William Keatinge Clay (1797–1867) was an English cleric and antiquary.

Biography

Clay was born in 1797, and, having been ordained deacon in 1823 by John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, became curate of

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. He was ordained priest in the following year by

William Howley William Howley (12 February 1766 – 11 February 1848) was a clergyman in the Church of England. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1828 to 1848. Early life, education, and interests Howley was born in 1766 at Ropley, Hampshire, w ...

, Bishop of London. He was curate of

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

in 1830, and of Blunham, Bedfordshire, in 1834. In 1835 he took the degree of B.D. at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, as a ' ten-year man'; he became minor canon of

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...

in 1837, and was subsequently appointed 'prælector theologicus' and librarian of the cathedral. In 1842 he was instituted to the perpetual curacy of Holy Trinity, Ely, and was collated in 1854 by Thomas Turton, bishop of Ely, to the vicarage of

Waterbeach Waterbeach is an expanding village north of Cambridge on the edge of The Fens, in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was designated a "new town" in 2018. History Early periods Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Rom ...

, Cambridgeshire, where he died on 26 April 1867.

Works

Clay published several parochial histories, as well as commentaries and editions of Anglican liturgical texts. He also helped in the edition of the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'' issued by the

Ecclesiastical History Society The Ecclesiastical History Society (EHS) is a British learned historical society founded in 1961 to foster interest in, and to advance the study of, all areas of the history of the Christian Church through twice yearly conferences and publication ...

in 1849-54, and in the edition of

Charles Wheatly Charles Wheatly (1686–1742) was an English clergyman, known for writings on the ''Book of Common Prayer''. Life He was born on 6 February 1686, the son of John Wheatly, a tradesman of London. His mother, whose maiden name was White, was a descen ...

's ''Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer'', reprinted in 1858 by the syndics of the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. Clay works are: * ''Explanatory Notes on the Prayer Book Version of the Psalms'', London, 1839, 8vo. * ''The Book of Common Prayer illustrated; so as to show its various modifications, the date of its several parts, and the authority on which they rest'', London, 1841, 8vo. * (ed.) ''Liturgies and Occasional Forms of Prayer set forth in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth'', 1847. Edited for the

Parker Society The Parker Society was a text publication society set up in 1841 to produce editions of the works of the early Protestant writers of the English Reformation. It was supported by both the High Church and evangelical wings of the Church of England, an ...

. * ''An Historical sketch of the Prayer Book'', London, 1849, 8vo. * (ed.) ''Private Prayers put forth by authority during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. With an appendix containing the Litany of 1544'', Cambridge, 1851. Edited for the Parker Society * ''History of the parish of Waterbeach ''(1859), ''History of the parish of Landbeach'' (1861), and ''History of the parish of Horningsey'' (1865) in Cambridgeshire. These three parochial histories, printed separately by the

Cambridge Antiquarian Society The Cambridge Antiquarian Society is a society dedicated to study and preservation of the archaeology, history, and architecture of Cambridgeshire, England. The society was founded in 1840. Its collections are housed in the Haddon Library on Downi ...

, were collected into one volume with a common title-page, Cambridge, 1865, 8vo. * ''A History of the Parish of Milton in the county of Cambridge'', edited by the Rev. W. G. Searle for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1869.

References

;Attribution * This source cites: **Memoir prefixed to History of Milton; **Cambridge Chronicle, 4 May 1867; **Graduati Cantab. (1856), p. 79; **Gent. Mag. ccxxi. 825 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, William Keatinge 1797 births 1867 deaths English antiquarians Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests People from Waterbeach 19th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians Heads of King's Ely Heads of schools in England Teachers at King's Ely