Clay Of Piercefield

A history of the family known as

Clay of Piercefield

This WebSite was created to record and make available what is known about the family recorded in Burke's "Landed Gentry" as "Clay of Piercefield".

If this is your first visit, you are invited to read the Introduction, which tells you about this WebSite, what it contains, and "navigation tips" - perhaps the most useful is that, if you follow a Link (red, underlined, not Bold), then it opens a new Tab; remember to kill that Tab to go back to where you were - otherwise you may end up with lots of open Tabs ! Bold Links replace your present Tab.
On the Menu on the left, one tab mentions "1 Jospeh" - the number refers to the sequence of generation and birth - he was the first-born of the first generation that we know about. Another tab mentions "12331 Henry" - that Henry was (working backwards through the numbers) the eldest son of the 3rd son of the 3rd son of the 2nd son of - "1 Joseph"; i.e. there are four digits - four generations - below "1 Joseph". In the Family Trees, those numbrs increase from left to right; and the number of digits increases from top to bottom as you go down the page.

If you haven't read it, you might like to read The Family's Origins, for the first records we have found show the family at Merrybower just South of Derby. In 1751 the family moved to Burton-on-Trent; Piercefield was bought in 1861, and all the family had scattered from Staffordshire by 1926 -though there MAY be other branches as yet undiscovered!.

This WebSite tells the stories of dead Clay males and their wives and children - down to

Henry Clay, b. 11 Aug 1796, d. 4 Jan 1874 aged 77, who bought Piercefield,

and his wife

Elizabeth nee Leigh, b. 2 Nov 1799, d. 19 Apr 1887 aged 87

and their three sons, Henry, Joseph Spender and Charles John.

Henry's line of male Clays continues

Joseph's male Clay line has died out, his descendants through female lines belong to other families (Nicholls, Bowes-Lyon and Bingham).

Charles John had four sons, Arthur, Gerard, Ernest and Wilfrid.

Arthur had two sons and two daughters; his male line continues.

Gerard had two sons, Gervas and Ralph; his male line continues.

Ernest had only a daughter, who had no children.

Wilfrid had a son and a daughter; the son had two sons, neither is married.

Also the descendants of Henry's two brothers:-

the Rev. Joseph, 1800-1839 (Ancestor of the Bonham Clays) and

the Rev. John, 1805-1908 (Ancestor of the Harden Clays).

And this WebSite includes male Clay descendants of them all - but only once they have shuffled off this mortal coil - though their Pages will include the names and births of their sons, and details of their wives and daughters, who may still be around.

This WebSite is a work in progress - and always will be - people keep producing babies, and expiring - so please let me have any information you would like added to this record. There are mistakes, inevitably, so please bring them to my attention - click here.

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Most WebSites are "paid for", so when payment is not made, DOWN it comes.

But this is a free WebSite, so no subscription is required. That means that this WebSite should survive "for ever". But it does have to be paid for - hence the ads, over which I have no control.