CLIVE, Conqueror of India & Shropshire
'He was the son of a small squire, and his boyhood had been variegated and unpromising. Clive had attended no fewer than four schools, and had been unsuccessful at all. In his Shropshire market town he had organised and led a gang of adolescent ruffians who extorted pennies and apples from tradesmen in return for not breaking their windows.' So, Winston Churchill in his book 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples' described the young Robert Clive who went on to create the British Empire in India, which could rival the empire of Alexander the Great.
Inevitably only fragments of Clive's time in Shrewsbury exist but he clearly felt that this was home where with his wife they raised two sons and two daughters. The Clive family probably historically their name from the village of Clive just north of Shrewsbury. In the 1500s Sir George Clive was a senior government official and Robert's grandfather was a feared commander of parliamentary forces during the English Civil war.
Up until the year 1700 a mere 1,500 English people lived in India. As the country was ravaged by fierce fighting between the tribes of the Mahrattas the time was ripe for exploitation. Britain and France jostled for power and Clive was a twenty one year old clerk in the East India Company earning five pounds a year, when he had to flee for his life as the French Madras in 1746.
Clive volunteered for army service and as was customary in those days was given the rank of Captain and ordered to lead a force of 200 Europeans and 600 Indians to attack the town of Arcot, which he easily . However, an Indian prince, Sahib counter attacked and Clive's men held out for seven weeks, outnumbered twenty to one and close to starvation. Clive led an assault to break the siege and destroyed the opposing forces. He was extremely lucky to avoid a sniper's musket ball and created a British image of invincibility. The Indian Prince Mahomet Ali gave Clive the title of 'Sabit Jang' meaning 'steady in war'. Clive then a year later in 1752 captured Trichinopoly and returned home a hero. He made a fortune from his commercial dealings and was a very rich man when he returned to native Shropshire with his new wife, Margaret.
Clive tried and failed for Parliament in the rotten borough of Cornwall and he returned to India to continue to expand the trading zone of the East India Company by force. Clive was bedevilled with ill health which was possibly gallstones as well as depression. He and Margaret rented Condover Hall and his wife described it as " just like a church... windows from top to bottom but not a sash, all dismal casements." However she enjoyed the wonderful gardens.
With the support of Lord Powis, leader of the Shropshire Whigs, in 1761 Clive was elected to Parliament for Shrewsbury and continued to represent the town until his death thirteen years later. His long list of honours included serving as the town's Mayor, later as the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire and becoming Baron Clive of Plassey. A brief return to India saw him installed as the Commander in Chief and Governor of Bengal. Upon his return to Britain the burgesses of Shrewsbury held a great feast and Clive donated a turtle bought when the ship Britannia called into port at Ascension Island.
His great influence meant that he could nominate candidates all over the country increasing his parliamentary power base. He prided himself on remaining independent from the government of the day, although he undoubtedly occasionally asked for favours from Ministers. Clive himself was comfortably re-elected in 1768. In September 1770 Clive suffered a particularly bad nervous attack. As he arrived at one of his estates in Underdale he was "full of horrors". He felt he was dying and could not walk. Margaret wailed, "I wonder if I exist myself!" as she tried to look after him. The illness affected him to the point he refused to ride his horse.
He received enormous sums of money for his repeated military victories, which allowed him to buy five properties including the Walcot estate, Styche Hall and Oakly Park in the borough of Ludlow. Clive was lampooned as the 'Lord Vulture' for the money he made and faced a parliamentary enquiry by his enemies who accused him of "allegedly acquiring the sum of £234,000 to the dishonour and detriment of the state." Feeling the Select Committee investigation was a political campaign to smear him Clive vigorously defended himself at risk of losing his entire wealth. With widespread hostility to the enquiry and having started the British Raj which brought increasing wealth for Britain, Clive spoke out in Parliament on 21st May 1773 by eloquently defending himself, "Frangus non Flectes (you may break, but you shall not bend me) demanding from MPs that "when they come to decide upon my honour, they should not forget their own.". Parliament formally censured him on a watered down motion but at the same time praised him by saying "he did at the same time render great and meritorious services to his country." After further debate, the resultant verdict of 155 votes to 95 exonerated Clive and his swash buckling and popular image with his constituents was enhanced, who re-elected him with an increased vote in 1774. Yet he had made many enemies, as young, successful and confident leaders have a habit of doing.
On November 22nd, Clive was alone dressed in a silk shirt, gold embroidered coat and continually in abdominal pain. Perhaps the depression became too much as mystery surrounds his death. Did he shoot himself, take a drugs overdose or slit his own throat? There was no post mortem or death certificate and he was buried in the humble church of Moreton Say near to Market Drayton. A small plaque testifies to its secret, "Sacred to the Memory of Robert Lord Clive KB buried within the walls of this church. Primus in Indis."
Robert Clive's legacy is based upon a character of great energy and vision with a natural military genius. Yet he demonstrated his human frailties by being ruthless, violent and self seeking. But in the context of the time he was seen as a popular and courageous conqueror of India.
His statue stands in The Square in Shrewsbury and a near identical one stands at the end of King Charles Street next to the old Cabinet War Rooms. Inspiration to stand up and be counted is only a glance away as Paul Marsden, Liberal Democrat MP for Shrewsbury said.