George was the son of James Clerke and Elizabeth Ferrers.[1][2][3] He may have been born at Forde Hall, Wrotham, Kent where his father had his main residence. His birth date is not known, but his parents married in about 1508 and he was probably their third son, so he was almost certainly born after 1510. (Douglas Richardson gives that year as his birth year but it is not clear what sourcing there is for that.)[4][5]
George married Elizabeth Wilsford, daughter of Thomas Wilsford[1][2] and Elizabeth Culpeper, in about 1533.[3][4][5] They probably married in Kent, where both families lived. They had the following children:
On 10 February 1553/4, near Wrotham, Kent, George supported Lord Abergavenny and Sir Robert Southwell, Sheriff of Kent, in defeating a group of participants in Wyatt's rebellion.[3][4][5]
George died at Wrotham, Kent on 6 March 1558/9 and was buried there on 8 March.[3][4][5] An Inquisition Post Mortem was held in 1 Elizabeth I (17 November 1558-16 November 1559).[7]
Faris, David. Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-century Colonists, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1996, p. 65
Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of certain American Colonists who came to America before 1700, 8th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004, p. 16, line 11/38
Acknowledgements
Magna Carta Project
This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta project by Michael Cayley on 9 January 2023.
See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with George by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:
This isn't a genealogical note as much as an interesting one. I went back to Forde Hall in 2018 to see the old family home. The owner says she has a ghost named George. I asked if she was aware George was a Clerke/Clark family name and she wasn't. She did talk about the person who had it as a home prior to her and there were lots of scandalous tales of the Culpepers hanging about in the 16th century or so. Forde Hall is still an amazing building with much of the woodwork being original.
Clarke-3700 and Clerke-24 appear to represent the same person because: Nothing in the Unsourced profile suggests that it represents anyone other than Clerke-24. I adopted the Unsourced profile only in order to foster a merge.
Clerke-24 and Clerke-51 do not represent the same person because: these are husband and wife. george clarke and mrs george clerke. they are NOT the same person
- now DONE
edited by Michael Cayley