On 27 April 1840, Spark married Frances Maria, née Biddulph. It seems that, after this marriage, Spark began to lose a great deal of money very quickly, for a number of reasons. Spark had guaranteed loans to people who were now bankrupt or otherwise out of finances, and, by September, a wave of drought, among other things, had caused unrest and nervousness in the money market. To keep himself from facing bankruptcy or becoming broke, and also to help pay for large bills (£21,000 worth) he acquired in March 1841, he sold off much of his land, his shares and his ships. He also mortgaged a town house for £6,000. To make matters worse (financially), Spark's baby was born in April 1841, which meant that he had to support two other people as well as himself. Finally, having had to sell all of his assets to pay for his many debts, Alexander Spark became officially insolvent in 1844.