Richard Strongbow Clare

When Dermont died in 1171, Strongbow became the new king of Leinster. To maintain control he built several castles. He divided the territory into five lordships: Wexford, Kilkenny, Kildare, Dunamase and Carlow. A seneschal, based at Kilkenny Castle, was appointed to administer the land for the Clare family. He received £100 a year, which made him the highest paid of all Strongbow's officials.

Gilbert de Clare was the son of Richard Fitz Gilbert, was born in 1066. He later married Adeliz, the daughter of Hugh of Clermont.

Gilbert, like his father, took part in the rebellion against William Rufus in 1088. After a two day siege at Tonbridge Castle, the Clare family was forced to surrender to the king's forces. The was punished by having his castle and the town of Tonbridge burnt to the ground. Richard Fitz Gilbert was also forced to live in a monastery where he died three years later.

Gilbert was allowed to keep the family estates and in June 1095 fought with William Rufus against the Scots. He is also believed to have taken part in William's military campaigns in Wales and Normandy.

Gilbert was with his younger brother, Robert on August 2, 1100 when William Rufus was killed in the supposed hunting accident. The Clares accepted Henry I as king of England and King Henry I generously rewarded the Clare family for their loyalty. Although Walter Tirel never returned to England, his son was allowed to keep his father's estates. Some people suspected that Henry and the Clare family had planned the murder of William Rufus. Others accepted that William Rufus' death was an accident. Whatever the truth of the matter, the Clare family obtained considerable benefit from the death of William Rufus.

In 1107 Gilbert led an army into Wales. After defeating Cadogan King Henry I allowed him to take control of Cardigan. It is also believed that Gilbert became lord marcher of Striguil.

Gilbert de Clare was the father of three sons, Richard, Earl of Hertford, Gilbert, Earl of Pembroke and Walter de Clare. He also had a daughter, Rohaise, who married Baderon de Monmouth. Gilbert de Clare died in 1115.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORgilbertclare1.htm

Clare, Gilbert de - Son of Richard; conquered lands in Wales to become Earl of Pembroke. Gilbert held Tonbridge Castle against Rufus in 1088 after William's death, but was reconciled later and also served Henry I. Died 1115. http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/landowners.html

Son of Richard Fitz Gilbert and Rohese Giffard. Succeeded to his fathers possessions in England, his brother, Roger Fitz Richard, succeeding to his father's lands in Normandy.

He was granted lands and the Lordship of Cardigan by Henry I, including Cardigan Castle. He founded the Priory at Clare. Supposedly present at the suspicious death of William II in 1100. Fathered nine children, two of whom became peers of the realm.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Fitz_Richard

