William Crosthwait

Life

William Crosthwait was born in England and emigrated to Pennsylvania after marrying his first wife. She died young but he remarried in Philadelphia to Hannah Chew, Quaker daughter of Richard Chew, who was a widow at that point. Hannah gave him one child who died young before dying herself. He then remarried to a Susanna Metcalf, probably in Philadelphia, although the marriage record is now lost. She died in Virginia before 1735, after giving William three more children. William Crosthwaite was active there purchasing land as early as 1732, in Spotsylvania County. Web trees sometimes attribute his later children to "Hannah or Susannah Chew", and while this may be partly true, it's also true that Hannah Chew wasn't called Susanna, and she died at the end of 1728 in Philadelphia, so clearly another wife was involved and Hannah was not the mother of any of his surviving children.

What is now partially conjecture is that after Hannah died, William married a fourth and final time to Esther Haines, first born daughter of John Haines of Chester County, Pennsylvania, a fellow Quaker. Very probably this daughter accompanied her relation Joshua Haines to Virginia and thus was available for marriage. There are no marriage records that support this, but the story makes more sense because a daughter may have been born of this union, Susanna Crosthwait, who later married John Joseph Humphreys, a Virginian who also came from eastern Pennsylvania. This daughter left Haines DNA in all of her descendants that is otherwise very hard to account for.

The alternative is that Susanna Metcalf lived beyond William's death in 1743, and remarried to John Joseph Humphreys herself as Widow Crosthwait. But this possibility is excluded by the birthdates of Mr. Humphrey's children, which would require Susanna to be in her 60's for some of the later children, and John Joseph's wife reportedly died in 1821, which would make Susanna Metcalf live 115 years.

History

@ Bud Crosthwait, @Chad Crosthwait, @Michelle Crosthwait, @ Peggy Crosthwait,

© Copyright David Cragg 1998

Keswick, Cumbria (Cumbeland) England
Home of Crosthwaite Parish Church from the Register, Cumberland

The Parish of Crosthwaite is in the northern region of the Lake District, and is one of the more beautiful parishes of the area. Its principal town is Keswick, in which Crosthwaite Parish Church has existed for hundreds of years on the northern outskirts of the town. The name Crosthwaite comes from 'crosfeld'. This derives from a legend that recalls Saint Kentigern placing a cross in a field and preaching to the local people, around 553 AD. Yet others argue that the church itself was established in the 12th century, sparked off by a renewed interest in Saint Kentigern that was taking place at the time. The 'thwaite' in Crosthwaite is actually of Scandinavian origin, and suggests that Vikings also had a hand in establishing the area and maybe its church. Keswick is understood to mean 'Cheese Farm', and is Anglic in origin.1

Keswick the town is nowadays very much a tourist town dripping with history and surrounded by majestic natural landscape. On the south-eastern edge of the town is Derwent Water, one the most picturesque lakes in Britain. It runs three miles south, a mile wide, and is host to a few islands that have interesting stories to tell. Beatrix Potter's tale of Squirrel Nutkin is based here, where Nutkin journeys across the lake on a raft in search of nuts. Dominating the town on three sides are the fells Derwent, Castlerigg, and Lonscale. Often these are snow capped above their slate grey sides, with brown-green lower slopes that line the valleys. The fells themselves have interesting geographical features that have names like High Crags, Walla Crags, Black Crag and Cat Bells. It is not difficult to see where inspiration for the Cragg name came from as Cragg and Crag have the same meaning. The most prominent peaks as far as Keswick is concerned are Latrigg and Skiddaw north of Keswick, which loom over the tiny town, leading some commentators to suggest that they add an air of oppression.2 The remaining area is well farmed with a patchwork quilt of paddocks separated by meandering dry-stone walls. Herdwick and Swaledale sheep are the most popular stock. The Swaledale's curious black face peers out at you from underneath a substantial thick white fleece, if you happen to disturb its peaceful grazing. Thomas Sanderson was obviously touched by the rural scenes around Keswick when he penned this poem in 1820:

Where Keswick’s cliffs o’er hang the dale, Responsive to the Shepherd’s tale, Oft ‘midst its wild romantic grots, I hear thy long-protracted notes. O may no clarions rude invade It’s peaceful vale, its sylvan shade; But, with the rural choir around, May thy soft symphonies be found; And when I hear the Shepherd’s song, The bleating flocks that range along, The breeze that, though the silent grove, Bears the soft sigh that steals from love; The Woodman’s oft-repeated stroke, The stream that falls from the hanging rock, The dashing of the neighb’ring mill, When all around is dark and still; The sweeping oars that gently break The slumbers of the peaceful lake, The music of the vocal lawn, The Hunter’s horn at Morning’s-dawn O! When I hear their chorus swell, Sweet Echo! give it to thy shell.

The market square is naturally the focal point of activity in Keswick, with its distinctive Moot Hall in the centre, which now houses the Tourist Information Centre. On Market Day covered stalls are set up in the square and eager sellers draw attention to their goods, with their thick Cumbrian accents bellowing out. This keeps a tradition stretching back to 1276. Some of the more interesting merchandise on sale is the haggis, and Cumberland sausage, which is about a foot long and cooked in a spiral.

