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Lot Essay
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive K.B. (1725-1774) was born on 29 September 1725 at Styche Hall, Moreton Say, Shropshire, the eldest of thirteen children of Richard Clive (c.1693-1771), lawyer and MP, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Nathaniel Gaskell of Manchester.
A roisterous child 'addicted to fighting', Clive was sent to Madras to serve as clerk in the East India Company. His hazardous voyage, via Brazil, took almost fifteen months and he arrived in 1744. His initial impressions of the country and his potential there were not favourable, but after several years of illness and tedium his fortunes changed with the French sacking of the city of Madras. For the first time his military instincts came to the fore and his brave and capable actions in his military apprenticeship in the ensuing years proved him to be 'born a soldier'.
His subsequent advances were rapid and by 1748 he was quartermaster under Major Lawrence when Madras was returned to the English. In this post he continued in a civilian capacity provisioning troops when hostilities temporarily ceased, thus laying the foundations of his private fortune. By 1751 he was back in active military service, with occasional forays to Calcutta to recover from his recurrent ill health.
On 18 February 1753 he married the seventeen-year-old Margaret Maskelyne (1735-1817), daughter of Edward Maskelyne Esq. of Purton, Wiltshire, whose miniature portrait he had seen and been instantly captivated by. The following month Clive arranged for his Indian estate to be invested in diamonds, and they sailed for England.
Clive's social standing was now very high; he was able, with a fortune of some £40,000, to repay family debts, including much of the mortgage on Styche Hall, and to purchase property, before standing for Parliament in a hotly contested election for Mitchell in Cornwall.
He held the seat only until 1755 when he was offered a post back in India, that of second-in-command of an expedition against the French-backed Nizam of Hyderabad, a position which would also place him directly in line to be the next governor of Madras. Events in India moved rapidly, with the 'black hole of Calcutta' incident occurring within months; Clive led the British response and recaptured Calcutta, eventually installing a new Nawab and greatly increasing British trade in the region. The traditional personal gifts from a new Nawab enriched Clive, now governor of Bengal, to the level of some £230,000 with additional land and diamond investments adding further to his income.
He returned to Britain in 1760 with his wife and vast fortune and stood for Parliament for Shrewsbury. He continued to add to his land holdings and purchased 45 Berkeley Square in London. He was made Baron Clive of Plassy in March 1762, and two years later knight of the Bath.
In 1765 he was recalled to India for a second governorship, largely to correct perceived corruption and restore the company's fortunes, which reforms he achieved allowing the company to secure control over Bengal and adjacent territories. However, he continued to enrich himself personally by obtaining for himself and his friends large amounts of company stock which he attempted to conceal from public scrutiny. He is known to have spent the vast sum of £11,000 on 'table' expenses in this period though he much preferred concerts by Handel to social gatherings.
Eventually his ambitious nature was affected by ill health and he sailed for Britain from Calcutta on 29 January 1767. His final years were subject to criticism for the vast fortune he had amassed, though he was consulted as a knowledgeable statesman on East Indian affairs. He continued to buy and sell property as well as pursue a political career, and was returned for Shrewsbury in 1768 though he declared himself 'above party or faction'.
The East India Company's fortunes foundered in 1771 due to news of military setbacks causing a fall in stock prices and Clive himself came under increased financial scrutiny. He at last spoke forcefully in his own defense in the Commons, gaining much sympathy, and was eventually exonerated from any wrongdoing whilst being commended for his meritorious service to the country. Having spent much of the winter of 1773-74 in Italy he died on 22 November 1774 at his home in Berkeley Square after a short illness, and was buried at St Margaret in Moreton Say, where a small plaque reads 'Primus in Indis'.
A roisterous child 'addicted to fighting', Clive was sent to Madras to serve as clerk in the East India Company. His hazardous voyage, via Brazil, took almost fifteen months and he arrived in 1744. His initial impressions of the country and his potential there were not favourable, but after several years of illness and tedium his fortunes changed with the French sacking of the city of Madras. For the first time his military instincts came to the fore and his brave and capable actions in his military apprenticeship in the ensuing years proved him to be 'born a soldier'.
His subsequent advances were rapid and by 1748 he was quartermaster under Major Lawrence when Madras was returned to the English. In this post he continued in a civilian capacity provisioning troops when hostilities temporarily ceased, thus laying the foundations of his private fortune. By 1751 he was back in active military service, with occasional forays to Calcutta to recover from his recurrent ill health.
On 18 February 1753 he married the seventeen-year-old Margaret Maskelyne (1735-1817), daughter of Edward Maskelyne Esq. of Purton, Wiltshire, whose miniature portrait he had seen and been instantly captivated by. The following month Clive arranged for his Indian estate to be invested in diamonds, and they sailed for England.
Clive's social standing was now very high; he was able, with a fortune of some £40,000, to repay family debts, including much of the mortgage on Styche Hall, and to purchase property, before standing for Parliament in a hotly contested election for Mitchell in Cornwall.
He held the seat only until 1755 when he was offered a post back in India, that of second-in-command of an expedition against the French-backed Nizam of Hyderabad, a position which would also place him directly in line to be the next governor of Madras. Events in India moved rapidly, with the 'black hole of Calcutta' incident occurring within months; Clive led the British response and recaptured Calcutta, eventually installing a new Nawab and greatly increasing British trade in the region. The traditional personal gifts from a new Nawab enriched Clive, now governor of Bengal, to the level of some £230,000 with additional land and diamond investments adding further to his income.
He returned to Britain in 1760 with his wife and vast fortune and stood for Parliament for Shrewsbury. He continued to add to his land holdings and purchased 45 Berkeley Square in London. He was made Baron Clive of Plassy in March 1762, and two years later knight of the Bath.
In 1765 he was recalled to India for a second governorship, largely to correct perceived corruption and restore the company's fortunes, which reforms he achieved allowing the company to secure control over Bengal and adjacent territories. However, he continued to enrich himself personally by obtaining for himself and his friends large amounts of company stock which he attempted to conceal from public scrutiny. He is known to have spent the vast sum of £11,000 on 'table' expenses in this period though he much preferred concerts by Handel to social gatherings.
Eventually his ambitious nature was affected by ill health and he sailed for Britain from Calcutta on 29 January 1767. His final years were subject to criticism for the vast fortune he had amassed, though he was consulted as a knowledgeable statesman on East Indian affairs. He continued to buy and sell property as well as pursue a political career, and was returned for Shrewsbury in 1768 though he declared himself 'above party or faction'.
The East India Company's fortunes foundered in 1771 due to news of military setbacks causing a fall in stock prices and Clive himself came under increased financial scrutiny. He at last spoke forcefully in his own defense in the Commons, gaining much sympathy, and was eventually exonerated from any wrongdoing whilst being commended for his meritorious service to the country. Having spent much of the winter of 1773-74 in Italy he died on 22 November 1774 at his home in Berkeley Square after a short illness, and was buried at St Margaret in Moreton Say, where a small plaque reads 'Primus in Indis'.