known, from an entry in the Barnstaple Parish Register, to have been
baptised in the Old Church on September 16th, 1685.

Mrs. Gay died in 1694, her husband a year later; and the custody of the
four surviving orphaned children devolved upon their uncles. William
Gay's brothers were John and Richard, who resided at Frittelstock;
James, Rector of Meeth; and Thomas, who lived at Barnstaple. Mrs. Gay's
only brother was John Hanmer, who succeeded to his father's pastoral
office among the Congregational or Independent Dissenters at Barnstaple.
Jonathan, the elder son of William Gay, who inherited the family
property, was intended for the Church, but "severe studies not well
suiting his natural genius, he betook himself to military pursuits,"[4]
and, probably about the time of his father's death, entered the army.
Who took charge of the two girls is not known; but it is on record that
John, after his father's death, and then in his tenth year, went to live
at Barnstaple with his paternal uncle, Thomas Gay. It is interesting to
note that in 1882, "among the pieces of timber carted away from the
Barnstaple Parish Church [which was then undergoing restoration] has
been found a portion of a pew, with the name 'John Gay,' and the date,
1695, cut upon it.... No other John Gay appears in the Parish
Register."[5]

Gay attended the Free Grammar School at Barnstaple, and among his
schoolfellows there with whom he cemented an enduring friendship, were
William Fortescue, to whom reference has been made above, and Aaron
Hill.[6] William Raynor was the headmaster when Gay first went to the
Grammar School, but soon he removed to Tiverton, and was succeeded by
the Rev. Robert Luck. Luck subsequently claimed that Gay's dramatic
instincts were developed by taking part in the amateur theatricals
promoted by him, and when in April, 1736, he published a volume of