Anthony Sharp (1643–1707) was a
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
and wool merchant.
Early life
Anthony Sharp, the son of Thomas Sharp, was born in
Tetbury
Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...
, Gloucestershire, England in January 1643.
Religion and business
In 1665, impressed by the ministry of
William Dewsbury
William Dewsbury (c. 1621–1688) was an English Quaker minister and religious writer in the early period of the movement. He was born in Allerthorpe, Yorkshire, around 1621. Little is known of his parents or education, except that his father die ...
at a meeting in Warwick prison, he joined the
Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, also known as the
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
. In the summer or early fall of 1669, due to persecution of his Quaker religious beliefs, he fled from
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
and moved to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and engaged in the woolen trade, in which he was highly successful. By 1680, he employed about 500 workers in the trade and in 1688, the weavers’
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
elected him master.
Anthony Sharp was active in the Dublin Quaker Community. In 1683, he and some other Friends of Dublin were thrown into prison because they continued to attend their religious meetings, contrary to the orders of government which prohibited the public meetings of religious dissenters.
Land rights
Anthony Sharp was one of the original shareholders of West
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1677. Subsequently, when
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
purchased land in East Jersey, Sharp also became an owner of property there as well. Not wishing to emigrate himself due to his successful woolen business, Sharp remained in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Anthony Sharp financed the Quaker colony established in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1681.
Among those appointed to found the colony was Anthony's nephew, Thomas Sharp, with whom he corresponded on both business and personal matters.
In his will, Anthony Sharp bequeathed to his eldest son,
Isaac Sharp Isaac Sharp (1681–1735) was an early New Jersey settler, politician, judge and Colonel of the militia.
Early life and family
Born January 13, 1681, in Dublin, Ireland, Isaac Sharp was the eldest surviving son of Quaker Anthony Sharp and Ann Cr ...
, his land in West
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and half of his lands in East
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, as well as his land in Queen's County, Ireland, including land in
Killinure
Killynure () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying on the south-east border of Carryduff.
The townland is approximately 770 acres (3.1 km²) in area, and still consists mostly of farmland, although since the 1990s, the housin ...
, which became the site of the Sharp Roundwood Estate.
Death and family
Anthony Sharp died on 13 January 1707, and was buried in the
ancient Friends' burying-ground adjacent to
St. Stephen's Green
St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Lo ...
in the city of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. He was survived by three sons,
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...
, Joseph and Daniel, and one daughter, Rachel Sharp. Anthony Sharp's father (born about 1603 in Tetbury, Gloucester, England) married Anthony's mother, Elizabeth Hookham on 27 Nov 1628 in Gloucester. Elizabeth Hookham was born about 1607 in Gloucester. They had 7 children William, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Anthony, Isaac, Anis, and Thomas.
Biography published
Stanford University Press published a biography of Anthony Sharp by Richard L. Greaves titled, ''Dublin's Merchant-Quaker: Anthony Sharp and the Community of Friends, 1643–1707.''
[Greaves, Richard L. (1998). ''Dublin's Merchant-Quaker: Anthony Sharp and the Community of Friends, 1643–1707.'' Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press]
Notes
Bibliography
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*Clement, John (1877). ''Sketches of the first emigrant settlers in Newton Township, Old Gloucester County, West New Jersey''. Camden: Sinnickson Chew
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* ''West Jersey Proprietors'' (1964). Burlington, New Jersey: Revell Press
External links
Roundwood House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Anthony
1707 deaths
1643 births
Businesspeople from County Dublin
Converts to Quakerism
Irish Quakers
17th-century Irish people
17th-century Quakers
18th-century Quakers