John Henry Cleare (1805 - 1881)

Born 24 May 1805 in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Saunders) Cleare — married 5 Mar 1830 in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1881 at age 76 in Harbour Island, Bahamas

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Peter Roberts [send private message]

Biography

John Cleare is part of a Bahamian family.

John was a Sailmaker.

John Henry Cleare was born 24 May 1805 in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas to John Cleare and Jane Unknown Cleare. He was christened, 11 March 1806, at St Matthew's Anglican Church, Nassau.

Mr. Cleare married Elizabeth Saunders 5 March 1830 at Harbour Island. They had children, among them: Elizabeth Jane Cleare, John Thomas Cleare, William Henry "Billie Beau" Cleare, Thomas Henry Cleare, Joseph Henry Cleare, Mary Ann Elizabeth Cleare (died young), and George Henry Cleare.

John and his brothers, William and Thomas Clear, jointly owned two slaves, Peter and Jim, whom they registered in 1831 and 1834. They acquired them from the estate of John Cleare (their father) in 1829. The brothers received 34 pounds, 8 shillings, 1 pence in compensation for freeing them in 1836.

John Cleare, sailmaker, died 7 August 1881 in Harbour Island, Bahamas. He was 76 years of age.

NOTE: There was a John Clear, born 11 October 1799 in Harbour Island. He died 26 July 1804. The Parish of St John's Burial Records noted he was the "son of John and Jean."

NOTE: The question of Geoffrey/Jeffrey Cleare. Was this a nickname for John Henry Cleare? This name appears in the 1915 Florida death record of Elizabeth Jane Cleare Roberts, daughter of John Henry and Elizabeth Saunders Cleare. It does not appear in Bahamas records and it wasn't a name given to the five Cleare sons or other family Cleares. (Betsy is easily a nickname for Elizabeth.)

- Contributed by Ann Carmel

Research Notes

1. A marriage record was found for John Henry Cleare, laborer, to Jane Albury, 4 July 1868, Wesleyan Chapel, Harbor Island, Bahamas.

• "Bahamas Records," images, FamilySearch [1] accessed January 2, 2024, image 49 of 744; Bahamas. Registrar General. John Henry Cleare, laborer, Jane Albury, 4 July 1868, Wesleyan Chapel, Harbor Island, Bahamas. Elijah H. Lumner and John Albury witnesses.

The relationship between the John Henry Cleare who married Jane Albury in 1858 and the John Henry Cleare described in this profile is not obvious at this time.

2. Rosana Cleare married Abram Ceruti, a sailmaker. The relationship between John Henry Cleare, sailmaker, and Rosana Cleare also needs to be explored further. The possibility that Rosana was John and Elizabeth's daughter cannot be excluded at this time.

Sources

Birth and Baptism Registers, St Matthew's Anglican Church, Nassau, Bahamas, Cleare, 1806.

University of Florida, Bahamas Collections, Marriages Index, Box 6, Cleare-Saunders, 1830.

Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1813-1834, Bahamas, 1831, # 221; 1834, #1001.

Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, 25th Apr 1836 | 2 Enslaved | £34 8S 1D. John Cleare, Thomas Cleare & William Cleare. Parliamentary Papers, page 149.

"Bahamas Civil Registration, 1850-1959," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RS5-9GMP?cc=1922411&wc=Q4ZG-16D%3A216290201 : 20 May 2014), Deaths 1877-1882 > image 417.

DNA

Paternal 4th Great Grandfather of Y-DNA kit 151455