He was educated at Westminster in 1718 and called to Middle Temple in 1723.[5] Upon the death of his father in 1734, he inherited Tapeley Park in north Devon. The elder Clevland had acquired Rayhouse, the principal estate at Woodford Bridge in Essex, at some time before 1700, which the younger Clevland sold to Alvar Lopez Suasso in 1732.[6]
Career
Tapeley Park
His father used his position to advance his son, first as a Clerk (Storekeepers' Accounts) and then Chief Clerk from 1726 to 1731 at the Navy Board. In 1731, John was appointed Clerk to the Cheque and Master Muster at Plymouth. He then became Clerk of the Acts in 1744 and Joint Secretary to the Lords Commissioners of Admiralty in 1748. In 1751, he succeeded Thomas Corbett as Secretary to the Admiralty.[1]
Clevland was MP first for Saltash from 1741 to 1743, then Sandwich from 1747 to 1761 and then Saltash again from 1761 until his death in 1763.
"Mrs John Clevland of Tapley", portrait by Joshua Reynolds of one of the three wives (unidentified) of Clevland.
Clevland married three times and had six sons and five daughters.[8] His first marriage was in 1729 to Elizabeth Child, the daughter of Sir Caesar Child, 2nd Baronet, of Gwynne House, Woodford Bridge in Essex,[9][10][11] by his wife Hester Evans of Claybury Hall.[12] Before her death pre-1743, Elizabeth and John had three sons and three daughters, including:
Hester Clevland, who married Capt. William Saltren-Willett (d. 1770) of the Royal Navy,[a] the second son of Thomas Saltren of Stone.[b]
His second marriage was in 1743 to his first cousin,[16] Penelope Davie, the daughter of Joseph Davie, of Orleigh in Devon.[17] Before her death pre-1747, they were the parents of one son.
His third marriage was in 1747 to Sarah Shuckburgh (d. 1764), the daughter of Charles Shuckburgh of Banks Fee, Longborough in Gloucestershire and a sister of Sir Charles Shuckburgh, 5th Baronet.[18] Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters, including:
Selina Shore Clevland, who married John Udny, the British Consul at Venice and Leghorn, in 1777.[20][21]
Clevland died at Tapeley on 18 June 1763,[5] as is recorded on his monument in Westleigh Church, as a result of having "contracted a complication of disorders" due to his "constant application to the discharge" of his office of Secretary of the Admiralty.
Monument
Mural monument in Westleigh Church to John I Clevland (1706–1763) of Tapeley
His mural monument survives in Westleigh Church, inscribed as follows:
"Sacred to the memory of John Clevland Esqr. of Tapley in the county of Devon who for the space of forty years served his king and country with the greatest honor and fidelity the last seventeen years of which he was joint and sole secretary of the Admiralty in which office through a multiplicity of business and his constant application to the discharge of it he contracted a complication of disorders which occasioned his death at Tapley 18th June 1763. Near him here lie also enterred Elizabeth the daughter of Sr. Caesar Child, Baronet, of Gwin in Essex, with whom he intermarried in the year 1729 who dying left issue three sons and three daughters; Penelope the daughter of Joseph Davie Esqr. of Orleigh in Devon, with whom he intermarried in the year 1743 who dying left issue one son; Sarah the daughter of Chas. Shuckburgh Esqr. of Longborough in Gloucestershire with whom he intermarried in the year 1747 who dying his widow the 5th Decr. 1764 left issue two sons & two daughters"
^William Saltren-Willett was also heir of John Willett (d. 1736) of Combe, Abbotsham, lord of the manor of Abbotsham.[15] Hester and William's grandson, Col. Augustus Saltren-Willett II (1781–1849), inherited the Clevland estates, including Tapeley, in 1817 on the death of Hester's brother John Clevland II.
Sources
^ abJames, G. F. (June 1938). "The admiralty establishment, 1759". Historical Research. 16 (46): 24–27. doi:10.1111/hisr.1938.16.issue-46.
^Lang, George (1999). Entwisted tongues: comparative creole literatures. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi Bv Editions. ISBN978-90-420-0737-6.
^Caulker-Burnett, Imodale (2001). The Caulkers of Sierra Leone: The Story of a Ruling Family and Their Times. Xlibris. ISBN9781456802417.
^Extract from Woodford Parish Church register: "Sr Caesar Child, Bart, and Madam Hester Evans, both of Claybury, married Dec. 1, 1698; Hester, their daughter, baptized Apl 14, 1700; Caesar, their son, born Feb. 8, 1701–2; John, buried Feb. 8, 1702–3; Lady Child, buried Mar. 14, 1732–3."(Lysons, Daniel, The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent, 1796, pp.273–287 [2])
^"Will of William Saltren Willett, Captain of His Majesty's Ship Warspight" dated 15 March 1762, proved 12 March 1770, National Archives, PROB 11/956/87 [3]
^Per inscription on mural monument (erected by William Saltren Willett) of John Willett (d. 1736) in Abbotsham Church
^Both were grandchildren of the Bideford merchant John Davie (d. 1710) of Orleigh
^Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p. 408, pedigree of Clevland, appended to pedigree of Christie of Tapeley Park and Glyndebourne, pp.407–8; List of father's wives per inscription on his mural monument in Westleigh Church, Devon
