Clarkes of Crosses Green, Cork City

[chrisos]

Hi
I have an Ensign William Aldworth Clarke (WAC) who fought at Waterloo in 1815, ultimately loosing an arm to canon shot.  I also have confirmation that he was from Cork City.  Further records indicate that he was made a Freeman of the City of Cork for gallantry at Waterloo (undated).  He died at Stirling, Scot in 1827. 

I do not know who his parents were but suspect he was connected to the Clarkes of Crosses Green, a military family, with one distinguished son being Major General Sir William Clarke (eldest son of William Clarke (merchant) and Anne Fogarty).  It is possible that Sir William (born 1762) was my William's uncle.  I have researched this family back to the 1600's but unfortunately do not have access to some of the parish records I require to confirm or deny my theory.

Would anyone who has access to Cork City records for St FinBarre be able to help me please?  I believe this is the correct parish for Crosses Green.  WAC was born between 1791 and 1793.   The only children of William Clarke and Anne Fogarty that I know of in this time frame were William (1762);  Sylvester (abt 1764); Frederick (1769) and Henry (1772).  I am basically looking for another son or the baptism of WAC between 1791-1793. 

It would be so very much appreciated if someone could help me with this.  I have been searching for WAC's parentage for over 25 years now and it is like getting "blood out of a stone" as they say. 
Many thanks
Chris

[celtic liberty]

Hi Chris,

I see you have been searching for information relating to your William Aldworth Clarke for many years!

The first thing I noticed about your post is  - you say you know most of the children of William Clarke and Anne Fogarty born around the 1760s and you are looking for another son of William & Anne born around 1791-1793  do you not think it would be a little unusual if they had another child 30 years after William, Sylverster, Frederick & Henry???  How sure are you that William C. & Anne F are his parents?


I have a book on the records of St.Finbarre's Cathedral edited by Alicia St. Leger & published by The Representative Church Body library ( Church of Ireland) for the years 1753 - 1804.     

I did go through all of the Clarke/Clark/Clerke entries and there were 43 in total.


I have written them all out but am just going to list some that may be relevant to your Clarkes -

Births

23 Mar 1788 Mary dau of Samuel & Eliz Clarke

 ******    3rd Sept 1793  William son of Frederick and Eliza Clarke
(maybe this is the William you are searching for)   a son of Frederick possibly born 1760s rather than a brother???)

12 Sept 1798  Thomas son of Thomas C & Martha Clarke


DEATHS -

******  14th July 1773  Mr. Will. Clark, Burgess

******  25 Feb 1786  Mrs. Anne Clarke - Newspaper notice "died yesterday morning at Crosses Green, Mrs. Anne Clark wife of Mr. William Clark of this city, merchant"

******  23 Feb 1787  Wm. Clarke

******  15 April 1792  Mr. Silverter Clarke

2 Sept 1793 Eleanor Clarke


Marriages -

CLARKE
9 Jan 1768   Edward Clarke, woolcomber &  Eliz.Naile

17 Jan 1785  Robert Wallis & Eliz. Clarke
2 Sept 1786  John Clarke & Eliz. Fowkes
27 Aug 1792 Benj. clarke & Anne Knight widow
22 May 1793 John Condon & Eliz. Clarke
28 Apr 1797  Jerim. Clarke & Mary Corr

17 Dec 1804 Wm. Clarke farmer to Agnes Walsh both from Bandon, Co. Cork



Clerk-
24th Sept 1800 Jno. Clerk & Bridget Gillman

Clark

24 Sept  1800 Robert Clark tanner to Rebecca Gillman


No marriage for William Clarke & Anne Fogarty and no births for this couple.


You mentioned that the Clarkes of Crosses Green  would have attended St. Finbarres Cathedral but
Holy Trinity Church -known as Christchurch was very near to Crosses Green so they may have had all of their children baptised there.   That is located where South Main Street is now.

I have a book of records for Christchurch but only for the 1600s which is too early for you.

I have some newspaper extracts from Rosemary Ffolliot's newspaper extracts available on microfiche at the Cork City Library local studies section - unfortunately due to "Cut Backs" the local studies section is not open to the public on Mondays or Tuesdays.

A few extracts -

24 Sept. 1806 marriage - yesterday morning at St. Peters church by the Rev. Archdeacon Thompson, the Rev Thomas Walker to Miss Clarke dau of William Clarke Esq and sister to Major General Sir William Clarke Bart.(MLB Anne Clarke)   ** Note she married in St. Peters church which is in South Main Street Cork .

