Family Lessons 142: Tim Cragg's Birth & Death

There is some confusion over my 9x great-grandfather, Timothy Cragg’s, date of birth. The Quaker registers record the 2nd of 'the 10th month' (December), 1657. In his own account of his life, Timothy says that he was born at Wyresdale on the 2nd of the 10th month, 1658. The baptism registers for St Mary's Church, Lancaster, have two entries, bizarrely:

Timothy Cragge - Son of Thomas Cragge 2 Dec 1657

    Abode: Wiersdaile

and

Timothey Cragg - Son of Tho. Cragg, 2 Dec 1658

    Abode: Wirsdale

Cragg died on 14, February, 1725; according to the Quaker registers for the Lancaster Monthly Meeting, at 'about 3 o'clock in ye morning.'

His year of birth cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt, yet for his death, the actual hour of the night was confidently recorded. Scripture speaks little of the recording of births and deaths, but it does remark in Ecclesiastes 7:1:

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

I cannot vouch for the man’s good name or reputation; only two witnesses recorded their assessment of this. John Kelsall in his diary described him as ‘a grave solid man’, while one Scofield said he was a ‘man of some attainments, much zeal and great self assurance’, which sounds like a backhanded compliment. Nevertheless, if he was truly converted, his departure at 3am was a more significant, more welcome and more joyous event than his arrival into that cold December of 1657 or 58.

Photo: Wyresdale Friends' Burial Ground wherein Grandpa Timothy lies buried.