BoAr: Bourne People: Clay Family

http://boar.org.uk/abiwxe1ClayFamily(home Latest edit 19 Aug 2008

The Bourne Archive.

Bourne People: The Clay Family Papers.

This group of web pages consists of transcriptions of documents relating to the affairs of members of the Clay family of Bourne, Lincolnshire, between 1726 and 1743.

The family was prominent in Bourne as businessmen and landowners, during the eighteenth century. Its members were related by marriage to the Buckworth family of Spalding. There is a small collection of papers which gives a glimpse of their activities, principally where they come under the general heading of business. This includes small-scale banking, an inventory for probate, dealing with a slander and so on.

J.D.Birkbeck [p.57] reports that Elizabeth Clay was the daughter of Matthew Clay, gentleman, who was a considerable property owner in Bourne and whose heiress Elizabeth became on his death in 1754. She was already married to Theophilus Buckworth. His holdings, which will have included those of his wife, were listed in 1770 when the allotments relating to the Enclosure Act of 1766 were awarded. This included over 315 acres of land on the east side of Bourne. It was in Gobbold’s Park (which extended from grid reference TF109205 to TF123221), Bourne Meadows (TF106204 to TF114221), East Field (TF096202 to TF108216) and North Fen (TF116201 to TF169235). These fields but not Buckworth’s land specifically, are named and delineated in the Exeter Estate Book. He also owned 17 houses and tofts with common rights. Matthew had owned the Candlehouse in Bourne Market Place so it seems appropriate that he should have given the large brass candelabra which hangs in the nave of the Abbey.

In the Marquis of Exeter’s estate book (1826), neither the Clay nor the Buckworth name figures among the owners in these Bourne lands.

Links to transcriptions of the Clay Papers.

A. = Ann. M. = Matthew: W. = William Clay. - E. = Everard: My = Mary Buckworth. - (S) = summary: (T) = transcription

Banking: M.Clay Alling Hankin bond (S) M.Clay Gibbs quit claim (S) W.Clay Lucas bond (S) W.Clay Sewell bond (S) E.My.Buckworth Wallis bond (S)

Tanning: M.Clay Brightman bond (S)

Miscellaneous: M.Clay Wyche invoice (T) A.M.Chandelier (T) M.Colic water (T)

The Buckworth and Clay family names in Bourne.

Table 1. The following table is extracted from a database of 15,000 entries which relate to Bourne but which are very unevenly distributed in time and place within the parish. It lists the occurrences of the names Clay and Buckworth.

Year	Person	Place	Details	Cem Ref	Document
1729	Clay, Ann.		Executrix of James Organ[...]'s will.		6102
1741	Clay, Mr. Math.	Bourne.	Payer of bill.		1107
1741	Clay, Mrs. Ann.	Bourne.	Consumer.		1107
1742	Clay, Matthew.	Bourne.	Gave the bran[..] to this church. [probably the chandelier]		6102
1817	Buckworth, William.	Bourne Parish.	Land proprietor. let £20.		0101
1841	Clay, Catherine. nee?	Eastgate?	Born.	2.3859	0104
1844	Clay, James.	Eastgate?	Born.	3.0244	0104
1863	Clay, Mark.	Eastgate?	Born.	1.3074	0104
1873	Clay, Mark.	Eastgate?	Born.	3.0315	0104
1880	Clay, Charles William.	Eastgate?	Born.	3.1169	0104
1889	Clay, Mark.	Eastgate.	Labourer. d18Mar. age36.	3.0315	0104
1900	Clay, James.	Eastgate.	Machine man. living.	2.3859	0104
1900	Clay, Catherine.	Eastgate.	Wife of James, machine man. d28Nov. age59.	2.3859	0104
1929	Clay, James.	Eastgate.	Labourer. d3Oct. age85.	3.0244	0104
1931	Clay, Mark.	Eastgate.	Labourer. d26Feb. age58.	1.3074	0104
1944	Clay, Sarah Anne.	Eastgate.	. d12May.	3.1149	0104
1944	Clay, Charles William.	Eastgate.	Wool caser. d3Nov. age64.	3.1169	0104

Table 2. Document key: document numbers are those of the above table. The date is that of the document. Entries are the number of items in the database which are taken from the respective document. Document 6102 appears on this site as [Ball’sCharities]. Document 1107 appears on this site as [ClayWyche]. pc = photocopy.

Document	Document Description	Date	Source	Entries
0101	Bourne: Land Tax Assessment: 1817	1817	R.Penhey	213
0104	Bourne Cemetery records relating to Eastgate. Extracted by G.H.	1856-1865	Geoffrey Harmston	2393
1107	Bill from Wyche to Clay .	1741	R.Penhey	6
6102	Summary of Bourne Charities.	1869	P.Edmunds. pc:R.Penhey	19

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