Sir William Clayton, 1st Baronet (died 1744) of Marden Park, Surrey and later Harleyford, was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1715 to 1744. Clayton was the eldest surviving son of William Clayton of

Hambleden Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in southwest Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow, and around northeast of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The civil parish also includes the vi ...

, Buckinghamshire. He married Martha Kenrick, the daughter of John Kenrick, a London merchant. He was the nephew and heir of Sir Robert Clayton, a wealthy banker and former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

who had bought the manor of Bletchingley in 1677, and with it control of both seats in the parliamentary borough of Bletchingley. Clayton returned himself as a Member of Parliament (MP) for this

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

. He was returned as MP again in

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel '' Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), ...

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America. * February 16 – ...

and

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

. He voted with the Administration in all known divisions, except when he voted with the opposition in 1719 on the Peerage Bill and in 1730 on the Hessians. Harleyford Manor - geograph

Clayton was created 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 Marden in 1732. In 1735 he also bought the manor of Harleyford, near

Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Wycombe district in the England, English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the ...

, which gave him control of one of the two parliamentary seats of the borough of Great Marlow. Clayton died on 28 December 1744 leaving five sons and five daughters. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son,

Kenrick Kenrick is a northern European surname. The surname Kenrick was first found in Denbighshire, Wales, where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Nantclwyd Woore. (The estates included Woore, Shropshire, Cerniogau and Nantclwyd.) The nam ...

, who was in turn succeeded by his son

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

. Robert died childless, and the baronetcy passed to the 1st baronet's grandson

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who was the son of the first baronet's younger son

. Clayton's daughter Anne married John Thomas, who was a family tutor and later became

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

References

Year of birth unknown 1744 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Politicians from Buckinghamshire {{GreatBritain-baronet-stub