See also

Robert CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock ( -1518)

1. Robert CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock, son of Sir Gervase CLIFTON ( -1508) and Agnes GRIFFITH (c. 1463- ), died in 1518. He married Alice DIGBY. He married Anne CLIFFORD.

 

Anne CLIFFORD was the daughter of Henry de Clifford, 10th Lord ( - ). She and Robert CLIFTON had the following children:

 

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Gervase (The Gentle) CLIFTON (1515-1588)

Second Generation

2. Sir Gervase (The Gentle) CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock, son of Robert CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock and Anne CLIFFORD, was born on 26 March 1515. He married Mary (Maria) NEVILE on 17 January 1530. He died on 20 January 1588. He married Winifred THWAITES.

 

Sir Gervase The Gentle

One of the first Clifton's of note is Sir Gervase Clifton. He has shared his unusual Christian name with eleven other prominent members of the Clifton family. He was very popular in the court of Queen Elizabeth who referred to him as 'Gervase The Gentle'. Gervase Clifton had also been a favourite at the courts of Henry VII and Edward VI. He had a reputation as an impeccably courteous man 'of great authority in peace and war'. In 1544 he fought in France at the siege of Boulogne and in 1569 he defended Doncaster from a group of noblemen rebelling against Queen Elizabeth. He lies in a large tomb in the church that stands next to Clifton Hall, St.Marys. His only son, George died at the age of 20, a year before Gervase. George's son, another Gervase, was born after George had died but four months before Gervase died. Since Gervase The Gentle had no other heirs, the child became the holder of Clifton estates.

The Cliftons held the manors of Clifton and Wilford for nearly 700 years and are descended from one of William The Conquerors Knights, Alvared. Many of the Cliftons were destined to rub shoulders with royalty. The family assumed the name of 'Clifton' from the village when they purchased the lands in 1272 from the de Rhodes family. One branch of the family likewise assumed the name 'Wilford'. The family home became Clifton Hall on the summit of the Clifton heights overlooking the a large bend in the River Trent.

A gentleman of considerable authority, both in peace and war, in four successive reigns, Sir Gervase Clifton is mentioned in a distich penned by Elizabeth,

"Gervase the gentle, Stanhope the stout,
Markham the lion, and Sutton the lout."

Sir Thomas Nevil Kt.
Blazon: Gules a saltire argent charged with a martlet sable [impaling Furnival]
Arms found on a monument to Lady Joan Nevil [nee Furnival] at Barlborough Church. She married Sir Thomas De Nevile [d.1406] Lord of Sheffield and Hallamshire.

John Nevil was sheriff of Yorkshire 1518, 1523 1527. He resided at Chevet Hall near Crigglestone. John was implicated in the Rising of the North in 1541against Henry VIII because he did not notify his superiors of the impending rebellion. His daughter Mary Nevile married Sir Gervase Clifton, Sheriff of Nottingham who held the Wakefield Manor.

 

Biography of Sir Gervase Clifton (d.1588)

Gervase was the eldest son of Sir Robert Clifton, of Clifton and Hodsock, and his second wife Anne Clifford. He succeeded his father in 1518, at the age of around two.

Gervase was a favourite of successive Tudor monarchs and was dubbed 'Gervase the Gentle' by Queen Elizabeth I, in a rhyme referring to four Nottinghamshire gentlemen.

He was knighted in 1538, and went with King Henry VIII to France in 1544, participating in the seige of Boulogne. He was also at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. He was a Justice of the Peace and Sheriff of Nottinghamshire at various times. He was succeeded by his four-month old grandson Gervase Clifton, later 1st Baronet, in 1588.

One of the first Clifton's of note is Sir Gervase Clifton. He has shared his unusual Christian name with eleven other prominent members of the Clifton family. He was very popular in the court of Queen Elizabeth who referred to him as 'Gervase The Gentle'. Gervase Clifton had also been a favourite at the courts of Henry VII and Edward VI. He had a reputation as an impeccably courteous man 'of great authority in peace and war'. In 1544 he fought in France at the siege of Boulogne and in 1569 he defended Doncaster from a group of noblemen rebelling against Queen Elizabeth. He lies in a large tomb in the church that stands next to Clifton Hall, St.Marys. His only son, George died at the age of 20, a year before Gervase. George's son, another Gervase, was born after George had died but four months before Gervase died. Since Gervase The Gentle had no other heirs, the child became the holder of Clifton estates.

The Cliftons held the manors of Clifton and Wilford for nearly 700 years and are descended from one of William The Conquerors Knights, Alvared. Many of the Cliftons were destined to rub shoulders with royalty. The family assumed the name of 'Clifton' from the village when they purchased the lands in 1272 from the de Rhodes family. One branch of the family likewise assumed the name 'Wilford'. The family home became Clifton Hall on the summit of the Clifton heights overlooking the a large bend in the River Trent.

A gentleman of considerable authority, both in peace and war, in four successive reigns, Sir Gervase Clifton is mentioned in a distich penned by Elizabeth,

"Gervase the gentle, Stanhope the stout,
Markham the lion, and Sutton the lout."



 

Mary (Maria) NEVILE, daughter of Sir John NEVILE of Chevet, near Criggleestone (c. 1471-bef1546) and Elizabeth BOSVILLE ( - ), was born circa 1522 in Sheet, Kent. She died on 10 April 1564. She was buried in Clifton, Notts.. She and Gervase (The Gentle) CLIFTON had the following children:

 

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Elizabeth CLIFTON ( - )

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George CLIFTON (c. 1567-1588)

Third Generation

3. Elizabeth CLIFTON, daughter of Sir Gervase (The Gentle) CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock and Mary (Maria) NEVILE, married Peter FRECHVILLE.

 

4. George CLIFTON, son of Sir Gervase (The Gentle) CLIFTON of Clifton and Hodsock and Mary (Maria) NEVILE, was born circa June 1567. He died on 20 January 1588. He married Wynyfride THOROLD.

 

George died in 1587 at the age of 20, but six years before, at the age of fourteen, he had married Wynyfride, daughter of Sir Anthony and Lady Anne Thorold, and three months after his death she bore to him another Gervase, who was destined to be very celebrated.

 

Wynyfride THOROLD was the daughter of Sir Anthony THOROLD of Marston ( - ) and Anne CONSTABLE ( - ). She and George CLIFTON had the following children:

 

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Gervase CLIFTON (c. 1588-1666). Gervase was born circa March 1588. He married Frances CLIFFORD on 7 September 1613. He died in 1666.