Frances Clarke

Frances married John Sanford 6 Sep 1689. John (son of Samuel Sanford and Sarah Wodell) was born 10 Jun 1668. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The will of Jeremiah Clarke of Newport, yeoman, dated 13 June 1728 (codicil 9 Jan 1729), and proved 3 Feb 1728/9, mentions his wife Anne; 5 sons as follows: Weston, James, Samuel deceased, Jeremiah, and Henry; and (probably) 4 daughters: Unnamed Weeden deceased, Anne Greenman, Sarah Weeden, and Frances Sanford deceased. The will also mentions 4 grandsons, all sons of Samuel: John, Audley, Samuel, and Daniel. There are no other Clarke grandsons mentioned. He does mention other grandchildren, children of his two deceased daughters.

Notes from a family tree at ancestry.com (to be confirmed):
"Jeremiah, son of Jeremiah Clarke, was born 1643, died January 16, 1729. In 1666 he was a freeman. In 1696-98-99-1700-01-02-03-04-05, he was deputy. He was ordained deacon of the Second Baptist Church in 1701. He deeded one-half of his lands in Providence and in Connecticut to his son James, September 17, 1691, and on the same date, the other half of the above lands to his son-in-law, Jeremiah Weeden, for three pounds, and the sum of three pounds annually during the life of Jeremiah and his wife Ann. He married Ann Audley, who died December 15, 1732. Children: Jeremiah, Henry, James, Samuel, Weston, Frances (born December 15, 1669), Mary (died 1756, married Jeremiah Weeden), Anne (born 1675), and Sarah (died 1729)."

Note: the above can't be exactly correct, because Mary must be the deceased daughter in the above will, written in 1728. It appears that Mary had to have died before 13 June 1728. One family tree has Mary's sister Sarah marrying her brother-in-law Jeremiah Weeden, after Mary died. That would make more sense. I believed it means to say that Jeremiah Weeden died in 1756.

Jeremiah married Anna Audley Abt 1665. Anna died 15 Dec 1732. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

See "The Great Migration Begins" p 1350, which disputes the identity of Jeremiah's wife.

Notes:

His name is often spelled Jeremy. Jeremiah and Frances came to America about 1638 and settled at Newport, RI.

He signed the Portsmouth Compact in 1639.

Jeremy, one of the original settlers of Newport, RI, is a direct descendant of King Edward I of England and his wife Eleanor of Castile, through their daughter Joan Plantagenet, who died in 1307.

Jeremy Clarke, son of Mary Weston, was a nephew of Sir Richard Weston, Earl of Portland and Lord Treasurer of England.

Jeremy was a captain (according to his wife's tombstone inscription), in 1648 was President Regent of Aquidneck Island, and held other public offices. His death in 1651 was later recorded in the Quaker records.

His son Walter Clarke later became Governor of RI, and was one of the original proprietors of the Monmouth Patent, NJ.

Jeremy married Frances LATHAM Abt 1637. Frances (daughter of Lewis LATHAM and Elizabeth Unknown) was born 15 Feb 1609/10, Kempston, Bedford, England; died Sep 1677, Newport, RI; was buried , Governor's Lot, Newport, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

When Frances died in 1677, she left 86 grandchildren.

The following note is from a website: "The writer can state definitely that the Dungan family, of whom were the Earls of Limerick, was the only manorial family into which Frances Latham could have married, her father being the King's Sergeant Falconer, and a member of his household. There is no doubt in the writer's mind after an extended search, that William Dungan was a grandson of Sir John Dungan by his wife Margaret Forster, and this conclusion was arrived at by Mr. Howard O. Folker and an Irish genealogist in Dublin, who conducted their investigations without consultation with the writer." (source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mylines/dungan108_09.htm)

The following information is from another website: http://pages.prodigy.net/reed_wurts/heraldry/latham.htm

Frances Latham now generally called "The Mother of Governors," because no less than fourteen of her direct descendants, and many sons-in-law in succeeding generations, became Governors or Lieut. Governors. Baptized 15 February 1609/10, she was the eldest of nine children of Lewis Latham whose portrait is in the collection of the late George W. Elkins, a descendant of Lewis Latham.

He who was of Elston, co. Bedford, England, was born about, 1584 and buried 15 May 1655, aged about 71 years. He was a member of the King's household, and Falconer to Prince Henry in 1612, and later was Sergeant Falconer to King Charles I.

ARMS-Or, on a chief indented azure, three bezants
CREST-An eagle standing on an empty cradle with wings displayed, reguardant or.

(NEHGR, Roll of Arms, Vol. LXXXII, p. 156; A.R. Justice, ANCESTRY OF JEREMY CLARKE..., p. 72)

We can imagine Frances as a young girl on the moors in companionship with her father as he attended the Royal Princes, Henry and Charlie, in their hunting with falcons, ever a favorite royal sport, the birds being highly trained to search out and pounce upon rabbit, grouse and other small game and bring them to their master.

Frances Latham was married in 1627 at age 17 to William Dungan, Gentleman, who was born about 1606, a London Merchant and Perfumer. His wares were in great demand and quite necessary to offset the obnoxious odors arising from the gutters in a thickly settled district subject to heavy fog and having surface drainage.

They made their home at St. Martins-in-the-Fields where later he died and was buried 20 September 1636, leaving her a widow at age 26 with four little children between the ages of 2 and 8 years. By his Will dated 13 September 1636 he gave all his property to his wife Frances, after bequeathing

Notes:

William Clarke was a Gentleman of East Farleigh, County Kent, England; and St. Botolph, Aldgate, London.

William married Mary WESTON Abt 10 Feb 1598/99, St. Andrews Holborn, England. Mary (daughter of Jerome WESTON and Mary CAVE) was born Abt Apr 1579. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mary was the daughter of a Knight, Sir Jerome Weston, and sister of a Knight, Sir Richard Weston. Richard was knighted by King James I on 23 July 1603, raised to the peerage by King Charles I on 13 Apr 1628, as Baron Weston of Neyland. He was also appointed Lord High Treasurer on 23 July 1628, and declared the first Earl of Portland on 17 Feb 1632/3.

Notes:

Lewis Latham, Gentleman, was sergeant falconer to King Charles I.

Lewis died at age 80. His will, dated 6 May 1653 and proved 1 Sep 1655, leaves legacies to sons Henry and John; dtrs Ann Segar, Frances Clarke, Catherine Garrett, Elizabeth Bibble, Ellen Sherringham, and Winifred Downes; his wife and executrix was Winifred Latham.

Lewis married Elizabeth Unknown Abt 1606, England. Elizabeth died Abt 12 Sep 1620, Elstow, Bedfordshire, England; was buried 14 Sep 1620, Elstow, Bedfordshire, England. [Group Sheet]