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Anthony was born about 1730 in Chester Township, Morris County in the British colony of West Jersey (later to become part of New Jersey). He was one of five children born to William Hollinshead and Hannah Rudderow. He was a great grandson of John and Grace Hollinshead, Quakers who emigrated to East Jersey from London, England, about 1680, seeking religious freedom. While his mother was a member of the Church of England, Anthony's father was unalterably the product of the two generations of Quakers that preceded him. Not surprisingly, Anthony and his wife, Elizabeth Conrow, raised their children in the Quaker fold.
New England colonists became bitter and then angry as Britain's treatment of them grew increasingly arrogant. The likelihood of armed rebellion grew ever stronger, dividing community and families. It became clear that a revolution was inevitable. The pacifist Quakers faced their own dilemma - whether to sit by, taking no part in revolution, or to abandon the religious convictions handed down by their grandparents and fight for their political destiny.
Anthony, unlike most of his relatives, elected to fight for what he believed was right.
As much as he might have agreed with the rebels' cause, he could not support
taking up arms against the King. Consequently, he left the Society of Friends and joined His Majesty's forces at New York in 1770. By now, he and Elizabeth were the parents of six children.
When the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in 1776, Anthony and his family were obliged to abandon their home and belongings to seek asylum within the Royal lines at New York. He was at this time a Lieutenant 'in the Third Battalion of a Brigade of New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalist) under Brigadier General Courtland Skinner. During the course of the war, Anthony's land, buildings, furniture, tools and stock were seized and sold. The family were allowed to retain their clothing, and provisions sufficient for three months. During this period, their last child was born.
Of Anthony's wartime adventures: "… he went out secretly amongst the Rebels at the risk of his life and recruited men for His Majesty's Service, after which he joined a Band of loyal Refugees and erected a Block House on the banks of the Hudson River, which they nobly defended against the attacks of the Rebel General Wayne who had five times their numbers, whom they defeated and retook the cattle the Rebel General was driving off, in which Engagement Mr. Hollingshead was, and was informed he behaved very gallantly."
He left the army in 1779. Although the war was effectively over in 1781, Anthony and his family remained in New York, prevented from returning to their homes by post war hostility. The peace treaty signed in 1783 extinguished any hope of their remaining in New England and they, along with thousands of other Loyalists, were evacuated by sea. After investing the hopes and the dreams, the sweat and the prayers, of four generations linked over a hundred years, Anthony and his family left New York in a refugee ship for Nova Scotia with little more than the clothes on their backs.
Anthony and his family arrived in the Annapolis Basin of Nova Scotia in the summer of 1783. They settled just south of the coastal town of Digby. In 1784, Anthony was granted three hundred acres of forest-covered land. A year or two later, he also had a dwelling on Water Street in Digby. Accounts of early Digby life refer to Hollingshead Bridge and Hollingshead Brook. Like the other Loyalist pioneers, Anthony and his family started with only the barest of essentials to open
up their new land. They fashioned their own clothing, furniture, soap, candles and tools. They helped each other build houses and barns.
The forests. originally a barrier, became a source of opportunity as the population required homes, furniture and ships. The early Hollingsheads became exceptional builders and carpenters', a tradition which has continued through generations of blacksmiths, wheelwrights, mechanics, engineers and scientists. Through 1794 and 1795, Anthony and Elizabeth, and most of their now-married children, left Nova Scotia for less crowded opportunities in the frontier area around Newmarket. When Anthony and Elizabeth arrived in Upper Canada, Anthony petitioned the Crown for land as was his due as a United Empire Loyalist. He was granted Lot 32 of Concession 1, 190 acres on the east side of Yonge Street, near the village of Thornhill and Lot 5 on Concession 4. He built a two room house on the Thornhill property and completed his settlement duties by 1801. He lived there until 1817 when he sold it to George Crookshank. In the meantime, Anthony's Digby property was transferred back to the Crown for lack of completion of settlement duties.
Newmarket was by now the centre of a thriving Quaker community. In November 1815, Anthony requested to be joined in membership with the "Friends". In January 1816, he was received once again into the Society of Friends.
It is believed Anthony died about 1818. The specific date and burial location are not known to the writer at this time.
The Family:
George (1760-1848) married to Sarah
Elizabeth (1762-1845) married to Peter McMullen
Sarah (cl764-1818) married to John Hill
Isaac (1766-1813) married to Mary Hill
William (1768-1819) married to Ann Hill
Achsah (1770-1862 ) married to Daniel Soules
Anthony (1780-unknown) married to Eleanor Crossley
The above Hollingshead information was gratefully received from:
Deon Smith :
The Hollingshead Rollins Family, a Heritage of Strength and Honor.
A. M. Stackhouse:
Some Genealogical Notes of the Hollinshead Family
Morley Thomas:
The Hollingsheads and Hills of Yonge Street
And the extensive research of Frank Johnson
We are indebted to each of these caretakers and the many others who have thoughtfully recorded and
preserved our heritage.
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