Tall Tales & True Stories
Our Claypool (a/k/a Claypole, Claypoole) Ancestry
The following information regarding our Claypool ancestry was received in an e-mail from Vanessa Trampleasure.
Yes you are right I am English - I live in Brentwood, Essex. I have been researching the Angell family for about 20 years and have enjoyed wandering off along the branches of the family. The Angell family became quite notorious here in the UK when the last of the male line died out (1784) leaving his very large estate to anyone descended in the male line from Mary Angell's father William who had died in 1629. The result of this will was that anyone with the name Angell in their ancestory thought they were in with a chance to become very wealthy. This will is still being contested to this day, these days mainly by Australians. Your Claypool cousins are a collection of celebrities. The James Claypool you mentioned was a friend of William Penn and went to the Americas to join him in Philadelphia - somewhere his line links up with Betsey Ross who I believe came up with the design for the stars and stripes.
Meanwhile back in England the eldest son John married Elizabeth Cromwell the favourite daughter of Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector. Oliver made John a Lord but his world fell apart with the death of Elizabeth (probably from stomache cancer) shortly followed by her father. John retired back to Northborough where Oliver Cromwell's widow Elizabeth joined him for the rest of her days. John then married Blanche Teeke the wealthy widow of Lancelot Staveley but later set up home with a laundress Annie Ottey (this was very scandelous at the time).
Meanwhile amongst the Angell cousins there were other marriages which link them with celebrity and the early colonies in the Americas. Mary's sisters Ellen and Bridget married Graveley and Benjamin Norton (now you know who your ancestor was named for), their uncle Thomas Norton was an MP, Poet and playwright. Thomas Norton was married first to Margaret Cranmer the daughter of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer who masterminded England's split with the Roman Catholic Church and was burnt at the stake by 'Bloody' Mary Tudor. Thomas Norton was a fanatical puritan and was appointed Official Censor of Catholics by Queen Elizabeth - basically his job was to torture them and he earned the nickname Rackmaster General. The Norton brother's were the sons of Luke Norton who acquired the Manor of Sharpenhoe in Bedfordshire from some Norton Cousins - these cousins then set off to the Americas and were early settlers in Connecticut and Virginia (one - Lt. Colonel Walter Norton being killed in Virigina by the natives in 1633). Mary's sister Katherine married John Pemberton the son of Roger who was a wealthy merchant from St. Alban's in Hertfordshire. Roger Pemberton's sister Alice was the mother of Dr. Roger Williams the founder of the Rhode Island colony. Another sister Martha was married to Dr William Lucy a younger son of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire who was said to have once prosecuted Shakespeare for poaching deer. Dr William Lucy was a firm Royalist and lost his living and vast library during the civil war, as recompense Charles II made him Bishop of St. David's in Wales. Meanwhile Mary's father William also dabbled with the Virginia colony, as Warden of the Fishmonger's company he invested money in establishing the fledgling settlement. William also leased out his ship the Triall for a speculative trip to Virginia in 1606. However, the ship never got anywhere near the Americas as the crew sailed her around the coast of Britain selling off the tackle to fund wild parties, they were also thought to have taken her over to Spain for a spot of piracy before dumping the ship off Baltimore in Ireland.
Mary's brother John Angell was a member of the Virginia company as was his brother or father in law Robert Edolphe. Mary's mother Joan Povey was sister to Justinian Povey who was auditor to James 1st wife Anne of Denmark. Justinian Povey's sons were also involved with the new colonies, two being civil servants responsible for Barbados and Jamaica and another Thomas Povey who as a civil servant in the Navy office and appears in a number of documents about the early mainland American colonies. This Thomas Povey was well known by Samuel Pepys and is mentioned several times in his diaries he was also a founder member of the Royal Africa company so could be partly blamed for the slave trade.
I have attached pictures of John Claypole and Elizabeth Cromwell - they are from the National Portrait Gallery so are copyright but I thought you would enjoy seeing what the brother of your ancestor looked like. (Note from Frena: I have not attached any of these photos since they are copyrighted -- anyone intersted can do a quick search on the Internet and have them within seconds) I have also attached a picture of 'Mansion House' in Crowhurst, Surrey. This is the house William Angell purchased in 1614 and remained in the Angell family for more than a century - Mary must have lived there before her marriage. Meanwhile as requested here are the details of John Claypole and Mary Angell's children (in no particular order).
Children of M ARY A NGELL and S IR JOHN C LAYPOLE are:
M ARY CLAYPOLE M . W ILLIAM S HIELDS , 1650, Northborough..
E LIZABETH C LAYPOLE M Dr ALEXANDER STAPLES she died before 1681 in Ireland
R OBERT C LAYPOLE born 1627c buried 12 February 1657/58 at Northborough. Left 40 shillings in uncle Robert Angell's will.
W INGFIELD C LAYPOLE b.1628c died after 1682 was a Colonel for Cromwell in Ireland
G RAVELY C LAYPOLE b1631c- after 1678.
Education: Jesus College, Cambridge. His entry in their biographical register reads Adm. pens. at JESUS, May 9, 1649. Of Northamptonshire. S. of John, of Gray's Inn, Esq.; and of Northborough and Maxey, Northants. Matric. 1649. Living in 1678. His brother John (1642) married the elder dau. of Oliver Cromwell. (A. Gray.)
