Sir Robert Clifton, 5th Baronet

Arms of Clifton of Clifton, Nottinghamshire (Clifton Baronets): Sable semée of cinquefoils and a lion rampant argent

Sir Robert Clifton (1690–1762) KB was 5th Baronet Clifton of Clifton, Nottinghamshire.^[1]

Family

Robert was the eldest son of Sir Gervase Clifton, 4th Baronet, and his wife Anne. He was imprisoned briefly with his father during the Jacobite Rising of 1715.

He married on 27 June 1723, Frances Coote (d 1733), daughter of Nanfan Coote, 2nd Earl of Bellomont, and had:

• Frances Clifton, married in 1747 to George Carpenter, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

On the death of his wife Anne, he married on 16 October 1739, Hannah (d. 1748), daughter of Sir Thomas Lombe, Alderman and Sheriff of London. They had no issue.

On the death of Hannah, he married in 1756, Judith (d 1765), daughter of Captain Thwaites, and had:

• Gervase Clifton, later 6th Baronet

Career

He was made a Knight of the Bath in 1725, and succeeded his father to the baronetcy in 1731.

Despite his father's Roman Catholicism, and his imprisonment in 1715 he served as M.P. for East Retford between 1727 and 1741. In 1741 he came bottom of the poll, despite large bribes paid by his mother-in-law, Lady Lombe, to potential voters.

In 1746 he was imprisoned for debt. He expressed interest to re-enter parliament but found little support in his attempts to stand at Retford in 1747 and Nottingham in 1758.

References

1. Sir Robert Clifton in The House of Commons, 1715-1754. History of Parliament Trust by H.M.S.O., 1970