Henry Pelham-Clinton was born in 1785. Newcastle-Under-Lyme, On the death of his father and aged only ten, he inherited the title of 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
He was educated at Eton but, unlike most of his peers, did not attend university, due to the outbreak of war halting his ‘Grande Tour’ and keeping him trapped in France for almost four years.
He was politically active throughout his life, vehemently supporting ‘Church, Country, and State’. He was often a significant figure in contemporary political controversy.
In early 1807, aged 22, the Duke met Georgiana Elizabeth Mundy, at a lavish party hosted by her father, Edward Miller Mundy, a long-standing Tory MP with a Derbyshire constituency. Georgiana’s mother, the Dowager Lady Middleton died giving birth to her, but prudently left a will to ensure Georgiana’s ‘maintenance and education’.
The Duke and Georgiana were married in July 1807, at Lambeth Palace and returned north, to live at the Ducal estate of Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.
Later, reflecting on his marriage in his diaries, the Duke wrote:
“Here I am, one who at 22 married a wife of his choice. I found in my wife all that my fondest wishes could desire”
The couple had 8 sons and six daughters and Georgiana sadly died in childbirth in 1822.
The Duke never remarried, dying aged 65 in January 1851.