Person:Elizabeth Clark (142)

Elizabeth Clark was baptised on 10th June 1810 at Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. She was the daughter of Mary Clark, formerly Tuff, and her husband William Clark, an agricultural labourer. Elizabeth was the third of their six children.

On 8th July 1833, aged 23, Elizabeth was married at Wootton Bassett to William Spire. He was originally from the parish of Buckland in Gloucestershire, nearly forty miles north of Wootton Bassett, although he was living in Wootton Bassett at the time of their marriage.

Shortly after they married Elizabeth and William moved to Buckland, living in William’s native hamlet of Laverton. They had a daughter, Amelia Ann, baptised at Buckland in 1834. Amelia’s baptism record describes William as being a labourer.

In 1836 they had a son, Jephunneh, who was born at Laverton in Buckland parish, but baptised at the Independent Chapel in the neighbouring parish of Broadway. In 1838 they had a daughter, Mary Clark, presumably named after Elizabeth’s mother. Sadly young Mary died when just over a year old in 1839.

In 1840 Elizabeth and William had a daughter called Julia Clark, who was also born at Laverton. Around the time of Julia’s birth William joined the recently created Gloucestershire Constabulary, working initially as a police constable. The family therefore left Buckland and were posted to various locations around Gloucestershire for William’s work.

The 1841 census finds Elizabeth, William, their three surviving children and William’s sister (confusingly also called Elizabeth Spire) living at Long Marston. Elizabeth and William went on to have a son, Jabez William, baptised there in 1842. Later that year William was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

In 1843 the family was living at Fairford, where they had a daughter called Emily. Sadly she died when just under a year old, when the family was living in Stroud.

By 1845 the family had moved again to Dursley. Elizabeth gave birth there on 13th October 1845 to a son, James Sperry Albert. Elizabeth died seventeen days later from influenza on 30th October 1845, aged 35. Baby James was baptised the same day that Elizabeth’s death was registered. Back in Wootton Bassett, Elizabeth’s parents both survived her. William outlived Elizabeth by 27 years.

1. ↑ Church of England. Wootton Bassett Parish Registers, 1584-1938. (Chippenham: Wiltshire Record Office).

   Baptized 1810 / June 10th Elizabeth D[aughte]r of William & Mary Clark

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 360; Book 33; Folio 4; Page 2, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Marston Sicca, Gloucestershire
   William Spire, male, 30 [1806-11], Police Constable, born in county
   Elizabeth Spire, female, 30 [1806-11], not born in county
   Elizabeth Spire, female, 25 [1811-16], born in county
   Amelia Spire, female, 6 [1834/5], born in county
   Jephuneh Spire, male, 4 [1836/7], born in county
   Julia Spire, female, 11 months [1840], born in county

3. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Dursley
   1845 Death in the Sub-district of Dursley in the County of Gloucester
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   469	Thirtieth October 1845 at Dursley	Elizabeth Spire	Female	35 years	Wife of William Spire, Policeman	Influenza 2 days Certified	William Spire, in attendance, Police Station, Dursley	Third of November 1845	George Leonard, Registrar

4. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Dursley Parish Registers. (Gloucester: Gloucestershire Archives).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Dursley in the County of Gloucester in the Year 1845
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   51	Elizabeth Spire	Dursley	November 4th	35yrs	Lonsdale Pritt