Quote Originally Posted by grisel View Post
Quakerism only began in the 1650s so although it is possible that Thomas was born a quaker it is likely that he did not. As you probably know quakers kept good records, not just of births , marriages and deaths but also lists of members and minute books etc. It may be worth looking at such records of Southwark quakers to see if you can find out more about Thomas. Either Friends House or the Quaker family history society could probably point you in the right direction.
Looking at indexes of quaker bmds concerning a Zephaniah Smith most seem to be in Yorkshire and not early enough to be your Zephaniah. There is one marriage of a Zephaniah in 1719, father also Zephaniah which could be worth checking if only to rule him out as a poss brother to Thomas.
Thank you. Of course I don't know where 'my' Zephaniah came from - he could easily have been born in Yorkshire. I will revisit the Yorkshire QBMDs.
Louise