Thomas Clark and his second wife Mary nee Melles
Three headstones in a row commemorate the lives of five members of the
Clark family.
The family came to Stoneleigh from the north of the county.
Thomas and his brother Isaac were born in Nether Whitacre and baptised at nearby Arley. Thomas was born in 1721 and baptised on 12 May. He first married, at Over Whitacre, (the church at Nether Whitacre was being reconstructed)
Mary Camel nee Hardin on 20 August 1750. He was a miller. It may be that they were still in Arley in 1768 when their first child was baptised there; possibly they returned to their native parish for the baptism.
When Mary died on 3 February 1774, however, the family lived at Stivichall Grange, known at the time as Helenshull Grange.
Thomas remarried, though he and his second wife had no children. They were married in Coventry on 15 September 1782, but sadly she -
Mary nee Melles- died on 6 July 1783 aged only 48 and is memorialised with her husband.
Thomas survived until 11 July 1791, having outlived two wives and both his children (see
D 6.5 and
D 6.6). He was buried on 15 July. No wonder his gravestone is inscribed "Affliction sore long time I bore".
(Thomas' brother Isaac's daughter, Mary, married
James Weston; she and her husband with several of their children are buried in the next grave,
D 6.7. They had tenanted Stivichall Grange, having taken over from her uncle Thomas.)
