John Clay (Wars of the Roses)

Sir John Clay was an English soldier who fought in the Wars of the Roses on the Yorkist side in the Battle of Tewkesbury, which occurred on 4 May 1471. King Edward IV of England knighted him after the battle, with Clay's coat of arms depicting three lions facing another and engaging in a quarrel.

Sir John Clay was the son of Sir John Clay of Cheshunt c. 1400-1464. He was born c1445, mentioned in the Paston Letters in 1463 as being 18 years old.(2) However, we do not know whether he was born in England or Normandy. Sir John Clay of Cheshunt served for 30 years in Normandy, mainly at Rouen, where he held various posts including bridge captain.(3)

As he was 18 c. 1463, he may have taken part in the battles and skirmishes in the north of England after 1461 and even before in the Wars of the Roses, but there is no reference to him in this period.

There is a reference to him in his father's will of 1464 and in the outstanding debts to him and his mother, 1470/1 and then we have nothing further until 1471 when he fought at the Battle of Tewkesbury. He was knighted on the battlefield after Tewkesbury, alongside his brother-in-law, his sister Cecily's wife, Robert Grene.(4)

When his mother died in 1477 there was no mention of him in her will.

There is mention of a Sir John Clay in 1480 and 1485 in connection with a residence called Camera Dianae in London.(5)

He may have died alongside his brother-in-law Sir Robert Grene, who died of the flux during an ill-fated expedition to France in 1472.(6)

His coat of arms are described as, Argent, three wolves two in chief combatant one in base passant sable.(7)

References

(2) Paston letters, Vol IV, page 83

(3) Histoire de la Ville du Soissons, M. Leroux, 1839, Vol 2, page 49

(4) Paston Letters, Volume 5, page 105

(5) The Life and Reign of Edward IV, Vol 2, page 40, Cora L Schofield

(6) History of Parliament 1439-1509, 1936, Wedgewood

External links

• Yorkshire history page listing Clay as a combatant
• Page on the Battle of Tewkesbury also listing Clay

https://www.sirjohnclayofcheshunt.eu/sir-john-the-younger

https://sites.google.com/site/clayofengland/clay-of-hertfordshire