On the death of Roger de Clare without legal heirs in 1130, King Henry I granted Gilbert de Clare his lands of Orbec and Bienfaite in Normandy. With the death of King Henry I in 1135, Strongbow's father, Gilbert, supported Stephen as king, and was an active military commander for Stephen during the "anarchy". When Gilbert's uncle Walter de Clare died in 1138, King Stephen granted Gilbert the lordship of Netherwent, including the castles of Chepstow and Usk. Stephen also granted Gilbert the comital title and lands of the earldom of Pembroke the same year. Gilbert and Strongbow supported King Stephen against Matilda until c.1146. In 1146 King Stephen held Gilbert fitz Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford, as a hostage for the "good behavior" of his uncle Ranulf, earl of Chester. (This Gilbert was also the nephew of Gilbert, earl of Pembroke.) When Ranulf changed sides and began to support the Empress Matilda, King Stephen forced Earl Gilbert of Hertford to surrender his castles and lands. This action immediately drove Gilbert to support Matilda, along with his uncle Earl Ranulf. Stephen, in anticipation of Earl Gilbert of Pembroke following his nephew, took the earl's lands and castles. This enraged the earl of Pembroke so that he also changed sides, following his nephew to the side of Empress Matilda and taking his sixteen-year old son, Richard, with him.

~~~~~~~~

Son of Gilbert Fitz Richard Earl of Clare and Alice de Claremont. Sometimes referred to as "Strongbow" but his son is better remembered by this name. Became a great baron, obtaining the estates of his paternal uncles, Roger and Walter, which included the baronies and castles of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy, the lordship of Nether Gwent and the castle of Striguil (later Chepstow). King Stephen created him Earl of Pembroke, and gave him the rape and castle of Pevensey. At Stephen's defeat at Lincoln 2 Feb 1140, he was among those who rallied to Empress Matilda when she recovered London in June, but was at Canterbury when Stephen was recrowned late in 1141. He then joined Geoffrey's plot against Stephen, but when that conspiracy collapsed, he was again adhered to Stephen, being with him at the siege of Oxford late in 1142. In 1147 he rebelled when Stephen refused to give him the castles surrendered by his nephew Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Hertford, whereupon the King marched to his nearest castle and nearly captured him. However, the Earl appears to have made his peace with Stephen before his death the following year. He married Isabel de Beaumont (1112-1172), around 1130, daughter of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, and Isabel de Vermandois. Isabel had previously been the mistress of King Henry I of England.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Clare%2C_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke

Real name of Walter FitzRichard, stewart for Roger de Toenie or Tosny.

Roger Tosny's steward, Walter fitz Richard, had for a long time been calling himself Walter Clifford and had married Isabel Tosny, Roger's sister. In 1144 he still acknowledged Roger as his overlord of Clifford, but by the end of the war he had made himself de facto lord of Clifford and refused to return castle and lordship to their rightful owners. During the reign of King Henry II, Walter Clifford cleverly introduced his daughter, renowned as the Fair Rosamund for her beauty, to Henry. Soon the two became lovers and Walter's powerful daughter ensured that he never lost control of Clifford to its rightful owners.

"Thomas Clapp. Son of Richard Clapp, of England, and cousin of Roger and Edward, was born in Dorchester, England, in 1597. Source: Ebenezer Clapp, The Clapp Memorial; record of the Clapp family in America, containing sketches of the original six emigrants, and a genealogy of their descendants bearing the name, with a supplement, Boston, D. Clapp, 1876.

5 children:
Thomas Clapp b: 1597 in Dorchester, Dorset, England
Ambrose Clapp b: ABT. 1599 in England
Richard Clapp b: ABT. 1601 in England
Prudence Clapp b: ABT. 1603 in England
Nicholas Clapp b: 1612 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England

Dea. Thomas Clap. Born in 1597 in Dorchester, England Source: Ebenezer Clapp, The Clapp Memorial; record of the Clapp family in America, containing sketches of the original six emigrants, and a genealogy of their descendants bearing the name, with a supplement, Boston, D. Clapp, 1876.

Thomas died on 20 Apr 1684 in Scituate, MA. Source: 29

"Mr Thomas Clap was born in Dorchester, England, 1597. He came to New England with the early settlers of Dorchester, where his brothers John, Richard and Ambrose tarried. Thomas proceeded to Weymouth, where his first son Thomas was born 1639. He had grands of land in Hingham, 1637, but never resided there. His farm in Weymouth was near the present residence of Hon. Christopher Webb. He came to Scituate 1740. We find no record of his children born here, but we learn from incidental records, that he had Eleazer, Samuel, Elizabeth, Prudence, John born 1658, and Abigail born 1659. His farm in Scituate was on the south-west of Stockbridge's mill pond, and now owned by Calvin Jenkins, sen. He was a Deacon of the first Church 1647. He was an active, useful, and venerable man." Source : Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from Its First Settlement to 1831.

"Thomas Clapp. Son of Richard Clapp, of England, and cousin of Roger and Edward, was born in Dorchester, England, in 1597. He came over to this country, probably, ... in the ship which arrived from Weymoutn (Eng.) on the 24th of July, 1633. The probability is that Thomas and Nicholas, and their cousin Edward, came over together, and John some time afterward. The name of Thomas Clapp appears, in 1634, on the Town Records of Dorchester, where his brothers Nicholas and John settled, lived and died. After his arrival in this country, Thomas remaind a few years in Dorchester, being admitted as a freeman there in 1638, and then removed to Weymouth, Mass., probably with the intention of settling there. His farm was near what has since been the residence of Hon. Christopher Webb, of that place.

"Farmer, in his Genealogical Register, says that Thomas, senior, removed from Waymouth to Hingham, and thence to Scituate; while Deane says he had grands of land in Hingham, but never resided there. Whether he did remove there or not, there is little doubt that it was his intention to do so when the grant of lands was made to him. If he was an inhabitant of Scituate as early as 1640, as Deane says, it is very unlikely that he ever took up his residence in Hingham, as there is evidence of ihs being in Weymouth the year pervious. He was Deacon of the Church in Scituate in 1647, and was warmly engaged in a theological controversy respecting the form of baptism, which commenced about 1641, with the Rev. Charles Chauncey, then minister in Scituate, but afterwards President of Harvard College. Mr. Clapp was one of the committee of three, in 1675, who sent a letter to the Second Church, informing them that a reconciliation had taken place after a controversy of 33 years. Mr. Clapp was a Deputy to the Court in 1649, and overseer of the poor in 1667, that being the first year such officers were chosen. He was a useful and enterprising man. He died April 20, 1684, greatly respected. His farm in Scituate was on the south-west of Stockbridge's mill-pond, and afterwards owned by Calvin Jenkins. Who his wife was had not been ascertained, excepting that her christian name was Abigail.

"Richard Sylvester, who lived in Weymouth about 1640, held doctrines too liberal for the age in which he lived; they were supposed to be similar to those of his minister, Mr. Lenthial, whose doctrine was 'that all baptized persons should be admitted to the church without further trial.' This Mr. Lenthial afterward retracted before the General Court of Massachusetts; but Sylvester refusing, he was disfranchised, and therefore removed into Scituate, then in the Plymouth Colony and out of their jurisdiction. As Thomas Rawlins, Thomas Clapp, James Torrey and William Holbrook went to Scituate about the same time, Deane supposed it was on account of holding similar opinions."

Source: Ebenezer Clapp, The Clapp Memorial; record of the Clapp family in America, containing sketches of the original six emigrants, and a genealogy of their descendants bearing the name, with a supplement, Boston, D. Clapp, 1876.

Listed as a freeman of Scituate 4

Walter Goodwin Davis's "Clapp of Scituate" in _Massachusetts and Maine Families:  "Thomas Clapp...was presumably born in Sidbury, co., Devon, about 1609...In 1630 his kinsman Roger Clapp of the neighboring parish...went to New England, the forerunner of a large group of family emigrants." Thomas is said by Davis to be the son of Nicholas Clapp, whereas Anderson identifies Roger as son of William Clapp. Davis speculates that Thomas came on a ship to Weymouth in 1633 ("it is reasonably supposed that"--there's a lot of supposition in this piece, and maybe there's later,more concrete information). Davis continues to speculate that along with Thomas came "his brother Nicholas, and his sisters Barbara, Redigon, and Prudence...all of whom were soon afterward in Dorchester, where Roger Clapp had settled. Their younger brother John followed them a few years later." (p. 273)

Born in England 1597, to Dorchester MA 1634, to Weymouth 1638, then Scituate 55

Passage listed page 67 of "Early Virginia Immigrants" by Greer

Same Thomas Clarke who took in William Shurtleff?

Ken Shaw lists:
Birth: BET. 1599 - 1605 in Southwark, England
Death: 24 MAR 1696/97 at 98 years old, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, New England
Burial: 1697 Burial Hill, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, New England
Baptism: 8 MAR 1599/00 Stepney, Middlesex, England Occupation:
Carpenter
Immigration: 10 JUL 1623 in the Pilgrim ship the"Anne"

His father being a John Clark b 1525 d 1623, no parents

Listed as a freeman of Plymouth 4

