This creation of the Earldom was made for the eighth time in 1572 for the naval commander Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton (see the Baron Clinton for earlier history of the family). He served as Lord High Admiral under Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He represented Launceston and Lancashire in the House of Commons. His son, the third Earl, sat as Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby and Lincolnshire. In 1610 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Clinton.