Mary (Clarke) Taylor’s Roots in Stanhoe, Norfolk, England

Mary (Clark) Taylor, our ancestor who came to Canada from Norfolk, England in 1836 with her husband John Taylor and their children.

Wedding bells rang out at St. Michael’s Church in the village of Ingoldisthorpe, Norfolk, England on 4 January 1821 when our 25-year-old ancestor, John Taylor (1796-1847) married 22-year-old Mary Clark(e) (1798-1883). (More about the spelling of Mary's maiden name later.)

St. Michael’s Church in Ingoldisthorpe (pronounced: in-g'l-thorp) where Mary Clark(e) married John Taylor.

Both bride and groom were residents of the nearby village of Snettisham.

Snettisham, in Norfolk County, is located about 45 miles (72 km) northwest of the city of Norwich.

John Taylor and Mary Clark(e) were from Norfolk County (in red on this map) on the east coast of England.

 

John and Mary soon began raising a family in Snettisham.

In 1836, 15 years after they married, John and Mary and their six children left England for reasons unknown to us. It appears there were quite a number of other families from Norfolk who left the country at that time, as well. For a detailed account of emigration from rural East Anglia in the 19th century (including Norfolk), click here.

The Taylors spent several months in Toronto before moving to Pickering Township, Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1837 where they settled and had two more children.

The Taylor property in Pickering Township (bounded by Finch Avenue and Altona Road) as it looked in 2018, more than 180 years after the Taylors settled there. Part of the land is protected as the Altona Forest.

What do we know of Mary Clark’s life before she married John Taylor? If you’d asked me that question at the start of this year, I’d have replied, “Nothing.” However, if you’re asking me now, I have some answers for you. Read on!

Thanks to DNA testing, I discovered a distant relative, Rosalynd Eagle, who lives in England. Rosalynd is descended from Mary Clark’s sister, Sarah Clarke. Rosalynd provided me with some information about the Clarke family history. Without the help of Rosalynd, our Mary Clark’s lineage might have forever remained a mystery.

First of all, Mary Clark wasn’t a Clark, she was a CLARKE with an “e” at the end. Her father's surname was Clarke (with an "e") and her siblings also used spelled their surnames with an "e." Mary named one of her children "James Clark Taylor" and here we see Clark without an "e" again. It's unlikely that Mary learned how to read or write. Therefore, if she said "Clarke" to a government registrar or Census taker, he would have written the name as it sounded to his ears. That's how "Clarke" probably became "Clark." From now on, I'll be using "Clarke" as Mary's maiden name, as that was the surname of her father and all her siblings.

Mary Clarke was born 16 July 1798 in the small village of Stanhoe, Norfolk, England.

Stanhoe has been a farming community since Roman times. The 2021 Census shows a population of 282.

Mary Clarke was the firstborn child of John Clarke (c1776-1852) and Mary Mason (1779-1822) of Stanhoe.

A screenshot from my "Mary Jane Culbert Family Tree" on Ancestry, showing Mary Clarke's parents as John Clarke and Mary Mason of Stanhoe, Norfolk.

Mary Clarke would later be joined by nine siblings.

To the best of my knowledge, Mary was the only one of John Clarke & Mary Mason's children who immigrated to Canada. 

Mary Clarke and her siblings...

A screenshot from my "Mary Jane Culbert Family Tree" on Ancestry, showing the 10 children of of John Clarke & Mary Mason. Our Mary was their first-born child. There are two children named Robert. The first Robert died in infancy. It was common practice to name the next-born child of the same sex after the deceased child.

For the benefit of genealogists and family historians, I’m listing the 10 children of John Clarke & Mary Mason, including their spouses:

Mary Clarke (1798-1883) & John Taylor (1796-1847)

Ann Clarke (1800-1886) & William Bone (1795-1862)

Elizabeth Clarke (1803-1870) & Robert Mason (1805-1874)

Robert Clarke (1805-1805, infant death)

Robert Clarke (1807-1893) & Ann Rought (1809-?)

Sarah Clarke (1810-1898) & Edward Palmer (1795-1862)

James Clarke (1813-?)

Rose Clarke (1815-1897) & James Collinson (1801-1863)

Frances “Fanny” Clarke (1817-1903) & James Moore (1816-1898)

Mason Clarke (c1820-?) & Margaret Hotchin (c1816-?)

Mary (Clarke) Taylor died on 16 July 1883 in Pickering Township, Ontario, Canada on her 85th birthday. Mary Clarke and John Taylor had raised a family of eight children, all who lived to adulthood. (For a list of the eight children of Mary Clarke and John Taylor, click here. For details about where Mary Clarke and John Taylor's adult children lived, click here.)

It’s highly unlikely that Mary ever returned to England, and she probably never saw her siblings again. 

