Matilda Courtenay Clack in the 1810 census she was 10 years old she lived at Hampstead in Devon. She was the daughter of Anne Naylor and Thomas Clack.

Subject:	geneology search Courtenays and Clack family (Frances Clack)
Date:	Mon, 21 Jul 2014 23:26:09 +1000
From:	Jacqui Mitchell

Hi

I am trying to trace my family tree on my maternal grandmother Margery Catherine Little's maternal side- Elsie Elphinstone Bird (Little)- Catherine Isabella Elphinstone (Bird) ( and have traced back to the 1700s and early 1800s to my great, great ,great grandmother was Matilda Courtenay Clack in the 1810 census she was 10 years old she lived at Hampstead in Devon.  She was the daughter of Anne Naylor and Thomas Clack.

I always wondered why her middle name was Courtenay and I knew there was a Frances Clack married to William Courtenay the 8th earl of Devon but I can't work out the connection to Matilda or Thomas Clack. I wondered if Frances Clack was her aunt or whether William Courtenay had a sister who married into the Clack family.  As I thought Courtenay may have been passed as a family maiden name to a  middle name for Matilda.

I also see that one of the 14 daughters of William and Frances was a Matilda jane Courtenay I thought it was an unusual name at that time in England so thought there may be a connection to my family tree.  

Also someone in my family has told me there is some connection between the Courtenays and to the Elphinstones in Scotland who I'm also descended from but I'm not sure if that's true if there is any connection to them or not.

Lastly I know the original 1st Earl of Devon William Courtenay was closely related to the royal family a first cousin to Henry the VII and married princess Catherine of York but then the earldom got passed onto distant relatives after Edward Courtenay there was no succession.  Can you tell me exactly how it got passed on to William Courtenay the 8th earl as it's not very clear between the 1550s-1700s. I read he was a great-great-great grandson of Sir Phillip and was unsure who he was.

Thank you

Jacqueline Mitchell