James Clay (20 December 1804, London – 26 December 1873, Brighton) was an English politician and writer on the game of whist. His son was the musical composer Frederic Clay.
Clay was MP for Hull from July 1847 until 1853, when he was unseated after a bribery inquiry. He regained the seat at an 1857 by-election and held it until his death.
According to an obituary in the Westminster papers: a monthly journal of chess, whist, games of skill and the drama Clay had been "the acknowledged head of the Whist world" for the last thirty years before his death, spending much of his time and attention on whist and piquet. In 1863 he became chairman of a committee for settling the laws of whist.
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“Metaphysics means nothing but an unusually obstinate effort to think clearly.”
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