Captain Christopher Clark of New Kent, Virginia is a direct ancestor for many people, including me. As such he has been the subject of much good research and speculation. I was struck by the lack of proof for the path that has oft been proposed – that he is a son of Micajah Clarke and Sallie Ann Moorman. For many years, I have left this as my own path of choice, given the naming of a second son Micajah and the many links to the Moorman family.
But Micajah may or may not have existed. I did find one Micah Clark born to Miles Clark in 1607 in Great Bromley, Essex. But little to nothing in Virginia or in Barbados where Christopher Clark is said to be from.
So here is where I start – I theorize that the Barbados origins may have the element of truth, given the preponderance of name matches in Virginia. This perhaps is too big a leap, but drawing from Linda Sparks Starr and others it seems a good bet. Working from this, I have managed to identify a place of English origin in Sandwich, Kent County, England. As it stands I am pretty certain this is a promising path, but also clear that I have not proven it.
Step 1: Research and go deeper in the Barbados Clarks.
Using baptismal records and wills (largely available on familysearch.org, which I will denote with an FS), I find that there are really two candidates for Christopher Clark of Virginia, the grandsons of Christopher Clark who died about 1695 according to his will in Christ Church parish, and sons of Micheal and Roger Clark. By the time that their grandfather died there may have only been one of them still in Barbados as Christopher only mentions one grandson named Christopher.
The Patriarch, Christopher Clarke Sr. (c1620-1695), and his wife, Ann, had four sons and one daughter who survived to adulthood. Christopher Sr. outlived his wife and all children except daughter Elizabeth Trescott. He named in his will (per _Barbadoes: Wills and Administration_) daughter Elizabeth, a grandson Christopher, granddaughter Ann who was dau of deceased son Thomas, a friend and a god-son. Linda Sparks Starr 1996
The Christopher who is still in Barbados married Sarah Patterson in 1694 and presumably died in 1701. Both of the Christophers are born around 1670. The son of Roger has a baptismal record in Christ Church for 29 Sep 1670 (FS). The other, the son of Michall has no baptismal record but is mentioned in his father’s 1679 will.
Michall Clarke, planter. Christ Church Parish, 14 Jul 1679
Bro Roger Clark, Chn Christopher Clark, Ann Clark & Elizabeth Clark, kinsman John Sadbury’s chn John Sadbury, Joshua Sadbury, Kaleb Sadbury, & Susan Sadbury, wife Eliza Clarke..xtr..bro Thos Clarke, sis Ann Clarke, sis Elizabeth Clark, godson Owen Melloney, friends Robert Robertson, & Thomas Luce overseers, signed Michall Clarke, Wits John Stone, Edward Wright, proved 19 Aug 1679
Barbados Records
He may be missing from the Barbados records or baptised elsewhere (although I could find no records for any of Michall’s children all of whom are born sometime before 1679.) Perhaps somewhat randomly, I think this Christopher is the Captain Christopher Clark of Virginia. His mother, Elizabeth, may remarry to George Sheares in 1688 in Christ Church (FS) but there seems to be no more footprint for George and Elizabeth Sheare after this time and no clear marriage records for the daughters mentioned in the will. So, recap, If Christopher is connected to the Barbados families, then he is a son of either Roger or Michael. He also could be the Christopher who marries Sarah Patterson, who also is not later in the Barbados records.
With the above sorting and links to Sandwich, this diagram illustrates the connections to Richard Clark:
Step 2: Where do the Barbados Clarks come from?
This may seem hard to answer but what helped me a lot was this record that strongly suggests that Christopher (the grandfather above) of Barbados is the son of a Richard Clark.
The Will of James Burston, 21 Jun 1653
….CHRISTOPHER CLARK son of RICH CLARK, xtr, (executor)
Barbados Records
I think this may be the first incidence I have ever found where the father of the executor is mentioned. Christopher is clearly an adult and old enough to be an executor. So what was James Burston trying to say?
With a probable father for this Christopher Clark I set out to see just how many Christopher’s sons of Richard were born in England around the same time. Not many. I found this one, Christopher Clark, baptized Feb 1619 in Sandwich St Mary, Kent, England (FS). But what was amazing is that many of his brothers can then be found in Barbados in the same time period: William Clarke, bp. 1608; Richard Clark, bp. 1615; John Clark bp. 1622 — And then, perhaps, a few for whom I have not found baptism records in Sandwich: Francis Clark bp 1626 in London, Robert Clark and Thomas Clark.
Up to this point I have only name matches with Sandwich. But then there is the case of Robert Clark Jr who I have identified only through his will.
Robert Clarke, Jr
8 Sep 1655
…John Walker, Thomas Holdridge my apprentice-freedom. Thomas Smith, daus Elizabeth Clarke, Massey Clarke & Jane Clarke &
Sons Burrough Clarke & John Clarke, all chn at 21, William Withington & George Horton xtrs & gdns to send children home to England if they see fit to Arthur Barker & Thomas Barker, uncles of the chn., now living in DARFORD of KENT. Signed Robert Clarke. Wits John Walker, Stephen Bancks. Proved 12 Sep 1655.(Barbados Records)
The fact that he is identified Jr could mean he is the younger Robert in Barbados but this would not make any sense because the other Robert (possible son of Christopher) would be much younger. In this case, I believe that he is a Robert Jr and can be identified in the Kent records as Robert son of Robert bpt 1611 in Canterbury Kent. This would make him the brother of Richard Clark and uncle of Christopher Clark found in Barbados. The son Burrough is a key because there is only one, Burrough Clark, bpt in 1641 in Cranbrook, Kent (FS). In fact all children mentioned in his will are found in Cranbrook, Bromley and Dartford, Kent. Dartford is important because it is clearly mentioned in the will as “Darford.” And, thus, we have added evidence that the Clarks of Barbados come from Kent County.
All of this, by the way adds up to a family progenitor in Sandwich named Robert Clark who was born about about 1562 and may have been married three times. A Robert Clark is clearly named as the father of Richard Clark in Sandwich and Robert Clark in Canterbury (FS). However, I have found no other children.
So my conclusion is that Christopher could come from Barbados from a family of Sandwich. And I think this is more likely than that he is the son of a Micajah Clark. Naming may also add some weight to this. This Christopher, son of Michall, may have never known his father. He could have been raised by his Uncle Edward Clark who died in 1687 in Barbados, for whom I have found little information outside of Barbados vital records. He could also be an unknown son of this Edward, whose known wives were Catherine and Margaret. But he does not name any known daughters by these names. He does name a daughter Elizabeth, who could be named after the wife of Michael, the father I am proposing. His son Micajah could reflect his father Micheal although there is no evidence that Michael (spelled Michall) was called by this name.