I believe during that time period and even to more recent times Clark or Clarke was often spelled Clerk. I think it may well have to do with the way Scots pronounce the name? Anyone out there from Scotland with an opinion? Joe Boyd Williams Katy, Texas -----Original Message----- From: Cameron Clark <cclark@connect.com.au> To: BORDER-L@rootsweb.com <BORDER-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Sunday, July 30, 2000 5:40 PM Subject: Parish Priests in the 1700's - lists of names? >Hi All, > >I have been looking through some of the OPR's and admiring (or trying to >decipher) some of the handwriting over the years. I have noticed that for the >parishes that I am currently searching through that the handwriting styles >appear to change at about the same time periods. This has drawn me to ask if >the same parish priest be responsible for a number of neighboring parishes - or >would there have been 1 priest per parish. > >Does anyone have of know of a list of Parish Priests for the different Border >Parishes? I am particularly interested in Bowden, Maxton and Selkirk around >1750 - 1780. > >The other reason that this is particularly interesting for me is that I have >just found 3 distinct records from around this period where my CLARK family has >been spelt CLERK. If it was the same priest then this is fairly understandable >- however if different priests all spelt it this way then maybe the family at >the time used to spell it this way? I know names change spelling all the time - >but it is interesting to pinpoint a period that a particular spelling may have >been used in. > >Kind regards, >Cameron Clark. >Melbourne, >Australia. > >