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The name Clayter reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Clayter family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Clayter family lived in one of the many parishes by the name of Clayton in Staffordshire, Sussex, the West Riding of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Cloughton is a small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire. 1 2
The surname Clayter was first found in Lancashire where the family "claim descent from one Robert, who came into England with the Conqueror, and received Clayton in reward of his services." 3 For the most part, all villages derived their name from the Old English words "claeg" + "tun," collectively meaning "farmstead on clayey soil." 4
Many villages date back to the Domesday Book of 1086 and were listed with a variety of spellings: Claitone (three listings); Claitunea; and Claitone. 5 Another early listing of the surname was Jordan de Claiton who was listed in Yorkshire in 1191. 6
The Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I. lists Robert de Cleyton, Lancashire, Henry III-Edward I. 7
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: Sewal de Claton in Hertfordshire; Hamo de Cleyton in Buckinghamshire; and William de Cletone in Shropshire. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 include: Willelmus de Clayton, of Clayton; Sara de Clayton; and Johannes de Clayton. 2 "Taunton Hall [in Knott Lanes, Lancashire], was the seat of the Claytons as early as the reign of Henry VI." 8
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Clayter research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1612, 1629, 1632, 1665, 1676, 1677, 1684, 1685, 1689, 1692, 1693, 1695, 1702, 1705, 1706, 1707, 1711, 1758, 1773 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Clayter History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Clayton, Claydon, Clawton, Claughton and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir Richard Clayton of Adlington; William Clayton (1632-1689), English settler to America in 1677, acting Governor of the Pennsylvania Colony from 1684 to 1685; Richard Clayton (died 1676), English Canon, Oxford academic and administrator, Master of University College, Oxford (1665 to 1676); Sir Thomas Clayton (c 1612-1693), an English doctor, academic and politician; and Sir Robert Clayton (1629-1707) British merchant banker, politician and Lord Mayor of London.
John Clayton (1693-1773), was an English-born botanist, born at Fulham in 1693. His father...
Another 87 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Clayter Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Another 108 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Clayter name or one of its variants: Barnaby Clayton, who came to Massachusetts sometime between 1628 and 1629; Richard Clayton who settled in Virginia in 1636; Thomas Clayton settled in Austin, Rhode Island, in 1650.