D OROTHY C LAYPOLE b1633c
F RANCES C LAYPOLE b.1634c
J OHN CLAYPOLE M ASTER OF H ORSE , bpt. August 21, 1625, Northborough.; d. June 26, 1688. married Elizabeth Cromwell favorite daughter of Oliver Cromwell. 1642 entered Emmanuel College Cambridge University, married 13 January 1644/45 at Holy Trinity, Ely.1645 In Parliamentary Army at siege of Newark, 1651 Raised a troop of horse for Parliament, 1654-1656 Master of the Horse & MP, 16 July 1657 made a Lord, 1678 imprisoned, 1681 sells Northborough, Elizabeth died 6 August 1658 and her father shortly after, some say of grief at the loss of Elizabeth. She is buried in Westminster Abbey and unlike her father was not dug up on the Restoration.
J AMES CLAYPOLE baptised 8 October 1634 James Claypoole, merchant of London, treasurer of the Free Society, came to Pennsylvania on the Concord, arriving the 8th or 10th of October 1683, with his wife Helen Mercer and seven children. . He was a friend of William Penn. James and Helen were married 12 December 1657 in Bremen, Germany. James died 6 August 1687 in Philadelphia and Helen died there also in 19 August 1688
E DWARD CLAYPOLE b. 1637.
Education: St John's College, Cambridge. Claypole Edward was a plantation owner in Barbados where he had 325 acres 12 white servants and 186 black slaves. Buried 11 September 1692 in Barbados. Married Abigail Mascol
M ARTHA CLAYPOLE bpt. June 09, 1639, Northborough..
Burial January 14, 1662/63, Northborough.
N ORTON CLAYPOLE b. 1640.
B ENJAMIN CLAYPOLE b. April 16, 1643, Etton, Northamptonshire.; m. L UCY W EEKLEY . This guy is attributed to John & Mary Angell but was born after Mary died.
Here is a chart of our royal lineage from King Edward the First!
KING Edward the First (Longshanks) Plantagenet-[641] is the 19th Great-Grandfather of Afrena Bea Williams-[352]
Common Ancestor
* KING Edward the First (Longshanks) Plantagenet-[641]
(1239-1307)
*
Eleanor-[642]
( -1290)
Married -[230]
|
|
Humphrey de
Bohun-[639]
(1276-1321)
* Elizabeth
Courtenay-[640]
(1282-1316)
Married 14 Nov 1302-[229]
|
|
* Sir
William de Bohun K.G. Earl of Northampton-[637]
(1310-1360)
Elizabeth
Badlesmere-[638]
(1313-1356)
Married 1335-1338-[228]
|
|
Richard
Fitzalan Earl of Arundel-[635]
(1346-1397)
* Elizabeth de Bohun-[636]
(
-1385)
Married 28 Sep 1359-[227]
|
|
Sir Robert Goushill-[116]
*
Elizabeth Fitzalan-[115]
( -1425)
Married 19 Aug
1401-[73]
|
|
Robert Wingfield-[118]
(Abt 1385-1454)
* Elizabeth
Goushill-[117]
(1402-1451)
Married -[74]
|
|
* Henry
Wingfield-[121]
(Abt 1440-1493)
Elizabeth Rokes-[120]
( -Abt
1530)
Married After 1480-[77]
|
|
* Sir Robert
Wingfield-[185]
(Abt 1491-1576)
Margery Quarles-[184]
( -Bef
1574)
Married Abt 1522-[107]
|
|
* Sir Robert
Wingfield-[189]
(1532-1580)
Elizabeth Cecil-[188]
(Abt
1535-1611)
Married 1555-[108]
|
|
Adam Claypool
(Claypole)-[416]
* Dorothy Wingfield-[351]
( -1619)
Married 30 Sep
1586-[132]
|
|
* John Claypool (Claypole)-[423]
(1595- )
Mary
Angell-[420]
Married 8 Jun 1622-[167]
|
|
* Norton Claypool
(Claypole)-[329]
(1640- )
Rachel Unknown-[419]
Married Abt
1670-[121]
|
|
* Jeremiah Claypool (Claypole)-[330]
Sarah
Shepard-[331]
Married 10 Mar 1710-[122]
|
|
Jacob Gum-[577]
(Bef
1783- )
* Sarah Claypool (Claypole)-[332]
Married -[213]
|
|
*
Jacob Gum-[579]
Unknown Dever-[578]
Married -[217]
|
|
* Jacob B.
Gum-[603]
(1764-1847)
Rhoda Bell-[602]
(1767-1852)
Married 26 Jan
1791-[215]
|
|
* Jesse Gum-[1]
(1805-1872)
Margaret Louisa
McDONALD-[612]
(Abt 1811-After 1880)
Married 19 May
1830-[216]
|
|
Daniel Spalding-[599]
(1829-1912)
* Diadema
Gum-[610]
(1833-1920)
Married 2 Jan 1851-[212]
|
|
* Jesse
Merritt Spalding-[598]
(1860-1936)
Minnie Pearl
Hawkins-[581]
(1884-1967)
Married 3 May 1904-[207]
|
|
Roy
William White-[425]
(1904- )
* Alice Hester Bea
Spalding-[534]
(1907-1968)
Married 22 Jun 1929-[169]
|
|
Jimmy
Lee Williams-[28]
* Cleta Bell White-[422]
(1935-2000)
Married
-[166]
|
|
* Afrena Bea Williams-[352]