Born: 1512, Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire, England

Died: 16 Jan 1585, London, Middlesex, England

Buried: St. George'S Chapel, Windsor, Berkshire, England

Notes: Knight of the Garter.

Father: Thomas CLINTON FIENNES (8º B. Clinton of Marstoke)

Mother: Mary (Joan) POYNINGS (B. Clinton of Marstoke)

In 1536, he served in the Long Parliament. This year Henry VIII closed down most of the smaller monasteries in England. Barlings survived the first wave of suppression as it was a fairly prosperous abbey, but the reprieve was short lived. In Oct 1536 a rebellion against the Dissolution, known locally as the Lincolnshire Rising, took place. The same Monday, 2nd Oct, Edward, Lord Clinton left home on horseback, with just one servant. He headed first for Sleaford, and Lord Hussey. Clinton galloped on to Nottingham, then on to Lord Huntington at Ashby. By Friday, he reached the Earl of Shrewsbury at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. He carried letters from Cromwell. Meanwhile the rebels were joined by other groups of armed men, alerted by beacons, and had spread across the Humber to Yorkshire. The Member of Parliament for Lincoln, Thomas Moigne met Robert Aske, who led the rebellion in Yorkshire (where it was called the Pilgrimage of Grace). The Abbot of Barlings, Matthew Mackarel, and six canons were implicated, although they were probably all unwilling participants. They were arrested, and the Abbot and four canons were convicted of treason and hanged at Lincoln on 26 Mar 1537. As a result of their involvement, none of the other canons received a pension. The execution of the rebels was quickly followed by the Dissolution of the Abbey in 1537. All the valuables were taken away by the King's men, the lead was stripped from the church roofs and 'more than a horse load of the Abbot's books' were carted away.

The land-holdings were leased to Sir Edward Clinton and, in 1539, the abbey site was given to the King's brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. By 1620, Sir Christopher Wray had acquired the site and built a mansion next to the ruined abbey. It seems his house did not last long for we know that it was in ruins by 1720. The derelict buildings can be seen on Millecent's drawing made around 1730 and their outline can still be traced on the ground as a complex of earthworks to the south west of the abbey buildings.

When the Duke of Richmond died in 1536, Lord Clinton took his dead stepson's title of Admiral of England, his first marriage had been a good career move. Elizabeth Lady Clinton, returned to court as lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves, but not for long. She died, and Lord Clinton wasted no time in replacing her with a new wife, Ursula Stourton, who took her place at the court. She was the niece of John Dudley, and gave him three sons and three daughters.

He later served in the Royal Navy against French and Scottish naval forces from 1544 to 1547. Knighted in Edinburgh by Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, for his role in the capture of the city in 1544 he also took part in the siege of Boulogne in 14 Sep that year. Under John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick he saw action against the French at the Battle of Spearhead in 1545 and was sent as one of the peace commissioners to France the following year. Commanding the English fleet during the invasion of Scotland by Edward Seymour he provided naval artillery support at the Battle of Pinkie on 15 Sep 1547. Appointed Governor of Boulogne in 1547 he successfully defended the city against a French siege from 1549 to 1550. That same year, with Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, he became the Lord-Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

Briefly serving as an envoy to France in 1551, he was involved in the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne, being one of the peers who signed the device of the King.

After Ursula Stourton's death, he married Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the "Fair Geraldine" of the Earl of Surrey and widow of Sir Anthony Browne. She was a great friend of Elizabeth.

After becoming the Lord-Lieutenant of Lincolnshire in 1552, Clinton later took part in the defeat of Wyatt's Rebellion in Kent in 1554. Becoming Lord General of Lord Pembroke's expedition he fought with Spanish forces at the Battle of Saint-Quentin on 10 Aug 1557. Upon his return to England, Clinton took command of the English fleet and began raiding the French coast burning the town on Conquet and the surrounding area in 1558.

Portrait of Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln

Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln

British School, probably after Cornelis Ketel, circa 1575

National Maritime Museum, London

Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln

Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln

National Portrait Gallery, London

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