William Noble Clay R.N. (bef. 1799 - 1850)

Born before 28 Mar 1799 in Meonstoke, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Arabella Joana (Nevile) Clay — married 26 Jun 1826 in St Mary's Church, Bathwick, Bath, Somerset, England

Descendants

Died 3 Jun 1850 after age 51 in Grosvenor Place, Walcot, Bath, Somerset, England

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Biography

Lieut. William Noble Clay R.N. (1799-1850) was the son of R-Adm. Edward Sneyd & his wife [http://www.thepeerage.com/p37364.htm#i373638 Elizabeth Mary née Knight

SMUGGLERS AT BUDLEIGH, 1835
It was a moonlit, blustery night, Tuesday 1st December 1835, and the smuggling fraternity of East Devon had planned an audacious run on the coast just to the Exmouth side of Budleigh Salterton. Some fifty or sixty men, gathered on the beach towards midnight. John Batchelor, the chief boatman of the Coast Guard at Budleigh, had spotted a cutter manoeuvring suspiciously in the offing and had summoned his commander, Lieutenant William Noble Clay RN. Lieutenant Clay, with great courage, hastened alone to the beach beneath the westward cliffs where he found a boat ashore and the smugglers busy. He twice fired his pistol over the heads of the men on the beach. Some of them fled but others came towards the lieutenant saying, "Seize him!" and "Give it to him!" They were armed with guns, pistols and bludgeons. They tied up Clay, hand and foot, and took his cutlass and his pistol from him and some of them beat him and injured him. He asked them not to beat him and asked one who seemed to be the leader of the smugglers to return his pistol. The ringleader, who was probably William Rattenbury of Beer, son of the smuggler Jack Rattenbury, pointed to his own pistol. "This is not your pistol, it is mine," he said, "and damned well loaded it is." By now John Batchelor had arrived on the beach and a Budleigh baker called Perriam. The smugglers surrounded Batchelor and took Perriam by the waistcoat and put a pistol to his head. Batchelor, however, stood his ground and fired his pistol and then fired a blue light as a signal and, at this, the smugglers saw the game was up and fled into the night. John Batchelor untied Lieutenant Clay who, bloodied but unbowed, then had the satisfaction of seizing the smugglers' boat where were 52 kegs of brandy and, no doubt, other smuggled goods. Batchelor next went to the station house and fired a rocket to alert the countryside and the affray was concluded.

This story is taken from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post , 30th March, 1836

Sources

Hampshire baptisms Transcription
First name(s) WILLIAM NOBLE
Last name CLAY
Birth year 1799
Baptism year 1799
Baptism day 28
Baptism month Mar
Son or daughter Son
First parent's first name(s) Edward Sneyd
Second parent first name(s) Elizabeth
Parish SOBERTON
County Hampshire
Country England
Notes at Meonstoke
Record set Hampshire baptisms
Transcriptions © Hampshire Genealogical Society

Somerset Marriages (post-1754) Transcription
First name(s) WILLIAM NOBLE
Last name CLAY
Marriage year 1826
Marriage date 26 Jun 1826
Place BATHWICK ST MARY
Groom's first name(s) William Noble
Groom's last name Clay
Groom's marital status Bachelor
Groom's parish Walcot
Groom's county SOM
Bride's first name(s) Arabella Joanna
Bride's last name Nevile
Bride's marital status Spinster
Bride's parish -
Witnesses J Berridge SMITH Chri EWART J BIGGS, Ed Sneyd CLAY
By licence or banns Lic
County Somerset
Country England
Transcriptions © Somerset & Dorset Family History Society

freeBMD Deaths Jun Q 1850 Bath 11 54 CLAY William Noble
North Devon Journal 13 June 1850 : Deaths:- At Bath last week, William Noble Clay, Esq.