James Clayton (? at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England – 22 July 1588) was an English

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest.

Life

He was the son of a shoemaker, apprenticed to a blacksmith for seven years. He spent his leisure hours in educating himself, giving special attention to the study of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. His studies led him to embrace the Catholic religion, and he was sent to the English College at

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

(1582), where he was ordained priest in 1585. He immediately returned to England on mission work in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. Four years later, while visiting the Catholic prisoners in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

gaol, he was apprehended and condemned to death for exercising his priestly office. His brothers pleaded for his pardon and his execution was delayed, though he was still kept a prisoner. Prison life brought on a sickness of which he died, as a prisoner in Derby gaol.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: ** Henry Foley, ''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', (London, Roehampton, 1875–1879), III, 47, 230, 802, **Douay Diaries, ed. Knox (London, 1878), 12,29,184, 186, 200, 205, 262, 296; **Ely, Certain Brief Notes, etc. (Paris, 1603), 206. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, James 1588 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Clergy from Sheffield Year of birth unknown