~~~~~~~~~
From "The Great Migration"
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1623 on Anne
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
REMOVES: Boston by 1660, Plymouth by 1673 (with occasional residence in Barnstable)
FREEMAN: In "1633" Plymouth list of freemen ahead of those admitted on 1 January 1632/3 [PCR 1:4]. In list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:52]. In Plymouth section of lists of 1639, 1658, 29 May 1670 (as "Mr. Thomas Clarke") and 1 [blank] 1683/4 [PCR 5:274, 8:174, 197, 202].
EDUCATION: He signed his name to coroner's jury statements.
OFFICES: Deputy for Plymouth, 8 June 1655 [PCR 3:79].
Coroner's jury, 2 March 1635/6, 29 June 1652 on the body of Robert Willis sometimes of "Milbrooke, county Cornwall," 3 September 1652 on the body of James Glasse [PCR 1:39, 3:15, 16]. Petit jury, 7 December 1641, 1 November 1642, 9 June 1653, 4 October 1653 [PCR 7:25, 32, 65, 67].
Plymouth constable for Eel River, 1 March 1641/2 [PCR 2:34]. Surveyor, 7 June 1642, 7 March 1642/3 (Eel River), 7 June 1648 [PCR 2:40, 124]. Surveyor of highways (Eel River), 5 June 1644 [PCR 2:72]. Supervisor of highways (Eel River), 1 June 1647 [PCR 2:116]. Committee for Plymouth, 5 June 1651 [PCR 2:167]. Committee to procure supplies for the expedition of the Lord Protector, 6 June 1654 [PCR 3:53]. Committee to treat with the commissioners regarding the trade at Kennebecke, 2 July 1655 [PCR 3:87]. Committee serving at court, 3 June 1656 [PCR 3:99]. Committee to supply and accommodate the Governor and Magistrates, 3 June 1657 [PCR 3:120].
Volunteered for service in the Pequot War, 7 June 1637 [PCR 1:60]. In Plymouth section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:189].
ESTATE: In 1623 Plymouth land division received one acre as passenger on Anne [PCR 12:6]. In 1627 Plymouth cattle division "Thomas Clarke" was the thirteenth person in Capt. Miles Standish's third company [PCR 12:10]. On 28 September 1629, Abraham Pierce sold one acre of land on the south side of town to Thomas Clark for thirty pounds of tobacco [PCR 12:7]. The next day, Thomas Clark sold the acre of land to William Bradford, along with another acre of land bounded by widow Warren [PCR 12:7, 8]. On 24 March 1630[/1], Ralfe Wallen sold to Thomas Clark land called Wallen's Well [PCR 12:17].
Assessed £1 4s. in Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633 and £1 7s. in list of 27 March 1634 [PCR 1:10, 27].
Assigned mowing ground, 1 July 1633, 14 March 1635/6, 20 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:15, 41, 57].
On 24 February 1633/4 Thomas Clark purchased of Ralph Wallen "so much land adjoining to the said Thomas, on the south side his dwelling, as maketh up a former moiety the said Thomas bought of the said Ralph['s] twenty acres," and "one share of meadow ground belonging to the said lot when division shall be made thereof" [PCR 1:25, 76].
On 4 December 1637 a previous grant of sixty acres to Thomas Clark was confirmed and ordered to be laid out [PCR 1:70]. On 2 April 1628, all that parcel of land called Slowly Field, formerly in the tenure of Mr. Edward Winslow, was granted to Thomas Clark [PCR 1:83].
On 7 October 1639 the court granted Thomas Clark liberty to erect a house at Mannamett Pond to fodder his cattle in this winter until come lands be laid out for him there [PCR 1:135].
On 6 January 1639/40, since Thomas Clark relinquished his grant of land at "the Whoop Place" except eight acres reserved to Thomas Little, the court granted Clark eighty-five acres purchased of Nicholas Presland, to be laid out at Mannamett Ponds "forty acres formerly granted to Thomas Little there, to be parcel thereof" [PCR 1:138].
On 1 February 1640/1 the court ordered that the twenty acres of land purchased by Thomas Clark from Ra[l]ph Wallen were to laid out at the lower end of the two lots of forty acres Clark had at the Eel River [PCR 2:7]. He was listed among the fifty-eight purchasers [PCR 2:177].
On 5 March 1671/2 Thomas Clark was granted the "skirts of meadow lying upon the pond at Mannomett" [PCR 5:89].
On 18 June 1673 "Thomas Clarke of Plymouth" granted to "my wellbeloved son Andrew Clarke of Boston," shoemaker, "all that my house & ground lying & being in Boston ... which I recovered from the estate of John Nicolls by virtue of a judgment granted me at the court of Assistants sitting in Boston March the 5th 1672" [SLR 8:225-27].
(Jacobus refers to an original deed of gift, dated 6 June 1693, apparently unrecorded and now lost, which was published in Samuel C. Clarke, Descendants of Thomas Clarke [Boston 1869], in which Thomas Clark named his sons Andrew, William, James, Nathaniel and John [TAG 47:5].)
BIRTH: About 1599 based on age given at death. (John Insley Coddington argued forcefully that Thomas Clark was the son of John Clark, pilot of the Mayflower, and that he was identical with the "Thomas son of John Clarke of Ratliff" who was baptized 8 March 1599/1600 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, Middlesex [TAG 42:201-02]. The hypothesis is very attractive, and was accepted by Jacobus [TAG 47:3], but remains underproven.)
DEATH: Plymouth 24 March 1697 (apparently 1696/7) "in his 98th year" [PVR 135; TAG 42:202].
MARRIAGE: (1) By July 1631 Susanna Ring, daughter of William and MARY (Durrant) RING [TAG 42:201-2]; she died between 1646 (birth of youngest son) and 20 January 1664/5 (prenuptial agreement of husband with second wife).
(2) Soon after 20 January 1664/5 Alice (Hallett) Nichols [SCC 6], daughter of Richard Hallett and widow of Mordecai Nichols; she died by 25 July 1671 [SCC 8].
CHILDREN:
With first wife
i WILLIAM, b. about 1634 (deposed 10 August 1671 aged thirty-seven [TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. (1) Plymouth 1 March 1659[/60] Sarah Wolcott [PCR 8:22; PVR 662]; m. (2) Saybrook 7 March 1677/8 Hannah Griswold [SayVR 8 (also recorded Plymouth [PVR 85])]; m. (3) Plymouth 3 August 1692 Abiah Wilder [PVR 85].
ii JAMES, b. say 1636; m. Plymouth 7 October 1657 Abigail Lothrop [PCR 8:17; PVR 662].
iii SUSANNA, b. say 1638; m. Plymouth 3 November [PCR 8:22; PVR 662] or Barnstable 1 December [MD 6:238] 1658 Barnabas Lathrop.
iv JOHN, b. about 1640 (deposed 31 October 1671 aged about thirty [TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. by 1668 Sarah _____ (eldest child b. Boston 11 November 1668 [BVR 107]; see further discussion on this John in TAG 43:19-26, 47:7, 49:143).
v NATHANIEL, b. say 1642; m. between July 1684 (when she entered an account of the estate of her deceased husband Edward Gray [PCR 6:149-50]) and 4 June 1686 (when she sued Nathaniel Clark for divorce [PCR 6:190-92]) Dorothy (Lettice) Gray, daughter of Thomas Lettice and widow of Edward Gray.
vi ANDREW, b. about 1644 (deposed 31 October 1671 aged about twenty-five [TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. by 1672 Mehitable Scotto (eldest child b. Boston 10 July 1672 [BVR 122]; son Scotto Clark b. 1680 [MF 3:37]).
COMMENTS: Thomas Clark aspired to be a lawyer. On 2 July 1638 he was ordered to frame and offer a bill of indictment against Richard Clough for taking a waistcoat out of a suit Clough was to make for Edward Shaw [PCR 1:91].

