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Not Brentford
Will of John Clarke, 1856
Abstract of will
I John Clarke of Old Brentford, lime & coal merchant...... to be buried in my family vault in the parish church of Ealing
... son Samuel: freehold, capital messuage with garden ... in which I live in Old Brentford
... sons Samuel & George share port
... daughter Mary gets the sherry
... son Samuel: small property adjoining property eastward formerly in the occupation of Miss JAMES and now of Mr STONE(?);
2 pieces of land on west side of Windmill Lane in the parish of Ealing in the tenure or occupation of James TRIMMER and widow MASON;
also land or ground Little Brook Shot on the east side of Windmill Lane aforesaid in the occupation of George STEPHENSON together with the small cottage erected by me thereon;
also close of meadow land in my own occupation also on east side of Windmill Lane called Brook Shot Field with the cottage and buildings thereon;
5 messuages or tenements on the south side of the Street in New Brentford and near to a Public House called the Catherine Wheel and which are in the several tenures or occupations of Charles LANCE, Jonah WOOD, William GARDINER, widow DALE and George LACK and the piece of ground in the occupation of William GRAINGER
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... George Clarke (presumably the son): messuages at the bottom or south end of Boars Head Yard in New Brentford a shed in the occupation of Robert WALKER, a tenement in the occupation of widow AYRES, Thomas LANE (or PRINCE?);
2 closes of meadow land on the west side of Windmill Lane in my own occupation;
barn & upper fields;
also Lott Meadow in the parish of Ealing in my own occupation;
also 2 Aytes or Ozier Beds in the Thames at Brentford near to the ferry in the tenure or occupation of Thomas BOWDEN;
also property in Hammersmith let to (-) GROOM baker but now in the occupation of (-) COXFORD baker;
freehold house on the south side of the street in New Brentford on the tenure or occupation of Thomas LYNDLEY, orange merchant
... my daughter Sarah JONES formerly Sarah CLARKE spinster: messuage in Still Street Richmond in the occupation of George ROBINSON butcher
... daughter Emma PITT formerly Emma CLARKE spinster wife of Edward William PITT Lieutenant in Royal Navy
... two sons Samuel Clarke and George Clarke executors
... dated 15th October 1842
... witnessed by William G LYLE Warwick Chambers Grays Inn and Ann Esther LYLE
... codicil dated 19th December 1854
... witnessed by Charles ANSOM New Brentford Clerk to Board of Guardians
... proved at London on 1st May 1856
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The testator
See Janet McNamara's research into the Clarke family. John Clarke was about 74 when he wrote his will and about 88 when he died. He lived at no. 80 High Street.The family
It was possible to track the family members in census returns: the daughter Mary, who remained in the family home, was born in Brentford, suggesting her siblings were also Brentford-born. George Henry Pitt helped tie the family together, living with his aunt Sarah in 1851, his uncle Samuel in 1861 and his mother Emma in 1871.Samuel Clarke: son of John, he took over the business when his father died and is recorded at no. 80 as a fundholder in 1861; his nephew George Henry Pitt, 35, Inland Revenue clerk was living with the Clarkes in 1861
George Clarke: a George Clark slate merchant was living in The Butts, New Brentford in 1841, with his wife Mary, two young daughters and three servants
Sarah Jones: daughter; in 1851 a Sarah Jones, age 49, born Brentford was living Chelsea with her husband Thomas (clerk in War Office) and son Alfred (9); the household also included George Henry Pitt, a nephew, age 25, clerk in the Inland Revenue Department, born Bath Somerset
Mary Clarke: daughter, she was a housekeeper aged 55 in 1851 to her father and a fundholder in 1861, living with her brother Samuel who had inherited no. 80
Emma Pitt: daughter, married Edward William Pitt at Ealing by licence in 1817; in 1871 she was a widow, living in Putney with her son George Pitt who was a 45 years old clerk in the Inland Revenue
TopOther people named
I have concentrated on people who lived on or near the High Street (which is just 'the Street' in the will):5 messuages or tenements on the south side of the Street in New Brentford and near to a Public House called the Catherine Wheel and which are in the several tenures or occupations of Charles Lance, Jonah Wood, William Gardiner, widow Dale and George Lack (who lived near the Catherine Wheel PH) : the 1841 census records George Lack, pork butcher; Mary Dale; William Gardiner, brick… etc; Jonah Wood, tailor; Charles Lance, carpenter at numbers 89 - 93; the Catherine Wheel was at no. 94
piece of ground in the occupation of William Grainger: William Grainger, like John Clarke, was a coal merchant and he was recorded at no. 86 in the 1841 and 1851 censuses
2 Aytes or Ozier Beds in the Thames at Brentford near to the ferry in the tenure or occupation of Thomas Bowden: a Thomas Bowden is recorded in Pigot and Co's directory of 1839 as a basket maker in Old Brentford
freehold house on the south side of the street in New Brentford on the tenure or occupation of Thomas LYNDLEY, orange merchant: a John Lindley, fruiterer, lived at 147 High Street in 1841
How to see this will in full
A copy of the original will can be downloaded from The National Archives Documents Online service, or it can be viewed free of charge by visiting TNA at Kew.Published pre-2017
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