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.

Taylors on the Move - Pickering Township and Beyond

Source: www.ontarioplaques.com/

John Taylor and Mary Clarke emigrated from Snettisham, Norfolk, England to Canada in 1836. They spent several months in Toronto where John Taylor teamed grain and flour to and from the mill on the Humber River, now the site of the Old Mill Inn. In the spring of 1837, they moved to and settled in Pickering Township in what is now the Province of Ontario but was then known as Upper Canada.
 

The 100-acre John Taylor-Mary Clarke homestead was located at N1/2 Lot 32, Concession 1 in Pickering Township. Image courtesy of Ron Marshall.

Only four of John and Mary's eight grown children stayed in Pickering Township. The other four children sought land elsewhere in Ontario.

The following list shows where John Taylor and Mary Clarke's adult children lived:

John Taylor and his wife, Margaret Jane Mason moved c1855 to Usborne Township in Huron County. They lived at Lot C, Concession 9.

Photo courtesy of Dorothy (Kerslake) Coolman.

John Taylor and Margaret Jane Mason lived at Lot C, Concession 9 in Usborne Township, several miles from Exeter, Ontario. Image courtesy of Ron Marshall.

William Taylor and his wife, Helen Peat stayed in Pickering Township. They lived at Lot 29, Concession 2. William died at home on this property in 1919.

Robert Taylor and his wife, Frances "Fanny" Dixon moved in 1854 to Lot 11, Concession 13 in Ashfield Township in the northern part of Huron County. Their property was about 2-3 miles from Lucknow, and 22 miles from Goderich. In January, 1875 they sold the property and they were living in East Nissouri Township in Oxford County but it's not known exactly where they lived. In 1878, they moved to Lot 1, Concession 12 in Brooke Township, Lambton County.

Robert Taylor (1826-1915)

Sarah Taylor and her husband, Andrew Annis moved to Lot 1, Concession 1, Port Union, Scarborough Township. Their property was known as Mount Pleasant Farm, and their stone house (built by Andrew Annis) was known affectionately as "The Manor."

"The Manor": home of the Sarah Taylor-Andrew Annis family in Port Union, Scarborough Township at what is now the corner of Lawrence Avenue & Port Union Road. The house was demolished in 1974 to make way for a shopping plaza.

Emily Taylor and her husband, James Lankin moved to Lot D, Concession 9 in Usborne Township, Huron County; the farm adjacent to her brother, John Taylor. The 1871 Census shows that the Emily Taylor-James Lankin family have moved to Blanshard Township, Perth County at Lot 16, Concession W13. Eventually, they moved back to Usborne Township (Woodham) living on part of Lot 12, SE Boundary.

Emily Taylor & James Lankin lived for awhile at Lot D, Concession 9 in Usborne Township. This property was later owned by Emily's nephew, William Taylor and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Bennett. Image courtesy of Ron Marshall.

Another property owned by James Lankin & Emily Taylor. Lot 16, Concession W13 in Blanshard Township, Perth County, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Ron Marshall.

James Clark Taylor (Jimmie Clark) and his wife, Eleanor Helen Fawcett stayed in Pickering Township. They lived at first on a section of the Taylor homestead with Jimmie's mother, Mary (Clarke) Taylor at NW1/4 Lot 32, Concession 1. Later, Jimmie, Eleanor, their children, and Jimmie's mother moved to N1/2 Lot 29, Concession 2.

The James Taylor-Eleanor Fawcett family lived on the north half of Lot 29, Concession 2 in Pickering Township, near the hamlet of Cherrywood.

 
Fanny Taylor and her husband, Jabez Collins stayed in Pickering Township, farming at Lot 33, Concession 1; the lot next to the John Taylor-Mary Clarke homestead. 

Fanny Taylor's husband, Jabez Collins. If anyone has a photo of Fanny Taylor, please contact me.

Mary Ann Taylor and her husband, James Brander stayed in Pickering Township. They lived on a 50-acre farm at Lot 27, Concession 2, across from the Erskine Church & Cemetery.
 

Erskine Church & Cemetery across the road from the Mary Ann Taylor-James Brander property. Erskine Church is near the corner of Finch Avenue and Fairport Road in the Dunbarton neighbourhood of Pickering, Ontario.

Note: If you have additional photos of any of these families, please contact me at this email address:

The John Taylor - Mary Clarke Property in Pickering Township

Following an ocean crossing of more than six weeks, our ancestors, John Taylor and Mary Clarke arrived in Quebec on 2 July 1836. They spent several months in Toronto where John Taylor teamed grain and flour to and from the mill on the Humber River, now the site of the Old Mill Inn. In the spring of 1837, they moved to and settled in Pickering Township in what is now the Province of Ontario but was then known as Upper Canada. In Pickering Township, they settled on the north half of Lot 32, Concession 1. The nearest hamlet was Cherrywood.

At the time, it was a wilderness of pines and hardwood trees. The appearance of the area has changed dramatically since the family settled. Thankfully, in the midst of today's urban landscape there remains an area of natural beauty: the Altona Forest. The Altona Forest has been designated an environmentally significant area due to its ecological and historical importance.

An 1860 landowner's map shows that the north section of Lot 32, Concession 1 had been further subdivided and that half was owned by John Taylor and half by S. Hollinger. 

Here is an approximate outline of the Taylor property if go looking for it today. You can see that the modern boundaries are Finch Avenue and Altona Road in Pickering...

2018 map showing location of John Taylor's property.

The History of Cherrywood by George Cober contains an error on page 7, saying that the Taylors settled on Concession 2 when in fact it was Concession 1. Page 4 of a monograph entitled, History of Pickering lists the correct information for Taylor's property as Lot 32, Concession 1...

Thanks to Becky George, Local History & Genealogy Librarian at the Pickering Library for her assistance in locating John Taylor's property.

The 8 Branches of the John Taylor–Mary Clarke Family

This mural depicts the construction of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1867. It's located at the Wesleyan Cemetery at Highland Creek, Scarborough Township where John Taylor and Mary (Clarke) Taylor are buried.

Each branch of the John Taylor-Mary Clarke family represents one of John and Mary’s children and their descendants.

The 8 branches of the John Taylor-Mary Clarke family are as follows:

Branch 1: The John Taylor-Margaret Jane Mason branch.

Branch 2: The William Taylor-Helen Peat branch.

Branch 3: The Robert Taylor-Frances Dixon branch.

Branch 4. The Sarah Taylor-Andrew Annis branch.

Branch 5. The Emily Taylor-James Lankin 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.

For detailed information on the 8 branches of the John Taylor-Mary Clarke family, consult the three volumes written by Grant W. Taylor, “A History of the John Taylor-Mary Clark Family and their descendants 1836-1987.”

Grant W. Taylor’s book is divided into three volumes as follows:

V. 1. Branch 1, The John Taylor-Margaret Jane Mason branch and Branch 5, the Emily Taylor-James Lankin branch. v. 2. Branch 3, the Robert Taylor-Frances Dixon branch. v. 3. Branch 2, the William 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; and Branch 8, the Mary Taylor-James Brander branch. Note: Branches 1 and 5 are grouped together in the same volume because these are the two branches that left Pickering Township in the mid-1850s and moved to Usborne Township in Huron County, Ontario. Copies of 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.