SPILMAN, Elizabeth b. 1740 Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

[smudwhisk]

I know she must have been important as SPILMAN was preserved as a family name until 1922 and my Father from her marriage about, say 1760.

I get the impression from the above comment of "say 1760" that the OP hasn't found a marriage for Henry and Elizabeth and may, along with a number of others with Public Ancestry Trees have assumed that her maiden name was Spilman.  I'm happy to stand corrected but like others I cannot see a Henry Clarke marrying and Elizabeth Spilman (or for that matter Spelman) anywhere.

John Spilman Clarke's burial in 1835 states John Clarke husband of Martha and omits his middle name.  This is though his burial as he left a Will proven at Norwich Consistory Court under the name John Spilman Clarke.  Its viewable online and does list his wife as Martha.

I cannot see any burial for the Henry and Elizabeth Clark who baptised a John in 1765.  There are some other children baptised to them in the parish at that time, but there are a lot of other Clark(e)s in the parish too.  The lack of burials to me suggests they probably moved elsewhere and while its not impossible that John Spilman Clarke was their son, the fact that there is no middle name on the baptism suggests that that baptism may not necessarily be his.

According to his Will, John Spilman Clarke was a shipwright.  Its possible he moved to Lowestoft from elsewhere.

As others have said, the fact a surname used as a middle name down the years does not mean that the person whose name was used was wealthy and it may not have been the mother's maiden name, it could have come from another family member of earlier generation.  A lot of families used surnames to differentiate their families for a number of reasons, including if they had a common surname, and often these names were continued down many generations.  I just wonder whether people are trying to link to the wealthy Spelman family in Norfolk in spite of the fact Spilman is quite a common surname in Norfolk and Suffolk and they are unlikely to all be related to the family from Narborough.  The wealthy Spelman family died out on the main direct line in 1810 but the name was taken forward by a relative by marriage who changed his name to Spelman.

[Daisypetal]

Hi,

The Spilman CLARKE name might have existed before the birth of John Spilman CLARKE, I found this marriage,


King's Lynn, St Margaret with St Nicholas, Norfolk
26 Feb 1761
Married in this Chapel by licence

Henry Spelman CLERK
Parish of:  Narborough, Norfolk
Single man

Ann HARWICK
Of this Parish
Single woman

Witnesses:  Robt GOODWYN,  Amy GOODWYN

Henry signed his name Hen Spelman, so there is the possibility that his profession was a clerk but the other marriages don't show professions


Regards,
Daisy

[smudwhisk]

The husband of Ann Harwick was the Rev Henry Spelman, so a clerk, ie vicar, by profession.  He died in 1810 and was the last of the main direct Spelman line that goes back to the 1400s in Narborough.

[Daisypetal]

Thanks 

I had wondered.