My own Sharrock Family on the
Roseland Peninsula in the 17th to 19th Century.
My own
“provable” line of descent starts with Thomas Sharrock.
He would have been born about 1640.
I cannot prove he
was part of the “Visitation” family although I have no doubt and am
fairly certain I know his father.
In 1661 he
was a Quaker, arrested and interned, firstly, at Pendennis
Castle, Falmouth and, later, Launceston Jail.
His two
daughters and son Matthew, my ancestor, were baptized at St. Just in Roseland
which was the parish church for St. Mawes.
Matthew Sharrock, baptized in 1671, described himself as a yeoman.
He married Agnes Hinch, at Sheviock,
Cornwall, in 1695. They had three
daughters and three sons including Joseph my ancestor.
Matthew left a will
when he died in 1735.
Joseph Sharrock, baptized in 1707, and his wife Jane had, at least
eleven children, all baptized at St Just in Roseland. Not all survived but the eldest,
Robert, born in 1733 became my ancestor.
Robert Sharrock, baptized in 1733, married Ann Harris, and they
had several daughters and two sons Matthew in 1756 and my ancestor, Joseph, in
1777.
Joseph Sharrock married Jane Green in 1802. Her surname appears
down the years as a second Christian name (my own Great-Grandfather was William
Green Sharrock). Together they had six children
including John Pasco Sharrock my Great-
Great-Grandfather, born in 1812 and Matthew Sharrock,
born in 1821.
They both
joined the navy and subsequently the coastguard which necessitated moving away
from St Mawes. Whilst there were still Sharrocks on the Roseland, the departure of the two
brothers, largely, caused the name to disappear from the area.
It’s
very sad that through two hundred years of baptisms, marriages and burials
there is no evidence of a Sharrock memorial. There
is, however, an amazing “stone” near the church at St Just in
Roseland to Matilda Jenkins who was born a Sharrock. To see the detail go to here.