James Cooper Clarke-Martha Roberts

[wrjones]

My relative Martha Roberts was born in Overton Flintshire in 1802 being the eldest daughter of my Greatx3-Grandparents Timothy Roberts and Anne Lea.Quite a few years ago now I noticed a Martha Clarke in the household of Timothy and Anne in 1841 at Overton-HO107/1408/10/51/9.

This led me to the 1851 Census at Chester showing Martha to be the wife of a James C Clarke given as a Lock Keeper and born in Welshampton Shropshire in c 1794.They are showing with three sons,Timothy aged 16,William aged 14 and Thomas aged 12.HO107/2172/344/15.

James is showing in Chester in 1841 again as a Lock Keeper with the following surnamed as Clarke living in his household;
Mary born c 1821.
Sarah born c 1821.
Edward born c 1831.
Timothy born c 1835.
William born c 1837.
Thomas born c 1839.
All given as born in Cheshire.
HO107/130/15/6/7.

The apparently three youngest children of James and Martha,Timothy,William and Thomas were to marry in Liverpool.This of course left me with no marriage info for Mary,Sarah and Edward who were apparently the eldest of their children.

This morning thanks to Cheshire Parish Register Project I was able to find a marriage of a Sarah Clarke to a Robert Williams(Gardener) at Chester St Mary on 21/08/1844.Sarah's father is given as a Cooper Clarke,a Lock Keeper.I also found,this time at Chester St John the marriage of a William Acton a shoemaker to a Mary Ann Clarke on 28/05/1846.Mary Ann's father is given as James "Coop" a Lock Keeper.

However my enthusiasm at finding these marriages was soon dampened by my finding the marriage at Chester St Mary on 23/06/1834 of a James Cooper Clarke,a batchelor given as an engineer and a Martha Roberts given as a spinster.

This leaves a puzzle as to who the Mary Ann and Sarah Clarke were?

Regards
William Russell Jones

[RobbieJax]

Did you ever resolve this issue. I have been working on that same 1841 census. I see that James Cooper Clarke (apparently he went by Cooper which makes searches on him difficult) and Martha Roberts were married in 1834 so I assumed that Mary, Sarah and Edward are from a previous marriage(s).

I found where Cooper Clarke was married to Jane Rachel Thomas in Pontfadog, Denbigh in 1816. I found 5 children that they had together:
Sarah b 1820 Llangollen
Jane Rachel b 1822 Wrexham
John b 1825 Wrexham
James Cooper b 1827 Wrexham
Edward b 1830 Wrexham
I see that James Cooper passed away in 1831 aged 3. I presume Jane Rachel and John did also but I can't find any record of them.

Jane Rachel the mother passed away in 1833 and is buried at Ruabon. Cooper Clarke turned up just a year later in Chester marrying Martha. I have not found anything on Mary and had assumed that she was Martha's child from a previous marriage. But I was wondering what you had found on her. Thanks
Robbie

[wrjones]

Thanks Robbie,I wasn't aware until your post of any previous marriage for Jaames Cooper Snr.I had previously assumed that all the children were James and Martha's.I will remove the cchildren I have before Timothy in 1836 from my records as it is Martha Roberts who is my relative.

I have to ask of course are the Cooper Clarke's your relatives?

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[RobbieJax]

No problem. Let me know if you do find anything on Mary. At this time, I am not going to spend much time on it because I was just trying to place James Cooper Clarke before he moved to Chester and I can do that with the first marriage and the other children.

Yes, James Cooper Clarke is my ggg grandfather. You mention his 3 youngest moving to Liverpool. Had you done any research on them. At this time, I am just interested in Thomas, my gg grandfather. I see him marrying Sarah Ann Youds in 1858 and having two children (Mary Jane in 1860 and James Cooper in 1862) but then I can't find them on the censuses in 1871, 81 or 91. I see deaths in Liverpool of a Sarah Ann Clarke and a Mary Jane Clarke in the 60's (haven't ordered the certificates yet). But I can't find Thomas or James Cooper. There is a James Clarke of the right age living in a boarding house in Liverpool in the 1881 census, but nothing to confirm this is the right one. Thomas dies in Liverpool in 1892 (I just ordered the certificate for that). By 1891, James Cooper Clarke (he is my great grandfather) is married with 2 children and moves to Sunderland somewhere between 1890 and 1892. But I can't find him on a 1891 census in either place. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Robbie

[wrjones]

No problem. Let me know if you do find anything on Mary. At this time, I am not going to spend much time on it because I was just trying to place James Cooper Clarke before he moved to Chester and I can do that with the first marriage and the other children.

Yes, James Cooper Clarke is my ggg grandfather. You mention his 3 youngest moving to Liverpool. Had you done any research on them. At this time, I am just interested in Thomas, my gg grandfather. I see him marrying Sarah Ann Youds in 1858 and having two children (Mary Jane in 1860 and James Cooper in 1862) but then I can't find them on the censuses in 1871, 81 or 91. I see deaths in Liverpool of a Sarah Ann Clarke and a Mary Jane Clarke in the 60's (haven't ordered the certificates yet). But I can't find Thomas or James Cooper. There is a James Clarke of the right age living in a boarding house in Liverpool in the 1881 census, but nothing to confirm this is the right one. Thomas dies in Liverpool in 1892 (I just ordered the certificate for that). By 1891, James Cooper Clarke (he is my great grandfather) is married with 2 children and moves to Sunderland somewhere between 1890 and 1892. But I can't find him on a 1891 census in either place. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Robbie

Thanks Robbie,Thomas Clarke and Sarah Youds had two more children,Samuel born in 1863 and Edward born in 1870.I can find no further info for Mary Jane.I have James Cooper marrying Mary ann metcalfe in 1887 and I have them having eight children.of the children the only one i have further info for is Victoria M who was to marry Ray Allan at Sunderland in 1923.

I have a marriage for Samuel but no further info for Edward.

Regards
William Russell Jones.