6. William Beilby 1, 2 (Richard ) was born on 12 Mar 1706 in Of St. Margarets, Durham, Durham, England . He died in 1765.
Hubert Noel Beilby compiled the following notes in 1952
William Beilby 1706/1764
"Was probably the seventh child of his parents, and the first to be born in Scarborough, where he appears to have lived and worked as a jeweler and silversmith. He must have migrated to Durham about 1730, because in 1733 he married Mary Bainbridge, the daughter of an alderman of Durham, where their eldest son John was born in 1734. William and Mary had seven children, all born in Durham between 1734 and 1749."
NOTE: Williams mother was from Durham and he was christened in Durham The record I have seen has his Birth About 1708 (file 451077 Page 0040 Ref No 77318 Later Day Saints records) Mark Beilby 19-10-2001.
"Much of the information we have concerning William and his children is derived from the “Memoirs of Thomas Bewick” who was apprenticed to William’s fourth son Ralph in 1767. William was not very successful in business, and while his family were young had to struggle hard to make ends meet, and his wife helped to support the family by teaching in a school. In spite of his efforts he failed in business and left Durham to start in Gateshead. The eldest son Richard (1736/66) served his apprenticeship to a diesinker and seal engraver in Birmingham and on his return taught the art to his brother Ralph (1743/1817). The other brother, William (1740/1819) also went to Birmingham to learn enameling and painting on glass, which he later taught to his brother Thomas (1714/1826) and sister Mary. The sojourn of these two brothers in Birmingham marks the commencement of a connection with that city which lasted till about 1890. After the move to Gateshead the fortunes of the family seem to have taken a more prosperous turn, possible due to the energy and activity of the sons. Referring to their struggle Bewick says “But this state of things could not have lasted long, for the industry, ingenuity and united energies of the family must soon have enabled them to soar over every obstacle, and this most respectable and industrious family lived together and maintained themselves.
The elder daughter Elizabeth married Ralph Watson, and their third son Frederick became private secretary to the Prince Regent, and after the accession of George the Fourth, was knighted and became “master of William the fourth, and the early years of Queen Victoria.
Apart from Elizabeth, they seem to have been a peculiarly united family until the death of their mother Mary in 1778, all doing work of an artistic and somewhat similar nature, which may have helped to keep them together; after her death however the family appears to have broken up, and then, and not till them, the three surviving sons married, somewhat late in life.
Ralph was chiefly noted as an Heraldic engraver on silver and copper plate, and as a seal cutter; according to Bewick he “was one of the key ornamental silver engravers in the Kingdom”, and his work is still sought and recognized by antiquarians. In 1777 Ralph took Bewick into partnership; the senior partner looked after the engraving on metals, and the junior developed engraving on wood, and between them they built up a large and remunerative connection. Bewick states that Ralph had the manners and polish of a gentleman, and that his social qualities endeared him to a large and intelligent circle. He was one of the founders of the Newcastle Literary and philosophical Society; and died in 1817 at the age of 74. He married Ellen Hawthorne, but had no family. Buried at (?) churchyard (Newcastle? Later crossed out.
The writer has a seal of the Beilby coat of arms, cut in agate and mounted in gold, which was probably cut by either Ralph or his elder brother Richard.William (1740/1819) and his sister Mary became quite celebrated for their painting and enameling on glass and examples of their work, which was done between 1762 and 1778, are still to be seen in various collections. One of the finest pieces, a bowl, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. After the breakup of the family in 1778 William land his sister went to live in Fifeshire, where he married Elizabeth Turton in 1793 at the age of 53. They had three children John, William and Elizabeth regarding whom the writer has no information.
Writing of Mary, Bewick says “from the length of time I had known and noticed Miss Beilby, I had formed a strong attachment to her, but could not make this known to her or to anyone else. I could have married her before I was done with my apprenticeship without any fears on my part, but I felt for her, and pined and fretted at so many bars being in the way of our union. One of the greatest was the supposed contempt in which I was held by the rest of the family, who, I thought, treated me with great hauteur, though I had done everything in my power to oblige them. Before I was out of my time, Miss Beilby had a paralytic stroke, which very greatly altered her look, and rendered her for sometime unhappy.”
In the publication “English Glass” by W B Honey (Collins 1946) he says “Painting in enamel colours was not attempted in England until the 186h century. But soon after 1750 two sorts of enamel decoration were practiced with great success. The most original work was done by a family named Beilby, or Newcastle-on-Tyne, in particular by William and Mary, brother and sister of that Ralph Beilby, Heraldic engraver, to whom Thomas Bewick was apprenticed. The signed glasses bear no initial and it is difficult it distinguish the work of brother and sister. The enameling is exquisite in colour, a cool bluish white and a soft turquoise predominating.”Mary died in 1797 at the age of 48, and was buried at St Andrews."
Additional Information added by Mark Beilby October 2001
261648 A deposit paid for a house in Framwelgate by Wiliam and Mary on 24 January 1739.
William married Mary Bainbridge on 1 Sep 1733 in St. Margarets, Durham, Durham, England . Mary was born in 1712 in St. Margarets, Durham, Durham, England . She died in 1787.
They had the following children: