Oh dear - I'm in a muddle. This is Ann's baptism record:

Record_ID: 174853
Entry_Number:
Year: 1783
Month: Feb
Day: 16
Parents_Surname: CLARK
Child_Forenames: Ann
Fathers_Forenames: William
Mothers_Forenames: Mary
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Charles Sandiford Assistant Minister
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: D[aughter] of
Notes: Blakeney Chapel
Register_Reference: P30 1 IN 1 Part 2
Page_Number: 452
Parish_Chapel: Awre
Soundex: C462

I had her parents as this couple (but have now found another possible couple):

Record_ID: 66859
Entry_Number: 119
Year: 1770
Month: Apr
Day: 28
Grooms_Surname: CLARK
Grooms_Forenames: William
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition: [not stated]
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence: of this Parish
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: STEPHENS
Brides_Forenames: Mary
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition: [not stated]
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: of this Parish
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns: 1770 Apr 1 8 & 15
Signature_or_Mark: Both mark
Witness_1: Betty Awre
Witness_2: Michael Webb [Parish Clerk]
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: Jno. Sargeaunt Vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P30 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 30
Parish_Chapel: Awre
Soundex_Groom: C462
Soundex_Bride: S315

This is the other couple:

Record_ID: 39817
Entry_Number:
Year: 1770
Month: Apr
Day: 26
Grooms_Surname: CLARK
Grooms_Forenames: William
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition: not stated
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence:
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: HOPKINS
Brides_Forenames: Mary
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition: not stated
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence:
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark:
Witness_1:
Witness_2:
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister:
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes: Any abbreviated forenames have been expanded to the full name
Register_Reference: P30 1 IN 1 Part 2
Page_Number: 336
Parish_Chapel: Awre
Soundex_Groom: C462
Soundex_Bride: H125

Does anyone know which ones are correct please?

My second problem is trying to find the correct William as there are two possibles in that area:

Record_ID: 222128
Entry_Number:
Year: 1742
Month: Jan
Day: 17
Parents_Surname: CLARK
Child_Forenames: William
Fathers_Forenames: Edward
Mothers_Forenames: Jane
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: [not stated]
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Tho[mas] Carpenter Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Son of
Notes: Old style date 1741/42
Register_Reference: P 354 IN 1/2
Page_Number: 78
Parish_Chapel: Westbury on Severn
Soundex: C462

Record_ID: 222341
Entry_Number:
Year: 1748
Month: Mar
Day: 27
Parents_Surname: CLARK
Child_Forenames: William
Fathers_Forenames: Edward
Mothers_Forenames: Elizabeth
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: [not stated]
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Tho[mas] Carpenter Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Son of
Notes: Any abbreviated forenames have been expanded to the full name
Register_Reference: P 354 IN 1/2
Page_Number: 84
Parish_Chapel: Westbury on Severn
Soundex: C462

Is anyone able to illuminate me please?

Hi Chris,

Very circumstantial, however, there may be a clue here somewhere. A William Clark was a witness to the 1772 M/c of James Lovel & Anna Jenkins. Mary Stephens's father Richard Stephens second wife was Mary Lovell, who he married at Awre 1756. Richard Stephens was also witness to another Jenkins marriage, Rebecca in 1782.

Good luck with finding William Clark.

Regards,

Glenn Robertson

Year: 1772
Month: Sep
Day: 21
Grooms_Surname: LOVEL
Grooms_Forenames: James
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition: Batchelor
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence: of this Parish
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: JENKINS
Brides_Forenames: Anna
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: of this Parish
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns: 1772 Jul 12 19 & 26
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: Betty Cupet
Witness_2: Mark of William Clarck[sic]
Other_Witnesses: Michael Webb [Parish Clerk]
Officiating_Minister: Jno. Sargeaunt Vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P30 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 36
Parish_Chapel: Awre

Hello Glenn

Thankyou for your reply. I think I get your drift! At the moment it looks as if my first choice was right doesn't it?

Kind Regards
Christine

Hi, Chris.

I realise that this posting is ancient history, but we are researching the same people. I don't know if you ever discovered this, but the "Hopkins" bride was a recording error on the minister's part. He never completed the entry, and completed the following entry, with the same dates, etc as "Stephens".

Did you ever confirm which set of parents belonged to "our" William Clark(e)?

I'm going to do a little more research, but I'd be more inclined to go with Edward and Elizabeth, as "Elizabeth" is William and Mary Stephens eldest daughter, with Ann as their second daughter, and no "Jane" . . .

Hi

No I didn't know about the transcription error! The marriages are dated 26th & 28th April so I naturally assumed they were separate events.

I haven't got any further back with William as it would only be guesswork (and knowing me I would pick the wrong one!)

