He was a miner, listing his trade as a hewer, and he lived in Newsham, in south-eastern Northumberland.
Since the instrument assumed its modern keyed form at the beginning of the 19th century, the family's playing tradition goes back unbroken to that time.
[citation needed] Some tunes from his music manuscripts can be found on the FARNE archive,[1] together with those of his son, and an authoritative book on the family and its music, based on the collected manuscripts, was published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society as The Clough Family of Newsham.
[2] These sources give considerable insight into the traditional playing technique and style of the instrument.
Henry was an expert duet player, both with Richard Mowat, and later with his son Tom.