Clumber, and its Park

CLUMBER.
CLUMBER.

WE now proceed to CLUMBER, the seat of the Duke of Newcastle; and should the tourist be on foot, he will find a very pleasant walk across the "Netherton Fields" to where the wind-mill stands, from whence he will have one of the finest views of Worksop and its neighbourhood, extending for many miles, and terminating with the spire of Laughton-en-le-Morthen Church. Following the path to the right, through the fields with the woods in front, the visitor will soon arrive in the Park. The carriage road to Clumber lies direct through the town, up Sparken Hill, along the Ollerton Road. Pursuing this road about half-a-mile, a carriage road to the left, through a wood, will bring him to the Lodge Gates; and in a few minutes the rich effect of the fine plantations, intersected at this time (July) with the golden-flowered gorse, and the various tints of the surrounding woodland scenery, opens upon his view.

Clumber is mentioned in Domesday Book, and when that survey was taken, Roger de Bush had two manors there. It also contained three bovates, which were of the King’s manor of Mansfield. With other great estates in Nottinghamshire, it came into the family of the present Duke of Newcastle, by a marriage of one of his Grace’s ancestors. Sir William Cavendish was created Baron Ogle and Viscount Mansfield in 1620, Baron Cavendish, of Bolsover, in 1628; Earl Ogle and Duke of Newcastle in 1644. He wrote a work on horsemanship, and was the builder of the large Riding House at Welbeck, where he resided. He died in 1676, and was succeeded by his son, Henry Cavendish, who married the daughter of William Pierrepont, Esq., of Thoresby Hall, and died in 1691, when, he having no male issue, the titles became extinct. Margaret, one of his daughters and co-heiresses, married John Holles, fourth Earl of Clare, who, in 1691, was created Marquis of Clare and Duke of Newcastle. Before his marriage the Earl lived at Haughton, and afterwards at Welbeck. He was made steward, keeper, and warden of Shervood Forest, and of the park of Fulwood; and in August, 1707, he received a license from the Crown, signed "Godolphin," to enclose 3,000 acres of "his own land of inheritance" at Clumber, to make a park for the Queen’s use, and in January, 1709, he received permission to appropriate the timber of a cutting 80 yards wide through Birkland to meet the expenses of enclosing the same park. He was also to have a salary of £1,000 per annum for bearing the expense of the park and the office of Ranger thereof, with the herbage of the same, and free chase and free warren during her Majesty’s life. Then he was allowed to have the land again as his "land of inheritance," with all the fences, lodges, and other buildings, &c.’ He died by a fall from his horse while hunting at Welbeck July 15th, 1711. He bequeathed his estates to his sister’s son, Thomas Pelham, second Baron Pelham, of Laugh-ton, in Sussex, who assumed the name of Holles, and in 1714 was constituted Lord-Lieutenant of the counties of Middlesex and Nottingham; steward, keeper, and warden of the Forest of Sherwood and park of Fulwood; also created Earl of Clare and Viscount Haughton. In 1715 he was created Marquis of Clare and Duke of Newcastle in county Northumberland, and in 1756 Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme in county Stafford, with a special remainder to the heirs of his brother, the Right Hon. Henry Pelham, and of his sister Lady Lucy Pelham, who married Henry Clinton, seventh Earl of Lincoln. He, with his brother Henry Pelham, formed what is known as the Newcastle Administration in the reigns of George I. & II. he stood godfather with the King, by his Majesty’s special command, to the Prince of Wales’s son November 28, 1711. He was Secretary of State 30 years, and Lord of the Treasury nearly 10 years. In 1748 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, "learning poetry and eloquence, as Smollett says, joining their efforts in celebrating the shining virtues and extraordinary talents of their new patron." He died in 1768, and all his titles became extinct, except those of Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Baron Pelham of Stanmere, which descended with his niece, Catherine, to Henry Fiennes Clinton, ninth Earl of Lincoln, who assumed the name of Pelham, and died in 1794. His son, Thomas Pelham Clinton, died in the following year, having married Anna Maria, daughter of William, Earl of Harrington, and was succeeded by his son Henry, the fourth Duke, who married Georgiana, daughter of Edward Miller Mundy, Esq., of Shipley, and, dying January 12th, 1851, was succeeded by the Most Noble Henry Fiennes Pelham Clinton, fifth Duke of Newcastle and Earl of Lincoln, who was born in 1811. He married Lady Susan Hamilton, daughter of Alexander, tenth Duke of Hamilton.

