First Generation

1. WILLIAM CLOPTON died in August 1616 in Suffolk County, England. He was buried at St. Bartholemew's Church in Groton, Suffolk, England.

William was the son of Richard Clopton of Ford Hall in Long Melford and Castelyns in Groton, Suffolk. His mother was the second wife, Margaret Playters, daughter of William Playters.

An excellent website is:
"William Clopton, Lord of the Manors of Castelyns and Ramsden Belhous"
http://www.cloptonfamily.org/d_hist/wmmanors.html

Note: The descendants of William Clopton and Margery Waldegrave are eligible to belong to The Descendants of the Knights of the Garter. King Edward III founded the Knights of the Garter in 1348 as a noble fraternity consisting of the King, the Prince of Wales and 24 Knights Companion. This group was chosen for their chivalry and their valor at the Battle of Cre’cy in France two years earlier. The Society of the Friends of St. George’s and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter was established in 1931 and exists to help in preserving St. George’s Chapel and in providing the necessary furnishings and equipment for this historic but living church, which is the shrine on the Order of the Order of the Garter. It is the burial place of many British sovereigns. On June 19, 1999, Edward Windsor, Earl of Wessex, and son of Queen Elizabeth, II., married Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Countess of Wessex at St. George’s Chapel.

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~clopton/peche.htm
118. William was Lord of Castlings Manor. He died August 19, 1616 in Castlings Manor, Groton, County Suffolk, about 10 miles southeast of Long Melford, and buried August 19,1616 at St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton, County Suffolk.
He married Margery Waldegrave, of Lawford Hall in Lawford Hall, probably. The 1558 Visitation of Essex refers to William of Bretton in Essex. There is no Bretton in Essex, however, the Visitation of 1612 refers to "Castlyns in Grotton", daughter of Edward Waldegrave and Joan Acworth. She was born in Lawford Hall, Lawford, County Essex, probably, about six miles northeast of Colchester, and died Aft. 1616 in Groton, County Suffolk, about 10 miles southeast of Long Melford, buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton.
In light of the family's unerring ability to irritate kings, it was probably a good thing we migrated to Virginia. With breathtaking regularity one kin or another was being hauled to the Tower of London and threatened with beheading or worse. The close connections with royalty gave the family ample opportunity to hone this questionable talent. And our grandparents, Edward Waldegrave and Joan (Acworth) Bulmer established a benchmark in this arena that has not been surpassed by any of their Clopton descendants despite the passage of centuries. Tempting fate, they careened about the palace with Queen Katherine Howard indulging in amorous escapades right underneath the nose of the infamous Henry VIII. Had their tender necks not escaped the axe, then their daughter, and our grandmother, Margery, would not have been born.

WILLIAM CLOPTON and MARGERY WALDEGRAVE were married. MARGERY WALDEGRAVE, daughter of Edward WALDEGRAVE and Joan ACWORTH, died after 1616.

Margery was a legatee in the 1584 will of her father, Edward Waldegrave. Her lineage can be traced back to Henry II (Plantagenet), King of England, and to Hugh and Roger Bigod, Magna Carta barons. See notes for great-grandson, William Clopton (1655-1733) for references.

WILLIAM CLOPTON and MARGERY WALDEGRAVE had the following children: