BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



447 



Biles, William, never resided in De- 

 laware County. He arrived at Hur- 

 lington in the year 1G78, in a sbip from 

 London, in company with Jersey set- 

 tlers, and established his abode in what 

 is now Bucks County, but which at 

 that time was embraced in Uph\nd 

 County. Upon the establishment of 

 Penn's government, he was appointed 

 one of the Justices of Uphuid Court, 

 which odice he held till after the ar- 

 rival of Penn and the division of the 

 Province into three counties. He was 

 a man of ability and the strictest in- 

 tegrity — was frecjuently a member of 

 Council and of the Provincial Assem- 

 bly, but withal, was a preacher, and 

 an active and influential meml)er of 

 the Society of Friends. He was one 

 of the signers of the celebrated testi- 

 mony against George Keith. 



Blunston, John, one of the earliest 

 of the Quaker colonists of Darby, emi- 

 grated from Derbyshire, England, in 

 1682, and brought with him the follow- 

 ing certificate, which is introduced as 

 a specimen of those documents : 



" This is to certify to whom it may con- 

 cern that John Blunston of Little Hallam 

 in the County of Darby hath it in his 

 mind to trant^port himself into Pennt-yl- 

 vauia in America: that y"^ said John 

 Blunston hath walked orderly & so lar 

 lorth, as wee know is Cleare upon all ac- 

 counts. 



Att Breath house y" IS"" of y« 5'^ 

 month 16S2 by us whose names are 

 heare under written 

 John Roads William AVoolly 



Edmund Cartledge Richard Seaford 

 Thomas Whittle Adam Roades 



Joshua Fearne Samuel Fox 



Joseph Putter Michael Blunston 



Will. Bay- 

 John Blunston was married and had 

 two children by bis wife tJarah, at the 

 time of his arrival. As no mention is 

 made in his certificate that he was a 

 preacher, it may be inferred that he 

 had not appeared in the ministry till 

 after his arrival here, where his public 

 testimonies were frequent. The early 

 meetings of Darby were held at his 

 house, which stood near the mill-race, 

 and nearly in front of the present 

 Friends' meeting-house at Darby. 



Besides attending strictly to his re- 

 ligious duties, his lime was much occu- 

 pied in public eiui)loyments. He was 

 a member of the Provincial Assembly 



thirteen years, and several times held 

 the position of Speaker of that body. 

 He was also for a time a member of 

 Council ; was appointed by Wm. Penn 

 one of the Council of State, and was 

 one of the Justices of the Court. He 

 was a member of the Society of Free 

 Traders, and frequently acted as attor- 

 ney for persons residing in England 

 who held laud here. He took a firm 

 stand in opposition to George Keith, 

 and signed the testimony against him. 

 His wife Sarah died in lGt(2, and in 

 lG99he married Margaret, the widow 

 of Joseph Steadman, of Springfield. 

 His children by his first wife were Sa- 

 rah, Katharine, John and Joseph. The 

 last named dying young, he named an 

 only child by his second wife, Joseph, 

 who also died in early life. John 

 Blunston, Jr., married Anne, the daugh- 

 ter of James Hunt ; Katharine inter- 

 married with Adam Roads, and Sarah 

 with Josiah Fearne. John Blunston, 

 the elder, died in 1723. 



I Blunston, Michael, came from Lit- 

 i tie Hallam, " County of Darby," in 

 j 1682, and at first settled in the town of 

 Darby. In 1691 he was married at 

 1 Darby to Hannah, the daughter of Sa- 

 i muel Levis, of Springfield, when he 

 probably removed to what is now Up- 

 per Darby. His wife died in 1705, and 

 I in 1708 he was again married. His 

 ! second wife was Phebe Pecho, also of 

 Springfield. This lady was born in 

 ; England in 1666, and became quite 

 i eminent as a preacher among the Qua- 

 ; kers. Michael was also a devout mem- 

 i ber of that Society. He died in 1736, 

 ; and his wife in 1749, at the advanced 

 age of 83 years* It does not ajipear 

 that he bad children by either mar- 

 riage. He bequeathed £80 in trust, 

 " to be employed iu entertaining honest 

 Friends," and £50 "to school the chil- 

 dren of poor Friends of Darby Monthly 

 Meeting." 



BoNSALL, Richard, with his wife 

 Mary and familj-, came from Mould- 

 ridge, in Derbyshire, England, and set- 

 tled in Darby (now Ui)per Darby) in 

 1683. They had not been very long 

 married at the time of their arrival 

 here, as a number of their children 

 were born in this country. They were 

 both members of the Society of Frieuds. 

 j Richard died in 1699, and "bis wife one 