If you do manage to get any further back I would love to hear about it, as William was my 4 x great grandfather.

I`ve just had a close look at this marriage entry using both the parish registers and the BTs. Firstly the marriage register 1754-1801 P30 IN 1/3 shows the Banns and marriage between William Clark & Mary Stephens on 26 April 1770. Marriages are also recorded in the general register 1538-1812 P30 IN 1/1 the entry in this register has been mistranscribed as Hopkins (and indeed if you look at the entry this is an easy mistake to make). Finally the Bishops Transcripts confirm that the brides surname is Stephens and that the marriage was on 26 April 1770.

If anyone would like to see the entries contact me direct;y and I will send you copies of the images.

Chris,

He is my 4x great grandfather as well . . .which I believe makes us sixth cousins . . . Or something like that. In my line Elizabeth repeats in all generations except my mothers, with "Jane" showing only once, as Richard Stephen Clarke's daughter Eliza Jane. I may have missed something in the threads. Is there some significance to Jenkins?

Thankyou Graham!

Hi Cuz!

My paternal line is the Morse's (Ann married George Morse) so I haven't really delved into the Clark side much.

I think I have found George & Ann's marriage in Bristol in 1807. The Witnesses were a Thomas Clark & an Elizabeth Clark which I believe to be Ann's siblings.

Sorry I'm not much help!

Chris

I have more on Anne's siblings . . . Hopefully I will be able to load that this afternoon.

And Graham, thanks very much for taking the time to confirm the registration error.

William CLARKE married Mary STEPHENS April 28 1770 at Awre (#66859). She is the daughter of Richard STEPHENS and Sarah (unknown at this time). They had two daughters, MARY, baptised 13 July 1746 at Blakeney Chapel, and Sarah, baptised 4 June 1749, also at Blakeney.

William and Mary had five children that I am sure of (,no Thomas confirmed yet); Willam in 1772 (#175167), Henry in 1775 (175067), Elizabeth in 1780 (174932), Ann in 1783 (174853) and Richard in 1785 (174792) all registered at Blakeney Chapel; part of Awre Parish.

There are deaths recorded for William in 1788 and Mary in 1809 but those aren't solid yet.

I am following through Ann's brother William but have been filling in siblings where I can.

To those listed above add THOMAS, July 20l 1777 (175058) and HARRIET, October 9 1788 (174664).

Their Dad was listed as W[illia]m and the filter skipped over them . . . So it looks likes its back to the drawing board for me. I definitely need more paper. And an eraser. . .

Okay, so I've been making all these charts . . .the plans for D-Day probably looked less complicated . . . but I have found a CLARKE/KEARE marriage. Thomas CLARKE married Maria KEARE on 27 May . . . 1688. It's a leap I can't make from William CLARKE or Richard STEPHENS at the moment, and I don't know if I can follow it forward, or backward for the link . . . but we can guess it's there somewhere between 1500 and the birth of James Riley BROWN in 1865 . . . Hope I'm not the only one amused by this!

I am trying to move back another generation or two on each of these lines, and haven't met with a great deal of success in the last few months.

Chris, why were you focusing on his father's name being Edward? I think I might be missing something in your earlier posts . . .

I have Mary's father, Richard STEPHENS, and her mother, Sarah UNKNOWN. They had three children, not two. An earlier daughter, another Mary died the year before this Mary was born. They have another daughter, Sarah in 1749 before Sarah dies and Richard marries Mary LOVELL, daughter of James LOVELL and Jane MADDOX.

Both names occur in the FOD for a couple of centuries before this couple marries, so you would think I would be able to make the leap back from them but I seem to be fairly well mired at this point.

I have sent for William Clarke's (b. 1772) will. That probably won't help us move back any further but it might help resolve the situation of his missing wife and other children in 1841 . . .

Hi Cuz

Please bear in mind that I hadn't been researching my family for very long when I came up with Edward!

As I couldn't find a baptism for William under Awre/Blakeney, I extended my search area to Westbury-on-Severn where there were a number of Clarkes (various spellings).

Here I found two Baptisms which could fit my William, and both father's were named Edward. So as you can see the link was (and still is) tenuous!

Kind Regards
Chris

Understood. I will start with a broader focus if you don't mind. I wish we had a clearer idea of precisely when he was born . . . I've been looking into whether he belonged (on the distaff side) to any of the families whose weddings he witnessed. There are also other parishes which are being used for "extraparochial" activities that can't be overlooked . . . I'm curious to see where this path will lead us.

I'm also going to look for father's whose forenames are the same as William's sons, as that might lead us in the right direction. It could still be one of the Edward's, but I haven't found enough to prove it is or isn't yet.

Thanks!