| Notes |
- From CLARK family at Rootsweb.com
The Clark name is of great antiquity. A Boniface Clericus and a Thomas leClerk appear in County Lincolnshire, England as early as 1273. It appears in 1379 in the Poll Tax for the West Riding of Yorkshire as Robertus Clarke. (Bardsley: Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames)
Clark is an English surname which derived from Latin "clericus', meaning a learned person, one who could in olden times read and write. Early forms of this name were Clerck, Clerk, leClerk, "the Clerk, ie. the clergyman, a clerk in holy orders', Clerke, Clark, and Clarke. The surname is now almost universally Clark or Clarke. The professional form adhering to clerk.
"There has been various spellings for the name of Clark. The name was taken from the professions of clergy and clerk. The name appears as CLARK, CLARKE, DLERK, CLERKE, and CLERYKE. The families in Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama still use Clarke. The Clarks that dropped the "e" did so following the Revolutionary War and before the Civil War. Especially the ones that came farther south dropped the "e". The Clark family is a very interesting family. We have come across Clarks from Scotland, Germany, and Ireland. " (Our Clarks by Florence Clark Griffin & Edna Clark Millier, 1977)
"The name CLARK is derived from the word Clericus, meaning a priest, or one connected with the service of the church. It is an English name and distinquished during the time of William the Conqueror. The old records show a variety of ways of spelling--Clarck, Clearck, Cleark, Clearke, Clearcke, Clerc, Clerck, and Clercke. The name was quite common among the early settlers of Massachusetts--one of the names was on the Mayflower".
Grandfather Clark had residences in Scotland and Ireland. He was Presbyterian.
Several different Coats of Arms are described in Burke's General Armory for the family of Clark, and this is the most widely used Coat of Arms.
ARMS: Sable three plates. No crest or motto are shown, owning to the antiquity of the grant.
ARMS: Argent, on a fesse between three crosses pattee, three plates.
CREST: A cross pattee or, between two wings azure.
The Clark family in Virginia is believed to descend from the Clarks who came to America by way of the Barbados in the last half of the Seventeenth Century as indicated by the same family names. References: "Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties Volume II" by Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales, Compiler. NOTE: Hereafter, however the Clark name is spelled in various documents unless it is a direct quote, the name will be spelled Clark in this document.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/blclanclark.htm
Clan/Family Histories
- Clark/Clerk/Clarkson
The term "clericus" was originally applied to someone in a religious order but it was later applied to anyone who was a secretary, scribe, scholar as well as a cleric in the church. It is therefore not surprising that this occupational name became widespread when surnames began to be used. At the end of the 12th century, a Roger clericus held land in Kelso and in 1249 Alan clericus was a witness to a charter in Aberdeen. There were nine people from Scotland with that name who signed the "Ragman Roll" when King Edward I of England demanded in 1296 that all landowners had to swear allegiance to him. However, it is only after 1400 that we can be certain that it was being used as a surname rather than as a description of someone's occupation or status.
There was never a Highland clan of that name. However, it is frequently found among the Clan Chattan confederacy. Clarks appear to have been a sept (under the protection) of the MacPhersons (whose origins were also from the church, "Mac-a Phearsain" meaning in Gaelic "son of the parson" in the days when celibacy of the priesthood was not enforced). The name is common throughout the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. It is particularly prevalent in Caithness and there were important families of Clarks in places as far apart as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Paisley and some have become landed families with baronetcies.
Two unrelated Clarks reached high office in the Swedish navy in the 17th century and the name is found in Sweden and Finland in the form Klerck. The American explorer George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) was of Scottish descent.
The tartan used by the Clerks is a variation of one called "Blue Clergy" which was worn by ministers, though it dates from the re-invention of tartan after the visit (orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott) of King George IV to Scotland in 1822.
Clark is currently the 14th most frequently found name in Scotland. The name is also common in England where it is often spelt Clarke.
Clark is regarded as a sept (sub-branch) of both Cameron and Macpherson.
Clark was the 14th most frequent surname at the General Register Office in 1995.
Clan/Family Histories
- Macpherson
Dating from the time of the Celtic church, the name Macpherson is from the Gaelic "Mac-a Phearsain" meaning "son of the parson" in the days when celibacy of the priesthood was not enforced. The clan originated in Lochaber but Robert the Bruce gave them land in Badenoch as thanks for their assistance in defeating the Comyns (or Cummings). The clan later acquired land in Strathisla. The clan was part of the confederation of Clan Chattan. Indeed, Muriach, a main ancestor of Macphersons, was chief of the Clan Chattan in the 12th century. The Macphersons and the Mackintoshes were frequent rivals for the leadership of the Clan Chattan. As there would be other parsons in Scotland, the name is also found in other parts of the country (but in smaller numbers).
Tradition has it that the Macpherson who first obtained the Badenoch lands had three sons and the Macphersons are sometimes called the "Clan of the Three Brothers"
Macphersons were always fierce supporters of the monarch and fought with Montrose in the Civil War (1642-49). Euan Macpherson of Cluny (the line recognised as the chiefs of the clan) was a valiant leader of 600 members of the clan during the 1745 Jacobite Uprising and defeated a larger force at Clifton Moor in Westmorland during the retreat from Derby. Cluny Castle was burned in 1746 by Hanoverian forces (but rebuilt in 1784). Euan evaded capture for nearly ten years after Culloden but eventually escaped to France.
James Macpherson (1736-96) from Kingussie perpetrated the literary fraud of the "Ossian Verses" in which he claimed to have found a large number of lost Gaelic verses of the 3rd century by "Ossian" (most of which he had written himself). Even so, the "Works of Ossian" gave a stimulus to the Romantic movement in Scotland.
The Macpherson estate at Cluny was bankrupt by the end of the 19th century. In recent years clan members have purchased the main relics of the clan and these are the basis of a clan museum at Newtonmore, which opened in 1952.
The Macpherson clan motto is "Touch not the cat but a glove".
Surnames regarded as septs (sub-branch) of the Macpherson clan include Carson, Cattanach, Clark, Clarke, Clarkson, Clerk, Cluny, Ferson, Gillespie, Gillies, Goudie, Gow, Lees, MacCunn, MacCurrach, MacFall, MacGowan, MacKeith, MacLeish, MacMurdo, MacMurdoch, Murdoch, Pearson, Smith.
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Abt 1650 -
