"The Return From Shooting" (1788) by Sir Francis Wheatley depicting The Duke of Newcastle, his friend Colonel Litchfield and the Duke's gamekeeper, Mansell along with four Clumber Spaniels. Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC (16 April 1720 – 22 February 1794) was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the second son of the 7th Earl of Lincoln.

Life

Henry's father died in 1728, and his brother, the 8th Earl of Lincoln, died in 1730, making Henry the 9th

Earl of Lincoln Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the peerage of England, most recently in 1572. The Hereditary peerage, earldom was held as a subsidiary title by the Duke of Newcastle, Dukes of Newcastle-under-Lyne, from 1768 to 1 ...

. As he was still a minor, his guardian was his uncle, the 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle was childless and soon regarded Lord Lincoln as his heir. Newcastle, and his brother Henry Pelham, were the two most powerful men in England, and both would serve as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Newcastle controlled

political patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and the Crown, and so Lord Lincoln was showered with

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

posts which brought him a large income. Chief among these sinecures was the lifetime appointment as

Controller of Customs The Minister of Customs was a position in the Cabinet of the Government of Canada responsible for the administration of customs revenue collection in Canada. This position was originally created by Statute 31 Vict., c. 43, and assented to on 22 Ma ...

for the port of London. On 16 October 1744, Lord Lincoln married his cousin Catherine Pelham (24 July 1727 – 27 July 1760), the daughter of his uncle

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

, who was at that time prime minister. An agreement was signed whereby Lord Lincoln became the heir of both his uncles, Henry Pelham and the Duke. Through his uncles, Lord Lincoln was also given a place at court, being made a gentleman of the King's Bedchamber. In 1752, he was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

. Lincoln was also "famous among the aristocracy for the length of his penis and the degree to which he used it with both women and men." In 1756, his uncle, who was already

Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

, requested from King George II to also be created Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne with a

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the ...

to his nephew, Lord Lincoln. George II granted the request, and when the Duke died in 1768, Lord Lincoln became the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. The new duke steered clear of most politics, except in two instances. He had considerable influence because of the parliamentary seats he controlled. He used his influence to promote the career of his cousin Sir Henry Clinton, a career army officer. The Duke lobbied successfully for Sir Henry to be appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in America during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. The Duke's son, Thomas, was the aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton. In 1768, the Duke was appointed to the Privy Council. In December 1783, the Duke was asked by

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

to support the new ministry of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

, who was facing difficulty in mustering support in parliament for his premiership. Henry ordered the six MPs under his control to support Pitt, helping Pitt gain enough votes in parliament to form a ministry. The Duke died in 1794 aged 73 in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Legacy

The Duke is mainly known today as the creator of

Clumber Park Clumber Park is a country park in The Dukeries near Worksop in the civil parish of Clumber and Hardwick, Nottinghamshire, England. The estate, which was the seat of the Earl of Lincoln, Pelham-Clintons, Dukes of Newcastle, was purchased by the Na ...

, his country seat in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, and the dog breed the

Clumber Spaniel The Clumber Spaniel is a breed of dog of the spaniel type, developed in the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the spaniels, and comes in predominantly white with either lemon or orange markings. The name of the breed is taken from Clumber Par ...

, named after the estate. Clumber Park was begun in 1768 on the large estate the Duke had inherited from his uncle. Four thousand acres (16 square kilometres) of barren heath were landscaped into one of the most beautiful private parks in England, complete with a large man-made lake. The great mansion built there was demolished in 1938, but the park is today owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

and is open to the public. He had also been a Bailiff on the board of the

Bedford Level Corporation The Bedford Level Corporation (or alternatively the Corporation of the Bedford Level) was founded in England in 1663 to manage the draining of the Fens of East Central England. It formalised the legal status of the Company of Adventurers previously ...

Fenland reclamation scheme from 1742 to 1764. The papers of the 2nd Duke are now held by Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham. The town of

Lincoln, New Hampshire Lincoln is a New England town, town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the second-largest town by area in New Hampshire. The population was 1,631 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is home to the New Hamps ...

is named for him.

Family life

Before his wife's death at the age of 33, the Duke had four sons with her: *George Pelham-Clinton, Lord Clinton (26 November 1745 – 19 August 1752) * Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, Earl of Lincoln (5 November 1750 – 18 October 1778), who married Lady Frances Seymour-Conway (4 December 1751 – 11 November 1820) on 21 May 1775 and had issue. * Thomas Pelham-Clinton, 3rd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (1 July 1752 – 18 May 1795), who married Lady Anna Maria Stanhope (31 March 1760 – 18 October 1834) on 2 May 1782 and had issue. *Lord John Pelham-Clinton (died 1781) He was said to have been a lover of

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

References

External links

Biography of the 2nd Duke, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newcastle-under-Lyne, Henry Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of 1720 births 1794 deaths 18th-century English nobility

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'' ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Knights of the Garter Lord-lieutenants of Cambridgeshire Lord-lieutenants of Nottinghamshire Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Fellows of the Royal Society

Masters of the Jewel Office 18th-century English LGBTQ people LGBTQ peers English LGBTQ politicians