On 5 March 1638/9 the court presented an abuse committed by Thomas Clarke, who accused Richard Cloofe of felony, but Clarke did not appear in court to prosecute the case for the King. And further, Clarke took the case of another man [Edward Shaw] and "prosecuted the said action in Court by way of barratry" [PCR 1:118]. About 1644 Robert Mendam authorized Thomas Clark of Eel River to sell a parcel of land at Duxbury [PCR 2:77]. He acted as attorney to several of the purchasers at "Mannamoiett," 1 June 1675 [PCR 5:171]. When Tobias Taylor and John Shawe had a disagreement 7 July 1646, the court ordered Mr. Alden and Thomas Clark to represent Tobias and come to a settlement with the representatives of John Shawe [PCR 2:105].

His legal pretensions were also on display during his contentions with his second wife and her sons in the late 1660s and early 1670s, when he employed his legal Latin in arguing the precise nature of his relation with his spouse and the consequences of her actions [SCC 5-9, 98-99, 569-70; RCA 1:47].

His usefulness in court in later years included his service as overseer of the will of Mrs. Jenney. He and Samuell Jenney had some disagreement over the care and guardianship of Sarah, daughter of Samuell Jenney, that was settled 6 October 1659 [PCR 3:171]. He complained about Mr. Constant Southworth for the illegal disposal of a mare and her increase belonging to the estate of "Mistris Sarah Jeney, deceased" and came to an agreement as overseer, 1 June 1663 [PCR 4:43, 7:102]. He was also one of the administrators of the estate of Mr. "Willam Collyare," 5 July 1671 [PCR 5:68].

On 4 December 1637 Thomas Clark was surety for Edward Shaw, who was accused of theft [PCR 1:69]. More often, Clark was a victim of theft: on 5 January 1635/6 he sued widow Warren for taking a boat of his; the court decided in favor of the defendant, but awarded the plaintiff 30s. "for other considerations" [PCR 1:36]; on 5 April 1642 the court supported Thomas Clark in his suit against Mathew Fuller over a share [PCR 2:37]; on 5 June 1671 William Walker was charged with stealing cloth from Thomas Clark "of Boston" and was sentenced to pay double for the cloth and for telling a lie about it, was fined 10s. [PCR 5:61].

He brought suits against a number of men who owed him money, including Mr. "Gromes," 2 May 1648 [PCR 2:122], Morgan Jones in March, 1668 [PCR 7:153, 154], Henry Clarke of Duxborrow, 1 July 1672 [PCR 7:171], and Samuel Knowles, of Eastham, administrator of the estate of his brother James Knowles, deceased, 31 October 1683 [PCR 7:268].

Sometimes the suits were not easily decided. Arbiters were selected to end the differences between Mr. Samuell Gorton & Thomas Clark at court 3 December 1639 [PCR 1:137]. He sued the estate of Thomas Ewer, late of Barnstable, 29 October 1667, but the jury felt that the case was not clearly presented, and dismissed it [PCR 7:141]. Mr. Thomas Clark brought suit against Peter, Indian, at court 5 March 1684/5, but Clark did not appear in court and Peter was freed [PCR 6:152]. "Mr. Thomas Clarke, sometimes of Boston, now of Barnstable" sued in 1667 Daniel Winge of Sandwich, administrator to the estate of Thomas Ewer, late of Barnstable, for a debt, but the jury did not understand the case, and Clarke desired to present the case again, but reconsidered and withdrew 28 October 1684 [PCR 7:279].

