Overview

Above - The mere (lake) with the village of Diss in the background

My research has concentrated mainly on my fathers side,those who had CLARKE as a surname and the 8 generations I have traced are listed in sequence (ending with my own) in the blog below headed PATERNAL ANCESTORS. The first(my Greatx5 Grandfather) was from Thelverton Norfolk born about 1704,one of 3 named Stephan. He was was probably a farmer , his son Stephan II of Tivetshall certainly was and left substantial farm properties to his children including his son Stephan III.Thus during the 1700s the Clarkes appear to have been farmers on land around Diss which is not surprising because at the start of that century the very large majority of Englands population were engaged in agriculture.By the begining of the 1800s the Industial Revolution had advanced considerably and England was well into the change to becoming the first industrial country of the world.Norwich had become the main centre of worsted manufacture and a leading producer of textiles.Thus we find the next 2 generations, both named Robert,living in Norwich and occupied in commerce; commercil travellers in the drapary trade. Robert II moved to London in 1856 where he married and raised a family including grandfather Thomas who became a master grocer living in the south of England. Grandfather Thomas moved with his family to South Africa where father Reginald remained surviving two World Wars,a'flue pandemic and the Great Depression.

My mother's maiden name was PROUD and I traced her parents and grandfather back to about 1825 in Birmingham as set out under the heading MATERNAL ANCESTORS.The blog headed PLACES OF ORIGIN gives brief details of the main areas and cities in Britain that my ancestors came from; HISTORY describes the main events and conditions which shaped their lives over the 300 years and RECORDS mentions the material I have accumulated and used in compiling these blogs.

Some pictures and images relevant to my ancestry are contained in a separate blog site which can be accessed at www.ccancestryimages.blogspot.com