Royal Ancestry of James Claypoole

Royal Ancestry of James Claypoole

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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. His older brother John, with whom he was never close, had brief importance as the husband of Oliver Cromwell's daughter Elizabeth, and a membership in the Protector's House of Lords, together with a baronetcy which perished with him. Since Elizabeth and her children had died without surviving issue, James escaped trouble by association when the Restoration occurred.

The Claypooles were a "new" family, James Claypoole's great-grandfather, James Claypoole of Kings Cliff, Northamptonshire, who died 1598, having purchased Northborough in that county, and obtained a grant of arms 17 June 1583 from Robert Cooke, Clarenceaux: Or, a chevron azure between three hurts; crest: a fleur-de-lis encircled by a ducal coronet or. The son of this James, and grandfather of the London merchant, had married a Wingfield, and through this marriage a royal descent came to James Claypoole.

For the benefit of the Claypoole descendants who may be interested, this descent is offered below. There are three generatons which at first sight flash a warning to the experienced genealogist. generations 7 to 9. Since they are unusually long, the chronology requires careful checking. However, from the evidences cited with each, they appear to be adquately documented, and have, we understand, been accepted by and recorded at the College of Arms.

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I. King Edward I. b. 1239, d. 1307, married Eleanor of Castile, d. 1290 They were parents of:

II. Elizabeth, b. Aug. 1282, d. 5 May 1316; m. 14 Nov 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, Constable of England, b. 1276, d. 16 Mar 1321/2, slain at Borough Bridge

III. Sir William de Bohun, K.G. Earl of Northampton, b. 1310-1312, d. Sep 1360; m. (2) 1335-38 Elizabeth, b. 1313, d. 1356, daughter of Bartholomew Badlesmere

IV. Elizabeth de Bohun, d. 3 Apr 1385, bur. at Lewes; m. as 1st wife, 28 28 Sep 1359, Richard fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, b. 1346, attaintted and beheaded 21 Sep 1397

V. Elizabeth fitz Alan, d. 8 Jul 1425; m. 3rd husband by 19 Aug 1401 Sir Robert Gousell of Haveringham, Nottinghamshire

VI. Elizabeth Gousell, coheiress of father, m. Sir Robert Wingfield, Knt. b. 1403, d. 1451, bur. Lethringham, Co. Suffolk, MP for Suffolk

VII. Sir Henry Wingfield of Oxford, Co. Suffolk, b. ca. 1440, d. 1493, 7th son (There were also sisters, at least some born before him); m. (2) Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Rookes, Knt., of Fawley, Bucks

VIII. Sir Robert Wingfield, granted the manors of Upton and Allesworth, Northants, d. 4 Feb. 1475; m. Margery, daughter of John Quarles of Co. Norfolk and sister of George Quarles of Ufford; she d. by 14 Jun 1574

IX. Sir Robert Wingfield of Upton, MP for Peterborough, d. 31 Mar 1580; m. (1) Elizabeth, sister of William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, bur. 6 Dec 1611; (2) 25 or 28 Sep 1620 Jane Bird. By Elizabeth he was father of:

X. Dorothy Wingfield, bur. 7 Nov 1619; m. 30 Sep 1586, Adam Claypoole, son of James of Kings Cliff (who purchased Northborough and was granted arms), son of John

XI. John Claypoole of Northborough, b. 1595, m. 8 Jun 1622, Mary, daughter of William Angell of Peakirk, Northants. She d. 10 Apr 1660/1?

XII. James Claypoole, b. 8th mo. 1634, m. 12 12th mo. 1657/8 Helen Mercer at Bremen, Germany

Taken from "The American Genealogist" Vol. 47 No. 4 Oct. 1971

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Last Updated April 28, 2005

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