Earl Sondes, of Lees Court in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for the former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

East Kent Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation. Prehistoric Kent Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe sku ...

, George Milles, 5th Baron Sondes. He was made Viscount Throwley, of the County of Kent, at the same time, which title was used as a courtesy title by the eldest son and heir apparent of the Earl. The titles became extinct on the death of his great-grandson, the fifth Earl, in 1996. The title of Baron Sondes, of Lees Court in the County of Kent, was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1760 for Lewis Watson. Born the Hon. Lewis Monson, he was the second son of

John Monson, 1st Baron Monson John Monson, 1st Baron Monson (c. 169318 July 1748), known as Sir John Monson, 5th Baronet, from 1727 to 1728, was a British politician. Life He was the son of George Monson of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Anne, daughter of Charles Wren of t ...

, and his wife Lady Margaret Watson, youngest daughter of

Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , full name = , native_name = , styles = , other_titles = Marquess of Rockingham, Baron Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, Baronet of Rockingham Castle , noble fa ...

(see these titles for earlier history of the families). In 1746 he assumed the surname of Watson on succeeding to the estates of his cousin,

Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham {{Infobox noble , name = Thomas Watson , title = Earl of Rockingham , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , r ...

(who was also Viscount Sondes). His son, the second Baron, represented

Hedon Hedon is a town and civil parish in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately east of Hull city centre. It lies to the north of the A1033 road at the crossroads of the B1240 and B1362 roads. It is ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. His younger son, the fourth Baron, who succeeded his brother in 1836, assumed in 1820 by Royal licence the surname of Milles only. On his death the title passed to his son, the aforementioned fifth Baron, who was created Earl Sondes in 1880. The sister of the 4th Earl Sondes, Lady Isobel Milles-Lade (d.1990), was married to the

18th Earl of Derby Edward John Stanley, 18th Earl of Derby, (21 April 1918 – 28 November 1994), styled Lord Stanley from 1938 to 1948, was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer, landowner and businessman. Background and education The eldest son of Ed ...

, of Knowsley Hall, Lancashire. The family seat of the Earls Sondes was Lees Court, in the village of Sheldwich, three miles south of

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...

. The Lees Court Estate is today owned by the Countess Sondes, widow of the 5th and last Earl Sondes. Lees Court itself was entirely destroyed by fire in November 1910, but was carefully rebuilt and is now subdivided into private apartments. The Estate during the early 1900s was 85,000 acres. Today the Estate is 7,000 acres which includes the Swale Estuary and the Faversham and Oare Creeks.

Barons Sondes (1760)

Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes (28 November 1728 – 30 March 1795), called Hon. Lewis Monson before 1746 and Hon. Lewis Watson from 1746 to 1760, was a British Whig politician and peer. Sondes was the second son of John Monson, 1st Baron Monson ...

(1728–1795) * Lewis Thomas Watson, 2nd Baron Sondes (1754–1806) * Lewis Richard Watson, 3rd Baron Sondes (1792–1836) * George John Milles, 4th Baron Sondes (1794–1874) * George Watson Milles, 5th Baron Sondes (1824–1894) (created Earl Sondes in 1880)

Earls Sondes (1880)

* George Watson Milles, 1st Earl Sondes (1824–1894) * George Edward Milles-Lade, 2nd Earl Sondes (1861–1907), died without male issue *Lewis Arthur Milles, 3rd Earl Sondes (1866–1941), died without male issue *George Henry Milles, 4th Earl Sondes (1914–1970) * Henry George Herbert Milles-Lade, 5th Earl Sondes (1940–1996), died without issue, at which point all of his titles became extinct

Arms

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sondes Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1880 Noble titles created for UK MPs

Barons Sondes (1760)

Earls Sondes (1880)

Arms

See also

References