Background
Henry Clinton was born, probably in 1730, to Admiral George Clinton and Anne Carle, the daughter of a general. Early histories claimed his birth year as 1738, a date widely propagated even in modern biographic summaries; according to biographer William Willcox, Clinton claimed in a notebook found in 1958 to be born in 1730, and that evidence from English peerage records places the date of birth as 16 April. Willcox also notes that none of these records give indication of the place of Clinton's birth. Historian John Fredriksen claims that Clinton was born in Newfoundland; his father was posted there from 1732 to 1738.
Little is known of the earliest years of Clinton's life, or of his mother and the two sisters that survived to adulthood. Given his father's naval career, where the family was domiciled is uncertain. They were obviously well-connected to the seat of the Earls of Lincoln, from whom his father was descended, or the estate of the Dukes of Newcastle, to whom they were related by marriage.
In 1739 his father, then stationed at Gibraltar, applied for the governorship of the Province of New York. He won the post in 1741 with the assistance of the Duke of Newcastle (who was his brother's brother-in-law). He did not actually go to New York until 1743. He took young Henry with him, having failed to acquire a lieutenant's commission for the 12-year-old. Henry's career would also benefit from the family connection to the Newcastles.
His mother, who had a history of mental instability and played only a small part in his life, died in August 1767.