Sarah (How) Clark (1758)

Born 29 Oct 1758 in Maidstone, Kent, England

Wife of William Clark — married 6 Jun 1779 in Snodland, Kent, England

Descendants

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Biography

Sarah was likely born in Maidstone in 1758 to Francis How and Sarah Proctor ^[1]. Francis and Sarah (who was from Lenham) were married on 19-Sep-1756 at All Saints in Maidstone. Their first child Elisabeth was baptised on 28-Nov-1756. Sarah and her twin sister Hannah were then baptised in Maidstone on 29-Oct-1758 ^[2].

The family appears to have returned to Lenham at some point in the next 7 years, as three younger children were born in Lenham: John, bap. 10-Nov-1765; Grace, bap. 27-Mar-1768; and Samuel, bap. 15-Mar-1770.

On 6-Jun-1779 Sarah married WIlliam Clark in Snodland ^[3][4]. Both are listed as "of this parish". William was 6 months older than Sarah and also from Maidstone, but had moved to Snodland to work in 1773 at the age of 15 ^[5].

Over the next 11 years they had at least 8 children: Mary (1779), James and Frances (twins, 1782), William (1783), John ((1786), Thomas (1788), Sarah and Anne (twins, 1790, both died as infants in 1791).

In 1791 the family appears to have settled in Halling. No further definitive record for Sarah or William has been located, though subsequent records for their children have them still in the Snodland/Halling area in the 1820's.

One possibility is a burial in Chatham, Kent on 2-Mar-1832 ^[6].

Sources

1. ↑ Many online trees indicate that Sarah was born in Birling, Kent in 1752, but this appears to be incorrect. Sarah was married in 1779 in Snodland, and had children through to 1790, suggesting a birth in the period 1745 to 1765. There are three baptisms in Kent for a Sarah How in this period:
   • Bap. 19-Jul-1750, Chatham, parents=Henry How + Elizabeth (7.5m from Snodland)
   • Bap. 19-Nov-1752, Birling, parents=Wm How + Mary (2.1m from Snodland)
   • Bap. 29-Oct-1758, Maidstone, parents=Francis How + Sarah (8.3m from Snodland)
   The Birling baptism is probably often assumed to be correct - maybe because Birling is only 2 miles from Snodland where the marriage occurred. However searching for additional records for Sarah How in the period 1750-1780 reveals no deaths, but three marriages:
   • Sarah How mar. Thomas Chittenden, 9-Jul-1770, Rochester, Kent. Sarah’s father is given as Henry How. (Given the location - Chatham is 1mile from Rochester - and the father, this clearly matches the Sarah from Chatham, bap. 1750)
   • Sarah How mar. John Youens, 13-Feb-1772, Rochester, Kent. Sarah is listed at 19 years old, and her father is William. (Given the age of 19, and so born 1752/53, and father being William, this clearly matches the Sarah from Birling, bap. 1752).
   • Sarah How mar. William Clerk, 6-Jun-1779, Snodland, Kent.
   This last Sarah How is the correct one, but the only baptism left that this could match is the third one above in Maidstone. The year of birth also provides a more reasonable age for the marriage (20 years old) than either other Sarah How. This would seem to provide quite strong evidence that Sarah was born in Maidstone and not Birling, as has often been assumed.
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NNVL-KVC : 30 December 2014, Sarah How, ); citing Maidstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,876.
3. ↑ England Marriages, 1538–1973 ,"database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLCZ-GXD : 10 December 2014), William Clerk and Sarah How, 06 Jun 1779; citing Snodland, Kent, England, FHL microfilm 992,535.
4. ↑ See http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=ShowImg&Img=/cityark/Scans/Ecclesiastical_Rochester_Archdeaconry_Area_Parishes/P342_SNODLAND_1559_1986/01_INCUMBENT_Service_of_the_Church_Registers_1559_1976/P342_01_04.html/00000142.jpg
5. ↑ See http://www.snodlandhistory.org.uk/1700-1799/c/
6. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPB7-YP5 : 24 December 2014), Sarah Clark, burial 02 Mar 1832; citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,473,661.

See also: http://www.snodlandhistory.org.uk/1700-1799/c/