Introduction
This WebSite was started on 20th July, 2020, to record and make available what is known about the family recorded in Burke's "Landed Gentry" as "Clay of Piercefield".
As this is my WebSite, I do it the way I want, so THIS WebSite is restricted to only dead male Clays (and their wives and daughters) descended from the earliest verified ancestor, Joseph Clay who lived in the small hamlet (just south of the City of Derby) called Merrybower.
In the line above, you will see that the man's name is coloured, underlined, and in bold; the name of the place is coloured, underlined, but NOT bold - if you click on either, you will be taken to his Page on this WebSite (if the Link is BOLD) or (if not bold) to a different WebSite. This is true throughout this WebSite, words that are coloured and underlined are Links, if bold to this webSite, otherwise to a different WebSite.
Generally the move will be to a new window, which you can then kill to return to where you were before - but be aware that this may mean that you end up with lots of open windows.
If you follow a Link (red and underlined), then remember to kill that window to go back - otherwise you may end up with lots of open windows !
All of the genealogy on this WebSite can also be found here - that is a Link to our earliest forebear, the said Jospeh of Merrybower. That WebSite is entirey free, but you need to create an "account", with your own password. That allows you to add, change or delete information.If you are viewing the Tree, then you can navigate by dragging. There are small white arros in brown circles that, when clicked on, expand th tree in that direction. If you click on a name, a panel pops up with that name in bold green. Click on that name to go to that person;s Page.
But THIS WebSite contains not just the bare details, but the "gossip" as well !
Each Clay male has his own WebPage here, see the Menu on the left. Each name is preceded by a number, the number of digits is the generations down from the first, the value of each digit is the precedence. Each man's Page includes all that I know about him, AND about his wives and daughters. The wives (usually) started life with different surnames; most daughters married, so (usually) ended with different surnames. Details of the wives' parents, or of the daughters' children, must be sought under their other surnames; they won't be found here, though their names may be here. If I know of any other WebSite that mentions them, their name will be a Link, and coloured and underlined, but not bold.
I just might make two exceptions to that Rule about "only dead male CLAYs" - my father's second cousin Rachel Clay (like him, descended from Henry Clay) married the younger brother David Bowes-Lyon of the Queen Mother; and my mother's first cousin Christopher Soames (like her, descended from Harold Soames) married a daughter (Mary) of Sir Winston Churchill. If you've got it, FLAUNT it !
Most of the text was written by my father Gervas Clay in the 1960s and 70s, continuing the work started by his father Gerard Clay 50 years before - all without the help of computer or the Intenet.
Yes, I hate the ads. But - they pay for this WebSite, which means that, when I become eligible for inclusion, the WebSite will remain. I have seen too many excellent WebSites disappear when the owner died and the subscription ceased. This is one such defunct WebSite, that is ALL about Piercefield ! This version was "captured" by the Internet Archive - but there are bits missing.
This present 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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