EBENEZER CLARK, Publican of Malmesbury

[Brett Clark]

My name is Brett Michael Clark of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and I have been researching my family the past few years. My great-grandfather was William Cope Clark who immigrated here to Canada in 1884. His father's name was William Clark (I will refer to him as William Sr.) as well, and my research confirms that he (William Clark "Sr.") was born in Malmesbury around 1805. Thank you to Youngtug and Daisypetal for their assistance and examining some info that they provided me I believe that the name of William Sr.'s father was EBENEZER Clark (Publican) and wife Elizabeth (nee Owen). I have run into a brick wall at this point regarding William Clark Sr., so far no record of his birth to Ebenezer and Elizabeth in Malmesbury. Also, as mentioned above, apparently Ebenezer was a "publican"....innkeeper? Any information or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Sikes]

I don't know if you already know this but Ebenezer and Elizabeth were married 29 April 1802 in Grittleton

[Brett Clark]

I don't know if you already know this but Ebenezer and Elizabeth were married 29 April 1802 in Grittleton

Yes I was aware of that and thank you so much for replying to my query, I am grateful to all of you that have tried to help me out!

While we are at it, I just received an email from a 2nd cousin along with a photo of my great grandfather (and grandson of Ebenezer and Elizabeth) William Cope Clark. My cousin was quite sure that the photo was taken while he was attending Marlborough College (sometime between 1850-1868?). However, I have been researching Marlborough College and can find no evidence of his attendance. He seems to be wearing some kind of military uniform in the photo, and was curious if anybody out there could help identify the uniform which would generate more clues! Photo is attached.  Thanks

[west]

Malmesbury Parish Registers & BT.

Could this be baptism for William.

16 Sept 1804. William Clark. Son. Parent's. Ebenezer & Elizabeth.

West.

[Brett Clark]

Malmesbury Parish Registers & BT.

Could this be baptism for William.

16 Sept 1804. William Clark. Son. Parent's. Ebenezer & Elizabeth.

West.

I feel that it is indeed the baptism for William. Thank you!

I am curious as to where you managed to locate the information. I have had no success through ancestry or familysearch. There was another gentleman that accessed Malmesbury Abbey transcribed records and did not locate William's baptism either.

Once again, thanks so much for locating the information for me!

[artifis]

Hi Brett,

If you have or can get a higher resolution scan of the photograph then a military expert might be able to identify the regiment the lad belonged to.  I tried working on the image and could get a quite good result but the badge is a little too indistinct to get a clear image from the resolution you posted.

It might be worth writing to 'Your Family Tree' and 'Who Do You Think You Are' magazines as they have carried out such identification from time to time.

For what it's worth, looking at his uniform helmet it is unlikely that he was in one of the rifle brigades, the helmet plume would be too conspicuous for skirmishing therefore it looks likely that the gun he's holding is a muzzle loading musket and he was a member of one of the line regiments.  It's also worth remembering that at that time there was also the militia regiments.

He does look quite young but at that time they did join young then.