About

A Website dedicated to the links between the Clays of England and the Clays of France.

The background to the society of Anglo-French Clays

This site would not have been possible if I had not come across the The Clay of England society website created by David Clay, it is a monumental piece of work with thousands of references found long before the days of the internet. He must have travelled many hundreds if not thousands of miles across England visiting county record offices and libraries.

Finding the site has led me to a greater knowledge of medieval Clays, a better understanding of Medieval English and French history and I have fully enjoyed contributing to the site over the last two years.

The high point of research was finding Walterus De Clais in the Cambridge Inquisition of 1086 and then to cap that, finding reference to him again in 1080.

I am not an academic and I am sure this work reflects that, I do hope however that you enjoy the content.

If you have enjoyed reading about Sir John Clay, you will find his whole history on our other website, 

Sir John Clay of Cheshunt

This is a website dedicated to the life and history of Sir John Clay.

The site is linked to, The Clay of England Society website and The Society of Anglo-French Clays website.

There is a lot of disinformation on the internet about a Sir John Clay, coal Baron of Wales, he is a figure of fiction but believed by many to be real, he is not and this website deconstructs the myth.

Another interesting Clay is Edmund del Clay of Finningley, Lawyer to Edward III mistress, Alice Perrers.

 The surname of Clay is documented in the County of Derbyshire from the time when surnames were first given to ordinary people back in the 1200s. The name is most likely occupational and was probably first given to a man who made his living excavating clay and supplying it to various trades. It is in the north of the county where the Clay's multiplied extensively around the parish of North Wingfield, although there were some early Clay's in the town of Derby. The 13th century “Charters of Darley Abbey”, which was located near Derby, mentions a land transaction between the years 1214 and 1233, when Abbott Henry granted Adam del Clay a messuage of land in Derby for an annual rent of 20 pence, and between 1236 and 1251 Richard del Clay rents 1 acre of land at Normanton in Derby from the same Abbey for 1 farthing. Also in 1266 Peter son of Henry de Clay had a house and land near St Michaels Church in Derby, at an annual rent of 2 shillings and sixpence, rented from the same Abbey.