ELEVENTH GENERATION

1080. William Clack ⁽⁴⁾ was born in 1628 in Marden Parish, Wiltshire, England. He died about 1682. He was married to Mary ---------- in 1649 in Marden Parish, Wiltshire, England.

1081. Mary ----------⁽⁴⁾. The surname of the mother of the Reverend James Clack is unknown. The idea that it was Spencer and that she was the aunt of Nicholas Spencer, immigrant to Virginia in 1678 and later Acting Governor of the colony, seems to have arisen in the 1930's. Octavia Zollicoffer Bond, an indefatigable and competent amateur genealogist, does not mention it in her Family Chronicle and Kinship Book, published in 1928. But it appears in magazine articles a few years later and has, understandably, been accepted ever since by her descendants.

It is wholly untrue. We know that William Clack's wife was named Mary from the record of her burial at Marden parish, Wilts., on Jun 18 1674, but there is no surviving record of his marriage.

And while Nicholas Spencer did, indeed, have an aunt named Mary Spencer, she is recorded in the parish records of Cople, Bedfordshire, as having died on Aug 31 1663 and been buried there the next day. Her name is given as "Mrs. Mary Spencer." "Mrs." in the 17th century, signified social status--the female equivalent of Mr.--not marital status, and the use of her maiden name would indicate that she died unmarried.

Further, James Clack is listed in the record of Oxford University as matriculating "P.P." That stands for puer pauper, "poor boy" in Latin. It should be made clear that that designation did not mean he was a pauper, in the English language sense of the word, only that he came from a family that could not afford the university fees (a situation in which the majority of students at today's Ivy league university's find themselves).

But it does indicate that the Clack family were of a lower social status than the Spencers, who stood at the top of the gentry, and thus it is unlikely that a marriage between Mary Spencer and William Clack would have been permitted.

In other words, there is simply no evidentiary material whatever to support the idea that James Clack's mother was Mary Spencer, and much to indicate that she was not. The exact origin of this genealogical myth is unknown. It is possible a well-meaning amateur genealogist, noting the names Nicholas and Spencer in the Clack family, found the record of Mary Spencer's birth and put two and two together without double checking. It is equally possible that a professional genealogist comitted fraud in order to give a client what he wanted: impressve ancestors.

And Mary Spencer's ancestors are indeed impressive, with three descents from Edward III, and from the 1st Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector, and from Sir David Owen, a first cousin of King Henry VII, who led a fascinating life.

But while her ancestry is impressive it is also, alas, not ours. Children were:

i. The Reverend Nicholas Clack⁽⁸⁴⁾⁽¹²²⁾ was born in 1653 in Marden Parish, Wiltshire, England. He was born in 1653 in Marden Parish, Wiltshire, England. He died about Oct 12 1709 in St. Mary's White Chapel Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia. He died about Oct 12 1709 in St. Mary's White Chapel Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia.
540 ii. The Reverend James Clack.
iii. Richard Clack was born on Mar 18 1662/63. He was born on Mar 18 1662/63.
iv. Francis Clack was born on Apr 5 1666. He was born on Apr 5 1666.

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