On 2 October 1650 Thomas Clarke was allowed to draw and sell a cask of strong waters [PCR 2:163]. He was presented 5 October 1652 for staying and drinking at James Cole's contrary to the order of the court [PCR 3:17].

He was presented 6 March 1654/5 for charging £6 for the loan of £20, which the grand jury felt was extortion [PCR 3:75]. He was cleared, 5 June 1655 [PCR 7:73]. When Richard Clough sued Thomas Clark for slander at court 4 September 1638, Clough lost [PCR 7:9]. Clark stated plainly in open court, 13 June 1660, that "G[e]orge Barlow is such an one that he is a shame and reproach to all his masters; and that he, the said Barlow, stands convicted and recorded of a lie at Newberry [PCR 3:190].

Thomas Clark of Plymouth, late of Boston, sued Mr. Constant Southworth, of Duxbury, for withholdling one eighth part of the yearly profits of the fishing at Cape Cod, 5 July 1678, but withdrew the action [PCR 7:213]. He sued 7 July 1682 Samuel Smith of Eastham, for the unjust detaining of one quarter of the profits of the fishing off the Cape, and withdrew this case, also [PCR 7:249].

"Mr. Thomas Clarke, resident at Plymouth, one of the old comers" successfully sued Mr. John Freeman, Senior, of Eastham, for pulling up a stake which was a boundary marker for Clark's land at Old Indian Field, 1 November 1679 [PCR 7:218].

"Mr. Thomas Clarke, Senior," of Plymouth and William Shirtliffe wrangled repeatedly in 1681 and 1682 over the partition of land once jointly owned by Clark and William Shirtliffe's father [PCR 7:234, 237, 244, 255].

Thomas Clark was prosperous enough to employ a number of apprentices and servants. The court records mention three: on 2 September 1634 Thomas Clark took William Shetle as an apprentice for eleven years [PCR 1:31]; on the 13th of August, 1639, John Barnes assigned the remaining term of seven year's service of his servant Symon Trott to Thomas Clark, with Clark agreeing to pay Trott a heifer calf when six years of the term were up [PCR 1:129]; and on 4 August 1654 Clark bought out the remaining time of Robert Ransom, servant of Thomas Dexter Jr. [PCR 3:63]. John Williams engaged to pay towards his wife's maintenance to be paid next November to Mr. Thomas Clark at Boston, etc., 7 July 1668, which suggests the possibility that she was living or working at Clark's house [PCR 4:191]. He undertook to provide horses and equipment for the use of the commissioners on their journey to New Haven, 2 July 1655 [PCR 3:86]. Thomas Clark engaged to lend the country £5 of wheat to pay those that had worked on the "Joanses River bridge," 3 July 1656 [PCR 3:106].

On 12 February 1689/90 a Thomas Clark married Elizabeth Crow [PVR 86], and this has incorrectly been claimed as a third marriage for our Thomas Clark. "Elizabeth, the wife of Deacon Thomas Clerke, deceased 13th November, 1695" at Plymouth [PVR 135]. There seems to be only one Thomas Clark at Plymouth with wife Elizabeth at this time, and our Thomas was certainly not a deacon. The Thomas Clark who was a deacon is supposed to have died in 1727. If our Thomas had married Elizabeth Crow, he would have been ninety years old, and have been living as a widower for nearly twenty years when the marriage to Elizabeth Crow took place. (See also TAG 49:143 on this point.)

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Thomas Clark is examined in a posthumous article by Donald Lines Jacobus, incorporating his own research and that of John Insley Coddington [TAG 47:3-16].

Born 1599 in England, to Plymouth 1623, Harwich MA 1670. Lists several other Thomas Clarkes in same area at the same time. 55

Richard Tonbridge, Richard of Also called Richard de Clare, and Richard FitzGilbert. Son of Count Gilbert of Brion, brother of Baldwin of Exeter. Lord of Clare, Suffolk, Lord of Lowry of Tonbridge and Tonbridge Castle. Holdings in 8 counties from Suffolk to Devon.

leading member of the reforming party of barons in England

http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/landowners.html

In about 1026, Herleva of Falaise, the sixteen year old daughter of a tanner from Falaise in Normandy, gave birth to a son called Richard. Gilbert was the father of the child. As Herleva was not married to Gilbert, the boy became known as Richard Fitz Gilbert. The term 'Fitz' was used to show that Richard was the illegitimate son of Gilbert.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORgilbertB.htm

Richard married Rohese, daughter of Walter Giffard of Normandy. The couple had at least three children, Rohaise, Gilbert de Clare and Walter of Clare.

When William of Normandy, decided to invade England in 1066, he invited his three half-brothers, Richard Fitz Gilbert, Odo of Bayeux and Robert of Mortain to join him. Richard, who had married Rohese, daughter of Walter Giffard of Normandy, also brought with him members of his wife's family.

After his coronation in 1066, William the Conqueror claimed that all the land in England now belonged to him. William retained about a fifth of this land for his own use. The rest was distributed to those men who had helped him defeat Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

Richard Fitz Gilbert, was granted land in Kent, Essex, Surrey, Suffolk and Norfolk, took his name and title from the fief of Clare in Suffolk. In exchange for this land. Richard had to promise to provide the king with sixty knights. In order to supply these knights, barons divided their land up into smaller units called manors. These manors were then passed on to men who promised to serve as knights when the king needed them.

Richard built castles at Tonbridge (Kent), Clare (Suffolk), Bletchingley (Surrey) and Hanley (Worcester). His knights normally lived in the manor that they had been granted. Once or twice a year, Richard would visit his knights to check the manor accounts and to collect the profits that the land had made.

The Normans were very impressed with Richard's castle at Tonbridge. After a while people in Kent began calling him Richard of Tonbridge. Other people called him Richard of Clare, after the castle and large estates he owned in Clare in Suffolk. In time, Richard adopted Clare as his family name and he became known as Richard de Clare.

