St Peters Church Dorchester - 2008
© Michael Russell FIPD - OPC for Dorchester

The LAKE family surname appears in a few isolated early records in Dorchester ⁽¹⁾ and amongst them is the first marriage in the town in 1716 when George LAKE (1690-1728), a resident of Upwey, who married Katherin MITCHELL from the parish of Portisham in Dorset. They returned to his parish of Upwey however to raise a family and as far as I can tell they never lived in Dorchester. The first Family to clearly settle in Dorchester in 1717 was Henry LAKE (1693-1746) who had moved from Salisbury in Wiltshire. Descendants from this marriage account for the majority of the subsequent LAKE families listed below. The third family to marry is very unusual, in that Charles LAKE (1725-1766) was a black man born in the West Indies. There is no indication that he was anything other than a free man, who was baptised before his marriage as an adult, married locally and also left descendants in the town.

When Henry Lake (1693-1746) died Avis Lake his widow moved to live in property he owned on the coast at Melcombe Regis and Avis was buried there in 1768. His son and heir Robert Wentworth Lake (1723-1801) raised his family in Melcombe Regis and many descendants remained there and in Weymouth. From the 1820's there is a close association with families who originated in 'Winterborne St Martin' and 'Winterborne Monkton' in Dorset. In those days Melcombe Regis was the dominant port supplying Dorchester lying just 6 miles to the north. Weymouth not even having an Anglican church until 1830. 'Winterborne St Martin' and 'Winterborne Monkton' lie along this route and are within easy walking distance. There are 5 families listed below that came to Dorchester from these parishes to marry/reside where I have investigated their ancestry back a couple of generations to help identify relationships. Many agricultural labourers came to live in Fordington where there was an abundance of jobs available in the 2,200 plots of land covering over 3,000 acres of Fordington Fields which surrounded Dorchester on three sides and can be viewed in the Tithe Map of 1844.

I have provided a link to each family listed below by which more information about that family can be accessed.

(1) George LAKE (1690-1728) of the parish of Upwey & Katherin MITCHELL (1692-1750) of the parish of Portisham married at St Peters Church in Dorchester on 5th Apr 1716. After marriage they settled to live in Upwey where they had 5 children between 1716 and 1724. George LAKE was buried in a woollen shroud as required by law at St Lawrence Church in Upwey on 6th Feb 1728 followed by his widow Katherine on 21st May 1750.

(2) Henry LAKE (1693-1746) & Avis ALDER (bur.1768) married at St Peters 24th Feb 1717/18. - 1st Family to settle in Dorchester.
Henry LAKE described as a carpenter by trade from Salisbury in Wiltshire married AVIS ALDER of Dorchester in 1717. Henry was the son of a bricklayer Henry LAKE Senior (d.1730) and Elizabeth JANEWAY (d.1721) who had married at St Martin with St Mary Magdalene Mission Church in Salisbury on 18th Oct 1680. Henry Lake junior had been baptised in the same church (also commonly referred to as Sarum St Martin's) on 6th Oct 1693. They had 7 children born in Dorchester. Follow links for more information about their descendants.

(3) Charles LAKE (1725-1766) & Mary OLIVER married at St Peters Church on 20th Sep 1747.
Charles LAKE was born in the West Indies' It is the only known marriage of a black man in Dorchester up to the end of the 19th Century. follow link for more information.

(4). Richard LAKE (1733-1810) & Sarah JONES (bur.1783) married at Holy Trinity Dorchester on 14th Apr 1761 - son of (2) above.
Richard was the 6th child of Henry LAKE (1693-1746) by his wife Avis ALDER and like his father a carpenter by trade. Richard, in a partnership with Thomas GRITTON, another carpenter in Dorchester, was for many years regularly employed to carry out carpentry work within Dorchester Gaol and in 1784 did work on Dorchester's County Hall. He was also appointed Land Tax assessor for the tithing of Colliton Row where they lived and was Overseer of the poor in 1783. Sarah Jones died that year and Richard remarried to Sarah GILLETT (bur.1806) See their marriage below on 9th May 1785.

(5) Henry LAKE (1762-1832) & Sarah EVOMY (1757-1825) married at St Peters Church on 20th May 1783 - son of (4) above
Henry was the eldest child of Richard LAKE (1733-1810) and Sarah JONES and like his father and grandfather he was a journeyman carpenter. He was appointed at the quarter sessions as tithing man for Colliton Row in 1802 and became the parish clerk at Holy Trinity.

(6) Richard LAKE (1733-1810), widower remarried to Sarah GILLETT (d.1806) at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 9th May 1785. 2nd Marriage of (4) above
There were no children from his 2nd marriage

(7) Richard LAKE (1756-1840) & Elizabeth QUIVER (1747-1834) married at Thorncombe Dorset on 13th Oct 1791 - son of (3) above.
After marriage they settled in Holy Trinity Parish in Dorchester. They had 4 girls

(8) Robert LAKE (1765-1814) & Rebecca GREEN (1766-1824) married at St Mary's Stratton on 15th Sep 1794 - son of (4) above
After marriage Robert and Rebecca settled in her parish of Stratton and raised a family of 5 children there. Their eldest son Phillip LAKE, after marriage, moved back to live in Fordington .

(9) Susannah LAKE (1793-1868) & George HIGGINS (1790-1878) married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 11th May 1813 - daughter of (5) above

(10) Elizabeth LAKE (1789-1874) & Robert SPRANKLIN (1785-1840) married at Holy Trinity Church on 19th May 1814 - daughter of (5) above.

