Quaker Sea Captain
Thomas Hutson (circa 1624-1697) was a Quaker sea captain who brought settlers to the William Penn Colonies in Colonial America. His "great" ship "Elizabeth, Ann, and Catherine" arrived in Philadelphia in 1682, nearly a month before the ship "Welcome", which carried William Penn. Penn granted Thomas at least 5000 acres of land in present-day Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1683, immediately adjacent to land of the Society of Traders company. At the time of his Penn land grant in 1683, Thomas indicated that he was from Sutton, Surrey, UK. During his lifetime, he travelled frequently to Barbados. He died in London, England in 1697, leaving several descendants connected to Barbados church and census records.
During the Anglo-Dutch War of 1672-1674, Captain Thomas Hutson refused to carry guns on his merchant ship as a matter of conscience. In 1677, his West Indies ship "Patience" was captured by local pirate leaders in Algiers (present-day Algeria). Captain Hutson told the local authorities that "he could not have a passport where he came from in England without swearing, and that his conscience would not admit of." The goods from the ship were confiscated by the local (Turkish Dey) authorities in Algiers, and Captain Hutson was left "with the painful prospect of facing the irate merchants, deceived of their profits, with the argument of his tender conscience."
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;