William Clayton (Liverpool MP)


William Clayton was an English merchant and politician from Liverpool.
He was the son of Robert Clayton of Fulwood, near Preston, Lancashire and followed his uncle Thomas Clayton to Liverpool, where he became a successful tobacco and sugar merchant. After serving as a common councillor from 1685 he was elected Mayor of Liverpool for 1689–90, and then became an alderman of the city.
In the Parliament of England, he served as a Member of Parliament for Liverpool from 1698 to 1708. After the Union with Scotland, he was elected as a Liverpool MP to the new House of Commons of Great Britain from 1713 to 1715.
He married, in 1690, Elizabeth, the daughter of George Leigh of Oughtrington, Cheshire and left a son and 3 daughters.