William the Conqueror trusted Richard de Clare and appointed him as a member of his ruling council. Richard was also given the title Chief Justiciar. This meant that Richard took over the running of the government when the king was making one of his many visits to Normandy. In this post he played an important role in the suppression of the revolt against William in 1075.

The following year some Normans, including Richard de Clare, Odo of Bayeux, Robert of Mortain, William Fitz Osbern and Geoffrey of Coutances, led a rebellion against the rule of Rufus in order to place Robert Curthose on the throne. However most Normans in England remained loyal and Rufus and his army successfully attacked the rebel strongholds at Tonbridge, Pevensey and Rochester.

After a two day siege at Tonbridge Castle, Richard de Clare was forced to surrender to William Rufus. Richard was punished by having his castle and the town of Tonbridge burnt to the ground. Richard de Clare was also forced to live in a monastery where he died three years later. His land was inherited by his son, Gilbert de Clare.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORrichardfitz.htm

On William's departure for Normandy he was appointed, with William of Warrenne, chief justiciar (or regent), and in that capacity took a leading part in the suppression of the revolt of 1075. He is further found in attendance on the king at Berkeley, Christmas 1080, and again, with his brother, at Winchester in 1081.Ordericus (iii. 371) alludes to him as lately (nuper) dead in 1091, yet apparently implies that at this very time he was captured at the siege of Courcy. From Domesday we learn that he received in England some hundred and seventy lordships, of which ninety-five were in Suffolk, attached to his castle of Clare. In Kent he held another stronghold, the castle of Tunbridge, with its appendant Lowy (Lega), of which the continuator of William of Jumièges asserts (viii. 37) that he received it in exchange for his claim on his father's comté of Brionne, while the Tintern 'Genealogia' (Monasticon Anglican. v. 269) states that he obtained it by exchange from the see of Canterbury, which is confirmed by the fact that, in later days, it was claimed by Becket as having been wrongly alienated, and homage for its tenure exacted from the earls. Rohaise held lands at St. Neot's (Domesday), and there founded a religious house, where her husband is said to have been buried.

~~~~~~

Known as "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and "de Tonbridge". Accompanied his kinsman William the Conqueror into England, and was rewarded with no less than one hundred and seventy six lordships and large grants of land in England, including the right to build the castles of Clare and of Tonbridge, in return for his service at the Battle of Hastings, and general assistance in conquering the Saxon. Served as Joint Chief Justiciar in William's absence, and played a major part in suppressing the revolt of 1075.

Richard took the name Earl of Clare from one of his lordships in Suffolk, where parts of the wall of Clare Castle still stand. The modern Irish county of County Clare was historically part of the North Munster Gaelic kingdom of Thomond, dominated by the O'Briens, Kings of Thomond. The region was granted to the De Clare family in 1275 and they became Lords of Thomond. When the boundaries of the modern County Clare were fixed by Sir Henry Sidney in 1565, it was named after the De Clares.

His parents were Gilbert "Crispin", Count of Brionne and his mistress Constance de Eu. Gilbert was married to Gunnora d'Aunou, and some sources list her as Richards mother. Richard's father is also sometimes listed as Robert I "the Devil", father of William the Conqueror. Sources as far back as the Annals of the Four Masters claim that Richard's great grandson, Richard "Strongbow", was the direct descendant of Robert "the Devil". Gilbert "Crispin" is a descendant of Robert's cousin, but not Robert himself. One thing can be sure, Richard was a close and trusted friend of the King.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fitz_Gilbert

In one of these conflicts the garrison during a rally took prisoners William, son of Henry de Ferrers (who fought at Hastings), and William de Rupière, whose ransoms were a great assistance to the besieged; but, on the other hand, the besiegers captured lvo, one of the sons of Hugh de Grentmesnil and Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, the latter of whom did not long survive the horrors of the dungeon to which De Belesme consigned him.  http://genealogy.patp.us/conq/grntmsnl.shtml

While Richard was buried at St Neots Priory, nothing remains due to the sacking by Henry VIII during the reformation.  In email of August 2007, John Vincent of St Neots, wrote that one document survives, "Cartulary of St Neots Priory" (Ref: Cotton, Faustina) now in British Museum Manuscript Section. He further defines "Cartulary - a copy, often in abbreviated form by the monks of a monastery of those documents that granted property to the institution. A cartulary is usually the closest that can be gotten to the monastic charters, which, in England, usually did not survive the Reformation."

First king of the Franks to unite that entire barbarian nation. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salian Franks, one of several Frankish tribes and who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai, along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. He conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

In service of Julius Nepos and Zeno (from?)
486 Inherited father's kingdowm, united Salian and Ripuarian Franks. Defeated Gallo Roman general Syagrius (the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons) at Soissons, expanding Salian territory to Loire. Secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths, through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great
493 Married Clothide, Princess of Burgundy, a Roman
496 Clovis converted to Christianity when most Germanics embraced Arianism
Founded  St Genevieve's Church of the Holy Apostles in Paris
500 Battle of Dijon, unsuccessful against Burgundian kingdom
503 Subdued the Alamanni
507 Battle of Vouillé, Clovis defeated Alaric II of Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse with aid from Armoricans, Aquitaine added to Clovis's kingdom, Visigoths confined to Spain
511 At his death, his four sons divided the territory:
Chlodomer took Orleans  (Burgundy)
Childebert took Paris (France)
Chlotar took Soissons (Neustria)
Theuderic took Metz (Austrasia)

Chlotar took over all the kingdoms after his brother's deaths, and at his death in 561, the kingdoms were again divided to his sons, Chilperic, Charibert, Guntram, and Sigebert.

Famous story of the Soissons vase.

Paul McBride's pages end here.

The lines of Clovis' sons varies.  According to most sources, Childebert died childess, Chlodomer's sons were killed by Clotaire, Theuderic's line ended wiht with grandson, Theudebald. Clothaire was in complete control of all the areas. His sons were Charibet, Guntram, Sigebert and Chilperic.

