Early Welsh Friends started three meetings for worship in this area, Merion, Radnor, and the original Haverford Meeting on Eagle Road. Together they formed a single monthly meeting that was called Haverford from 1684 to 1698, then Radnor Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) (1).

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     Haverford Friends Meeting House on Buck Lane was the direct result of the Great Schism of 1827-1828 which began in Philadelphia, then New York, Baltimore, and elsewhere.  In 1827, Philadelphia Quakers could not agree on one doctrine. The liberal (Hicksite) Quakers located between Race and Cherry at 15th Street and the more conservative (Orthodox) Quakers on Arch Street each laid claim to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (2) (3). 

     The Hicksites, which were approximately two-thirds of the Quaker population aligned themselves with the recent and more liberal preachings of Elias Hicks (1748–1830) (2).  Elias was a traveling minister from Long Island, New York. He stressed the role of the "Inward Light," which he believed guided one's individual faith and conscience. He also rejected the notion of an outward Devil as the source of evil but rather emphasized that it was the human 'passions' or 'propensities.' The Hicks believed that basic urges, including all sexual passions, were not implanted by an external evil but were part of human nature as created by God (3). 

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    The remaining third later became known as Orthodox Friends and followed the lead of English Friend Joseph John Gurney, who embraced a more Protestant emphasis on Biblical authority and atonement (2). 

      On August 6th and 7th, 1827, it was declared that quarterly Meetings at Haverford, Merion, and the Valley (Ualey) would be held at the Radnor Meeting House (4). 

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     On September 13, 1827, approximately seventy members of the original body made their way to the Radnor Meetinghouse (1a) (1b). When they arrived, they found the gates were fastened and the Meeting House locked. When they confronted Enoch Richards, who had possession of the keys to the meeting house, he told them that he had buried them in the yard. The group gathered by the side of the road, asking for help for their continued preservation. However, they thought it best to move to Jacob and Jane Maule's nearby home, where they recounted what had happened to them (4, p. 44). Jacob was a Quaker with solid principles and very conservative views. He was also suspicious of any change or innovation in the Religious Society of Friends (5). 

        On October 11, 1827, members accepted Samuel Garrigues' and his wife Sarah's generous offer to hold the monthly preparative meetings on his property at “a house in Haverford” on their usual days. (4, p. 48). The Radnor Monthly Meeting of Friends held its first meeting at the house of Samuel Garrigues on November 10, 1827. It was also decided that further Meetings were to be held on the First and third days of the week until further directed (4).

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Location of the original meetings- October 28, 1827, to November 1834:

     According to the Haverford College Alumni Association, "the Friends' Meeting was then held in a frame dwelling, west of the Garrigues family residence, where on Monthly and Preparative Meeting days." Preparative meetings took place midweek and worship happened on First Day (Sunday), where the men were accompanied in the parlor and the women in the kitchen. The space was adequate to hold meetings for up to seventy members until Haverford School (now Haverford College) opened its doors on October 28, 1833. However, it quickly became apparent that the wooden house was too small to accommodate larger crowds, especially on First Days. Also, the students complained about having to walk from Founder's Hall through the fields to the tenant's house, no matter what the weather (1) (6, p.95) (7, p. 203). 

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     The Haverford School Association Board of Managers had become increasingly concerned about the overcrowding situation. So, they appointed committee members, Isreal W. Morris and Samuel Garrigues to solve the problem. Radnor Monthly Meeting expressed an interest in building a meeting house in the neighborhood, the board offered them an acre and $400 to pay for the construction of the meeting house as long as the house was solidly built, and the plan was approved by the Board. Neighbor, Samuel Garrigues opposed the idea because he wanted to sell four acres of his own land to the Haverford School Association with conditions that were rejected. The Monthly Meeting in Radnor, PA declined the offer made by the Board of Managers (6, pp.106, 107).

   On March 13, 1834, the two men tasked with finding a bigger place to hold the Meetings asked to be released from service, expressing they had spent considerable time on the matter without finding a better alternative. The men suggested the removal of partitions at their current meetinghouse to allow for additional seats until more suitable accommodation could be found. Samuel was willing to do so as long as the meeting would pay to have them restored at the expense of the meeting when the Friends found a new location. (4, p. 206). 

July 10, 1834 Minutes:

     At our last meeting, the committee reported they have secured a "permanent accommodation” for a new meeting house on Buck Lane that includes two acres of land. The Haverford School Association has offered it as a gift. The committee is ready to receive it on behalf of the meeting and have a deed drawn up in the names of the following trustees: Benjamin Maule, Inach W. Morris, David George, and Haydock Garrigues. The committee further instructed the trustees to pay for the erection of the Meetinghouse through members' subscriptions and others and had plans drawn up for the construction of the new building. (4, p. 211)
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     As per the above agreement, Samuel Garrigues sold two acres of his land near the southeast corner of Buck Lane and now Panmure Road to the Haverford School Association for $300, on July 26, 1834. The deed was later conveyed to the trustees of the Radnor Monthly Meeting. (8, p. 779)  (9, p. 4).