The story below comes from "THE TINDALLS OF SCARBOROUGH" page 60.
It was the pirates who eventually caused the expulsion of William and Robert from he Society of Friends. In 1828 the Tindall barque, 'Morning Star,' was taken by pirates, the Captain and some of the crew and passengers being killed. The rest were shockingly maltreated and the ship was scuttled. It was saved by the women passengers escaping after the pirates had left and liberating the men, who were fastened down below to drown. The water was pumped out, the holes were stopped and the ship brought home. A warship later took the pirate vessel and the Captain and the crew of it were duly hanged.
On hearing this occurrence William and Robert Tindall insisted on their ships being properly armed with guns, in spite of the opposition of their mother, Isabella, from whom apparently some of the worse facts of the tragedy had been withheld. Robert Tindall was clerk of the Friends' Meeting at Scarborough. He and William were arraigned before this meeting. The accuser asked them why they armed their ships, knowing that this was contrary to the rules of the Society and would involve their expulsion. William merely replied,
"Friend, why dost thou keep that fierce dog of thine in the back yard?"
William and Robert in fact "stuck to their guns" and they were formally disowned by the Society. Robert, however, continued to attend the Friends' Meetings and when he died he was buried in the Friends' burial ground at Scarborough.
- The Tindalls of Scarbough,1927. Christian Tindall, Scarborough history room, Scarborough Library.
