Benjamin Sparkes

[Mary from Italy]

Name - "official" name and what they were known as
Benjamin Sparkes or Sparks

Date and place of birth
Not known. Possibly Warwickshire, before 1730.

Names of parents
Not known

Date and place of baptism - if applicable
Not known

Details of each of his or her marriages - if any
Possible marriage to Mary Taylor on 18th September 1743 at Holy Trinity Church, Coventry

Occupation(s) - if any
Farmer

Addresses where they lived (including county if in UK)
1746-1783: Fillongley, Warwickshire

Date, place and cause of death
1783, Fillongley, Warwickshire

Date and place of burial
11th November 1783, St Mary and All Saints parish church, Fillongley, Warwickshire

Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable
None found

Memorial inscription - if any
None found

For wife Mary Taylor, see: http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19439
For son Thomas Sparkes, see: http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=15250

[marquette]

Hi Mary

My 6 great grandfather was also a Benjamin Sparks from Warwickshire (MMMMMFMF). I don't think they are the same person, but maybe they are related ?

My Benjamin Sparks was born about 1730 and married Mary Bennett in Brinklow Warwickshire in 1755, then married Mary Tansley in Binley in 1762. All his children were baptised in Binley.

His daughter Mary Sparks married Joseph ILIFFE in Wyken and they settled in Brinklow.

All these places are within 10miles of Fillongley !

I also have Nightingale and Cheslin ancestors in Meriden, Corley and Allesley and some of them strayed into Fillongley I am sure.

I have not done a lot on them, chasing down siblings before the 1841 census is pretty difficult, but I will do a bit more on the Sparks family now.

Di

[Mary from Italy]

That's interesting - unfortunately Sparks is a very common name in Warwickshire. Even the name Benjamin Sparks isn't unusual; I have 5 of them in my tree so far. I haven't got very far back with this family; as you'll see, I haven't found a definite baptism for Benjamin.

I did notice a Benjamin Sparks, son of Thomas, baptised in 1730 in Meriden, which is a bit too late for mine (because his first child was born in 1746, and he was probably married in 1743), but it might fit yours? Meriden's about 4 miles from Fillongley.

A possible baptism for mine is in Milverton in 1716, son of George and Ann, but that's much further from Fillongley (about 16 miles).

I also found a convict called Benjamin Sparks ages ago, who I haven't been able to connect to my family so far. He was born in Coventry about 1812, and transported to NSW in 1832.

My Benjamin and his wife were married in Coventry (if I have the right marriage); there's a likely baptism for his wife in Fillongley, so it's possible that Benjamin came from Coventry, and the Coventry records on Ancestry aren't complete. Some other Warks parishes are also missing.

[marquette]

I saw the Meriden baptism, but I think there is a burial for him about 1753.

The parish records are really too sparse on familysearch to go much further back without some other source of information.

My Corley/Meriden lot tended to gravitate to Birmingham rather than Coventry but you never can tell where future discoveries might lead.

Di