Wishlist
Menu
Cart
HouseofNames
Wishlist
Cart

Show ContentsClerke History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Product

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

4.9 Average Rating

Clerke is an Anglo-Saxon name. The name was originally given to a person who concerned himself with matters of scholarly importance or of religious orders or as a secretary. The surname Clerke originally derived from the Latin form clericus. 1 2 3

"A learned person-that is, one who could in old times read and write-accomplishments not so rare, after all, as we are sometimes induced to think, since this is among the commonest of surnames. "4

"As all writing and secretarial work in the Middle Ages was done by the clergy, the term came to mean 'scholar, secretary, recorder or penraan'." 5

Early Origins of the Clerke family

The surname Clerke was first found in Hampshire where Richerius clericus was registered in the Domesday Book of 1086. 6 A few years later in Somerset, Willelm de Clerec was registered c. 1100 and a hundred or so years later, Reginald Clerc was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for Rutland in 1205. In Lincolnshire, the first record there was John le Clerk in 1272. 5

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 proved the widespread use of the name at that time: Boniface Clericus, Lincolnshire; Thomas le Clerk, Lincolnshire; Batekyn Clericus, Essex; Gilbert le Clerk, Oxfordshire; and Thomas le Clerck, Buckinghamshire. 1

In Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Robertus Clarke; Beatrix Clerc; Henricus Clerk; Robertus Clerk' et Johanna uxor ejus; and Agnes Clerk. 1

The name is "universally distributed over England, but most numerous in its centre. Absent in Wales, and scarce in most of the counties on the Welsh border. Not frequent in most of the south - west great counties. Best represented in Buckinghamshire, Essex, Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, and Nottinghamshire. As in the counties of Nottinghamshire and Shropshire, it would sometimes appear that the terminal e signifies a transference from the Trade to the Court Directory. Clark is found over a large part of Scotland, but is rare in the northern part." 7

Early History of the Clerke family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Clerke research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1599, 1609, 1619, 1624, 1626, 1647, 1649, 1653, 1655, 1660, 1661, 1666, 1670, 1672, 1675, 1676, 1679, 1681, 1683, 1685, 1686, 1687, 1697, 1710 and 1715 are included under the topic Early Clerke History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Clerke Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Clerke has appeared include Clarke, Clerke and others.

Early Notables of the Clerke family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Sir Francis Clerke (c.1624-1686), an English lawyer and politician, Member of Parliament for Rochester (1661-1679) and (1681-1685)
  • Henry Clerke (c.1619-1687), an English academic and physician, President of Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1672
  • Francis Clerke (c.1655-1715), a British politician, Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire (1710-1715)
  • Gilbert Clerke (1626-c.1697), an English mathematician, natural philosopher and Socinian theological writer

Ireland Migration of the Clerke family to Ireland

Some of the Clerke family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

United States Clerke migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Clerke arrived in North America very early:

Clerke Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Richard Clerke, who landed in Virginia in 1646 8
  • Robert Clerke, who landed in Virginia in 1650 8
  • William Clerke, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 8
  • Joseph Clerke, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 8
  • Mary Clerke, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 8
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Clerke migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Clerke Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Mr. Francis Clerke U.E. who settled in Eastern District [Cornwall], Ontario c. 1783 9

West Indies Clerke migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 10
Clerke Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Mr. William Clerke, (b. 1606), aged 29, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Peter Bonaventure" arriving in Barbados and St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 11
HMS Prince of Wales
  • Mr. Arthur Roy Clerke, British Ordinary Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and died in the sinking 12

The Clerke Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Carpe Diem
Motto Translation: Seize the day
  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  3. Moore, A.W., Manx Names. London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1906. Print
  4. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  7. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  8. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  9. Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  11. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  12. HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html
Houseofnames.com on Facebook