Kate Davidge 1865-1931

This directory contains information and documents about Kate Davidge (1865-1931) and her family, and her forebears.

For details of Kate’s children, see the adjacent directories. For details of Kate’s very interesting first husband Anthony, see the AJCheeper/Clarke directory.

Kate was born a Davidge, and was presumably known by that name 1865-1883, until the age of 18. (But she may have been known at age 10-18, between 1875 and 1883, by the surname Russell, after her mother re-married). In the 1881 census, she was listed as a domestic servant in Shroton House (in whose grounds her mother and step-father lived). She is declared as the daughter in law (what we would call a step-daughter) of the head of the house Isaac Russell. Also listed are three other Davidges and seven other Russells.

She used the name Clarke from 1883 to 1923, by virtue of her (presumably de facto) marriage to Anthony (who had only adopted the name Clarke in the mid-1870s anyway, and dropped it some time after 1904). She had 11 children, all called by the surname Clarke.

Vivian Watson is the source of the sole photo we're aware of, reduced above, full size here. I'd guess her to be at about age 22, i.e. 1887. (We only achieved contact with Dorothy Docwra in early 2005 and with Vivian Watson in early 2006, and their reports have filled out our understanding a lot).

Vivian reports that Aunt Vera (1898-1996) remembers how her mother used to feed a tramp who sat opposite their house at 192 Harringay Rd, Brockley, Lewisham. They moved there after Jun 1901 and before Jan 1904. Anthony presumably abandoned her there c. 1904 or soon afterwards. When Kate left Harringay Rd is unknown, but after Vera's memory (of c. 1904?) and certainly before 1923, and probably much earlier.

Vivian also reported in early 2006 that Aunt Vera said that Kate did not accept Anthony Clarke’s estate, because she had been deserted when he went off with the maid – this was their poverty period, but pride was more important. (The evidence we have of Anthony's death in 1918 suggests that the existence of any estate was wishful thinking on someone's part).

She later remarried a Philip Davies of 62 Haringey Rd Tottenham on 2 May 1923. Vivian Watson says that when she remarried, the doctor said she was worn out.

She died on 20 Dec 1931. Her last home was Sinclair Rd, London E4.

The documents we have available (mostly in JPEG format) are as follows:

• a short summary of Kate's life (in RTF format, readable by any Word Processor)
• the voyage of discovery undertaken by Kate's great-grandchildren Roger and Anne from 1990 to 2002 – in order to know something more than simply a name and address on their grandfather's birth certificate (in RTF format)
• Kate's birth certificate, dated 18 January 1865
• Kate's immediate-family tree showing her parents, siblings, husbands and children
• the census entry for 1891, left-side and right-side, showing Kate's half-developed household with Anthony Clarke
• Kate's Davidge forebears:
  • marriage of her parents Henry and Ellen in 1859, for display and for download (low-resolution and medium-res respectively)
  • death of her father Henry, for display and for download (in 1869, at 29, when Kate was 4)
  • the Davidge family tree, for display and for download
  • the census entry for 1881, showing Kate's mother, step-father, and full and half-siblings:
    • left-side of page, for display and for download
    • right-side of page, for display and for download
• Kate's Parham forebears:
  • birth of her mother Ellen
  • an overview of her family tree
  • the much fuller family tree provided by Sue Stead, recent and earlier

In October 2004, Anne Kratzmann acquired photos of some members of the Davidge clan in Dorset. They were provided by John Baker, who descends from Thomas (Kate's uncle, 1835-1911) and Eliza Bench. So our common ancestor is Kate's grandfather Morris (1798-1877), and John is a 4th cousin of Anne and myself:

• family shot, 1923. The elderly male is Kate's 1st cousin David – son of her uncle Thomas 1835-1991. It also shows David's wife Matilda, and various 2nd cousins of Willie Tony and siblings – who they very probably never knew they had. They lived in Green Lane, Ashmore, which is about 5 miles north and east of Iwerne Courtney
• the same family shot together with a key provided by John Baker
• grandson and grandchild, c. 1928? – presumably David again, with one of his grandchildren
• child in cart, c. 1928? John says this is his father, Stan Baker, who would be Fred and Tony Clarke's 3rd cousin
• a thatcher at work on David's house in Green Lane, Ashmore, Dorset, c. 1920s?

That's all we've got; and we'd love to know more!

This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann

Created: 2 October 2005; Upgraded: January 2006; Last Amended: 1 September 2006