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| Notes for John Clarke | ||||
| John Clarke was hired to be the Master's Mate on the Mayflower by the Virginia Company and the Merchant Adventurers because he had been to the American coast on several prior occasions. Much of John Clarke's biographical history is known, but his genealogical history is less certain. He is possibly the John Clarke who was baptized in Redriffe (Rotherhithe), Surrey, England on 26 March 1575, and may have been the father of Thomas Clarke, an early Plymouth settler. A baptism for Thomas Clark, son of John Clark of Rotherhithe is found on 8 March 1599/1600 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, Middlesex, England. He may be the John Clarke who married Sibil Farr on 18 April 1610 in Rotherhithe, or the John Clarke who married Mary Morton on 18 February 1598/9 in Stepney, Middlesex--or perhaps he was married twice. John Clarke had made several trips to Jamestown, Virginia, as well as to New England. Clarke had been in Malaga, Spain in 1609, and in March 1611 sailed from London to Virginia. About June 21, 1611, he was captured at Point Comfort by the crew of a Spanish caravel that had brought Don Diego de Molina to Virginia. He was taken to Havana, where he was interrogated on 23 July 1611. He was then taken to Seville, Spain, and then to Madrid where he was again examined on 18 February 1613. He calls himself 35 years old in his 1611 deposition, and calls himself 40 years old in 1613, giving his residence as London. He was released to the English in 1616, in a prisoner exchange between England and Spain. John Clarke is mentioned in a letter written by Robert Cushman on 11 June 1620: "We have hired another pilot here, one Mr. Clarke, who went last year to Virginia with a ship of kine." This 1619 trip to Virginia was with Captain Thomas Jones of the Falcon, a some-time pirate. He was the Master's Mate and pilot of the Mayflower, and accompanied the Pilgrims on many of the exploring parties, piloting the shallop. Clark's Island in Duxbury Bay is named after him, because he miraculously brought the shallop ashore during a strong storm on one of these expeditions. On 13 February 1622, the Virginia Company records state: Mr. Deputy acquainted the court, that one Mr. John Clarke beinge taken from Virginia long since by a Spanish ship that came to discover that plantation; that forasmuch as he hath since that time done the companie good service in many voyages to Virginia, and of late went into Ireland for transportation of cattle to Virginia, he was an humble suitor to this court, that he might be admitted a free brother of the companie, and have some shares of land bestowed upon him. John was given two shares in the Virginia Company for his service. He sailed to Virginia on 10 April 1623 in Daniel Gookin's ship, the Providence, and died shortly after he arrived. | ||||
| Last Modified 12 Jul 2001 | Created 17 Jul 2015 by EasyTree for Windows95/98 |