(11) Henry LAKE (1786-1871) & Sarah ROBERTS (1794-1863) married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 22nd Aug 1816 - son of (5) above

(12) James LAKE (1799-1869) & Ann SYMONDS (1793-1867) married at St Peters Church in Dorchester on 20th Feb 1823 - son of William LAKE and Jane BOWRING who was bap at Winterborne St Martin 5th May 1799. They raised 2 children at Winterborne Monkton before moving to Upwey where 4 more were born.

(13) Phillip LAKE (1796-1855) & Mary WATKINS married at Melcombe Regis on 9th April 1826 - son of (8) above
Born at Stratton an upholsterer by trade, after marriage, moved back to live in Fordington

(14) Sarah LAKE (1802-1832) & John BONNETT (1807-1855) married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 4th June 1827 - daughter of (5) above

(15) Charles LAKE (1821-1890) & Ann CLARKE married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 30th Mar 1844 - Charles born at Winterborne St Martin was living at Buckland Ripers when they married in Dorchester and settled after marriage at Winterborne Monkton - Follow link for more information.

(16) William Robert LAKE (1822-1898) & Mary Ann RUSSELL (1825-1898) married at St Georges Church Fordington on 21st May 1845 - son of (11) above

(17) James LAKE (1824-1909) & Jane BAYLEY (1824-1858) married at Winterborne Monkton on 23rd Nov 1847 - the son of the son of William LAKE (1794-1785) & Elizabeth FRAMPTON (1796-1862). After marriage they settled to live in Fordington where 4 children were baptised. Jane died at the age of 34 and was buried at St Georges Church in Fordington on 25th Jan 1858. James then remarried to Mary GRAY - See (20) below for 2nd marriage

(18) Frances Ann LAKE (1819-1861) & John CLARK (1821 -1902) a widower married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 22nd May 1853 - daughter of (11) above

(19) Charles Ernest LAKE (1827-1895) & Hannah (Anna) Cake RUSSELL (1829-1860) at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 26th June 1853 - son of (11) above.
They had no children before Hannah died in West Fordington and was buried at St Georges Church Fordington on 21st May 1860. Charles remarried at Christchurch on Christmas day 1860 to  Mary Anne RANDALL

(20) James LAKE (1824-1909) & Mary GRAY (1828-1895) (2nd marriage) at Winterborne Monkton on 22nd Feb 1859 - For 1st Marriage to Jane BAYLEY see (17) above. Continued to live in Fordington where another 8 children baptised from his 2nd marriage. By 1881 had moved to live at Drummer in Hampshire.

(21) Charles LAKE (1837-1895) & Maria CHUBB (1839-1884) married at Winterborne Monkton on 24 Feb 1859 - Son of Henry LAKE (1802-1878) a native of Winterborne St Martin - Charles and Maria moved to live in Fordington by 1863, 7 of their 9 children being born in Fordington. Maria Lake died in 1884 and Charles re-married for the 2nd time to Emily BAGG (1856-1889) at Winfrith Newburgh. When she died in 1889 he remarried for a third time to Margaret Maria WILLS (1856-1939).

(22) John Symonds LAKE (1830-1888) & Mary Ann SPRACKLING (1843-1910) married at Winterborne Monkton on 14th April 1860 - After marriage they settled to live on Fordington Hill in Fordington and raised a family of 9 children there before moving to live in All Saints Parish in Dorchester where another 4 were born.

(23) Warren Wentworth LAKE (1840-1895) & Sarah LOCK (1842-1912) - married at St George Church in Fordington on 3rd Oct 1860 - son of Robert Wentworth LAKE (1781-1863) and great great grandson of (2) above. They had one child in Fordington before returning to Weymouth.

(24) Charles Ernest LAKE (1827-1895) 2nd marriage at Christchurch West Fordington on Christmas day 1860 to Mary Anne RANDALL - 1st marriage see (19) above -
They had 14 children, the first born at Holy Trinity in Dorchester and the second at West Fordington before they obtained an assisted passage to Queensland in Australia and all arrived in Brisbane aboard 'The Queen of the Colonies' a fully rigged ship of 1,346 tons. It had sailed from the East India Dock in London on 7th July 1865 and arrived at Brisbaine in Australia on 7th Oct 1865.

(25) Susan LAKE (1829-1908) & Henry DAVIS (1834-1874) married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 19th may 1861 - daughter of (11) above

(26) Ann LAKE (1833-1883) & Charles GILL (1832-1892) married at St Peters Church Dorchester on 6th July 1862 - Daughter of John LAKE (1802-1866) who had moved his family from Corscombe to Dorchester by 1851, Joseph working as an agricultural labourer and raised a family of 7 children there.

(27) Joseph LAKE (1835-1879?) & Fanny CORNISH [CORNICK] (1845-1926) married at Winterborne Monkton on 15 Jun 1863 - son of William Lake (1794-1875) and Elizabeth nee Frampton (1796-1862). After marriage they settled in Fordington in Mill Street . Some of their children married in the parish and many grandchildren were born there. Follow link for more information.

(28) Sarah LAKE (1836-1899) & Albert James BARTLETT (1840-1877) married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 25th Dec 1869 - daughter of (11) above

(29) Jane LAKE (1843-1920) & George Henry HUM married at Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester on 25th Dec 1884 - was the granddaughter of James & Ann Lake  - See (12) above.

(1.1) FStG Marriages: John LAKE to Alice LUISE 23rd Apr 1639 parish registers for St Georges Church for the period 1640 to 1663 inclusive have not survived. It's possible they settled in Tincleton after marriage anyway.
(1.2) FStG Marriages: Thomas BISHOP to Ann LAKE 13th Nov 1707.
(1.3) St Peters Marriages: on 5th Apr 1716 George LAKE (1690-1728) of Upwey married Katherine MITCHELL (1692-1750) of Portisham who settled after marriage in Upwey.
(1.4) St Peters Baptisms: Robert the son of Andrew LAKE baptised 20th July 1714.