~~~~~~~

Clovis I (variously spelled Chlodowech or Chlodwig, giving modern French Louis and modern German Ludwig) (c.466 – November 27, 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite that entire barbarian nation. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salian Franks, one of several Frankish tribes and who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai, along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. He conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

He converted to Catholicism, as opposed to the Arianism common among Germanic peoples, at the instigation of his wife. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of France and Western Europe in general for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France) which stands at the centre of European affairs. He is considered the founder both of France (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[1] This victory extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths, through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of his territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac. He had previously married the Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, following his victory at Tolbiac, he converted in 496 to her Catholic faith. This was a significant change from the other Germanic kings, like the Visigoths and Vandals, who embraced the rival Arian beliefs.

Clovis I died in 511 and is interred in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France, whereas his father had been buried with the older Merovingian kings in Tournai. Upon his death, his realm was divided among his four sons, Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Reims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

Clovis I: King of the Franks 481 (around Soissons?), son of Childeric I and Basina, died in 30th yr, 45 yrs old (b.c.466) defeated Syagrius of Soissons 486 (5th yr), invaded Thuringia 491 (10th yr), sole king c.509, d. 511. http://www.j-paine.org/merovingian.html

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings

Clodio1 (c. 395 - 447 or 449) or, the Long-Haired or the Hairy, was a semi-legendary king of the Salian Franks from the Merovingian dynasty (426 - 447). His successor was Meroveus, after whom the dynasty was named. Legend has it that his father was duke Pharamond and his mother was Argotta, from Thuringia. His grandfather may have been Marcomer, a duke of the Franks.

There are basically only two sources of information on Clodio's history: the writings of Gregory of Tours and Sidonius Apollinaris.

Clodio lived in Dispargum, a name that is believed to be that of a castle, rather than a village. Around 431, he invaded the territory of Artois, but was defeated near Hesdin by Aëtius, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul, Western Roman Empire. However, Clodio regrouped and soon was able to seize the town of Cameracum. Eventually, he occupied all the country as far as the Somme River and made Tournai the capital of the Salian Franks.

