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Seeking Sarah Silver Sparks

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  • Seeking Sarah Silver Sparks

    I’m having a lot of trouble finding this lady in 1841, or a birth/baptism for her, if anyone fancies having a look.

    Sarah Silver Spark(e)s was born c. 1810, parents George Sparkes (born Whittington, Staffordshire, c 1781) and Susannah Reader Parkes (born Coventry or Birmingham, Warwickshire c. 1783), who married in Coventry in 1804. George, a soldier, died in Surat, India, c. 1816, and Susannah must have died at the same time or earlier, because her mother Elizabeth Parkes of Coventry, widow, was appointed the children’s guardian and administrator of George’s estate in 1816.

    According to Elizabeth’s declaration of inventory, George had two surviving children, Mary Jones Sparkes (minor) and Sarah Silver Sparks (infant). Sarah died in the Isle of Wight in 1847, and her age is given as 37, so she should have been born about 1810.

    Her sister Mary Jones Sparkes was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, in 1806, and her birth is registered at the Orchard Street Independent Church in Coventry. Their birth/baptism register’s online, but Sarah isn’t included. I haven’t found her anywhere else on the IGI. I suppose she might have been born in India, but I’m not sure that families would have accompanied the soldiers at that time.

    I don’t know when her mother Susannah or her grandmother Elizabeth died, but at some stage Sarah went to live in the Isle of Wight with her aunt and uncle, Thomas Chatfield Cooke (born Newport, IoW c. 1783) and Elizabeth Cooke née Parkes (born Coventry c. 1789), Elizabeth Parkes’ daughter. According to a brief newspaper obit, Sarah’s address when she died was New Close, near Newport, IoW, which was Thomas Cooke’s house.

    Thomas and Elizabeth are living in High Street, Newport, in 1851, and I think they probably both died in the early 1860s. Haven’t found a definite death or will for either of them yet. I assume Sarah was with them in 1841, but I can’t find any of them. Can anyone else see them? I don’t have a death cert yet for Sarah, so I don’t know what she died of, ie. whether she was an invalid and likely to be at home, or might have been travelling somewhere.

    I found brief details of Sarah’s probate online: although she died in 1847, probate wasn’t taken out till 1863, maybe when her uncle died.

    Any thoughts?
    Last edited by Mary from Italy; 01-08-09, 15:25.

  • #2
    Mary I have searched and searched for Thomas and Elizabeth and Sarah Sparks, but can't find them anywhere on the 1841 census.
    Wendy



    PLEASE SCAN AT 300-600 DPI FOR RESTORATION PURPOSES. THANK YOU!

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    • #3
      Strange, isn't it! I've spent ages on them, too. Thanks very much for trying, though - at least I know it's not just me

      Thomas must have been a fairly wealthy man - he's shown in the 1851 census as a magistrate and landowner. I wonder if they were abroad?

      Do any of the IoW members happen to know the Newport area? I'm curious to know if his house, New Close, south-west of Newport, is still standing. Can't find any recent references to it online.

      There was apparently a famous monster yucca plant growing there at one time, according to a Spanish site.

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      • #4
        I live in Carisbrooke mary, which is just outside Newport, so will see if I can find out. I expect my OH might know as he was born in Carisbrooke.
        Wendy



        PLEASE SCAN AT 300-600 DPI FOR RESTORATION PURPOSES. THANK YOU!

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        • #5
          Thanks, Wendy, I think it should be somewhere near Carisbrooke.

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          • #6
            Just remembered there are several references to New Close on TNA, which describe it as "House and land called New Close in the p's. St. Nicholas, Carisbrooke and Gatcombe, I.W.".

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            • #7
              My OH says that there is Newclose Cricket Ground at Blackwater, which is just outside Newport, which could possibly be the area you are looking for. He can't think of anywhere else though.

              If you really want to know where it was, I would suggest you send an e-mail to Newport RO and ask them. The County Archivist, Richard Smout, lives in Carisbrooke, and is very helpful and knowledgable, and would probably know exactly where it was.
              Wendy



              PLEASE SCAN AT 300-600 DPI FOR RESTORATION PURPOSES. THANK YOU!

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              • #8
                Yes, I noticed the cricket ground while I was googling. I'll try the RO, thanks for the information (and thank you to OH).

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