Claypole was the son of Adam Claypole of Lolham Hall, Maxey, Northamptonshire,[1] and his wife Dorothy Wingfield, daughter of Robert Wingfield, of Upton, near Castor,[2] Northamptonshire and his wife Elizabeth Cecil, who was sister to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley.
His name was spelt in a great variety of ways, including Cleypole, Cleypoole, Chappole, Clappoole, Claipol, and Claypole.
[3] In 1637 Claypole was summoned as a gentleman before the Star Chamber, and the attorney-general was ordered to begin a prosecution against him for refusing to pay ship money.
[4] He may have been High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1655, as major-general William Boteler recommends him to John Thurloe, in a letter to him, dated 16 November.
[5] Also in 1657, he was made a commissioner with his son, for levying the taxes upon the county of Northampton; to distinguish them, he is called "John Claypole, esq.