Clodio's aggressive action to seize more territory led to centuries of expansion by his successors that ultimately created what we know today as the country of France. Clodio died sometime between 447 and 449 and power passed on to Meroveus. It is not known if Meroveus was his son or another chieftain of the tribe who ascended into the leadership role.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clodio

~~~~~~~Chlodio: Sidonius Appolonius records a defeat of Cloio by Aetius at vicus Helena c.448 in panegyric on Marjorian (carmen V, II, 210-54, though it seems they actually broke up a wedding). GT II, 9 (quoting lists again) says he ruled at castle of Dispargum (Duisburg?) in Thuringia, later he says Clodio captured Cambrai and occupied the region as far as the Somme; LHF 5 says Chlodio was the son of Faramund. http://www.j-paine.org/merovingian.html

I have stopped here because of the fact that this reaches the semi legendary stage, and those who include this lineage in their work disagree. One line leads to Coel Hen, (King Coel of Briton) who is indeed factual, one I believe more than others. King Coel's brother, Trahern, led the revolt for Constantine against Octavia, the King of the Celts in the 300's. Supposedly his daughter, Helen, was the mother of Constantine I the Great. Coel means music in Welsh, thought to be the origin of the nursey rhyme. Colchester in Essex is thought to be his territory for it meant "Coel's Castle"

Semi-legendary King of the Salian Franks and father of Merovech, founder of the Merovingian Dynasty. Called ", the Long Hair" or ", the Hairy" because of the length of his hair. From then on the Merovingians were called the "Long Haired Kings" and the cutting of a king's hair represented his loss of royal power.

According to legend his father was Pharamond (r.409-426), the first King of the Salian Franks after the departure of the Romans from Gaul. In history, Clodio was probably real. He lived in Thuringian territory, and ruled at the same time as the semi-legendary kings Theudemer and Richemer. All that is known of his reign is that he took the town of Cambrai from the Romans. He was succeeded by his semi-legendary son Merovech. (Unlike Merovech and Clodio, Childeric I, Merovech's son, was very real and cannot be considered fictional.)
http://www.ghg.net/shetler/oldimp/016.html (http://www.ghgcorp.com/shetler/oldimp/)

The line I have omitted is reportedly as follows:

Clodion Le Chevelu King of France
Pharamond, King of France. Argotta, Queen of Franks
Marcomir, Duke of East Franks
Clodius, Duke of the East Franks
Dagobert, Duke of the East Franks
Genebald, Duke of the East Franks
Dagobert, Duke of the East Franks
Walter, King of the Franks
Clodius III, King of the Franks
Bartheus, King of the Franks
Hileric, King of the Franks
Sunno, King of the Franks
Farabert, King of the Franks
Clodomir IV, King of the Franks
Marcomir IV, King of the Franks and Althildis, Princess of the Britains, daughter of King Coel, King of Britain circa 350
Odomir, King of the Franks
Richemer, King of the Franks
Rathberius, King of the Franks
Antenor IV, King of the West Franks
Clodemir III, King of the West Franks
Marcomir III, King of the West Franks
Clodius II, King of the West Franks (ending the year 0006)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings

The daughter of Burgundian king Chilperic. Her uncle was the Burgundian king and Roman general Gundobad. Clotilde was the wife of Clovis I and contributed to her husband's conversion to Catholic Christianity.

On the death of Gundioc, king of the Burgundians, in 473, his sons Gundobad, Godegesil and Chilperic divided his heritage between them; Chilperic apparently reigning at Lyon, Gundobald at Vienne and Godegesil at Geneva.

According to Gregory of Tours, Chilperic was slain by Gundobad, his wife drowned, and of his two daughters, Chrona took the veil and Clotilde was exiled. This account, however, seems to have been a later invention, since an epitaph discovered at Lyons speaks of a Burgundian queen who died in 506. This was most probably the mother of Clotilde.

In 493 Clotilde married Clovis, King of the Franks, who had just conquered northern Gaul. She was brought up in the Catholic faith and did not rest until her husband had abjured paganism and embraced the Catholic faith in 496. With him she built at Paris the church of the Holy Apostles, afterwards known as Sainte Geneviève. After the death of Clovis in 511 she retired to the abbey of St Martin at Tours.

In 523 she incited her sons against her cousin Sigismund, the son of Gundobad and provoked the Burgundian war. In the following year she tried in vain to protect the rights of her grandsons, the children of Clodomer, against the claims of her sons Childebert I and Clotaire I, and was equally unsuccessful in her efforts to prevent the civil discords between her children. She died in 544 or 545, and was buried at her husband's side in the church of the Holy Apostles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde

Clotaire I (also Chlothar or Chloderic, sometimes called le Vieux or the Old) (497 – 561), a king of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis. He was born about 497 in Soissons (now in Aisne département, Picardie, France).

On the death of his father in 511, he received, as his share of the kingdom, the town of Soissons, which he made his capital; the cities of Laon, Noyon, Cambrai, and Maastricht; and the lower course of the Meuse River. But he was very ambitious, and sought to extend his domain.

He was the chief instigator of the murder of his brother Chlodomer's children in 524, and his share of the spoils consisted of the cities of Tours and Poitiers. He took part in various expeditions against Burgundy and, after the destruction of that kingdom in 534, obtained Grenoble, Die, and some of the neighbouring cities.

When the Ostrogoths ceded Provence to the Franks, he received the cities of Orange, Carpentras, and Gap. In 531, he marched against the Thuringii with his brother Theuderic I and in 542, with his brother Childebert I against the Visigoths of Spain. On the death of his great-nephew Theodebald in 555, Clotaire annexed his territories. On Childebert's death in 558 he became sole king of the Franks.

He also ruled over the greater part of Germany, made expeditions into Saxony, and for some time exacted from the Saxons an annual tribute of 500 cows. The end of his reign was troubled by internal dissensions, his son Chram rising against him on several occasions. Following Chram into Brittany, where the rebel had taken refuge, Clotaire shut him up with his wife and children in a cottage, which he set on fire. Overwhelmed with remorse, he went to Tours to implore forgiveness at the tomb of St Martin, and died shortly afterwards.

Clotaire's first marriage was to Guntheuc, widow of his own brother Chlodomer, sometime around 524. They had no children.

His second marriage, which occurred around 532, was to Radegund, daughter of Bertachar, King of Thuringia, whom he and his brother Theuderic defeated. She was later canonized. They had no children.

His third and most successful marriage was to Ingund, by whom he had five sons and a daughter

His next marriage was to a sister of Ingund, Aregund, with whom he had a son

His last wife was Chunsina (or Chunsine), with whom he had one son

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotaire_I

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings

Clotaire II (584-629), called the Great (le Grand) or the Young (le Jeune), King of Neustria, and from 613-629 King of all the Franks, was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584. His mother, Queen Fredegonde, was regent until her death in 597, at which time the thirteen year old Clotaire II began to rule for himself. As King, he continued his mother's feud with Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia with equal viciousness and bloodshed.

In 599, he made war with his cousins, Theuderic II of Burgundy and Theudebert II of Austrasia, who defeated him at Dormelles (near Montereau). At this point, however, the two brothers took up arms against each other. In 605, he invaded Theuderic's kingdom, but did not subdue it. He remained often at war with Theuderic and the latter died in Metz in late 613 while preparing a campaign against him. At that time, Warnachar, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, abandoned the cause of Brunhilda and her great-grandson, Sigebert II, and the entire realm was delivered into Clotaire's hands. Brunhilda and Sigebert met Clotaire's army on the Aisne, but the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted the host and the grand old woman and her king had to flee. As far as the Orbe they got, but Clotaire's minions caught up with them by the lake Neuchâtel. Both of them and Sigebert's younger brother Corbo were executed by Clotaire's orders.

In that year, Clotaire II became the first king of all the Franks since his grandfather Clotaire I died in 561 by ordering the murder of the infant Sigebert II (son of Theuderic), whom the aging Brunhilda had attempted to set on the thrones of Austrasia and Burgundy, causing a rebellion among the nobility. This led to the delivery of Brunhilda into Clotaire's hands, his thirst for vengeance leading to his formidable old aunt enduring the agony of the rack for three whole days, before suffering a horrific death, chained between four horses that were goaded in separate directions, eventually tearing her apart.

In 615, Clotaire II promulgated the Edict of Paris, a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that reserved many rights to the Frankish nobles while it excluded Jews from all civil employment for the Crown. The ban effectively placed all literacy in the Merovingian monarchy squarely under ecclesiastical control and also greatly pleased the nobles, from whose ranks the bishops were ordinarily exclusively drawn. Clotaire was induced by Warnachar and Rado to make the mayoralty of the palace a lifetime appointment at Bonneuil-sur-Marne, near Paris, in 617. By these actions, Clotaire lost his own legislative abilities and the great number of laws enacted in his reign are probably the result of the nobles' petitions, which the king had no authority not to heed.

In 623, he gave the kingdom of Austrasia to his young son Dagobert I. This was a political move as repayment for the support of Bishop Arnulf of Metz and Pepin I, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, the two leading Austrasian nobles, who were effectively granted semi-autonomy.

Clotaire II died in 629 after 45 years on the throne, longer than any other Merovingian dynast. He left the crown greatly reduced in power and prepared the way for the rise of the mayors and the rois fainéants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotaire_II

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings