William had seven aunts and two uncles who were living in his lifetime. There were several others who had died before he was born: five Clack children and one Courtenay.
His grandfather Thomas Clack had two wives: firstly Ann Gibs who died in 1726, then Elizabeth Watts who died a widow in 1764. Thomas himself died in 1761. Although there were eleven children from the two marriages, Mary and Catherine died young as did the first Ann and two boys named Thomas.
The notion that Thomas Clack pimped his daughters seems to have started as a spiteful insinuation from William Beckford. Among the ‘malicious rakings’ of his Liber Veritatis, Beckford wrote: ‘The newly acknowledged Earl of Devon’s Mother, Fanny Clack, owed her birth to a publican at Wallingford whose sign at least displayed the symbol of innocence, for it was the sign of the Lamb. Honest Tom Clack was blessed with several lovely daughters and being of a kind disposition was well known to indulge his customers, especially the young members of the neighbouring university with whatever they liked best that his home afforded.‘
Anna Eliza Bray was more respectful to the Clack family: ‘One of the Lords Courtenay (the father of the present Viscount I believe ) fell in love with a most beautiful and amiable girl, the daughter of an inn-keeper at one of the universities where he was a student. He married her; and extending his kindness towards her family, he brought her brother, Mr. Clack, up to the church, and gave him the living of Moreton. This gentleman was as well informed as he was deserving, and possessed a good library’.
William’s Courtenay grandfather, himself another William Courtenay, married lady Frances Finch who died in 1761. Sir William became the first viscount Courtenay a few days before his death in 1764. They had six children, including Elizabeth Anne who lived for just a few days in February 1745.
William’s aunts and uncles were:
- Richard Clack 1720-1779: baptised 26 July 1720 at Wallingford (Berkshire); buried 14 December 1779 at Hereford (Herefordshire).
- Sarah Clack 1728-1802: baptised 23 January 1728 at Wallingford (Berkshire); buried 31 January 1802 at Dorney (Buckinghamshire).
- Ann Clack 1731-1789: baptised 15 May 1731 at Wallingford (Berkshire); died at Powderham (Devon) where she was buried 9 March 1789.
- Elizabeth Clack 1732-1803: baptised 31 January 1732 at Wallingford (Berkshire); died 1 April 1803 at Alphington (Devon); buried 13 April 1803 at West Malling (Kent).
- Frances Clack 1738-1782 (William’s mother): baptised 6 March 1738 at Wallingford (Berkshire); died 24 March 1782 at Westminster (Middlesex); buried 6 April 1782 at Powderham (Devon).
- William Courtenay 1742-1788 (William’s father): born 30 October 1742; baptised 31 October 1742 at Westminster (Middlesex); died 14 December 1788 at Westminster (Middlesex); buried 27 December 1788 at Powderham (Devon).
- Thomas Clack 1745-1805: baptised 16 April 1745 at Wallingford (Berkshire); died 10 April 1805 at Kenn (Devon) where he was buried 15 April 1805.
- Mary Courtenay 1746-1784: born 2 March 1746; baptised 3 March 1746 at Albury (Surrey); buried 26 February 1784 at Powderham (Devon).
- Frances Courtenay 1748-1828: born 10 March 1748; baptised 31 March 1748 at Westminster (Middlesex); died 24 February 1828 at Oaken (Staffordshire); buried 3 March 1828 at Tettenhall (Staffordshire).
- Lucy Courtenay 1749-1786: baptised 9 June 1749 at Albury (Surrey); buried 24 November 1786 at Woodcote (Shropshire).
- Charlotte Courtenay 1751-1826: baptised 28 February 1751 at Powderham (Devon); died 17 May 1826; buried at St. Paul’s cathedral in London (England).
Marriages
Five of William’s aunts became and remained widows: his mother’s sisters Ann, Elizabeth and Sarah, and his father’s sisters Charlotte and Frances. His aunt Mary Courtenay never married.
- 1750 Elizabeth Clack married William Honywood (27 June at Bix, Oxfordshire); widowed when William died on 23 October 1764 at Town Malling (Kent).
- 1752 Sarah Clack married Charles Palmer (2 December at London, within the Rules of the Fleet); widowed when Charles died in 1764 at Sumatra.
- 1762 William’s parents Frances Clack and William Courtenay marry (7 May at Edinburgh, Scotland).
- 1764 Ann Clack married Thomas Lock (20 September at Powderham, Devon); widowed in 1787.
- 1770 Frances Courtenay married sir John Wrottesley (7 June at Westminster, Middlesex); widowed when John died on 23 April 1787 at Westminster (Middlesex).
- 1772 Thomas Clack married Bridget Diana Stone (21 September at Powderham, Devon); she died before him on 12 December 1799.
- 1775 Richard Clack married Martha Tudor (3 October at Monmouth, Wales); he died before his wife who remained a widow and was buried 20 November 1820 at Monmouth (Wales).
- 1777 Lucy Courtenay married John Cotes (24 November at Putney, Surrey); she died before her husband who married again and died 24 August 1821 at Woodcote (Shropshire).
- 1782 Charlotte Courtenay married lord Loughborough (Alexander Wedderburn, earl of Rosslyn from 1801) on 12 September at Ellastone (Staffordshire); widowed when the earl died on 2 January 1805 at Salt Hill (Buckinghamshire).
Cousins
The children from six of these marriages were William’s cousins, listed below by family and in order of birth. For more information, visit Cousins.
Richard and Martha Clack do not seem to have had any children. Charlotte and Alexander Wedderburn may have had a child who died as an infant but this is very unlikely. In 1793 some English newspapers carried a misleading report that ‘the Lady of the Right Hon. the Lord Chancellor’ had given birth on 2 October to a son, whereas Irish and Scottish newspapers referred to ‘the Lady of the Right Hon. the Lord Chancellor of Ireland’. The boy born on that day in Ireland was named Richard Hobart Fitzgibbon and lived until 1864, dying as 3rd earl of Clare.
Two of William’s sisters married with a cousin: Frances with John Honywood, and Matilda with John Locke.
- Clack
- Thomas (1774-1852).
- Frances Diana (1776-1854).
- Elizabeth (1777-1859).
- Richard (1778-1803).
- Charlotte Bridget (1781-1835).
- William Charles (1782-1865).
- John (1784-1862).
- Henry (1786-1786).
- Edward Robert (1786-1855).
- Mary Ann (1788-1864).
- Lucy Harriet (1791-1869).
- Cotes
- Lucy Elizabeth (1783-1835).
- Charlotte (1784-1859).
- Honywood
- Lock(e)
- William Thomas (1765-1817).
- Thomas (1767-1846).
- Charles (1769-1800).
- John (1770-1837) married his cousin Matilda Jane Courtenay in 1800.
- Harriet (1773-1815).
- Frances (d. 1786).
- Palmer
- Charles Harcourt (1760-1838).
- Wrottesley
Deaths and wills
The name of an aunt before her marriage is given in [square brackets].
- 1779 Richard Clack (will)
- 1782 Frances [Clack] lady Courtenay
- 1784 Mary Courtenay (will)
- 1786 Lucy [Courtenay] Cotes
- 1788 William lord Courtenay (will)
- 1789 Ann [Clack] Lock (will)
- 1802 Sarah [Clack] Palmer
- 1803 Elizabeth [Clack] Honywood
- 1805 Thomas Clack (will)
- 1826 Charlotte [Courtenay] lady Rosslyn (will)
- 1828 Frances [Courtenay] lady Wrottesley (will)
For information about the wills left by these people, with transcripts of a few of the shorter wills, visit the page Wills of other people 1: lists and Wills of other people 2: transcripts.
For death notices and obituaries, visit William’s obituaries with notices of other deaths.
Image
- Joseph Carless: Hereford Cathedral Nave, 1833. Collection of Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives. https://www.britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-5/screen-prehistory
Richard Clack was organist at Hereford cathedral from 1754 to 1779. His younger brother Thomas attended the cathedral school from 1756 to 1763.
Page history
- 2018 July 9: first published online.
- 2020 April 2: reviewed; link for image added.
- 2020 April 25 : Cousins first entries of birth and death dates added.
- 2020 April 28: Cousins entries for Cotes births & deaths added.
- 2020 May May: Cousins entries for Honywood births & deaths added.
- 2020 May 23: Cousins entries for Wrottesley births & deaths added.
- 2020 June 10: Cousins dates for Wedderburn child added.
- 2021 May 4: Beckford’s insinuation about Thomas Clack added.
- 2021 August 5: more information added in Marriages for Elizabeth Clack.
- 2022 July 5: Anna Eliza Bray’s comments on the Clack family added.
- 2023 November 12: Ann Gibs identified as the first wife of William’s grandfather Thomas Clack; Elizabeth Watts identified as William’s maternal grandmother.
- 2024 February 25: Henry Clack added.
- 2024 October 4: Aunts and uncles date of Mary Courtenay’s death corrected from 1783 to 1784.
- 2025 December 10: Cousins reference to son of Charlotte Courtenay and Alexander Wedderburn amended.
- 2025 December 19: date of Richard Clack’s birth amended from 1725-6 to 1720.
- 2026 April 5: Cousins updated.
- 2026 April 6: Marriages entry for Richard Clack amended; Deaths and wills date for Richard Clack corrected to 1779.
- 2026 April 7-8: more information added on births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials including Richard Hobart Fitzgibbon.
- 2026 April 30: amended date for death of William’s mother Frances.
- 2026 September 1: content amended, title changed and Cousins published as separate page.
William Courtenay (1768-1835) 