She was the daughter of Jean Abraham Rodolph Gaulis (died 1788)[1] of Lausanne, Switzerland, an important magistrate of that city.
Her eldest brother, Clinton's uncle, was Abram Frederic Louis Juste Gaulis, a member of the Grand Council of Vaud and the heir and custodian of the Château de Colombier-sur-Morges, near Lausanne.
[4] Another of his Swiss uncles was Charles Gaulis (died in Germany 23 August 1796), who fathered a child by Mary Jane de Vial (later Clairmont).
[5] Clinton's cousin, Charles Gaulis Clairmont,[6] who grew up as stepbrother to Mary Shelley, ended up as Chair of English literature at Vienna University.
Clinton was elected Member of Parliament for Callington in 1813, a seat he held until 1818.