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Cleall & Cleal By Roger Guttridge
Before the 1500s, the roads become a little misty. Fourteenth century records offer no evidence of Clealls
at South Perrott but a few miles away at Stoke Abbott we find John Clauyle (or Clauile) among the Lay Subsidy
taxpayers in 1327 and 1332.
On the other side of the county the same tax records list John Clauyle at Herston (Swanage),
John de Clauyle at Worth Matravers, Richard Cleywoll at Corfe Castle and Isabelle Clauyle at West Morden.
Even earlier documents provide a William de Cluyle
in Dorset in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), Robert Clauel in Sussex (1296) and a number of Clavells,
although this may be a different surname altogether. As always, there are a number of theories on the origins
of the name, including the almost inevitable French theory, which suggests it began as Clayll or Clayle,
from the French town of Clayville. More likely is the theory of at least two experts
that it derives from the words "clay hill".
In view of this theory Mrs Clist was intrigued to discover an old document referring to a "messuage and tenement"
called Clayhills at South Perrott, and 'closes' called Little, Middle and Lower Clayhill.
This discovery sits neatly alongside an old tradition at South Perrott, reported in G. R. Pulman's Book of the Axe,
that the name 'owes its origin to one of its owners having worked so incessantly in a field called Clayhill
as to receive the nickname! It sits a fraction less happily with the apparent absence of Clealls
at South Perrott in the 14th century, unless of course the village had some connection with the family of John Clauyle
of Stoke Abbott at or before that time, or that they are simply not mentioned in the records that survive.
The possibility that John was also related to his contemporary namesakes in the Purbecks cannot be ruled out,
although it does not seem particularly likely given the distance between them.
Given also the Purbeck area's longstanding involvement with clay, it is not hard to imagine that a separate line of 'Clayhills' or Clealls may have evolved independently there. The original Purbeck Clauyles appear to have died out, however, and those found there today are apparently descended from South Perrott ancestors.
At South Perrott, the Clealls went forth and multiplied, spreading into Devon, Somerset and other parts of Dorset.
The name is strangely absent from the Dorset muster rolls of 1539 and 1569 but the Protestation Returns
list John and Thomas at South Perrott in 1642 while parish records are peppered with holders of the name.
As June Clist comments, 'They seem gradually almost to have taken over the whole village, owning the pub,
Post Office and general stores, while others were blacksmiths.'
The Coach and Horses Inn (formerly the Three Horseshoes) was built by a Richard Cleale in the 17th century
and still bears his initials. It remained in the family on and off until the 1850s. Eighteenth century records reveal
that parish business was often conducted 'at John Cleals'. Some Clealls belonged to the property-owning classes,
including another Richard Cleale, who drew rents from several tenants in the early 18th century.
Others were near the lower end of the income spectrum such as widow Joan Cleale, who around 1700 received
regular cash handouts from the Overseers of the Poor and in 1698 was give a 'pare of storken' (pair of stockings)
for her boy. When she died payments were made 'for stretching out Joan Cleale'
and 'for coffin and making a grave for Joan Cleale'.
Another beneficiary was Joseph Cleal, who broke his leg in 1745. Items subsequently bought for him
included a crook and two crutches, two pairs of trousers and 'great pins to keep them on'!
Between 1702 and 1765, at least eight members of the Cleall clan served as parish overseers.
In 1774 Samuel and Elizabeth Cleall left South Perrott to start a new life in Poole. Their son Henry later launched
a successful business as a painter and glazier, a trade followed by several descendants. He also built, bought
and rented out various properties in Poole.
Inquest reports tell how another descendant, toddler Robert Redman, was fatally burned in 1826 when a candle
set light to his apron in the room of his grandmother Mary Dewey (nee Cleall); and how in 1855 master mariner
Samuel Cleall died by a visitation of God after being taken ill in the Crown Inn, Market Street.
By the mid-19th century, most of the Poole Clealls had migrated to Swanage, where they were well placed
to play their part in the quarrying town's belated development as a seaside resort.
It seems to have been purely coincidental that they were re-entering a locality which more than 500 years earlier
had had the greatest number of Clealls or Clauyles in the county and probably the country.
The Poole-Swanage family included Henry Lance Cleall (born 1814), who lived in the elegant Magnolia House
in Swanage High Street, and his artist brother Samuel Lance Cleall, who in 1837 eloped with Sarah Wadham, daughter
of the disapproving landlord of the Poole Arms. They married at Swanage and later moved to Portsmouth,
where Samuel painted figureheads in Portsmouth Dockyard and oils on cardboard because he could not afford canvas.
Four of their 14 children followed in father's footsteps as painters, a fifth became an artist's model and a sixth, Frederick Augustus, served on the royal yacht and was the only naval officer allowed in Princess Alexandra's stateroom.
Yet another artist was Henry Lance Cleallıs son Frederick (1840-1924), who painted Swanage landscapes as well
as running a successful decorating business. His children included Swanage architect Sydney Herbert Cleall, who later founded the Dorset Knitting Company, producing school uniforms and other clothes, some sold by mail order.
Another family business was Cleall's Stores at Corfe Castle, founded by Frederick's brother George more than
100 years ago and still retaining its original name.
Another brother, Henry Lance Cleall junior, started a painting, plumbing and glazing business at Wareham in the 1870s.
At least two holders of the name have made their mark in the church, including William J Cleal, who founded Chard's
Mead Baptist Church at Bridport in 1841, and the Venerable Aubrey Victor George Cleall (1898-1982), from Crewkerne,
who was Archdeacon of Colchester from 1959-69.
Dorset and Somerset are still the heart of Cleall country. The Bournemouth phone book lists 17 Cleals and 26 Clealls,
the thinner Taunton directory (reflecting a west country preference for the single OL!) 38 Cleals and two Clealls,
and the Southampton book eight Cleals, eight Clealls and one Cleale.
The name is also found in the Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Newfoundland.
Emmanuel Slade Cleall was one of at least two South Perrott Clealls to arrive in Australia in the mid 19th century.
In Newfoundland, the name Cleal is known today at Marystown and Creston South. Tradition has it that a Joseph Cleal,
from England, settled at Birchy Island in 1837. There was also a Joseph Cleal, servant, at Butters Cove in 1871. |