He took an active part in the political affairs of the country, and died October 18, 1864, when he was succeeded by his son the present Duke, who was born 25th January, 1834. His Grace married Henrietta Adela, daughter of the late Henry Thomas Hope, Esq., and has issue Henry Pelham Pelham Archibald Douglas, Earl of Lincoln, born September 22, 1864, and other children. The family of Clinton is said to be descended from William de Villa Trancredi, who married Maud, daughter of William de Arches, whose descent was derived from Wevia, sister to Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy. William de Villa Trancredi had three sons, Osbert, Renebald, and William; and Renebald having the gift of the lordship of Clinton in Oxfordshire, now called Glimpton, assumed that name and resided there. He had two sons, Geffrey and William. Geffrey de Clinton was Lord Chamberlain and Treasurer to King Henry Ist, and amongst other lands obtained the Lordship of Kenilworth, in the county of Warwick, where he erected a castle and founded a monastery for canons regular of the order of St. Augustine. To Geffrey de Clinton succeeded Geffrey, his son and heir, temp. Henry II., who had a son Henry, who d. s. p., when the descendant of William, brother of the first Geffrey, in the person of Thomas de Clinton (son of Osbert, son of Osbert, son of William), who in 7 Henry I. was a minor on the death of his father, succeeded as next heir male. This Thomas de Clinton was succeeded by Thomas, his son and heir, who had issue John de Clinton, of Maxstoke, county Warwick, temp. Edward II., who had issue John, of Maxstoke, and William, who was created Earl of Huntingdon, but d. s. p. m. John, the eldest son, however, left a son and heir, who married Idonea, sister and co-heiress of William, Lord Saye, by whom he left a son and heir John, a minor at the time of his death, which took place 8 Edward ii. The latter John was summoned to Parliament as a Baron in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th of Edward III. Sir John de Clinton, third Lord Clinton, served in the wars under Edward III., and was succeeded 1397 by William, his grandson and heir, as fourth lord, who served in the wars against France and Scotland in the reigns of Henry IV., V., & VI. William, fourth Lord Clinton and Saye, died 1431, and was succeeded by John, his son, fifth lord, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Fiennes, Lord Dacre of the South, and had a son John, sixth lord, who was succeeded by Thomas, seventh lord, who left a son Thomas, eighth Lord Clinton, who dying 1517 left Edward his son, five years old. Edward, ninth Lord Clinton, was created 1571 Earl of Lincoln, and died 1584 or 1585, being succeeded by Henry, his son, as second earl. Thomas, his eldest son, was summoned to Parliament in his father’s lifetime i6i6, and succeeded him as third earl, and dying 1618 was succeeded by Theophilus, his son, as fourth earl, who was succeeded 1667 by his grandson Edward, fifth Earl of Lincoln (his son Edward d. s. p., but he dying without issue in 1692 was succeeded by his father’s second cousin Francis Clinton as sixth earl. (He was grandson of Sir Edward Clinton, younger brother of Thomas, third earl). He died 1693, and was succeeded by Henry, his son, seventh Earl of Lincoln, who married Lady Lucy, sister to Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of Newcastle, and dying 1728 left George, eighth earl, his successor, who died 1730, aged 13, and was succeeded by Henry, his brother, as ninth earl. He married his cousin Catherine, daughter of the Right Hon. Henry Pelham, brother of the before-mentioned Duke of Newcastle, to whose title he succeeded on his death in 1768 without issue in virtue of the limitation of the patent. He took the additional name of Pelham before that of Clinton, and from him descends the present Duke, as stated above. Roger Climpton, or Clinton, was Bishop of Coventry from 1127 to 1148. During the successive reigns of the Edwards and Henrys the family of Clinton were much distinguished in warfare. They were strong adherents of the Yorkists in the wars of the Roses, and they fell and rose again with the fortunes of that party.