James Clinton was a soldier in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army who fought valiantly during the battle of Drogheda killing many Irish and was rewarded with land in Ireland. He married Elizabeth Smith, the daughter of a Captain in the army. After the Irish War the Clinton family remained in Ireland. In May 1729 his son Charles emigrated to New Ulster (Now Ulster County in New York, USA). Possibly their position in Ireland had become untenable due to the hatred of the English Roundheads and their return to England dangerous due to the subsequent restoration of the Monarchy. The Clintons originally came from Glympton in Cambridgeshire.