Sir William Clay, 1st Baronet (15 August 1791 – 13 March 1869) was an English

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician and considered as a reformist a

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

. Clay was the son of George Clay, a prominent London merchant and shipowner.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, He was elected at the 1832 general election as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

, and held the seat for 25 years until his defeat at the 1857 general election. He served under

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

as Joint Secretary to the Board of Control from 1839 to 1841. On 30 September 1841 he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Fulwell Lodge in the County of Middlesex. Clay married Harriet, daughter of Thomas Dickason, of Fulwell Lodge, Twickenham,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, in 1822. They had several children and lived also at 35 Cadogan Place, Chelsea, Middlesex. Lady Clay died in December 1867. Clay survived her and died in March 1869, aged 77. His probate was sworn in the c.£20,000-broad bracket of under . He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, William.

Family

Sir William Clay, 2nd Baronet married Mariana Emily, daughter of Leo Schuster in 1855. They had no children. He died on 3 November 1877. His widow married

Arthur Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton Arthur Lawrence Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton (26 December 1832 – 21 April 1907) was a Canadian-born British civil servant. He was the first native Canadian to be raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Early life Haliburton w ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, William 1791 births 1869 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom