William Dillwyn (1743,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– 28 September 1824) was a British American-born

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 ...

of Welsh descent, active in the abolitionist movement in

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

and after 1774,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. He was one of the twelve committee members of the

Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and sometimes referred to as the Abolition Society or Anti-Slavery Society, was a British abolitionist group formed on ...

when it was formed in 1787. William was the son of John Dillwyn and Susanna Painter. He attended the Friends' English School of Philadelphia where he was taught by

Anthony Benezet Anthony Benezet, born Antoine Bénézet (January 31, 1713May 3, 1784), was a French-American abolitionist and educator who was active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the early American abolitionists, Benezet founded one of the world's firs ...

Family

William married Sarah Logan Smith on 19 May 1768, in Burlington County,

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 ...

. Together they had a daughter Susanna, born in New Jersey, on 31 March 1769. She married Samuel Emlen on April 16, 1795. William remarried on 27 November 1777, to Sarah Weston in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, then in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. Their children were: *

Lewis Weston Dillwyn Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS (21 August 1778 – 31 August 1855) was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Whig Member of Parliament (MP). Biography He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn (1743–1824) and ...

(1778–1855) * John Crook Dillwyn (1780–1781) * Judith Nickolls (Dillwyn) Bevan (1781–1868) * Ann Dillwyn (1783), married

Richard Dykes Alexander Richard Dykes Alexander (15 August 1788 – 1865) was a businessman and Philanthropy, philanthropist based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Family life He was the son of Dykes Alexander (junior), Dykes Alexander (1763–1849) and Hannah Brewster. His paren ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

* Lydia (Dillwyn) Sims (1785–1830) married John Sims –

William Dillwyn Sims William Dillwyn Sims (7 July 1825, Westminster – 7 March 1895) was an English industrialist and artist based in Ipswich. In 1851 he joined the company Ransomes and May, in which his uncle Charles May was a partner. Charles left in 1852 and the ...

was their son. * George Dillwyn (1787) * Sarah Musgrave Dillwyn (1790) * Gulielma Dillwyn (1792) Through his son

and his wife, Mary Adams of Penllergaer, Llangyfelach, he was the grandfather of noted photographer

John Dillwyn Llewelyn John Dillwyn Llewelyn FRS FRAS (12 January 1810 – 24 August 1882) was a Welsh botanist and pioneer photographer. Early life He was born in the parish of Llangyfelach, Swansea, Wales, the eldest son of Lewis Weston Dillwyn and Mary Dillwy ...

(1810–1882), MP for Swansea

Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn (19 May 1814 – 19 June 1892) was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician who served as MP for Swansea for 37 years. Early life Dillwyn was born in Swansea, Wales, the fourth of six children of Lewis Weston Dillwy ...

(1814-1892) and pioneering female photographer

Mary Dillwyn Mary Dillwyn (1816–1906) is considered to be the earliest female photographer in Wales, who took photographs of flowers, animals, family and friends in the 1840s and 1850s. She provided a raw insight to the domestic lives of women and childr ...

(1816-1906). His great granddaughter by his grandson John was the Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography

Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn (1834 – 21 February 1926) was a Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography. Biography The eldest of six children, Llewelyn was born to photographer and botanist John Dillwyn Llewelyn and Emma Thomasina T ...

, and his great granddaughters by his grandson Lewis were the novelist and industrialist

Amy Dillwyn Elizabeth Amy Dillwyn (16 May 1845 – 13 December 1935) was a Welsh novelist, businesswoman, and social benefactor. She was one of the first female industrialists in Britain. Born in Sketty, Swansea, Dillwyn was a member of a prominent family ...

and lepidopterist

Mary De la Beche Nicholl Mary De la Beche "Minnie" Nicholl FES ( née Dillwyn; 25 June 1839 - 30 October 1922) was a lepidopterist and mountaineer. Family Nicholl was born in Swansea in 1839. She was the daughter of Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn and Elizabeth (née De la B ...

Commemoration

Dillwyn Street,

is named after him. His son-in-law, Richard Dykes Alexander stipulated that some street names should commemorate leading abolitionists when he provided the land for the development of which this road was a part.

References

External links

Dillwyn and Emlen family correspondence, 1770–1818
at th
Library Company of Philadelphia

William Dillwyn diary, 1772–1773
a
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillwyn, William 1743 births 1824 deaths American abolitionists American Quakers Dillwyn family Quaker abolitionists