Cosmopolitan Networks in Commerce and Society 1660–1914

Quaker Missionary and Commercial Activities
Conclusions
External circumstances, the setting up of internal structures, and
Quaker characteristics that developed during the early years brought
out the strengths in Quaker networks in the British Isles, otherwise,
the Cadburys might have remained humble shopkeepers, and the
Quaker movement might never have developed into the Religious
Society of Friends. On the other hand, their growing acceptance and
economic success heralded an age of ever more tightly knit Quaker
networks, yet ironically also a dramatic decline in membership figures.
The disownment of members who failed economically increas -
ed the network’s homogeneity and the number of successful Quaker
business ventures in proportion to overall membership figures. But
the more it was perfected by the exclusion of non-members (by way
of intermarriage, internal business partnerships, and specifically
Quaker institutions of education and training), relying on a small
number of ‘strong ties’, the weaker the network as a whole became.
On the Continent as in Britain, commercial and religious activities
were often conveniently combined, so that both Quaker business
people and missionaries profited from geographic mobility.
Moreover, most of the early factors usually held responsible for
Quaker business success and internal consolidation (except literacy,
for which no representative data is available) were also present in
Quaker communities on the Continent: the narrowing down of occupational
choice by exclusion from public office and ‘un-Quakerly’
occupations applied equally; the ‘spiritual standards’ of Dutch and
German Quaker converts do not seem to have differed from those in
Britain; they engaged in joint ventures with each other and lent each
other money; and European meetings were integrated into a transnational
network of internal support and control as soon as an effective
system of Monthly and Yearly Meetings had been established. The
latter remained in place for as long as missionaries were active on the
Continent, and only collapsed when the missionaries failed to come.
In a few places with large and relatively stable communities, such as
Amsterdam, elements of this system continued to exist even after the
first wave of Quaker missions had ceased. All this helped to nurture
business activities in some respects, but also regulated them in others.
However, since a decision not to join the Quakers by sympathizers
such as Furly or the disownment of members such as Hope did
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