[WED]CLAPP, SPEARING, WILKINS

[Mathew Ducket]

There  seems to be a bit of confusion about all this, as a great grandson of
George & Harriet Clapp, perhaps I can sort it out. George Clapp 1797-1877
married (circa 1870) Harriet Spearing 1845-1926. Three children Harriet late
Clark (1871-1904), George (1874-1962) & Anna late Duckett (1875-1960).
Harriet then married her late husband's nephew Charles (son of Charles & Ann
nee Brown). This marriage would have been illegal in Britain at the time,
and took place in Switzerland on 5 June 1878 in the canton of Neauchatel. I
have a copy of the certificate. There were three further children Charles
(1880-1963), James (1883-1918), and Mary (1884-1905). The first family home
was Ashton House Farm, Chapel Allerton, this continued in Clapp occupation
until the 1960s. However, the second family may have lived at May Tree Farm,
Chapel Allerton. Harriet Clapp lost her eldest daughter Harriet in 1904, her
youngest Mary in 1905, and her second husband in 1906. I have a full
collection of photographs of both Clapp families.
Harriet was the second daughter of John Spearing and Anna nee Lawrence
(married Wedmore 12th. August 1839). I have yet to discover where the
Wilkins connection comes from. It is interesting to note that both Harriet
and her elder sister Mary Comer married men of their father's age, and that
both husbands came from Ashton (Chapel Allerton). I suspect that John
Spearing trained as a miller at the Ashton windmill. Certainly Mary and her
elder and younger brothers, both Simon were born in Stoughton and baptised
in Blackford. I have photographs of John & Anna Spearing and of their three
daughters, (the third, Elizabeth lived in Hereford), but none of  their four
surviving sons.
I also have earlier records relating to the Clapp family.
 Matthew Duckett