Doberitz Prisioner of War camp near Berlin Germany .
John Robert Clarke from Blisworth .Northampton, was held in this camp. He died of starvation and was buried in Latvia.
Men who died in WWI and WWII .They came from Blisworth. Northampton. The memorial is in the Churchyard of STJOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH .BLISWORTH
photo taken by unknown person.
An old door and lock of St Crispins Mental Hospital Northampton.
Photo. facebook.
Melbourne Australia
Wellington Barracks.Birdcage Walk London.Grenadier Guards.
photo . flickr. norman
Alice Milne and Sarah Clarke in Malta
Clarke family of Northamptonshire.England
I always thought it too much hard work to begin to look for the the Clarke family of Northamptonshire.
There are so many people named Clarke. When i was at school in 1950-60 there was another Susan Clarke. the headmistress was Miss Clarke. She didnt do me any favours because we had the same surname.
My inmediate family of Clarke were all from Blisworth,Northants.
in 1960`s there was Martha Clarke. George Clarke and family[including me] Alfred Clarke and Gertrude Clarke nee Rose
.Fred Clarke and family and another family of distant cousins living in Courteenhall Road Blisworth. 2014 i dont think there are any of the Clarke family living in the village. Some of the remaining Clarke family live in the villages surrounding Blisworth.
.In WWI two of the Clarke brothers died in the war. one blown up and one died of starvation in a prisoner of war camp in Germany.
Their sister was taken to St crispins mental Hospital northampton as a teenager because she had a baby out of marriage .The baby was a boy and he died young. His father was the son of a vicar.My grandfather Alfred Henry Clarke was a brother of John and Joseph and Martha and Annie Clarke. From an account by my father George Clarke i remember that he had joined up to serve with the Ist Battalion the Grenadier Guards and was a stationed in London at Wellington Barracks Birdcage Walk. He had his photo taken wearing his uniform , with the red jacket.Later on they was to find out he has joined while he was underage. He was dismissed from his service and sent home.I wonder if he joined up to try to help out at home with money for his grandparents and widowed mother He applied to the Railway and was to work all his life for them.his main interests was his garden. He grew flowers and all the vegetables the family needed.Not a weed in sight and all plants in a very straight row, something I never seem to achieve.
The Clarke family family from Blisworth had married into local families and so was related to many people in the village. This includes the Thorpe family who lived at Crieff House on the corner of High Street and Stoke Road.
Mr Thorpe was a friend of the family and always pleasant to us all. He was on duty at the local Agriculture show held in Overstone Park near Northampton. He was a steward for the Northamptonshire farmers . We all had to wear badges with visitor and Northamptonshire farmers written on them. This gave us free food in certain tents. They had a large tent set up to entertain the farmers and families for tea and cakes. We was treated like royalty there .Mr Thorpe would see us to a table and we could have anything we wanted. Out side was the main ring where the show of animals including horses and carriage's went on.Little did I know that Mr Thorpe was a cousin of my father .Though Mr Thorpes family . The family was cousins of MISS MARPLES Joan Hickson .A television series many of the family enjoyed watching. She had come to Blisworth to live during the second world war. Her married name was Mrs Butler. Pam Newman who ran the post office for a time in Blisworth remembers her walking around the village with a large round wicker basket. I wonder if part of the series was based on her time living in Blisworth and the village life she enjoyed.George Clarke always said Joan Hickson lived in Carrie Clarke`s cottage opposite Blisworth Church.The programme of the series of Miss Marple has been seen all over the world in many countries.
While Sarah my second daughter was working at the theatres as a lighting technican she met many famous people including David Jason [fools and horses] Paul o`Grady .It was David Jason who said she looked like Diana Princess of Wales and should join a look alike agency .While working on London sarah was seen by Japanese tourists in a coach , they all shouted and waved thinking she was Diana. This got me thinking if they look alike maybe we are related to the Spencer family.After a lot of research I was able to find the connection dating back many generation's. William Knightley =Dorothy Golafre .This brought the Spencers into the tree.
It wasnt until i began to look into the history of the Clarke family via ANCESTRY.CO.UK that i was able to find some of our family had emigrated to Australia during the gold rush.
On doing more research i have been able to find a 3rd great grand daughter of Anne Wilks nee Clarke from Blisworth still alive and i will be writing a letter to her as she doesnt have access to the internet. she is 83 years old and lives near the coast in Victoria Australia. over time i will be writing what made the family travel all that way for a new life and where they lived and worked.
She has received my letter [ july17th2013] and is very happy to know she has a relation still near the place where her ancestor Anne Clarke left home to go to London then Melbourne. Victoria. Australia
Two of the Clarke family died in the WW1. Joseph Thomas Clarke. died 31 July 1917 survived the battle of the Somme and was made to build roads, only to be killed at ammo dump by an enemy shell in Normandy.
His brother John Robert Clarke was marched to Doberitz camp near Berlin Germany where he was a prisoner of war. He died of starvation as many men died . He was buried in Latvia in a small tree shaded graveyard with 31 other commonwealth men. My father had always worried that he was buried in Russia in the snow on his own.
John Robert Clarke was a British Rail Guard and lived in a railway cottage in Fletton Peterborough. He was married in 1909 to Anne French who came from Nottingham . The marriage took place in Nottingham. Her father was Charles French. She had many brothers and sisters.
I can find no list of any children, but anyone knows different please let me know.
The family of Clarke who lived in Hartwell Northants had ancestors who came from Blisworth. The Crick family also lived in Hartwell at the same time. one of the famous men who ancestors came from Hartwell was Francis .h .Crick who discovered DNA. He is remembered in Northampton with a monument in the middle of Abington street Northampton. This will be moved in 2014 as the street will be opened up again for traffic and people will have to walk on paths instead of walking any where in the street.it is many years since there was traffic moving down Abington street.The family of F.Crick has been asked where they would like the monument moved to.
SusanClarke owner of this photograph due to printer/ copy problems at the moment i have copied my photo from Blisworth web site. more about the family can be found there.
below is, left , Bob young[owner of grocery shop. George Clarke with Sally the dog. Mr Green son of Albert Green the headmaster of Blisworth school in 1920`S
George Henry Clarke worked on the railways all his working life. We was brought up that work came first and the family had to fit in with that. George was trained to work on the S&T.He retrained in 1960`s at Bletchley Park in the big house as the railways became electric He worked with many men including Baroness Glenys Kinnock father Cyril .M.Parry who was a signal man on the railway.
