Bill Crant

Excerpt from Dr. Seary's, Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, MUN 1977.

CLARK(E), surnames of England, Scotland and Ireland, from Old English cler(e)c, Latin clericus. "The original sense was 'a man in a religious order, cleric, clergyman'. As all writing and secretarial work in the Middle Ages was done by the clergy, the term came to mean 'scholar, secretary, recorder or penman'. " As a surname, "it was particularly common for one who had taken only minor orders" (Reaney). Clarke "usually stands for O'Cleary in Ireland" (MacLysaght).

The forms Clark and Clarke are wide-spread and indiscriminate in England; Guppy found Clark dispersed over a large part of Scotland, but rare in the north; MacLysaght traced Clarke in Dublin.

In Newfoundland:

Family tradition: The Clarkes in the Trinity area, Bonaventure and Cuckold's Cove (now Dunfield) came from Devon or Poole (Dorset) about 1525 (MUN Folklore).

Early instances: William Clark, of Crockers Cove (Carbonear), 1775, property "in possession of the Family for 70 years", that is, 1705 (CO 199.18); William, of ? St. John's, ? 1706 (CO 194.24); John Clark(e), J.P. for the Bonavista district, ? 1730, 1732 (CO 194.9); John Clark, of Placentia (?dis-trict), 1744 (CO 194.24); John, of Car-bonear, 1765 (CO 199.18); John and Isaac, of Brigus, 1770 (CO 199.18); John Clarke, fisherman of Port de Grave, 1782 (Nfld. Archives T22); Robert Clark(e), of Trinity Bay, 1782, of Trinity,1795, of Cuckold's Cove (now Dunfield), 1803 (DPHW 64); Samuel and John Clarke, merchants of Harbour Breton, 1803 (D'Alberti 13); John Clark, of Broad Cove (Bay de Verde district), 1804 (CO 199.18); John, of Burin, 1805 (D'Alberti 15); Anne, of Harbour Grace Parish, 1806 (Nfld. Archives HGRC); Pat, one of 72 impressed men who sailed from Ireland to Newfoundland, ? 1811 (CO l94. 51); William, of Twillingate, 1811 -(D'Alberti 22); William, of Turk's Cove (Trinity B.), 1814 (DPHW 48); Anne Clarke, of St. John's, 1814 (Nfld. Archives BRC); Bridget, from Waterford City, married at St. John's, 1816 (Nfld. Archives BRC); Flora Clark, of Heart's Content, 1819 (Nfld. Archives KCRC); Robert Clarke, of British Harbour, 1819 (DPHW 64); Thomas, of Petty Harbour, 1819 (DPHW 26B); Robert Clark, of Bonavista, 1821 (DPHW 70); Richard Clarke, of Catalina, 1821 (Nfld. Archives KCRC); Joseph Clark, of Bonaventure (unspecified), 1825 (DPHW 64B); Joseph, of Careless (now Kerley's) Harbour, 1827 (DPHW 64B); James Clarck, of White Hills (St. John's), 1829 (Nfld. Archives BRC); Solomon Clarke, planter of Freshwater (Carbonear), 1830 (D,PHW 48); John Joseph, from Liverpool, married at St. John's, 1838 (Nfld. Archives BRC); Mary Clark, of Portugal Cove, 1839 (DPHW 26D); William Clarke, of Kings Cove Parish, 1839 (Nfld. Archives KCRC); John Clark, of Island Cove (now Islington), 1845 (DPHW 64B); John, of Little River (Burgeo-La Poile), 1847 (DPHW 101); Charles Clarke, of Garia, 1858 (DPHW 98); Joseph Clark, of Lower Island Cove, 1859 (DPHW 55); John, of Harbour Grace, 1869 (Nfld. Archives HGRC); Clark(e) wide-spread in Lovell 1871.

Modern status: Clark, scattered, especially at St. John's; Clarke, wide-spread, especially at Little Bay East (Fortune B.), Gilesport (Electors 1955), Corner Brook, Dunfield, Little St. Lawrence with large concentrations at Carbonear, Victoria and St. John's.

Place names: Clark Cove (Labrador) 52-39 55-47; ----- Lake (Labrador) 53-35 66-35; ----- Point 47-34 54-52, 49-18 54-30; ----- Rock 50-44 56-10; Clarke Cove 47-53 55-48, 49-41 55-54; -----Head 47-51 55-50; ----- Inlet (Labrador) 57-45 61-40; Clarke's Beach 47-33 53-17; ----- Cove 49-39 54-35; ----- Head 49-18 54-30; ----- Pond 47-31 53-19; Clarkes Tickle (Labrador) 56-30 61-18; Clarke's Beach Pond 47-33 53-17; Clarks Brook 47-46 53-14, 49-01 58-08; ----- Pond 47-19 53-19.

Early Instances: