refuge. The first purchase by him is represented by a deed dated Jan. 23, 1676, which is believed to be the first conveyance that was executed by William Penn as trustee.

 The name Biddle was identical with Biddulph, the difference in the letters of

 the two words arising from a carelessness in spelling at that time, which

 Macaulay refers to as "characteristic of the age." The family had lived in

 Staffordshire for many generations and received their surname from the village

 of Biddulph in that county, "of which," says Dr. Thomas, "they have been lords

 since the Conquest." Colloquially the two final letters of Biddulph are not

 sounded, so that the word has always been pronounced as if it were written

 Biddle.

Shortly after William Biddle's arrival in the Province he fixed his residence

 on the bank of the Delaware river, at what is now called Kinkora, about midway

 between Burlington and Bordentown. Here he acquired 500 acres on the mainland

 and an adjacent island containing 278 acres, still known as Biddle's Island. By

 various purchases he at length became the owner of 42,916 2-3 acres of land, the

 deeds for which with a transcript of his land account are in the possession of

 his descendants. He was a personal friend of William, Penn, who was prominent

 in the religious body to which they both belonged as well as in the Provincial

 government. He died in the early part of 1712, leaving a last will and

 testament which is on file at Trenton, in the office of the Secretary of State.

Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/bios/zeamer/biddle-wm.txt

Other Source: In Book: Colonial And Revolutionary Families Of Pennsylvania By John W. Jordan Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=arAfWBsvO1gC&pg=PA161&lpg

His Great Grandson Owen Biddle was known as "The Fighting Quaker." Owen was a member of the Board of War in the Revolutionary War. William Biddle was mentioned in his biography:He was a great grandson of William Biddle, one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and for many years of the Governor's Council of that Colony. He was a brother of Col. Clement Biddle, Quartermaster General for Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, and afterward Commissary General under General Greene. He was engaged in commercial pursuits, and with his bother Clement signed the celebrated nonimportation resolutions of October 25, 1765.

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one of the SIGNERS OF THE “GRANTS AND CONCESSIONS”

Wiilliam Biddle | Descendants of Founders of New Jersey njfounders.org/node/94

William Biddle, the second son of an illiterate farmer in rural England, was sent to London as an apprentice to learn to be a shoe maker. He found himself in the midst of a group of people who were among the earliest Quakers in London. WILLIAM BIDDLE b. 1630 Birlingham Parish, Co. Wocester ... biddleetc.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I289&tree=BIDDLE-184551

"William Biddle of Bishoppsgate without London Cordwinder the seaventh Day of the Twelfth month in the yeare 1665 before an Assembly of the people of God called Quakers in the publicke meeting place in Westbury street in or neare Spittle Feilds tooke Sarah Kempe of Bishoppsgate street aforesaid widdow to be his wife and the said Sarah Kempe did then take the said William Biddle to be her husband each … Biddle family - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddle_family

The Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was descended from English immigrants William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), who arrived in the Province of New Jersey in 1681. Quakers, they had emigrated from England in part to escape religious persecution. William Biddle, II (1669-1743) - Find A Grave Memorial https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51441952

Son of William Biddle (1630-1712), the first of the Biddles to come to America, and the founder of the Biddle family. Married Lydia Wardell. They had seven children. Their oldest child, William Biddle III, and their youngest child, John Biddle, relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and started the Biddle …