William Clarkson (1805 - 1858)

Born 11 Mar 1805 in Middlesex, England, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Ann (Nicholson) Clarkson — married 14 Feb 1831 in East India Church, Poplar, London, England.

Descendants

Died 8 Jan 1858 at age 52 in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Laurence Norton [send private message]

Biography

William Clarkson was born about 1804 in England, being baptised in London, Middlesex, on Christmas Day. He may have been the son of Thomas William Clarkson and Jane (Wallis) Clarkson.^[1]

William was a Policeman, Corn Dealer, and Coal Dealer in England.

He married Sarah Nicholson on 14 Feb 1831, at the East India Church, Poplar, London.

Their English-born children:

• Elizabeth Jane (Clarkson) Scott, 1833-1896
• George William Clarkson, 1834-1904
• Sarah Ann (Clarkson) Wilkins, b1835
• Thomas Nicholson Clarkson, 1837-1909
• Amelia (Clarkson) Neubent, b1839

Their New Zealand-born children:

• Suzannah Clarkson, 1841-1842
• John Alfred Clarkson, 1843-1898
• Benjamin Clarkson, 1845-1902
• Mary Ann Sarah (Clarkson) Carson, 1846-1889
• Thomas William Clarkson, 1848-1913
• Frederick Charles Clarkson. 1851-1929
• James Henry Scott Clarkson, 1854-1854

William Clarkson migrated from England to New Zealand.

William and Sarah arrived in Petone, New Zealand on 21 Apr 1840 on the sailing ship Bolton along with 200 plus other immigrants and 5 children after a 5 month voyage. William gave his occupation as "Farmer" on the ship's records, no doubt to assist with finding whatever work he could on arrival.

"Such was the rush of people to emigrate to New Zealand that they could not all be accommodated on the ships already chartered by the (New Zealand) Company, and an additional vessel put on the berth, to take those who had been shut out of previous ships, was the Bolton, 540 tons, Captain John Percival Robinson, which left Gravesend on November 19th, 1839, with 232 people on board. Three days later she was off the Isle of Wight, and took just under a month to reach Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, at which port she made a call. She was a slow craft, and did not make Port Nicholson until April 20th, 1840, being 154 days out from the Thames. All the Bolton's passengers were landed at the Thorndon Beach, and the greater part of them lived in very primitive shanties, known as 'Bolton Row', until they could build themselves something more substantial."

Ten years later, and now with 10 children, William and Sarah moved south to Lyttelton. Two more children were born in Lyttelton.

In Lyttelton, William worked as a boatman or lighterman. His first year int he port town would have been incredibly full as the small town awaited the arrival of the First Four Ships laden with settlers for Christchurch. About 300 hands were put to work in Lyttelton and over the Port Hills on the site of Christchurch, including 100 North Island Māori who headed back home in April 1850. For some time after the influx of settlers, Lyttelton was a transit camp, with the new arrivals gathering their possessions and failies and heading across the hills, mostly on foot. to find their new estates. Not all passed through, of course, some stayed to build the life of LYttelton itself and provide services to the many vessels arriving from 1850 on. William's work on the harbour would have been in high demand.^[2]

The Clarkson family joined the new Anglican church, Holy Trinity, which was completed in 1860, the first stone church in Canterbury.^[3] As as the family grew, marriages, christenings, confirmations and funerals were performed in that building.

By 1856 there were 548 people living in Lyttelton in 109 homes.^[4] Lyttelton's boatmen ran an efficient service to various points around the harbour, charging 10s from the jetty to Ripapa Island, 3s 6d to Purau, and 1s from any vessel to the wharf.^[5]

Thomas died at 54 years of age, in 1858. In these early days the death records did not give a cause of death, but we know he was buried in the Anglican Cemetery at Lyttelton on 9 Jan 1858.

A descendant writes: "William: according to what info was gathered from the Clarkson Reunion several years ago,was that William was born around Thirsk in Yorkshire and that his father was a corn merchant. Sarah it was said was " a Scottish lass," but nothing on where in Scotland she was born or parents' names, and we haven't been able to trace anything. There was a headstone placed on their daughter's grave in the Lyttelton Cemetery to mark their and their daughter's death and their arrival into NZ when the reunion was held, as even though they are buried in the graveyard there is no record of where. They arrived in NZ in 1840 and census records were not kept: once all information was gleaned from them they were destroyed and still are now as far as I know."^[6]

Research Notes

"William had a number of different jobs before leaving England, including Policeman, Corn Dealer, and Coal Dealer." This sentence has been moved here as we don't have sources to support it at this time.