Thankfully, we now know the names of Mary's parents and her siblings. We raise our glasses to these ancestors and to the village of Stanhoe, Norfolk, England, where Mary was born and raised. To learn more about Stanhoe, visit stanhoe.org.

John Taylor and Mary Clarke are buried at Highland Creek Wesleyan Cemetery, a pioneer cemetery located at 396 Old Kingston Road in the Highland Creek neighbourhood of Scarborough/eastern Toronto, Ontario.

Note: Thanks to my DNA match and 4^th cousin once removed, Rosalynd Eagle of England for shining a light on Mary Clarke’s origins. The descendants of Mary Clarke and John Taylor are grateful to you.

Grant W. Taylor (1921-2007): A Taylor Family Historian

Today marks the 100^th birth anniversary of Grant W. Taylor, the 2xgreat-grandson of John Taylor and Mary Clarke. John and Mary left Norfolk, England in 1836, settling in Pickering Township in what is known today as Ontario, Canada. Grant is a descendant of John and Mary’s eldest son, John Taylor (1821-1895) and his wife, Margaret Jane Mason.

Born 27 August 1921 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario, Canada, Grant William Taylor was the only child of Hector Taylor (1881-1958) and Ina Luella Kent (1885-1972).

Grant Taylor's parents, Hector Taylor and Ina (Kent) Taylor on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary on 1 January 1958.

Some of you are probably familiar with Grant W. Taylor’s book, "A History of the John Taylor-Mary Clark Family and Their Descendants 1836-1987, v.1-3.” Further on in this blog post, I’ll write more about these three volumes.

MORE ABOUT GRANT W. TAYLOR:

Grant grew up in Exeter, Ontario, north of Lucan. He attended S.S. No. 7 Usborne in Usborne Township, Huron County for one year (there were only about a dozen pupils) and completed his elementary and secondary school education in Exeter.

The first school that Grant attended was S.S. #7 Usborne in Usborne Township, Ontario. Grant's father, Hector Taylor also attended this school and is pictured in the group photo.

Grant Taylor (centre) with two of his Culbert cousins in 1929 at the annual Taylor Family Reunion at Springbank Park in London, Ontario. The blonde boy on the left is Grant's cousin, Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert (born 1920) and the boy on right is Mel's brother, Ivan Hector Culbert (born 1918). Ivan Hector Culbert was probably named after Grant's father, Hector Taylor.

In 1939, Grant enrolled in the 4-year Honours Chemistry program at the University of Western Ontario in London. He left at the end of his third year to join the army on 10 July 1942.

Source: Exeter Times-Advocate, 16 Jul 1942, page 8.

Following training at Brockville, Petawawa and Kingston, he proceeded overseas on the Queen Elizabeth ship in July 1943 as an artillery reinforcement officer. He trained in England for a year, proceeded to France in July 1944, was taken on strength of the 13^th Canadian Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery of the 3^rd Canadian Division on 18 August 1944, and served with this regiment throughout the rest of the European campaign – through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany. Grant then volunteered for service in the Pacific Theatre of Operations and was struck off strength the regiment on 11 June 1945. After some time in England, he returned to Canada on the Nieu Amsterdam ship and disembarked at Halifax on 26 July 1945.

Grant said there was another factor besides patriotism in his decision to volunteer for the Pacific Force. It was his desire to get back to Canada as soon as possible to see a pretty, dark-haired Nova Scotia girl by the name of Jean Elizabeth Walker (1925-2007) whom he had met before going overseas. Grant took part of his disembarkation leave in Nova Scotia and he and Jean were married on 4 August 1945 at the home of her parents, Charles David Walker and Mamie Drucilla Reeves of Windsor, Nova Scotia where Mr. Walker was manager of McKenzie’s Creamery and Dairy.

Source: Exeter Times-Advocate, 2 Aug 1945, page 1.

After a short honeymoon at a small seaside hotel, Grant and Jean went to Exeter, Ontario to spend the rest of his leave with his parents. Before the leave was over, Japan surrendered. Although he still had to report to Petawawa, his chances for early release from the army appeared good, so Jean remained in Exeter. The good luck that had accompanied Grant from the time of his enlistment continued. After about two weeks at Camp Petawawa an order was published which read something like this: “All service personnel who discontinued their education to join the Armed Forces and who have proof of readmission to a recognized school, university or college, may obtain an immediate discharge.” Grant had such a letter from the registrar at Western. He was demobilized on the 18^th of September, he and Jean found accommodation in London and he started classes on the first day of the fall term.

Grant graduated the following spring of 1946 with a B.Sc. in Honours Chemistry. He obtained a job as an analytical chemist with Polymer Corporation, the Crown corporation formed during the war to produce synthetic rubber for the wartime needs of the British Empire, and he and Jean moved to Sarnia, Ontario.

