The Stately Homes of England

by Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt; S. C. Hall

Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, as fifth duke. This nobleman was born in 1811, and, as Earl of Lincoln, represented South Nottinghamshire and the Falkirk burghs in Parliament. His grace, who was a man of the highest integrity, was the confidential friend of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (who visited Clumber in 1861), was successively Lord Warden of the Stannaries, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and Secretary of State for War. He married, in 1832, the Lady Susan Harriet Catherine, daughter of the tenth Duke of Hamilton (which marriage was dissolved in 1850, the Duchess in 1860 being married to M. Opdebeck, of Brussels), and by her had issue three sons and one daughter. These were—the present duke (of whom directly); Lord Edward William Pelham-Clinton, born in 1836, married to Matilda, daughter of Sir W. E. Cradock-Hartopp, Bart.; Lord Arthur Pelham-Clinton, M.P., born 1840, who died in 1870; Lord Albert Sydney Pelham-Clinton, born in 1845, and married to Frances Evelyn, widow of Captain E. Stotherd; and the late Lady Susan Charlotte Catherine Pelham-Clinton, born in 1839, married to Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest, son of the third Marquis of Londonderry.

The present head of this illustrious house, Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton, sixth Duke of Newcastle, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and thirteenth Earl of Lincoln, was born in 1834, and educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford. He sat, when Earl of Lincoln, for Newark, and was attached to Lord Grenville’s mission to Russia in 1856. In 1861 his grace married Henrietta Adela, only daughter of the late Henry Thomas Hope, Esq., of Deepdene, Surrey, and Castle Blaney, county Monaghan (by his wife, the Hon. Gertrude Elphinstone, daughter of the fourteenth Lord Elphinstone), by whom he has issue living—Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas, Earl of Lincoln, born in 1864; Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton, born in 1866; the Lady Beatrice Adeline Pelham-Clinton, born in 1862; and the Lady Emily Augusta Mary Pelham-Clinton, born in 1863.

The arms of the Duke of Newcastle are—quarterly, first and fourth argent, six cross-crosslets, three, two, and one, sable, on a chief, azure, two mullets pierced, or, for Clinton; second and third, the two coats of Pelham, quarterly, viz. first and fourth azure, three pelicans vulning themselves, argent, second and third gules, two pieces of belts with buckles erect, in pale, the buckles upwards, argent (being an augmentation in commemoration of the part Sir William Pelham took in the capture of the French king at the battle of Poictiers). Crests—first, out of a ducal coronet, gules, a plume of five ostrich feathers, argent, banded azure, for Clinton; second, a peacock in pride, proper, for Pelham. Supporters—two greyhounds, argent, plain collared and lined, gules.

His grace is patron of ten livings—viz. Worksop, Shireoaks, Cromwell, Elksley, Bothansall, Brinsley, Markham Clinton, East Markham, Kirton, and Mapplebeck.

It will not be necessary to describe minutely any of the apartments of this “Home” of the Newcastles—Clumber. The house has been said, very absurdly, to be “a second Chatsworth,” and that “it embraces magnificence and comfort more than any other nobleman’s mansion in England;” but it is not so. It is a noble mansion, some of its rooms being characterized by great elegance and beauty, and by pureness of taste, while others are of a more mediocre character. To some of the apartments and their contents we proceed to direct attention.

The Entrance Hall, with an arcade supporting its ceiling, contains, among other works of Art, a semi-colossal statue of Napoleon, which has usually been ascribed to Canova, but has also, with reason, been stated to be Franzoni’s reproduction of Chaudet’s great work: it was purchased at Carrara, in 1823, by the then Duke of Newcastle. In the same hall, besides others, are Bailey’s statue of the poet Thomson, a fine figure of Paris, and busts of the Duke of Newcastle by Nollekens, Sir Robert Peel, Cromwell, Verschaffer’s Triton and Dolphins, &c.

The Library, perhaps the finest apartment in the mansion, is a noble room, of large size and lofty proportions, and fitted in a style of great magnificence. The geometric ceiling is richly decorated, and around the upper part of the room is a light and elegant gallery. Besides the choice collections of rare old books, and those of more modern times, which are arranged round the walls of the Library and the Reading-room (to which access is gained by a lofty arch springing from pilasters of the composite order), they contain Sir R. Westmacott’s noble statue of Euphrosyne, Bailey’s Thetis and Achilles, many good bronzes, and an assemblage of objects of virtu. From the windows of these rooms fine views of the Grounds, the Park, and the Lake are obtained.

The State Dining-room, an elegant apartment, has a richly decorated geometric ceiling and a recessed buffet, the recess being formed by well-proportioned Corinthian columns. The rich cornice, the gilt festoons that adorn the walls, the mirrors between the windows, the antique Venetian crystal-glass chandelier and side lights, and the silver-gilt service on the buffets give a sumptuous air to the room, while the four magnificent Snyders, and the other fine old paintings which adorn the walls, add materially to its beauty.

The principal Drawing-room, hung with satin damask, and the furniture of the most costly and elegant character, is a noble apartment, and contains, besides Lawrence’s portraits of the fourth Duke of Newcastle and his duchess, good examples of the Carracci, Vandyke, Castiglione, and others; while in the Crimson Drawing-room are pictures by Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, Guido Reni, and Canaletti.