FAMILY OF JOSEPH CLAY / ELIZA TASKER
Sources : Wirksworth Baptist church registers; Islington (Birmingham) Wesleyan Methodist Church Baptismal Register;1851 census (North Collingham); 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 census (Birmingham); Birth, marriage and and death certificates; GRO death index; Will of Joseph Clay; Torquay cemetery records; National Probate Index; Wills of Maria & Florence Clay; The journal of Ida Game.
| FATHER | ||
| Joseph
CLAY (Occupation = described on various censuses as a shoemaker, labourer, sanitary inspector and Wesleyan preacher) |
b. 23/7/1825 | Wirksworth |
| bp. 28/10/1828 | Wirksworth (Baptist Church) | |
| m. Eliza TASKER 21/6/1855 | Newark, Notts (Wesleyan Methodist) | |
| d. 30/7/1898 | Birmingham | |
| MOTHER | ||
| Eliza TASKER | b. (1827) | Collingham, Notts |
| bp. not known | ||
| m. Joseph CLAY 21/6/1855 | Newark, Notts (Wesleyan Methodist) | |
| d. 1905 | Birmingham | |
| CHILDREN | ||
| Maria CLAY (Occupation = teacher) |
b. 7/2/1856 | Collingham, Notts |
| bp. not known | ||
| m. no | ||
| d. 7/9/1919 | Babbacombe, Devon | |
| Elizabeth CLAY | b. 22/3/1860 | |
| bp. 2/5/1860 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. no | ||
| d. probably 1864 | Birmingham | |
| Joseph Lansdall CLAY | b. 26/4/1862 | Birmingham |
| bp. 18/6/1862 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. no | ||
| d. 1864 | Birmingham | |
| Albert Henry CLAY | b. 9/6/1864 | Birmingham |
| bp. 29/6/1864 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. no | ||
| d. 1865 | ?Collingham, Notts | |
| James
Draper CLAY (Occupation = Painter in oils) |
b. 22/4/1866 | Birmingham |
| bp. 27/5/1866 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. Alice Charlotte WEEKS 8/9/1896 | New York, USA | |
| d. 17/12/1904 | New York, USA | |
| Florence CLAY (Occupation = teacher) |
b. 25/5/1867 | Birmingham |
| bp. 3/7/1867 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. no | ||
| d. 17/6/1932 | Dublin, Ireland | |
| John Bright CLAY | b. 30/10/1869 | Birmingham |
| bp. 19/11/1869 | Islington (Birmingham) Methodist Church | |
| m. no | ||
| d. 1870 | Birmingham | |
Additional Information : 1) Maria CLAY was the main beneficiary of the will of her uncle Henry CLAY (1813 - 1905) in that the bulk of his money was invested in trust and Maria had the income for 20 years or the rest of her life if shorter. Maria in fact did not survive for the whole 20 years. She is listed in Birmingham local directories up to 1913 - address 62 Frances Road, Edgbaston. After that (probably in 1917) she and her sister retired to Torquay in Devon. After Maria died, Florence went to live with her cousin in Collingham, and died suddenly whilst on holiday in Dublin. Maria and Florence are buried together in Torquay cemetery.
2) The dates of the four infant deaths are taken from the GRO Index - I have not obtained death certificates or seen burial records. However, I am certain of the dates for Joseph Lansdall Clay and John Bright Clay (because of the middle names) and Albert Henry Clay (because the index entry has Albert Henry Barton Clay). I assume that Albert died whilst visiting his grandparents in Collingham, because the death was registered in Newark. The only one that I am not 100% certain of is Elizabeth. The death that I am assuming is hers was registered in the same quarter as that of Joseph Lansdall Clay, and the two are only 3 pages apart in the register. It is possible that the two children died of the same infectious illness, but without obtaining the death certificates I cannot be sure.
Photographs of this family