The Earl of Lincoln, later Duke of Newcastle

A carte-de-visite portrait of the Earl of Lincoln, a courtesy title held by the eldest son of the Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton was born on 25 January 1834, the son of Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Lady Susan Harriet Catherine Hamilton, daughter of the 10th Duke of Hamilton. He was known as Lord Clinton until 1851 and then Lord Lincoln until he inherited the dukedom on 18 October 1864. He was educated at Eton and at Oxford University. He dabbled briefly in politics, sitting as a Member of Parliament between 1857 and 1859. This brief interlude marked the full extent of his political career. Unlike his forebears, he held no local offices either, with the exception of his appointment as Provincial Grand Master of the Nottinghamshire Freemasons from 1865 to 1877.

A gambler with a fondness for high living, in 1860 he was forced to leave the country for failing to repay his gambling debts, which by that stage amounted to some £230,000. His fortunes were significantly improved as a result of his marriage on 11 February 1861 to the wealthy heiress, Henrietta Adela Hope, daughter of Henry Thomas Hope of Deepdene in Surrey. Lincoln's financial difficulties meant the marriage had to take place in Paris, but the outcome of the union was that his debts were paid and an income of £50,000 per annum settled on the couple.

By this marriage, significant estates were added to the Newcastle family, though the terms of his father-in-law's will meant that the 6th Duke (as he became in 1864) never controlled them.

The Duke of Newcastle died, aged 45, on 22 February 1879 at the Park Hotel, Park Place, St James’s [London]. He left two sons and three daughters.

Photographed by Camille Silvy on 22 July 1861.