• Christening: ^[7]
• Buried 9 JAN 1858. Lyttelton
• FSFTID KC34-41B.
• Baptism: 25 DEC 1804. London, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom.
• Note: Arrived in Petone New Zealand with Sarah in 21st April 1840 on the sailing ship Bolton along with 200 other immigrants and 5 children after a 5 month voyage. ten years later, and now with 10 children they moved to Lyttelton. Two more were born there.
• Hi Laurie, From what I can gather, William,according to what info was gathered from the Clarkson Reunion several years ago,was that William was born around Thirsk in Yorkshire and that his father? was a corn merchant.Sarah it was said was " A Scottish Lass" but nothing on where in Scotland she was born or parents names,and haven't been able to trace anything.There was a headstone placed on their daughters grave in the Lyttelton Cemetary to mark their and their daughters death and their arrival into NZ when the reunion was held as even though they are buried in the graveyard there is no record of where. They arrived in NZ in 1840 and census records were never kept once all information was gleaned from them they were destroyed and still are now as far as I know. Sorry can't help more on them. Best Regards, Adrienne.
• File Format: JPG. *Extract from Genealogical records of the Clarkson family. Scrapbook: Y. PHOTO Slideshow: Y. STIME 0.0.
• Marriage Status: MARRIED.
  • Husband William Clarkson.
  • Wife Sarah Ann Nicholson.
  • Child: Elizabeth Jane Clarkson.
  • Child: George William Clarkson.
  • Child: Sarah Ann Clarkson.
  • Child: @I336@.
  • Child: Amelia Clarkson.
  • Child: Suzannah Clarkson.
  • Child: John Alfred Clarkson.
  • Child: Benjamin Clarkson.
  • Child: Mary Ann Sarah Clarkson.
  • Child: Thomas William Clarkson.
  • Child: Frederick Charles Clarkson.
  • Child: James Henry Scott Clarkson.
• Marriage 14 FEB 1831. East India Church, Poplar, London, England. Source: #S351 File Format: jpg William Clarkson & Sarah Ann Nicholson 1831 Scrapbook: N PHOTO Slideshow: N Note: London Metropolitan archives, Tower Hamlets, All Saints Poplar 1831 William Clarkson & Sarah Ann Nicholson 1831 14 FEB 1831 Certainty: 3^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Not verified yet.
2. ↑ "The Story of Lyttelton 1849-1949", 1952, p35-36.
3. ↑ It was built of local stone from Charteris Bay.
4. ↑ "The Story of Lyttelton 1849-1949", 1952, p57.
5. ↑ "The Story of Lyttelton 1849-1949", 1952, p80.
6. ↑ From an email from Adrienne Perkins to Laurie Norton, 29 April 2008.
7. ↑ Source: #S353 London Metropolitan Archives, Poplar All Saints, Register of Baptism, P88/ALL1, Item 012 Elizabeth Jane Clarkson Record Type: Baptism Baptism Date: 1 Dec 1833 Father's name: William Clarkson Mother's name: Sarah Ann Clarkson Parish or Poor Law Union: Poplar All Saints Borough: Tower Hamlets Register Type: Parish Registers 1 DEC 1833
8. ↑ Source: #S351 File Format: jpg London England Marriages and Banns 1754 -1921 register William Clarkson & Sarah Ann Nicholson SRCPP 2 SRCFLIP 0 Scrapbook: N PHOTO Slideshow: N Page81/record 241 Note: Register William Clarkson & Sarah Ann Nicholson 1831 Tower Hamlets, All Saints Poplar Certainty: 3

• Descendants of William and Sarah Clarkson by the Clarkson Family, 1990
• Source: id='S353'>S353 Call Number: London Metropolitan Archives, Poplar All Saints, Register of Baptism, P88/ALL1, Item 012 Baptismal Record Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906 and Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1906. London Metropolitan Archives, London. Publication: Ancestry.com Elizabeth Jane Clarkson Record Type: Baptism Baptism Date: 1 Dec 1833 Father's name: William Clarkson Mother's name: Sarah Ann Clarkson Parish or Poor Law Union: Poplar All Saints Borough: Tower Hamlets Register Type: Parish Registers Master Listing Source: Y
• Source: id='S51'>S51 Ancestral File Family Tree of Adrienne Scott Adrienne Scott Publication: Genes Reunited 2008 Master Listing Source: Y Note: Her record states that he was found drowned in Auckland Habour
• Death: https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs] Death Registration. Accessed 15 June 2023: 1858/926 Clarkson William 54Y
• Burial: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 August 2020), memorial page for William Clarkson (1804–8 Jan 1858), Find a Grave Memorial no. 214907834, citing Lyttelton Anglican Cemetery, Lyttelton, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand ; Maintained by Kathy Viney (contributor 47786463) .
• Press, 24 July 1989, Page 4, Family celebrating 150 years via Papers Past, celebration 150 years after William Clarkson arrived in New Zealand; descendants estimated to number over 4000.