Robert Henry Clive (15 January 1789 – 20 January 1854) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Early life

Clive was born in the parish of

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, a younger son of

Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis, (7 March 1754 – 16 May 1839), known as the Lord Clive between 1774 and 1804, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clive. Earl ...

. His mother was Lady Henrietta, daughter of

Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis Henry Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis PC (before 9 April 1703Baptism date. – 10 September 1772), known as Henry Herbert until 1743 and as The Lord Herbert of Chirbury between 1743 and 1748, was a British peer and politician. Background A me ...

. Edward Herbert (''ne'' Clive), 2nd Earl of Powis, was his elder brother. His paternal grandfather was

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

("Clive of India"), the first British Governor of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

who is credited for laying the foundation of the British East India Company rule in Bengal. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and was at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

from 1807 to 1809, when he graduated

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

He was awarded an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1835.

Career

Clive sat as one of the two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

from 1818 to 1832, alongside his brother, then known as Viscount Clive, and layer for Shropshire South from 1832 to 1854. An agricultural landowner in Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Wales, he was an advocate of the abolition of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...

during

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

's administration. He was appointed to the commission investigating the

Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots (Welsh: ''Terfysgoedd Beca'') took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often me ...

in south Wales in October 1843. His home was

Oakly Park Oakly Park, Bromfield, Shropshire, England is a country house dating from the 18th century. In the early 19th century, the house was restored and extended by Charles Robert Cockerell, Surveyor to the Bank of England for his friend Robert Henry ...

at Bromfield, a house redesigned by his friend,

Charles Robert Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an English architect, archaeologist, and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke. He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting seven years, mainly spent in Greece. H ...

. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county of Shropshire and a Justice of the Peace for Worcestershire. In 1809, Clive was commissioned as a Captain into the South Shropshire Militia. He continued to serve after it became the South Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry, commanding a troop at

Bishop's Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of Sh ...

from 1817 to 1828. He was Colonel commanding the

Worcestershire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and World War I as horsed cavalry before being converted to an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artill ...

from 1833 until his death. A keen antiquary, Clive was author of ''Documents Concerned with the History of Ludlow and the Lords Marchers'' (1841), and president of the Cambrian Archaeological Association in 1852. Clive was deputy-chairman of two early railway companies in Shropshire, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham and the

Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an English railway company that built a standard gauge line between those places. It opened its main line in 1853. Its natural ally seemed to be the Great Western Railway. With other lines it formed a rou ...

. At a directors' meeting of the latter, on 30 December 1853, he was taken seriously ill and never recovered, dying a few weeks later.

Personal life

Clive married Lady Harriet Windsor, daughter of

Other Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth Other Hickman Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth FRS (30 May 1751 - 12 June 1799), styled Lord Windsor until 1771, was an English nobleman. Early life Styled Lord Windsor from birth, he was the eldest son of Other Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth and ...

, in 1819. They had several children, including: * Henrietta Sarah Windsor-Clive (1820–1899), a watercolourist who married Edward Hussey of

Scotney Castle Scotney Castle is an English country house with formal gardens south-east of Lamberhurst in the valley of the River Bewl in Kent, England. It belongs to the National Trust. The gardens, which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a c ...

in 1853. * Robert Windsor-Clive (1824–1859), also an MP for Ludlow and South Shropshire; he married Lady Mary Bridgeman, daughter of

George Bridgeman, 2nd Earl of Bradford George Augustus Frederick Henry Bridgeman, 2nd Earl of Bradford (23 October 1789 – 22 March 1865), styled Viscount Newport from 1815 to 1825, was a British peer. The oldest son of Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford, and Lucy Elizabeth By ...

. * Mary Windsor-Clive (–1873), who died unmarried. * George Windsor-Clive (1835–1918), MP for Ludlow; he married Gertrude Albertine, daughter of

Charles Trefusis, 19th Baron Clinton Charles Rudolph Trefusis, 19th Baron Clinton (9 November 1791 – 10 April 1866), styled The Honourable Charles Trefusis between 1794 and 1832, was a British peer and Tory politician. He succeeded to the barony following the death of his elder bro ...

. * William Windsor Windsor-Clive (1837–1857), who died unmarried. * Victoria Alexandrina Windsor-Clive (1839–1920), who married the Rev. Edward Farington Clayton, Rector of Ludlow in 1874. After falling ill at a railway company directors' meeting, Clive died in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

in January 1854, aged 65, at the nearby home of the Town Clerk. He was buried at Bromfield Parish Church, near his

home near Ludlow. The following year the barony of Windsor, which had fallen into

abeyance Abeyance (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. ...

on his brother-in-law's death in 1833, was called out of abeyance in favour of his widow, Harriett, who became the thirteenth Baroness Windsor in her own right. She died in November 1869, aged 72, and was succeeded in the barony by her grandson, Robert Windsor-Clive, who was created

Earl of Plymouth Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitimate ...

in 1905.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clive, Robert 1789 births 1854 deaths Younger sons of earls People educated at Eton College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire Shropshire Yeomanry officers Worcestershire Yeomanry officers Clive-Herbert family