Hi, perhaps I can help:
She was Mary Hunt (b 1633) daughter of Joseph Hunt of Great Tey (d 1670) and Mary Chapman. She first married (Jul 6 1654 St Barnabas, Great Tey) John Parke Esq of Kersey Priory who was the son of William Parke and Abigail Brady. William Parke was the son of William Parke of Gestingthorpe (1583-1634) and Hester Strutt (b 1596). I don't know when John Parke died but he and Mary had three children: Joseph b abt 1656 Kersey, Mary b abt 1658 Kersey and Abigail b abt 1661. Joseph and Mary died young - Joseph was definitely dead before 1684 as that was the date of the court case Abigail brought against her mother to recover the lands that her father had left to her in his will (Records of Earls Colne). Abigail married Henry Abbott of Earls Colne, Essex (b 1660 d 1710) on Nov 8 1683 in Kersey.
Peregrine Clarke (d 1680), son of Robert Clarke and Joan Unknown of Witham, Essex m1 Frances Athow dau of Thomas Athow esq of Beachamwell, Norfolk and Ann Wingfield. She was born May 6 1605 Beachamwell Hall, Norfolk and m1 William Waldegrave Esq of Smallbridge, Suffolk (d 1648) and had at least 6 children; she then married at date unknown Peregrine Clarke and died May 1664 Wormingford Lodge, Wormingford, Essex. She must have been at least 20 years older than him unless Peregrine and his sister Elizabeth were in fact from an earlier marriage of Robert Clarke's which is not impossible.
Her marriage to Peregrine Clarke (which may well have been a non-conformist one) is attested to by the Rev Philip Morant in his History of Essex - he had married Anne Stebbing the daughter of Solomon Stebbing and Anne Creffield. Solomon's mother was Hannah Hunt (b 1637) Mary Hunt's sister.
Peregrine Clarke then married Mary Parke (nee Hunt) in November of 1664 in the little church at Lindsey (this church was a free church affiliated to no denomination). They had four daughters: Frances (my ancestor) b 1665 Kersey, Elizabeth 1667 Kersey, Mary 1670 Kersey and Martha 1673 all of whom married into various gentry families - if anyone's interested I can list those as well.
I know from other records that:
By 1657 Peregrine had enough money to purchase a house in Witham for his mother, Joan (married again to Robert Garrad but was now a widow). In the will (also 1657) of John True of Witham, the husband of Peregrine's sister, Elizabeth, Peregrine is referred to as Mr Peregrine Clarke of Wormingford Lodge so I am beginning to think that he may have been married to Frances Waldegrave by then. In 1662 he is recorded as paying tax on 10 hearths and the records show that the Lodge was a huge house - pulled down by Thomas Waldegrave, Frances' son, after her death so I get the impression that he was not best pleased at having Peregrine as a step-father!!
In 1662 Peregrine is recorded as being 'granted a turn' to present a new vicar to the living of the Church of St Andrew, Wormingford.
In 1669 he is recorded in the Calendar of Treasury Books as beginning a petition to the King to be allowed to purchase a messuage in Wapping for his brother, Jonah - this was eventually granted in 1673.
Peregrine eventually died at the end of 1679 and his will was probated May 3 1680; where he is buried I don't know. His brother Robert also lived in Kersey and married a Mary Hussey. I haven't found any more details about his sister, Mary, but there are no records for Witham for the non-conformists. My latest find is the marriage of Elizabeth True's daughter, Elizabeth, to Edmund Raven of Cressing in September 1676 - so you never know, more may come to light yet!
Whatever anyone says about him, I think he may have loved Frances Waldegrave - after all he called his first daughter, Frances.
If I can help any more with other members of the family, just let me know.