18 May 1812 marriage  yesterday morning at St. Finn Barrys ( St. Finbarres Cathedral C of I) by the Rev. H.T. Newman,  Mr. Michael Pearse to Miss Catherine Clarke dau of the late Silvester Clarke Esq. of this City,

Marriage  12 April 1773 this morning at Christchurch Mr. Abraham Clark to Mis Elizabeth Searls

Marriage  8 Feb 1820 on Friday last at Passage Church Co. Cork the Rev Francis M'Leland, Chaplain to the Settlers proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope, to Elizabeth 2nd dau of Frederick Clarke Esq. of Passage and niece to the late Major General Sir William Clarke Bart.

Marriage    12 June 1800 lately at Madras, Sir William Clarke to Miss Margaret Prendergast
8 Oct 1823

Death  8 Oct 1823 at his seat, Petersfield Co. Tipperary, Samuel Prendergast Esq., late Crown solicitor for the Munster circuit and uncle to Sir William Clarke Bart. (  Could Margaret above be this
man's daughter??)

Marriage 6 Sept 1827  on Tuesday 4th inst. by the Rev Charles Leslie at Douglas Church, Sir William Henry Clarke Bart., to Elizabeth Barbara only child of John Moore Travers Esq., of Clifton near Cork.

That's it hope you can find something useful in the above.

I think the William Clarke born 3rd Sept 1793 looks like a good possibility for the William you are searching for?


Mary
Celtic Liberty

[chrisos]

Hi Mary
Firstly Mary, my sincere thanks for all of the work you have put into this search for me.  Yes I have been looking for William Aldworth Clarke (WAC) for a long time - over 25 years now AND you have been amazingly helpful to me on several occasions over the years.  I am about to go into your information in more depth so see what I have missed.

I now have definite confirmation that WAC was from Cork City.  This was from a book titled "A Bloody Day - The Irish at Waterloo".  In this book, the author Dan Harvey makes reference to WAC being from Cork City.  I have been in touch with him to find out what his source was but as luck would have it, his research notes are packed away in Ireland and he is currently living overseas. So somewhere out there is the document I seek but I don't know where it is or what it is.  The author is active in the armed forces so would most likely have access to or knowledge of more documents from military archives than I do.  I thought I had obtained all of WACs military papers but obviously not.  I have read his Will but it only refers to "brothers and sisters", so at least I know he wasn't an orphan!!!! 

WAC's wife was the step daughter of John Glas, Provost of Stirling and WAC was buried in his Lair (grave), so it seems likely that WAC was from a high profile family who had significant connections to Cork.

Yes I know of the William Clarke born 1793, son of Frederick and his wife Elizabeth (nee Boland).  I have researched him extensively to the point where I purchased a book about the family from a South African bookshop which had a section on him.  His sister Elizabeth moved to Port Elizabeth, South Africa after her marriage to Rev Francis McCleland in 1820.  This William died on 1 Jun 1846 (WAC's death was 1827) on a return voyage from Sydney to England.  He was a Captain in the 4th Regt, while WAC was in the 40th Regt.  However, I think it is important to revisit this person to make sure that I have researched him correctly.

I am very sorry if I was not clearer as to why I was looking for children of William Clarke and Anne Fogarty.  There are significant gaps in the birth years of their children, so it seems likely that there were more born.  I was/am looking for an unknown son who may 'possibly' be WAC's father.

May I ask you one further question?  There was a Captain/Major (?) Christopher Clarke in the 40th Regt at one point.  I had wondered if Christopher was part of this family?  Did you come across any reference to him in your records by any chance? 

Once again, my very sincere thanks for all of your help. 
Best wishes
Chris

[hallmark]

Will of William Aldworth Clarke
Reference:    PROB 11/1738/431
Date:    21 April 1828

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D184941

[hallmark]

Hi
I have an Ensign William Aldworth Clarke (WAC) who fought at Waterloo in 1815, ultimately loosing an arm to canon shot.  I also have confirmation that he was from Cork City.  Further records indicate that he was made a Freeman of the City of Cork for gallantry at Waterloo (undated).   
 
Many thanks
Chris

Are there records for him being made a Freeman of Cork??

Clarke William Ensign. 40th Foot  (1815) “for his gallant conduct in the Battle of  Waterloo.”

www.corkarchives.ie/media/freemen1710-1841.pdf




other Freemen....


Clarke Abraham Clothier 23/2/1770
Clarke Charles Gentleman
Clarke Charles Esquire
Clarke Charles William Captain 24th Regt.(1806)
Clarke Christopher Butcher 5/5/1775
Clarke Frederick Ensign. 24th Regt.
Clarke Henry Captain 84th Regt.(1809)
Clarke James Cooper
Clarke John Lieutenant. Cork City Militia (1801)
Clarke John Calvert Esquire
Clarke John Corbett Esquire
Clarke Joseph Gentleman
Clarke Precious Esquire
Clarke Robert Tallow Chandler
Clarke Thomas  Cunningham Esquire
Clarke Usher 25/9/1795
Clarke William 13/4/1757
Clarke William Lieutenant 4th Regt.

