William Clopton, born in 1538, was the second but only surviving son of William Clopton (died 1560),[a] and Elizabeth Grey, the daughter of Sir Edward Grey (d. 14 February 1529) of Enville, Staffordshire, and Joyce Horde.
On 4 January 1560, his father made his last will, witnessed by his agent William Bott, requesting burial in the same place.
[8] William Clopton, aged twenty-two at his father's death in 1560, was his father's only surviving son and heir,[7] but in order to pay the legacies bequeathed to his four sisters, Anne, Elizabeth, Eleanor and Rose, and to finance his travels in Italy, he was forced to sell a portion of his inheritance.
However in the following year he brought a case in the Court of Star Chamber against Bott, accusing him of fraud and forgery.
[2] Bott sold New Place in 1567 to William Underhill (c.1523 – 31 March 1570), an Inner Temple lawyer and substantial property holder in Warwickshire.