Grant Taylor with his wife, Jean Elizabeth Walker and their son, David Kent Taylor. Photo taken in 1958 in Exeter, Ontario at the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of Grant's parents.

Grant and Jean lived in Sarnia for the next 25 years during which Grant held various technical and business positions with Polymer. He then left Polymer, took a position as Industrial Development Officer with the Chemicals Branch of the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, and he and Jean moved to Ottawa. In September 1977, Grant resigned from the Public Service, he and Jean returned to Sarnia and he rejoined his old company (by then renamed Polysar Inc.) under a management contract as Director, Corporate Relations. Three years later he decided not to renew his contract but to retire early. In the spring of 1981, Grant and Jean moved to Nova Scotia and built a retirement home in the university town of Wolfville in the Annapolis Valley.

One of Grant’s major activities for many years was service in the militia. At the time of his militia retirement in October 1963, he was Commanding Officer of the 7^th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. Always interested in education, Grant served four years on the Sarnia Board of Education, including serving as chairman in 1967, and two years on the Lambton County Board of Education. A professional member of the Chemical Institute of Canada for 30 years, he is a past chairman of the Analytical Chemistry Division and a past member of the National Council. He represented Polymer Corp. in the Petroleum Section of the American Society for Testing Materials and in the American Society for Statistical Quality Control. Grant was a former member of the Society of Chemical Industry and while in Ottawa was head of the Canadian delegation to the International Rubber Study Group. He was a Past President of the Rotary Club of Wolfville and served four years on the Planning Advisory Committee of the Town of Wolfville. His hobbies besides family history were gardening, reading and walking. 

Left to right: Grant's wife, Elizabeth Jean Walker; Grant Taylor; and Mary (Earl) Kerslake, the wife of Grant's cousin Howard Kerslake of Exeter, Ontario. Photo taken in Exeter, Ontario in September, 1986.

Left to right: Grant's wife Jean Elizabeth Walker; Grant's cousin Josie (Kerslake) Ryckman of Exeter, Ontario; and Grant Taylor. Photo taken in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on 19 June 2005.

Grant’s wife, Jean Elizabeth (Walker) Taylor died 21 June 2007. Grant William Taylor died soon after on 4 October 2007 in Kentville, Nova Scotia.

GRANT’S FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

If you’re someone who’s done a lot of research on the descendants of John Taylor and Mary Clarke, you’re probably familiar with Grant W. Taylor’s family history books. Grant was the author of a three-volume history of the Taylor family, "A History of the John Taylor-Mary Clark Family and Their Descendants 1836-1987, v.1-3." Published in 1991 and 1992, the books contain a wealth of information about the eight branches of the John Taylor - Mary Clarke family. In fact, much of what I've written in this post about Grant is taken directly from his book.

VOLUME 1 covers branches 1 and 5, the two branches who left Pickering Township, Ontario, Canada in the mid-1850s and moved to Usborne Township in Huron County, Ontario.

Branch 1 – The John Taylor – Margaret Jane Mason Branch

Branch 5 – The Emily Taylor – James Lankin Branch.

 

VOLUME 2 covers only Branch 3, the largest of the eight branches.

Branch 3 – The Robert Taylor – Frances Dixon Branch.

 

VOLUME 3 covers the five remaining branches:

Branch 2 – The Will Taylor – Helen Peat Branch

Branch 4 – The Sarah Taylor – Andrew Annis Branch

Branch 6 – The James Taylor – Eleanor Fawcett Branch

Branch 7 – The Fanny Taylor – Jabez Collins Branch

Branch 8 – The Mary Taylor – James Brander Branch.

Grant’s three-volume family history is no longer in print. Copies of Grant W. Taylor’s book can be found at the following locations:

Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.

Western University in London, Ontario.

Vaughan Memorial Library at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

If you’re interested in consulting these books, call ahead as they may be housed off-site or in storage. Some locations may house reference copies only that cannot be borrowed.

The next images show a letter written by Grant W. Taylor to Gladys Culbert, the widow of his cousin, Cliff Culbert of Lucan, Ontario, describing the publication of his book…

NOTE to the descendants of Effie Pearl Taylor & Myron Manford Culbert: If you’re a descendant of Effie Pearl Taylor and Myron Manford Culbert you may be interested in reading a similar tribute about Grant W. Taylor that I posted on the Culbert Family History blog. If so, click here to read that post.

FAMILY TREE FOR GRANT W. TAYLOR:

Ancestors:

John Taylor & Mary Clarke (2x great-grandparents)

John Taylor & Mary Jane Mason (great-grandparents)

William Taylor & Mary Elizabeth Bennett (grandparents)

Hector Taylor & Ina Luella Kent (parents)

Grant William Taylor

Descendants (Children):

David Kent Taylor