Carter family at Upper Clatford and Andover

The Carter family at Upper Clatford and Andover has interested me for awhile because I have at least one marriage and possibly two into this family. One of them is likely a daughter of the Carter family at Andover.

Thomas King married Mary Carter 10 Jan 1728 at Upper Clatford and I am not sure of Mary Carter's parents or where she was born. The marriage lines state that they are both of this parish. There are at least four Carter families at Upper Clatford in the early to mid 1660s - Thomas, Henery, Michaell and John. However by the late 1600s there is Thomas only but no daughter Mary in the IGI. The Register is becoming more difficult to read  by the 1670s and continues thus into the early 1700s. Perhaps I will find a Mary hidden away in there somewhere that was missed in the IGI. On the other hand there are at least half of a dozen Carter families at Andover and there are Marys the right age there. The wills of the Carter family might help me and I have collected all those as well. Gyles Carter in 1675 at Andover, Richard Carter in 1684 at Andover, Robert Carter in 1725 at Andover, John Carter in 1780 at Andover, and Mary Carter widow in 1828 at Andover. These were all at the National Archives in Kew. There are other wills for Carter family members at Upper Clatford namely John Carter in 1732 and Thomas Carter in 1732. Robert Carter in 1732 leaves a will at Andover and the last three are from the Hampshire Record office. I need to purchase the Carter wills at Upper Clatford.

Once I have transcribed all these registers then I will work on the wills. It is so much easier when I know the families through the baptisms to work on the wills I find. There is still a Carter family at Upper Clatford in the 1900s with a will for George Carter farmer. On the 1911 Census he is living at Eastbury House in Upper Clatford.

Continuing on with the Upper Clatford Parish Registers and as of the end of 1670 there are 688 baptisms. Considering I have all the baptisms up to 1970 this is going to be a very large file when complete. Although we drove around Upper Clatford somewhat it did not seem like that large a village but looking at the map we only skirted around the outside going to the Church and then continuing on the road to Goodworth Clatford. Looking at the village in Google Maps reveals a fairly large village surrounded by farmland except to the north where Andover is located on the other side of the highway which runs between the two. There was a copse of trees to the north of the village which blocked the highway and Andover from view. It was an extremely quiet village considering the main highway was so close.

I would like to visit Upper Clatford again one day and actually walk on some of the streets and climb Bury Hill if that is possible. My grandfather used to describe the village to me and the Bury Hill so I am keen to look at it more closely. The Church was most interesting and the centre of the community I think. It was very busy the day that we were there with a number of people inside. It was amazing being there actually. The next time we are there I shall miss my cousins very much as they were with us last time and Ivan passed away this past year. This time it will be my husband and myself.

Thinking of going to England we also want to go to Norfolk and visit Aylmerton, East Runton, Sherringham where his Abbs line originated. His Mary Abbs came to Canada in about 1832/33 with her parents William Abbs and Martha Chapman as a child of 13/14 years of age. Finding her last year was one of my husbands "great events" in that he had been searching for her for awhile - a Eureka moment!