Name John Clevland | ||
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John Clevland, (c.1707 – 19 June 1763), of Tapeley in the parish of Westleigh, North Devon, was Secretary to the Admiralty 1751–1763 (First Secretary from 1759) and was twice MP for Saltash, Devon (1741–1747 and 1754–1761) and for Sandwich in Kent (1747–1754).
Contents
Origins
John Clevland was the eldest son and heir of Commander William Clevland (1664–1734), Royal Navy, of Tapeley, born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, who obtained the office of Controller of the Storekeepers' Accounts for the Navy Board (1718–1732). His mother was Ann Davie, a daughter of the prominent merchant John Davie (d.1710) of Orleigh Court near Bideford. His brother, William Clevland, who after having been shipwrecked, became King of the Banana Islands, Sierra Leone.
Career
His father used his position to advance his son, first as a Clerk (Storekeepers' Accounts) and then Chief Clerk (1726–1731) 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.
Clevland was MP first for Saltash (1741–1747), then Sandwich (1747–1754) and then Saltash again (1754–1761).
Land & estates
In about 1750 he purchased the lordship of the nearby Manor of Bideford, then a nationally prominent port.
Marriages & progeny
He married three times and had six sons and five daughters:
Death & burial
He died at Tapeley on 18 June 1763, 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
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"