Gervase Clifton (1612 - 1675)

Born 1612 in Nottinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Died 14 Jan 1675 at about age 63 in Clifton, Nottinghamshire, England

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Biography

Gervase Clifton is Notable.

Gervase Clyfton was born in 1612. He was the only son of Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, Nottinghamshire, and his first wife Penelope. His mother died when he was infant, and his father went on to marry six more times and have many children. He enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge on Easter 1628. In 1629 he went on the Grand Tour with his tutor, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)." (Nottingham University)

In 1633 he married Sara, daughter of Timothy Pusey of Selston, Nottinghamshire. They had no surviving children. Two daughters were known to have died in infancy. ^[1]

After returning to England from tour he was appointed J.P. for Nottinghamshire in 1635. During this period he had a difficult relationship with his father as exhibited in the correspondence between them which still survives in the estate family papers. ^[1] This familial conflict was also written about in Dr. Robert Thoroton's "History of Nottinghamshire" (pub.1676) where Thoroton describes him as "the wretched unfortunate, who was his father's greatest foil". Emerging from this conflict was the reality he was heavily in debt going to far as to assault two debt collector's attempting to serve writ. He eventually was imprisoned for this. ^[1]

In 1648 Gervase relinquished his rights to the Clifton estates in favor of his younger half-brother Clifford. The baronetcy would later pass to Clifford's son William who also inherited the Clifton estates as Sir Gervase Clifton had no surviving children. ^[1]

Gervase succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet in 1666. ^[1]

He died 14 Jan 1675/6 and was buried at Clifton, Nottinghamshire.^[2]

Research Notes
Inactive hyperlinks removed from source listing:

Nottingham University, Manuscripts and Special Collections: nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/clifton/biographies/biographyofsirgervaseclifton,2nd baronet(c1612-1676).aspx

Note: "Title deeds, settlements, estate and legal papers relating to Sir Gervase Clifton and the Clifton estates, are part of the Clifton collection held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham. In particular, there is an extensive series of family correspondence from the time of Sir Gervase Clifton, some of which sheds light on the difficulties between father and son (series Cl C)."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/clifton/biographies/biographyofsirgervaseclifton,2ndbaronet(c1612-1676).aspx
2. ↑ Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900: (Thoroton, I. 105; G.E.C.) Reprinted (online db) Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. (1999) @ Provo, UT., USA. Online access 17 Jan 2021..

See Also

• Jacks, Leonard. The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire and the County Families (W. and A.S. Bradshaw, Nottingham, 1881) Page 38: "Sir Gervase, his father's greatest foil" Accessed 17 Jan 2021.
• Wikipedia: Sir Gervase Clifton, 2nd Baronet Accessed 17 Jan 2021.
• Basil Duke Henning (ed), 'Sir Clifford Clifton', in The House of Commons, 1660-1690 (London: Published for the History of Parliament Trust by Secker & Warburg, 1983)
• Thoroton, Robert. The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire (1677) Page 55.