Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Clinton ( – 3 May 1751) was an English peer and landowner. He built the Palladian

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

of Castle Hill, which survives to this day.

Origins

He was the eldest surviving son and heir of Hugh Fortescue, MP (1665–1719) of Filleigh, Weare Giffard and Ebrington, by his first wife Bridget Boscawen (d. 1708), daughter and sole heiress of Hugh Boscawen, MP (1625–1701), of Tregothnan in Cornwall (whose mother was a Rolle), by his wife Lady Margaret Clinton (d. 1688), the youngest daughter and eventual co-heiress of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, 12th Baron Clinton (1600–1667). Bridget Boscawen's first cousin was

Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth (pronounced "Boscowen") ( ; ca. 1680 – 25 October 1734), was an English people, English Whigs (British political party), Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons for P ...

(c. 1680-1734),

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in 1720. From the Boscawens the Fortescue family inherited various estates in Cornwall including antimony mines at Treore and also possessed Trewether and the

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

s at Port Gaverne and Port Isaac.

14th Baron Clinton

On the death of his mother's childless first cousin Edward Clinton, 5th Earl of Lincoln, 13th Baron Clinton (d.1692) (grandson and heir of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, 12th Baron Clinton (1600–1667)), the title Baron Clinton went into abeyance until it was terminated in 1721 in favour of Hugh Fortescue, who thus became 14th Baron Clinton. He also inherited Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire, the Clinton seat, which was retained by the Fortescue family until 1910.

Career

On 16 March 1721 he was summoned to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Baron Clinton and in the same year was appointed by King George I as

Lord Lieutenant of Devon The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriffs and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569 there was provision for the appointment of Dep ...

. In 1723 he was appointed a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Households of the United Kingdo ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

(the future King George II). In 1725 he was made a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

also by King George I. Having previously been a supporter of Prime Minister Walpole, in 1733 he voted against his

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Excise officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

, which having faced substantial opposition failed to pass, and was dismissed from his royal posts as

to King George II and

, as were also dismissed from their posts two dukes, four earls and two barons who had similarly defied Walpole. Following Walpole's resignation in 1742, Fortescue's career recovered and on 5 July 1746 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Fortescue of Castle Hill (with special remainder) and Earl Clinton.

Estates

He consolidated his estates by selling most of his holdings in Somerset and Wiltshire and reinvesting the proceeds of £22,000 in purchasing more land in the vicinity of his North Devon manor of Filleigh, inherited from his father, where he demolished the ancient manor house and built in its place the surviving Palladian stately home which he named Castle Hill.

Personal life

He died unmarried on 3 May 1751, aged 55, although he had fathered a daughter by a mistress, for whom he built a house on his Filleigh estate. The illegitimate daughter married one of his cousins.

Succession

As he died without legitimate issue, the Earldom of Clinton became extinct and the Barony of Fortescue descended to his younger half-brother, Matthew Fortescue, 2nd Baron Fortescue (1719–1785) in accordance with the special remainder. The ancient barony of Clinton, which had been created by writ in 1298, went into abeyance until 1760 between his childless sister Margaret Fortescue (1693-1760), who styled herself "Baroness Clinton",Lauder, p.67 and their second cousin Margaret Rolle (1709–1781), who in 1760 became 15th Baroness Clinton, the daughter of Col. Samuel Rolle (1646-1719), the son of Robert Rolle (d. 1660), MP, of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe, Devon, by his wife Lady Arabella Clinton, the younger daughter of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, 12th Baron Clinton (1600–1667). Margaret Rolle was then the widow of

Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford, Knight of the Bath, KB (1701 – 31 March 1751), was a British Peerage, peer and politician, styled Lord Walpole from 1723 to 1745. Origins He was the eldest son of Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), the Ki ...

(d. 1751) (son of the Prime Minister

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

) and the wife of Sewallis Shirley, son of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Peers of Great Britain created by George II 14 Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain Lord-lieutenants of Devon 1690s births 1751 deaths