How an English king's indebtedness led to the birth of Bristol Borough

William Penn’s daddy was so wealthy he could have purchased 10 Downton Abbies had he been so inclined. Or maybe just three. Anyway, King Charles II in London turned to the legendary Royal Navy admiral for a loan of 16,000 British pound sterling (equivalent to more than 2 million pounds today). Charlie 2 needed the cash to resupply his navy. Daddy Penn anted up all he needed in exchange for an IOU. That document is why Bristol, Bucks and all of Pennsylvania exist today.

It went something like this:

Admiral Penn neglected to collect on what was owed him before his death in 1670. The executor of his estate — his son, William Jr. — discovered the IOU and approached the king. "Oh, that," shrugged the monarch. Willie insisted His Lordship ante up. It was the proper English thing to do.

Penn the Younger at age 36 suggested a payoff the king might agree to: Give Willie a swath of unexplored wilderness in North America where he could establish an independent Quaker civilization. That would square the books. Charlie 2 liked the idea since it would rid the British Isles of pesky Willie and his flock of dissident Quaker zealots. For William, it fulfilled his dream to create a new nation founded on religious freedom, ethnic tolerance and a fair judicial system where peer juries handed down verdicts.

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The deal was struck in 1681 with a charter for a new British colony to be named for the beloved admiral. “No, no, no,” replied Willie. “How ‘bout New Wales?” The king wasn’t thrilled. “OK then, how does Sylvania sound?” replied Willie. “After all, the wilderness is all trees.” Again the King demurred, offering an alternative. “Let’s call it PENNsylvania — to honor your old man.” Young Penn was disappointed. Settlers will think the colony was named for him in contradiction to Quaker principles of humility. Charlie 2 insisted. So Pennsylvania it was.

The king set out certain rules in case young Penn thought of establishing some sort of Quaker hippie colony. There would be a system of colonial government modeled after Connecticut and New Jersey. The “Proprietor” (the king’s word for William) would “divide the country into Townes, Hundreds and Counties, and to erect and incorporate Townes into Boroughs, and Boroughs into Cities, and to make and constitute faires and markets therein, with all other convenient privileges and munities.”

I had to look up “Hundreds” and “munities.” The latter means unique rights accorded to citizens by the local government. “Hundreds” represent the division of a shire (county in Pennsylvania) into defined acreage administered by the county.

When William debarked at Dock Street in Philadelphia in 1682, he got to work designating towns and boroughs. In Bucks, an unincorporated river port had sprouted around a ferry boat landing about 7 miles down river from the proprietor’s Pennsbury Manor being built in Falls. Settlers called the settlement Buckingham in a roughly defined township of New Bristol.

Market days were every Thursday. Semi-annual, two-day fairs involved sale of livestock and general merchandise amid the “merriment and hilarity” of live entertainment including horse racing and gambling. Spiraling crime and unruly crowds became grave concerns but nothing could be done under the king’s charter. It was only after the provincial assembly authorized Buckingham to establish a ruling council in 1696 that ordinances were passed to ensure public safety.

Meanwhile, municipal boundaries and streets were formalized. Residents elected two burgesses (town administrators), a poundkeeper to control pets and a high constable to keep the peace. In addition, a treasurer, a roadmaster and an overseer of the poor took office. In 1715, residents applied for incorporation. It took another five years before the governor of Pennsylvania, on Nov. 14, 1720, granted the petition to create the Borough of Bristol, “formerly called Buckingham.”

Bristol experienced steady growth as the gateway to interior Bucks for imported merchandise and exported farm products. From its earliest days, it was a shipbuilding center lasting nearly 200 years to the mid-1800s. Its greatest shipyard off Mill Street near Wood was a two-story brick building with a long peaked roof and a 30-foot-high smoke stack built in 1740. There, owner William Davis crafted beautiful schooners and sloops celebrated for their speed under sail. His schooner “Morning Glory” held speed records on the Delaware.

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The Jones Ship Yard on the river near where St. Mark’s Elementary is located built ocean-going schooners for many years. These were 100-foot-long, two-masted vessels including the George Washington in 1840, Adele Felicia in1852 and Buchanan in 1856. By then, Bristol had emerged from a wilderness outpost in 1681 with a roadhouse (today’s King George II Inn) and a river wharf to become the prosperous seat of government for Bucks County for 100 years and third oldest borough in Pennsylvania — an idea hatched from a royal IOU in London.

Sources include “Place Names in Bucks County Pennsylvania” by George MacReynolds published in 1942; “William Penn: A Life” by Andrew Murphy published in 2019 by Oxford University Press, and “William Penn,” a biography of the state’s founder published by Pennsbury Manor and available on its website, www.pennsburymanor.org. Thanks also to Douglas Miller, the manor’s director of education, for his help.

Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bristol Borough birthed out of English king's indebtedness