Sharp of Stamford, Lincolnshire
The musical Sharp family of
Stamford,
Lincolnshire.
The Sharp family were
"waits" for the town of Stamford.
From medieval times up to the early 19th century, every major British town
employed a band of town musicians called
"waits"
or "waites".
The origin of the word "waits"
is actually
unclear.
Stamford's waits existed since the 15th century
[Fleming, 2017].
Members of the Sharp family used their starting position as town musicians
to branch out as concert organisers,
performers in other towns,
and publishers of their own music.
Surname of this family was usually spelt "Sharp" in earlier times,
but sometimes "Sharpe".
Some lines changed to "Sharpe" in later years.
Stamford, Lincolnshire, is at the join of three counties.
To the W and N of the town is
Rutland (blue-green).
To the E of the town is
Lincolnshire (orange).
To the S of the town (and even the S part of Stamford itself) is
Northamptonshire (pink).
From
county map.
Francis Sharp, grocer, of Stamford
Our family starts with a Francis Sharp, town musician ("wait"), born 1724, died 1783.
In the previous generation there is a
Francis Sharp, grocer, of Stamford.
They may be father and son, but we need proof of that.
-
Francis Sharp,
or Sharpe,
grocer,
of Stamford,
Lincolnshire.
"Francis Sharpe", grocer, of Stamford, has an ad in the
Stamford Mercury, 29 Mar 1733 (new style year).
Francis Sharpe, grocer, of Stamford, is mentioned in an
item in the
Stamford Mercury,
13 September 1733.
Three shillings was paid to Francis Sharp by
All Saints' Church
in March 1734.
Francis Sharp, grocer, of Stamford, is listed as a bankrupt
on p.392
of the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1734.
Francis Sharpe is described as "late Grocer of Stamford" in
Stamford Mercury, 19 September 1734.
Ad for
Francis Sharpe, grocer, of Stamford, in the
Stamford Mercury,
29 Mar 1733
(new style year).
Item mentioning
Francis Sharpe, grocer, of Stamford, in the
Stamford Mercury,
13 September 1733.
Francis Sharp, grocer, of Stamford, listed as a bankrupt
on p.392
of the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1734.
Francis Sharpe is described as "late Grocer of Stamford" in
Stamford Mercury, 19 September 1734.
Our family
We begin with:
-
Francis Sharp,
born 1724 (by age at death).
He was a
"wait" (town musician) for the town
of Stamford,
Lincolnshire.
He married before 1749.
He died 1783.
There was also a musical Sharpe family of
Grantham, Lincolnshire
(20 miles from Stamford).
This family may be related to the Stamford musical family.
See
[Perkins, 2020, vol.2, pp.11-12].
Sharp and Sharpe listed on
p.58
of
Musical Directory, 1794
by Joseph Doane.
Note
"M. Sharp" of Grantham
and
"Francis Sharpe" of Grantham.
Sharp of Yorkshire
-
[Fleming, 2017]
thought Francis Sharp of Stamford might be identical with
a Francis Sharp,
bapt 21 July 1723, at Ackworth,
Yorkshire, son of Francis Sharp.
See Bishop's transcripts entry
from here.
-
But that seems unlikely.
There was a Sharp/Sharpe family at Grantham, not far from Stamford.
So it seems likely our Sharp was from the area, not from Yorkshire.
-
There are other examples of
Francis Sharp, son of Francis Sharp
born in 1710-1730, in a number of counties.
- It is true the Yorkshire date looks good.
However,
it seems the above Francis died young.
There is another Francis Sharp, son of Francis Sharp,
bapt at Ackworth,
30 Nov 1730.
See Bishop's transcripts entry
from here.
References
- Simon Fleming
-
"Music and concert promotion in Georgian Stamford",
The Consort,
vol.73 (2017), pp.61-83.
-
"Avison and his Subscribers: Musical Networking in Eighteenth-Century Britain".
Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 49 (2018), pp.21-49.
- "The Georgian provincial town waits: a reappraisal",
The Musical Times, Vol. 160, No. 1946 (2019), pp. 29-42.
-
"The Gender of Subscribers to Eighteenth-Century Music Publications"
Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 50 (2019), pp.94-152.
- Unpublished Sharp family tree.
- "Music in Country Houses of the English Midlands, 1750-1810",
Martin Perkins, PhD thesis, Birmingham City University, 2020.
- Vol.2, pp.11-12, has entries for "Sharp" and "Sharpe" in Lincolnshire.
Sources yet to be consulted
