Hertfordshire Genealogy: SKIDMORE,Rickmansworth, 17th Century

SKIDMORE, Rickmansworth, 17th Century - Quakers?

February 2001

This page has been archived - no further updates - see Mothballed Pages

PLEASE NOTE: When this question was asked the amount of information available online was very restricted and the only census available (on a CD) was the 1881 census. The answer given below should be carefully checked using the additional information now readily available online.

Robin Rushton (RRushton @t acf.dhhs.gov) of Washington DC. USA said: I am related to the Skidmore family that lived in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in 1575. Henry Skidmore was born before May 20, 1575 and died before March 16, 1649. He married Susan ? They had four children, Henry, Katherine, Ann and Abraham. Abraham was born after 1600 in Rickmansworth and died and buried there in 1689 He married Joan Dancer on February 27, 1637 who died before 1659. One of their children, Henry Skidmore was born about 1650 in Rickmansworth and died in 1695 in Cedar Creek Hundred, which was in Sussex County, Delaware, USA. I am trying to determine when he immigrated and if he was a Quaker, since Sussex County DE was owned by William Penn. Any information would be appreciated.

When someone left an area the normal surviving records are unlikely to do more than record he was gone and will almost certainly not record where they have gone - and possibly not even that - their name simply disappearing from the records. The Manor Court records for Rickmansworth for 1630-1655 are available on microfilm from the LDS (see familysearch library catalogue) and while this may be rather early for Henry Skidmore junior it may well contain a mention of the family. (I don't know if later copies of the Manor Court records survive but it would be worth your while checking.)

The best place to start checking for information on whether Henry Skidmore junior was a Quaker would be in the USA records - as if he was one and moved for religious freedom reasons he would probably have remained one when he arrived there. However there are two books that I know of that might help you. My Ancestors were Quakers is a good general introduction to Quaker records while Where God had a People is the history of the St Albans, Herts, meeting and contain information of the early Quakers in Hertfordshire. The LDS also have a microfilm of the births, marriages and burials register of the Quaker Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire monthly meeting - but only from 1700. However it may show whether members of the Skidmore family remaining in the area were Quakers.

It may also be relevant that Rickmansworth, Herts, is not far from the Jordans, the Quaker Meeting House near Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, where William Penn was buried - so you may find something relevant in Buckinghamshire.