Thomas Clarke
Thomas Clarke was born on All Saints' Day, 1 November 1570, and baptised two days later. He was the second son of John Clarke and Katherine Cooke. His father farmed in Finningham and Westhorpe, two neighbouring parishes in the north of Suffolk, and his mother's family had lived at Westhorpe for three generations. He wrote his own birth into the family Bible: "Thomas Clarke, sone of John Clarke, born all saints day, baptised 3 of November, ano dni 1570."
That Bible is the family's own record, and he is the man who began it. In his hand are his grandfather's burial in 1559, his father's baptism in 1541/2 and his uncle Thomas's in 1543/4. He entered his mother's baptism by the year of the king's reign, "33 year Henry 8", and closed it with two words of his own: "My mother." The double years are the old reckoning. The year then began on 25 March, so a February date belonged to two years at once, and February 1541/2 is February 1542 by the modern count.
His parents died nine days apart in the spring of 1598. His mother was buried at Finningham on 30 March and his father on 7 April. He wrote both burials into the Bible. He was twenty-seven.
On 13 May 1600 he married Rose Kerrich at Saxtead, her own parish. She was twenty-eight, the daughter of William Kerrich of Saxtead and granddaughter of Robert Kerrich of Bedfield, one of the most substantial yeomen in that part of Suffolk. They made their home at Westhorpe, and when his son Joseph later wrote of him it was as "Thomas Clarke of Wastrup".
Eight children were born to them between 1601 and 1618, and Thomas entered each one. The first, Margaret, was born on 1 February 1600/1 and baptised "19. february 1600 : Sunday nyght". She died young, and a daughter born in 1608 was given her name. Carew came in February 1602/3, Thomas in 1605, Mary in 1607, Margaret in 1608, John in 1609, William in 1611/12 and Joseph, the last, on 9 December 1618. Rose was forty-six when Joseph was born.
The name Carew came from his mother's side. The Cookes of Westhorpe were also called Carewe, and his own younger brother had been baptised Carewe Clarke in August 1572.
He died on 29 July 1627 and was buried at Westhorpe the next day. A second hand added the entry to the Bible: "Thomas Clarke, the father of these children departed this life the 29 : of July 1627." Rose died seven weeks after him. Joseph, the youngest, was eight.
Of the children, William was the only son who stayed in England. Margaret married Nicholas Wyeth, who settled at Cambridge in Massachusetts. Mary is said to have married a Peckham of Newport. Carew, Thomas, John and Joseph all went to Rhode Island. Thomas settled at Newport in 1638 and died there on 2 December 1674. Carew followed after his wife died in Suffolk in 1658, and he died at Newport after 1679. Neither left children. John, baptised on 8 October 1609, crossed in November 1637 and became Dr. John Clarke of Newport, physician and Baptist minister. He spent twelve years in England working for the colony and came home with the royal charter of 1663, which promised that nobody in Rhode Island would be troubled for his religion. He died at Newport in 1676 with no surviving children. Of the four brothers in Rhode Island, only Joseph left a family there.
Sources
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Cite: Heirology, "Thomas Clarke (1570-1627)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/thomas-clarke-1570-1627-dad225.