From William Northall at 4 Nelson Street, Sandpits, Birmingham to Benjamin Longmore at the Coalbrookdale Ironworks near the Iron Bridge, Shropshire. He is sure that Longmore will pardon this liberty in writing to him when Northall states his reasons. Ever since he can remember, his father told him that their family was descended from the Knight family. ‘I have consequently long cherished the idea of writing to someone of them and in a plain, and unostentatious manner, to acquaint the hearer of this fact; in pursuance of this idea I write a few weeks ago to Thomas Andrew Knight of Downton Castle [The Knight family of Downton Castle in Herefordshire were originally from Shropshire and during the first half of the 18th century amassed a large fortune through the iron works of the district. Burke’s Landed Gentry (1853) ] stating the relationship. His answer through Mr Thomas Wright of Ludlow was that Mr Northall had not referred to documents to prove his relationship; but was pleased to allow that “Mr Northall appeared to be a sensible well-informed and respectable man.”
Knight does not therefore seem inimical to Northall’s claim of kinship. In order to verify his story, Northall must consult the Madeley parish register. He would be grateful if Longmore could check the register for the following information; Northall’s father was born in Madeley in April 1735, and Northall seems to recall that his mother’s name was Knight. If Longmore does not find this to be the case, Northall would be grateful if he could search the two or three generations prior to this.
[It would appear that Longmore handed this letter to Mary Tooth as the following annotation appears in her hand: ‘Baptisms. April 16 1735 Francis, son of William Northall & Elizabeth, his wife. Marriages. April 16 1734 William Northall and Elizabeth Knight of this parish.’]
Note
- Benjamin Longmore (1779-1826) was born at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. His parents were converted through the ministry of John Fletcher and joined the Methodist Society. Benjamin himself was converted in 1799 after hearing a sermon preached at Madeley by Dr Thomas Coke. At about the same time he began to attend the Sunday morning meetings led by the famous female evangelist Mary Fletcher, widow of John Fletcher. From 1804 he was employed as a commercial traveler by the Coalbrookdale Company and remained with them for the rest of his life. He married Miss Lacon, a trademan's daughter, in Oswestry in 1812. Benjamin was appointed a class leader in 1816 or 1817 He fell ill in November 1826 and was forced to cut short a business trip to Abergavenny and return home. He was diagnosed as having typhoid and died on December 10. His widow and two daughters subsequently moved back to her hometown of Oswestry. Source: Arminian Magazine 1828, 578-585 and Fletcher-Tooth collection.