Hugh Clopton

Sir Hugh Clopton
Arms of Clopton of Clopton, in the parish of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire: Per pale or and gules, a cross patée fitchée counterchanged. As seen on the monument to George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes (1555–1629), and his wife Joyce Clopton (died 1637) in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon[1]
Lord Mayor of London
In office 1491–1492
Preceded by	John Matthew
Succeeded by	William Martyn
Personal details
Born	1430 Clopton House, Warwickshire, England
Died	15 September 1500 St Margaret Lothbury, London, England

Sir Hugh Clopton (c. 1440 – 15 September 1496) was a

His vast fortune enabled him to become possessed of his ancestral estates at Clopton, the inheritance of his elder brother, and it is certain that the neighbouring town of Stratford-upon-Avon was his favourite place of residence. In about 1483 he erected there (in Chapel Street) "a pretty house of brick and timber", which was later purchased in 1597 and renovated by the playwright William Shakespeare, and under the name of New Place served as his residence until his death in 1616.^[3]

Clopton rebuilt the nave of the Chapel of the Stratford Guild of the Holy Trinity, situated opposite his new house in Chapel Street, and he adorned the building with a tower, steeple, glass windows and paintings for the ceiling. He also built the

He died on 15 September 1497,[3] holding the manor of Clopton as a tenant-in-chief of King Henry VII "as of the manor of the Castle of Beaudesert" by 1/8 of a knight's fee, and left as his heir William Clopton (died 1521), the son of his nephew John, then aged 15. In 1504 William had livery of his great-uncle Hugh's manors of Clopton and Little Wilmcote, and his lands in Stratford and Bridgetown.^[4]

By his will, dated a week before his death, he provided for the completion of the Stratford improvements, and left a hundred marks to twenty-four maidens of the town and £200 for rebuilding the cross aisle of the parish church. He also instituted exhibitions of £4 a year each for five years for three poor scholars at each

Clopton desired to be buried in the parish church of Stratford, if he died in that town, where he spent much time in his later years. Instead, he died in his London house, in the parish of St Margaret Lothbury, and he finally bequeathed his body to the church of that parish.

Succession

Clopton never married^[3] and left no children. The Clopton estates ultimately passed to Joyce Clopton, of the sixth generation in descent from Thomas Clopton, Sir Hugh's elder brother. She married George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes, who thus inherited from his wife the manor of Clopton,^[3] and was buried in Stratford Church, where survives his magnificent monument containing the effigies of himself and his wife.

Notes

References

• Fetherston, John, ed. (1877). The Visitation of the County of Warwick in the year 1619. Vol. XII. London: Harleian Society. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
• Halliwell, J.O. (1864). Original Collections on Shakespeare & Stratford-on-Avon. London: Thomas Richards. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
• Lawrence, L.L. (1890). "New Place and Gastrell". Shakespeariana. VII. New York: Leonard Scott Publication Co.: 151–60. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
• Macdonald, M.R. (2004). "Clopton, Hugh (c.1440–1496)".
  doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5700. (Subscription or UK public library membership
  required.)