Ulster Presbyterians and the Scots Irish Diaspora, 1750 1764
Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500 1800 General Editors: Professor Crawford Gribben, Queen s University Belfast, UK Dr Scott Spurlock, University of Glasgow, UK Editorial Board: Professor John Coffey (Leicester University) Professor Jeff Jue (Westminster Theological Seminary) Professor Susan Hardman Moore (University of Edinburgh) Professor John Morrill (University of Cambridge) Professor David Mullan (Cape Breton University) Professor Richard Muller (Calvin Theological Seminary) Professor Jane Ohlmeyer (Trinity College Dublin) Professor Margo Todd (University of Pennsylvania) Professor Arthur Williamson (University of California, Sacramento) Building upon the recent recovery of interest in religion in the early modern trans-atlantic world, this series offers fresh, lively and inter-disciplinary perspectives on the broad view of its subject. Books in the series will work strategically and systematically to address major but under-studied or overly si mplified themes in the religious and cultural history of the early modern trans-atlantic. Forthcoming titles: Benjamin Bankhurst ULSTER PRESBYTERIANS AND THE SCOTS IRISH DIASPORA, 1750 1764 Crawford Gribben and Scott Spurlock (editors) PURITANISM IN THE TRANS-ATLANTIC WORLD 1600 1800 Mark Sweetnam MISSION AND EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MODERN PUBLIC SPHERE
Ulster Presbyterians and the Scots Irish Diaspora, 1750 1764 Benjamin Bankhurst Fellow King s College London and Research Assistant at Queen Mary, University of London
Benjamin Bankhurst 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-32819-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-46039-7 ISBN 978-1-137-32820-5 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137328205 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
For Arthur and Lois Bankhurst
This page intentionally left blank
Contents Figures Appendices Acknowledgements Abbreviations ix x xi xiii Introduction: John Moore s Crossing, 1760 1 1 Atlantic Migration and North America in the Irish Presbyterian Imagination 10 Ulster Presbyterian migration to America in the eighteenth century 13 Ulster migration at mid-century and America in the Presbyterian imagination 19 2 The Press, Associational Culture and Popular Imperialism in Ulster, 1750 64 31 The press and Ulster Presbyterian imperial consciousness 32 The Belfast News-Letter and the provincial press in the north in the mid-eighteenth century 36 Absorbing war news in eighteenth-century Ireland 42 American geography in Irish newspaper supplements 43 Associational culture and America: the ritual of toasting and imperial awareness in Ulster, 1755 63 53 3 He Never Wants for Suitable Instruments: The Seven Years War as a War of Religion 59 Imperial defeat, fasting and national commiseration, 1754 8 61 Imperial victory, thanksgiving and national celebration, 1759 63 69 4 Sorrowful Spectators: Ulster Presbyterian Opinion and American Frontier Atrocity 77 American Indian violence and colonial victimization in the Belfast News-Letter 80 American atrocity and the historical memory of Irish Protestants 91 vii
viii Contents The culture of sensibility, Irish empathy and American Indian violence 106 5 An Infant Sister Church, in Great Distress, Amidst a Great Wilderness : American Presbyterian Fundraising in Ireland, 1752 63 110 American collections in Ireland before the war: Gilbert Tennent and the College of New Jersey, 1754 6 112 American collections after the war: Charles Beatty and the Corporation for the Relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian ministers, 1760 2 116 Irish Presbyterian charity in the eighteenth century: the culture of collection 124 The Ulster economy and American fundraising 127 Postscript: John Moore s Return and Reflections on America, 1763 135 Appendices 139 Notes 144 Bibliography 177 Index 195
Figures Cover image: A Plan of the Town and Harbour of Louisbourg in the Island of Cape Breton, Faulkner s Dublin Journal (17 June 1758). Image Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 1.1 His Excellency Arthur Dobbs, Esq., engraved by James McArdell after a work by William Hoare (London, 1755[?]). Image courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 22 4.1 American Indian Violence in Irish Newspapers, 1754 64. 82 ix
Appendices 1 Shipping advertisements and accounts of American Indian violence published in the Belfast News-Letter (14 August 1764). Image courtesy of the Linen Hall Library, Belfast. 139 2 A PLAN of the Town and Harbour of LOUISBOURG in the Island of Cape Breton, Faulkner s Dublin Journal (17 June 1758). Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 140 3 A PLAN of QUEBEC the Capital of Canada, or New France, in America, Faulkner s Dublin Journal (30 October 1759). Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 141 4 ACCURATE and CORRECT MAP of NORTH AMERICA, the Seat of the present Actions against the French, Faulkner s Dublin Journal (26 August 1755). Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 142 5 The Order of Battle [Braddock s Field], Faulkner s Dublin Journal (2 September 1755). Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 143 6 A PLAN of the Battle fought September 7, between the English Army under General Johnson, and the French under General Dishkau, Faulkner s Dublin Journal (2 December 1755). Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. 143 x
Acknowledgements My research has led me to archives in three countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and I have been aided by numerous knowledgeable and helpful people along the way. I would like to thank the staff of the many archives that I have visited over the course of my research, including the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, the National Archives at Kew and Queen s University, Belfast. I would like to thank the archivists and staff of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Archives and the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Jennifer Dickson at the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland for her help and patience with me as I scoured the stacks of church session books in the Strong Room. Funding for this dissertation was made possible by an Overseas Research Student Award from the Vice Chancellors and Principles of the Universities of the United Kingdom. I received further financial support for research in Ireland and Scotland in the forms of a Royal Historical Society Research Support Grant, a King s College London School of Humanities Research Grant and British Association for Irish Studies, Postgraduate Research Bursary. My first year at King s was partially funded by a grant from the Clan MacBean Foundation. My time as an E. Rhodes and Leona Carpenter dissertation fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies in Philadelphia was particularly formative, inspiring and productive. Many people influenced the direction of this project and supported me both during my research and in the often-difficult process of writing. Crawford Gribben and Scott Spurlock have been supportive, energetic and generous series editors. The editors of the manuscript Holly Tyler, Jenny McCall and Peter Andrews and the staff at Palgrave Macmillan have been wonderful throughout. Holly, Jenny and Peter have made the daunting task of publishing my first monograph an enjoyable and engaging process. I have learned much from conversations and correspondence with Patrick Griffin, Peter Silver, Daniel K. Richter, Michael Brown, Eoin Magennis, Patrick Walsh, Tim Hitchcock, Andrew Holmes, Martyn Powell and Padhraig Higgins. Melvin Yazawa and Anne Goldgar have always been available at a moment s notice to offer advice and support when it was needed. Of course, this book would not have been xi
xii Acknowledgements possible without Ian McBride who oversaw the completion of the PhD thesis upon which it is based. Ian has been a generous and attentive friend and supervisor. His thoughtful insights and unwavering encouragement have sustained this project from the beginning. I am indebted to my friends and colleagues for all of the help that they have given me over the last seven years. Ian Barrett, Jeffrey Bibbee, Macdara Dwyer, Bronwen Everill, Pieter François, Ultán Gillen, Benjamin Heller, Rachel Johnson, Gillian Kennedy, Emily Manktelow, Philip Mead, Tim Reinke-Williams, Kyle Roberts, Jonathan Saha, Carolanne Selway and Allison Stagg have all inspired and supported me along the way. Maurice and Karen Bowe have welcomed me into their family and have made England a home away from home. In particular, I would like to thank my wife Catherine for all of her help and encouragement. She has tolerated my clutter strewn over four tiny flats and has been a patient listener and editor throughout. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the love and support of my parents, Lois and Arthur Bankhurst. This book is dedicated to them.