My name is Dennis Clark and I live in Washington State in the US.
My ancestor Gabriel Clarke came to Ulster in the 1650's and became a Quaker there not long after arriving. We have a decent amount of information on Gabriel, but not for instance the name of his wife, nor of all of his descendants including William Clarke (most likely a grandson but might be grandnephew) who also had holdings in Carrickfergus, in Ballyduff, but his son, also my ancestor, John Clarke did definitely marry Anne Horsman of the Horsman's who were on and off Mayor of Carrickfergus.
Anyone with any local info on the Clarke's, would be most welcome to hear from you here. I also wonder if we still have cousins in the area. I see on maps there is a Grange Corner not far from Millquarter. According to the still extant Quaker records, John Clottworthy brought Gabriel Clarke to Ulster from Yorkshire to build all the corn mills on his lands and because he was so happy with Gabriel's work he gave him the lease of a holding called the Grange in perpetuity which lasted at least into the early 18th century, but I would love to know more detail on even just that property, where exactly it was. I know the Green Garden is still there, the Quaker cemetery that Gabriel established, and that that information is on a plaque at the cemetery now.
Thanks in advance!
Dennis Clark
Dennis Clark
Thursday 12th Nov 2020, 12:03AMMessage Board Replies
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Dennis,
For information, link to previous posts on this family:
There’s a copy of the early Quaker records for Grange Meeting House (and for the rest of Ulster’s Meeting Houses) in PRONI. They are not on-line and a personal visit is required to view them.
You should also consult Goodbody’s guide to Irish Quaker records. It contains details of the various families.
You might also want to search the Register of Deeds - which start in 1709 - for any leases, marriage settlements or other documents relating to the Clarke family. 3 lives leases, especially in the 1700s, sometimes detail the names and ages of those leasing the land. They are on-line on the LDS site, plus there is a copy in PRONI. Search by townland. Likely townlands for your family may be Ardnaglass, Grange Park, Gillistown or Millquarter. If you are unfamiliar with the Register of Deeds records you might need a Belfast based researcher to assist. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net
I can see 1 lease in PRONI. D4084/1/3/2/8. Dated 1721/22, it is described as: Counterpart lease for three lives renewable, Clotworthy, Viscount Massereene, to Walter Clarke of Grange, farmer: property in Ardnaglass, [Grange of Ballyscullion]; renewal 1810.
PRONI also has T2519/4/2166 dated 1824 described as “Queries about the Grange estate, Co. Antrim, addressed to Sampson Clarke at Antrim.”
The above records are not-one line. They are in paper format and you need to get someone to look them up and copy them for you.
You need to be wary of the word Grange. There are a lot of places called Grange in Ireland, not just the one in Ballyscullion. The term generally indicates this was once church land. There was probably a monastery or religious settlement here (some time prior to Henry VIII abolishing monasteries in the 1530s). The whole parish is called Grange or Ballyscullion Grange. Grange Corner is a small village (population of less than 500) in the townland of Taylorstown.
There is Grange House, which is a farm on the modern Grange Rd, still there today. It’s in the townland of Culnafay. In 1862, according to Griffiths Valuation, it was owned by Matthew Nelson.
According to Griffiths there were Clarkes living in Gillistown (William) and Grange Park (Robert), plus Anne Clark (probably a widow) leased property out in Mill Quarter. These are all in Ballyscullion Grange. They were the only Clarke households in the parish in 1862. By the 1901 census there was just one family named Clark in the area:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyscullion/Culnafay/941283/
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Thursday 12th Nov 2020, 05:52AM