A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Clay, William Noble
CLAY. (Lieutenant, 1822. f-p., 15; h-p., 19.)
William Noble Clay entered the Navy, 17 March, 1813, as Midshipman, on board the Raisonnable 64, Capt. Edw. Sneyd Clay, lying at Sheerness; proceeded, soon afterwards, to Greenland, in the Princess Caroline 74, Capt. Hugh Downman; joined, towards the close of the same year, the Glasgow 50, Capt. Hon. Henry Duncan, in the Channel; sailed, in 1815, for the East Indies, on board the Orlando 36, Capt. John Clavell; came home, in 1818, in the Melville 74, Capt. Henry Chas. Pemberton; returned to India, a few months afterwards, in the Topaze 38, Capt. John Rich. Lumley, under whom he was wounded in the operations against Mocha in 1820; and, until promoted, 26 Dec. 1822, served, further, in the Alligator 28, Capt. Jas. Wilkie, Bulwark 74, Capt. Thos. Dundas, and Tartar, Capt. Thos. Brown. He was subsequently appointed, 30 May, 1825, and 22 Jan. 1829, to the Aurora 46, and Warspite 76, Capts. John Maxwell and Wm. Henry Shirreff, on the Lisbon and South American stations; and, from 28 Nov. 1832, until 1836, he served in the Coast Guard. Since the latter date he has been unemployed.
Lieut. Clay is married and has issue. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.