The Sharp Family
Zoffany’s great conversation pieces, painted in London,is of the Sharpe family
Here they all are, on a musical water party sailing on the Thames near Fulham. The family is shown as the sort of people you would love to meet: talented, musical, interesting, fun. The family included Granville Sharp, the lawyer : he is shown holding a sheet of music for his sister, Elizabeth Prowse, who is playing the piano. You can see them in the centre of the picture. Granville Sharp was of course, the principal agent in fighting the very famous case of James Somersett, the black slave, that was heard before Lord Mansfield, and as Mary Webster remarks: It was in this case that Mansfield in 1772 pronounced his famous verdict that Somersett must go free since no English law sanctioned slavery. Sharp consequently founded the Society for the Abolition of Slavery…
The German Sharp Family Crest.
courtesy of www.thetreemaker.com
​Our Story
The Sharp surname has many variant spellings: Sharp, Sharpe, Scharp, Scharf, Scherp to name but a few. It is most frequently found in England, but is also popular in Germany, Sweden and other Scandinavian countries.
For me the Sharp story starts with my mother Wilma Sharp. She was the daughter of Earl Richard Sharp and Marvis Hollenbeck-Sharp. My quest for information on the Sharp family has been like traveling in a time machine going backward in time. Following the Sharp last name backwards has been an interesting journey. Let me show you what I found. Let’s start with Earl Sharp and go backward from son to father.
Earl Sharp
Birth 26 Aug 1904 in Morley, Mecosta, MI, USA Death 5 Mar 1995 in Zephyrhills, Pasco, Florida, USA
Claude Nelson Sharp
Birth 21 Jan 1875 in Newago, Michigan, USA Death 22 Nov 1949 in Austin, Mecosta, Michigan, USA
Amos Sharp
Birth 3 Apr 1832 in Ashtabula, Ohio, USA Death 22 Feb 1897 in Morley, Mecosta, Michigan, USA
James Sharp
Birth 24 Sep 1800 in New York, USA Death 24 Aug 1870 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA
Andrus Andrew Sharp
Birth 28 Mar 1775 in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, New York, USA Death unknown
Abraham Sharp
Birth 21 May 1738 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, USA Death 20 Sep 1788 in Fair Haven, Rutland, Vermont, USA
Andries Scherp (notice the name change)
Birth 8 Jan 1704 in Kinderhook, Columbia, New York, USA Death 1704 in Claverack, Columbia, New York, USA
Johannes Scherp
Birth 1670 in Kinderhook, Columbia, New York, USA Death 25 Nov 1694 in New York, USA
Andries Hanse Scherp
Birth 1640 in New York, USA Death 1700 in Maryland, USA
I have taken us back in time to the 1600's. I will now attempt each week to add some information about each of these men who we are all part of. Items like where did they live, how many children did they have and with how many wives? What type of work did they do and was it legal? Keep checking back to see how the story develops.
Painting and information on Zoffany's Sharp family courtesy "Austenonly" http://austenonly.com/
Please forgive me if I missed giving credit where credit is due for any image or information used in this website. I will correct this oversite but it will take time.