William Clayton later Baron Sundon after Godfrey Kneller William Clayton, 1st Baron Sundon (1671 – 29 April 1752) of Sundon Hall,

Sundon Sundon is a civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. There are two settlements: the one called Upper Sundon at the top of the hill is now the main village, and the presumably older one by the church is now a hamlet called Lower Sun ...

, Bedfordshire was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Treasury official and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1716 to 1752.

Early life

Clayton was baptized on 9 November 1671, the eldest surviving son of William Clayton of

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

and Ann Haske, the daughter of John Haske of Newmarket. He married

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, the daughter of John Dyve, clerk of the

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, before 1714. He was the youngest son of Sir

Lewis Dyve Sir Lewis Dyve (1599–1669) was an English Member of Parliament and a Royalist adherent during the English Civil War. His surname is sometimes also spelt Dive or Dives. Life Dyve was born on 3 November 1599.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 ...

for

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

by Marlborough at a by-election on 2 July 1716. The Duke's son-in-law, Lord Sunderland, made him a Lord of the Treasury in 1718. but he was turned out of the post to make room for Walpole's friends on the reunion of the Whig party in 1720. Clayton was elected to the South Sea committee of the House of Commons, and spoke against Walpole's proposals for restoring public credit and discharging a civil list debt in January and July 1721. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

was defeated at Woodstock but was returned in a contest for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

as the Duchess's nominee. Marlborough was dying at this time, and Clayton was one of his executors. In Parliament, Clayton spoke against the Government on a bill for taxing Roman Catholics in 1723, and on the dropping of bounties on wheat exports from Scotland in December 1724. Clayton was appointed auditor general to the Prince of Wales in 1725. In April 1727, he and Pulteney attacked Walpole's proposals for financing a budget deficit. On the accession of George II, with Clayton's connection to the Queen, through his wife, he was reappointed Lord of the Treasury. However he had fallen out with the Duchess of Marlborough through taking office under Walpole, and at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, he was returned unopposed as MP for

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. He spoke for the Government in the 1727 Parliament. He was returned unopposed again for Westminster at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

but thereafter was primarily concerned with his constituency. He was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

on 2 June 1735 as Baron Sundon, of Ardagh in the County of Longford. At the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

he was returned after a fierce contest, but the partiality of the high bailiff, who prematurely closed the poll, caused a riot and Sundon had to be rescued by the guards. The election was declared void by the House of Commons, which was a serious blow to Walpole's Administration. Clayton's wife, who had suffered bouts of madness since the death of the Queen, died at this time. After the fall of Walpole, Clayton lost his post at the Treasury, but was given a government seat at

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Pl ...

where he was returned at a by-election on 3 May 1742. At the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

, he was returned for

St Mawes St Mawes ( kw, Lannvowsedh) is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the ...

, another government seat.

Death and legacy

Clayton died on 29 April 1752. He had no children and the peerage became extinct upon his death. Sundon Hall was inherited by 4 nieces, who sold the property.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundon, William Clayton, 1st Baron 1671 births 1752 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George II British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for St Mawes Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Plympton Erle