[hallmark]

Hi Chris,

 

Marriage 6 Sept 1827  on Tuesday 4th inst. by the Rev Charles Leslie at Douglas Church, Sir William Henry Clarke Bart., to Elizabeth Barbara only child of John Moore Travers Esq., of Clifton near Cork.

 ?


Mary
Celtic Liberty

Descended from a merchant family of Cork city, William Clarke was created a baronet in 1804 in recognition of his military service in the British Army. His eldest son Sir William Henry St Lawrence Clarke 2nd Baronet was born in 1801 and in 1827 married Elizabeth Barbara only child and heir of John Moore Travers of Clifton, county Cork.



http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=2958

[celtic liberty]

No I haven't come across any Christopher Clarkes in my searching but did find one reference to a Capt. C. Clarke 40th Regt.  which was the marriage of his daughter Harriett -

Th. 16 Dec 1813 Major Charles Western to Harriett youngest dau. of Capt. C. Clarke of the 40th Regt.


A few more extracts from the newspapers -

Baptism St. Finbarres Cathedral  6 Feb 1775   Mary daughter of Mr. Chas Clarke and Christian

Tu. 21 Feb 1826 on Thursday evening 16th inst. at Kilmalooda Glebe the house of the Rev. T. Walker, in the 93rd year of his age , William Clarke Esq.,

M. 9 July 1787 on Tallow ( Co. Waterford) the Lady of Capt. Clarke of a daughter.
Th.  17 Jan 1788 at Tallow, Captain Clarke of the 39th Regt.      (death)


S. 6 Dec 1760 Corke 1st Dec on Saturday morning, Mr. Charles Clarke surveyor of Blackrock was married at St. Pauls Church to Miss Poe of this ciy, sister of William Purefoy...(handsome fortune)

M. 13 Aug 1792 Saturday at Passage ( now known as Passage West)  Charles Clarke Esq. Port Surveyor and one of H.M. Justices of the Peace.

F. 22 Aug 1806 died 16th inst. at Clonakilty Mr. Charles Clerke

Tu 8th August 1826 at River View cottage in this co. on Sunday last the lady of David H Clarke Esq. of a son.

S. 15 Sept 1827 on Sunday 9th inst. at Westen in this Co. the lady of David H. Clarke Esq. of a son.

Th. 16 Dec 1813 Major Charles Western to Harriett youngest dau of Capt. C. Clarke of the 40th Regt.

Tu. 5th Nov 1811 on Wednesday last in Dublin, Joseph P. Clarke Esq. father in law to the Right Hon. Earl of Ormond.

M 8th Aug 1791 last Thursday at Kinsale James Moore Esq. Capt in the 16th Regt to the widow Clarke (MLB Margaret Clarke

M 11 Mar 1782 died on Hammond's March Mr. Peter Clark

Tu 18 July 1815 last Saturday evening Mr. Philip Clarke of this City aged 62 leaving a widow and family.

Marriage at St. Finbarres Cathedral Cath Clarke widow to Rich. Glassen linen manufacturer.

I know I am missing some Clarke refs from the newspaper extracts.

Have you looked at any Aldworth connection?  I did check a few books I have on Newmarket Co Cork where some of the Aldworths lived but no reference to Clarke surname.  The Aldworths also lived in Queenstown ( now Cobh Co. Cork).

Who did WAC marry?

Mary
Celtic liberty

[celtic liberty]

I see he married Mary Langhorne Mills Smith.   

[chrisos]

Hi Mary
At this stage, Capt Christopher Clarke of the 40th is my only lead (apart from the revisits mentioned earlier).  I wondered if WAC had enlisted in the 40th because there was already family there.  Quite possible.   However, whilst WAC was confirmed as being from Cork (Dan Harvey's book), if his father was military there is every likelihood that he was born wherever his father was posted in 1792/3.  But since I don't know who his father is it is a moot point.  So many roads lead to Cork - the Aldworth family from Newmarket; the fact that WAC was made a Freeman of the City of Cork; that Cork was nearby the recruiting ground of the 40th and now Dan Harvey's book.

The reason I lean more towards the Crosses Green Clarkes rather than the Farran Clarkes is that the 'CG' Clarkes had both a military and a brewing background.  WAC's wife Mary Smith was connected to a family of merchants who had breweries.  So it makes sense that WAC applied to be a Freeman of Cork City to aid the purchase/sale of alcohol between Cork and the Highlands of Scotland.

The hole is getting deeper and deeper but I will keep digging.
Once again, many thanks for all of your help.
Regards
Chris