AN HISTORIC Whitefield house has come on the market with a million pound price tag.

The stately detached house in Griffe Lane is thought to be the first brick built house in the area constructed in 1681, and was the childhood home of one of the most influential and controversial figures in British history — Clive of India, a founder of the British Raj.

Boasting eight bedrooms, converted farm buildings, and around an acre of land; the Grade II listed, part timber framed property also retains the original 20 foot deep well.

Known as Brick House Farm, the property is now on the market with estate agents Pearson Farrier for £1,350,000.

Born in September 1725 at Styche Hall in Shropshire, Robert Clive was the eldest of 13 children to his father Richard — a lawyer and former MP of declining fortunes.

Sent to Manchester aged three, Clive studied at Stand Grammar School in Whitefield, and lived with relatives who spoiled him rotten.

He became uncontrollable, was expelled from school three times, and after returning home became a criminal exhorting money from shopkeepers.

Exasperated, Clive's father packed him off to India as a clerk in the East India Company in Madras.

There he quickly became bored and troublesome, before turning depressive and resolving to commit suicide.

According to legend Clive fired a pistol at his head twice in succession, but the gun failed to go off, leading him to believe he had been saved for a reason.

After escaping the French capture of Madras in 1746, Clive joined the East India Company's private army, building a reputation as an adept soldier and commander.

Word of his exploits reached England and Clive was given command of an expeditionary force which captured and held the Carnatic capital of Argot against all odds.

The victory led the 27-year-old to be dubbed a "heaven-born general" by Prime Minister Pitt

Clive briefly returned to Britain in 1753, marrying Margaret Maskelyne, but returned to India three years later as a Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Governor of Fort St David.

His return came shortly after capture of Calcutta by the Nawab of Bengal, and the notorious Blackhole of Calcutta, in which 146 captured Britons were cast into cell just 18 feet square — with just 23 surviving.

Clive re-took the city and, in one of the most decisive victories in history, routed the Nawab's 50,000 strong army with less than 3,000 men at the Battle of Plassey.

The victory opened up India for further British conquest and the brutal subjugation and exploitation of the native population.

Clive later served as a Tory MP and became known for courting numerous controversies.

Likely a manic depressive, and a severe opium addict, it is thought Clive committed suicide in November 1774, aged 49, and was buried in an unmarked grave.

For more information on Brick House Farm visit pearsonferrier.co.uk/property-details/28029544/