If one were to stand in the Market Square and wind the clock back to around 1770 Britain and the world stage would be very different from that of today. George III was in his 11th year of reign, while Lord North was Prime Minister of Britain. Captain James Cook claimed Eastern Australia for Britain in April this same year after he sailed into Botany Bay on the Endeavour. In America the seeds of revolution were being sown as colonists continually clashed with the British authorities. The most notable confrontation that year was the Boston Massacre where five colonists were killed by British troops. In 1775 the American Revolution commenced, eventually resulting in Britain losing control of one of its most prized colonies. In 1770 Keswick's then cobblestoned market square and main street would only have had only a few buildings that are recognisable today. The Moot Hall would be there, but was to be rebuilt in 1812. Main Street was essentially the only street the town really had. It was lined with 'timber-framed houses, with an enclosure behind for a garden, or an orchard or other domestic use.'3 Beyond these enclosures were open fields. The houses and their yards must have been crowded places as the population in 1787 is recorded as being around 1000. It has been reasoned that the narrow entrances to the yards were for defensive purposes as the Scots frequently crossed the border on raids from 1138 onwards. With turnpike roads firmly established throughout the country by 1770 the invasions were now of a different kind. It was becoming fashionable to travel to Keswick, and many notable romantics, writers and commentators made observations, which they subsequently published as tours of enlightenment for their fellow gentry. One such person was Thomas Gray who visited the area in 1769 and wrote down his romantic observations in his journal 'Tour of the Lakes'. This was later widely read and a source of increased tourism in the area.

'In the evening I walked down to the lake... after sunset, and saw the solemn colouring of the night draw on, the last gleam of sunshine fading away on the hilltops, the deep serene of the waters, and long shadows of the mountains.'

Some notable people consequently stayed in the area such as the poet Coleridge who made his home in Keswick in 1800, living in Greta Hall, and the poet Robert Southey in 1803.4

Looking again to the Market Square the weekly markets flourished during this time with trading of the fruit of local industry and agriculture. On sale were salmon, eel, perch, trout, mutton, woollen goods, linen and blankets.5 A cotton mill had been in operation in the town only a short while on the banks of the Greta, which runs parallel to the main street and empties into the River Derwent. The Industrial Revolution while only thirty years old in 1770 had already made its presence felt in the Lake District, which will be further evidenced when Cockermouth is discussed later on.

Walking north-east along the Market square about 50 metres one would have seen on the right the Parish's 'Poor House', or 'Workhouse'. It was here that Betty Cragg resided when she had her son Isaac christened on September 16th, 1770. It is not known why they were in the Poor House at this time, as the records available do not show them receiving any handouts of money. Thus we cannot know for sure how long they actually lived in the Poor House. This building was built in 1645 with £200 Sir John Bankes' had bequeathed to raise “a stock of Wool, Flax, Hemp, Thread, Iron and other necessary wear and stuff to set the poor on work who were born in the Parish of Crosthwaite”. Every succeeding year £30 from this fund was contributed to what was termed in 1811 as the "manufacture of course [sic] cottons in the town" and was deemed by an observer as being quite a successful endeavour.6 The Workhouse held children (who were unable to be kept by their parents), orphans, widows, the ageing poor, and destitute paupers. "Profits from the sale of cloth and linen made by the inmates were to be directed to helping the lame and the blind and the incapacitated, and to organising apprenticeships."7 The Poor House in Keswick actually became more comfortable for the needy than its infamous cousins in the larger towns and cities. So much so it was called the 'Great House', and found itself playing host to up to eighty inmates, among them whole families. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 changed this, and made eligibility for entry to the Workhouse more stringent. George Crabbe's description of the typical Poor House in 'The Village'8 written in 1783 adequately describes the conditions that the inmates endured:-

'Theirs is yon House that holds the Parish-Poor, Whose walls of Mud scarce bear the broken door; There, where the putrid vapours, flagging play, And the dull wheel hums doleful through the day;- There Children dwell who know no Parents' care; Parents, who know no Children's love, dwell there! Heart-broken Matrons on the joyless bed, Forsaken Wives and Mothers never wed; Dejected Widows with unheeded tears, And crippled Age with more than childhood fears; The Lame, the Blind, and, far the happiest they! The moping Idiot and Madman gay. Here too the Sick their final doom receive, Here brought, amid the scenes of grief, to grieve, Where the loud groans from some sad chamber flow, Mixt with the clamours of the crowd below; Here sorrowing, they each kindred sorrow scan, And the cold charities of man to man: Whose Laws indeed for ruin'd Age provide, And strong compulsion plucks the scrap from pride; But still that scrap is bought with many a sigh, And pride embitters what it can't deny.'

The Crosthwaite Parish Poor House no longer stands today, as it was torn down and replaced by another building in 1891, which is Keswick's current Post Office. The only reminder of the Poor house is a plaque on the southern wall of the Post Office that reads:-

“This building stands on the site of the "Workhouse" founded by Sir John Bankes who was born in this town in 1589, became Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and died in Oxford in 1644, his love for his native place and his wise and generous sympathy for the poor and needy, are shewn by the endowment which happily still endures, and is known as ‘Sir John Bankes' Charity’.”