1233131 Arthur Joseph 1870-1915
Arthur was born on 29 April 1870 in Stapenhill, the eldest son of Charles John Clay and "Aggie" née Arden. He was educated at Harrow[1], whence he went up to New College, Oxford. When he was 35, he was married on 10 May 1905 in Lichfield Cathedral to Bridget Parker‑Jervis (see below), then aged 20.
Arthur and Bridget moved to Grangewood near Swadlingcot, and had two daughters and two sons :-
(Evelyn Agnes) "Evie" was born on 1 October 1906 in Cranley Gardens, London, and at the end of her life lived at The Dower House, Headbourne Worthy, Winchester She was married on 22 January 1938, to (Edward Stephen Bruce) "Ted" Williams, Brigadier of the Rifle Brigade, who was the son of Major General Sir Hugh Bruce Bruce-Williams, KCB, DSO (1865-1942) of Crowborough, and Mabel Heward. Ted was born 02.11.1892 in Pinhoe, Devon.
For Ted's CV, click here.
Evie and Ted had two sons and two daughters.
Their elder son was David (Arden) Bruce Williams (1940-2007), who became Colonel of the Royal Green Jackets; their second son was Bruce, and their daughters were Bridget and Joanna. All married with children - but they are WILLIAMS, not CLAY, so further details are not shown here..
Doris Muriel was born on 24 December 1907 in Grangewood, Ashby de la Zouch, and died there on 12 October 1909 at the age of 9½ months.
(Charles John Jervis) "Char" was born on 19 March 1910.
On 6th June 1912, Arthur and his wife Bridget, his youngest brother Wilfrid and his half-sister Hilda set off to drive across Europe (and the Alps) to Italy, and arrived back on 6th July - click here to download an edited account of that trip, that appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of the Bulletin of the Vintage Sports Car Club.
Henry Arthur Clay was born on 23 April 1913.
Arthur was a J.P. for Staffordshire, and a Director of Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton. He inherited Holly Bush on his father's death in 1910, but sold it to the Hignets, as he was by then living at Grangewood.
When the War came in 1914, Arthur joined the North Staffordshire Regiment with the rank of Major, but he died of pneumonia less than six months later, on 18 February 1915, in Harpendon, Herts, at the age of 44, while on active service. He was buried at Newborough, Burton‑on‑Trent.
See Memorials here, here, here, here, here and here.
Bridget Parker‑Jervis
Bridget was born in Shenstone, near Lichfield, Staffs,[2] on 23 March 1885. Bridget's twin sister[3] Evelyn was the mother of Diana Negus, who married Ralph Clay, the younger son of Gerard Clay, a brother of Bridget's husband.
The twins (Bridget & Evelyn), another daughter Dorothy and three sons, Thomas, Humphrey and George were the children of Thomas Swynfen Parker-Jervis (1852-1936) and Bridget Harriet nee Atkinson (1853-1930), daughter of Francis Baring Atkinson (married 17 January 1883). Thomas Swynfen Parker-Jervis was the 8th son of Edward Swynfen Parker-Jervis, who was the youngest son of the 2nd Viscount St. Vincent (William Henry Jervis nee Ricketts), son of Mary Jervis, a sister of Adm. The Rt. Hon. Sir John JERVIS Earl of St. Vincent, P.C., G.C.B. (d.s.p.), whose mother was Elizabeth Parker, and whose father was the Rev. Swynfen Jervis - named after his mother, Mary Swynfen (1620-1721) - and .
John Jervis = Mary Swynfen
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Rev Swynfen Jervis = Elizabeth Parker
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W.H. Jervis nee Ricketts = Mary Jervis Adm. Sir John JERVIS
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Edward S. Parker-Jervis
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Thomas S. Parker-Jervis = Bridget Atkinson
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┌──┴───┐
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Evelyn Bridget = Arthur Joseph Clay
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Diana = Ralph Clay Nephew of Arthur Joseph Clay
i.e. Bridget's niece married Bridget's husband's nephew
As mentioned above, in June 1912 Bridget accompanied her husband Arthur, his brother Wilfrid and half-sister Hilda on a trip by car over the Alps and back.
After the death of her husband Arthur on active service in 1915, Bridget (now aged 30) and her three remaining children, then aged 3, 5 and 9, moved to The Well House, Banstead, in Surrey, the home of her brother-in-law Ernest.
Bridget died on 6 June 1973 in Hindhead at the age of 88. After her death, her daughter Evie (so she told me) took each of the drawers of her bureau in turn, and, without looking at the contents, emptied it onto the bonfire…
