John Mitchell wrote: >From: J Mitchell <jjmitchell@sprint.ca> >To: WEXFORD-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [WEX] CLARKE >Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 20:30:52 -0700 > >Joseph SPARROW and Hannah CLARKE were my ggg grandparents. They married >in Waterford Cathedral and lived in Clonmel. They later immigrated to >Ontario. > >Hannah Clarke's mother was from Enniscorthy ( a friend wrote a poem "On >her Marriage, and leaving the Place of her Nativity, Enniscorthy, April >28, 1796" ). The same friend had occasion to mourn her death years >later and penned "Lines On the much lamented death of Mrs. Clarke" dated >Enniscorthy, May 11, 1816 and signed W.F. In the poem, Mrs Clarke's >death is described as a "noontide tragedy" and that she was "called >early..." > >The info that I have: > >1. Hannah Clarke's mother was born in Enniscorthy and died, in Ireland, >in 1816. >2. That Clarke was her married name. I know nothing of Mr. Clarke. >3. That her marriage to Mr. Clarke took place in 1796. >4. My gg grandmother was Anne WILKINSON Sparrow, their first born, so I >presume that Wilkinson was a significant maternal or paternal family >name. > >If any of the above is familiar to anyone I would be delighted to hear >from you. If anyone could suggest how to proceed with the information >that I have, I would be equally pleased. > >Regards, > >John Mitchell >Victoria, BC > Hi John, The name SPARROW appears in an index I made of Wexford Freeman records held at the Liverpool Record Office, check out:- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hibernia/ I don't fully understand the meaning and rights of a Freeman, but I think it has something to do with completing a seven year apprenticeship in some sort of trade (Trader, Grocer, Merchant, Cooper etc.), or being the son of a Freeman. I think that the rights of a Freeman within a town or city meant he did not have to pay local taxes on goods bought or sold. In around 1830, the law changed and it seems to allow any Freeman to have Freeman rights in any town or city in Briton, but he had to produce proof that he was a Freeman. Hence the reason why Wexford Freeman certificates where in the possession of the Liverpool Corporation, who deposited them at the Liverpool Record Office. The dates quoted in the index refer to when the man became a Freeman or the date found on a letter from his parish council. Regards, Patrick Neill in Liverpool. Searching for the birth place of Isaac NEILL (c.1830), somewhere in Co. Wexford, the son of James & Sarah. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.