I've learnt a new word

I’m currently reading Ann Gander’s ‘Top Hats and Servant’s Tails’ which tells the story of those who lived both above and below stairs at Somerleyton Hall, near Lowestoft. The Crossley family bought the Somerleyton estate in 1861, and over time became one of Britain’s most influential families.

But what really made me think, was to read that Phyllis Crossley (1890-1982), married Captain Evelyn Barclay, and lived with him at Colney Hall just outside Norwich. The Barclays were a Quaker banking family and I realised that just down the road from Colney Hall, is Earlham Hall which is where the Gurney family lived, who were also Quaker bankers.

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In 1896 Gurney’s Bank and Barclay’s Bank merged with a number of other provincial banks, including Alexander’s Bank at Needham Market, to form the Barclays Bank we know today. But these families were not just connected commercially. Samuel Alexander had married a Gurney, and Evelyn Barclay, who married Phillis Crossley was a grandson of Richenda Gurney.

Which brings me to endogamy, which is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group. Early Quaker always married other Quakers, and many religious groups today tend to marry people also born into the same faith. Evelyn Barclay’s decision to ‘marry out’ may not have met with the wholehearted approval of his family.

Because they were not allowed to go to university, early Quakers took up trades. Cadbury’s chocolate, Clark’s shoes, Ransome’s ploughs and of course Barclay’s Bank, all have deep Quaker roots. In the case of these Quaker families, endogamy made it easier to build successful businesses, quite literally, keeping it in the family.

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