Earl Cairns is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great ...

. It was created in 1878 for the prominent lawyer and

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 ...

politician Hugh Cairns, 1st Baron Cairns. He was

Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880. Cairns had already been created Baron Cairns, of Garmoyle in the

County of Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population ...

, in 1867, and was made Viscount Garmoyle, in the County of Antrim, at the same time he was given the earldom. These titles are also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He died young without male issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. He never married and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Earl. On his death the titles passed to his second but only surviving son, the fifth Earl. He was a

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in the

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. , the titles are held by his son, the sixth Earl, who succeeded in 1989. Sir William Cairns, half-brother of the first Earl, served as

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor Governors of the Australian states, performs c ...

from 1875 to 1877. The family seat is

Bolehyde Manor Bolehyde Manor is a 17th-century manor house at Allington, north-west of Chippenham, in Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building within the Allington conservation area of Chippenham Without parish. Camilla Parker Bowles (later ...

, near

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Barons Cairns (1867)

* Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Baron Cairns (1819–1885) (created Earl Cairns in 1878)

Earls Cairns (1878)

* Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns (1819–1885) * Arthur William Cairns, 2nd Earl Cairns (1861–1890) * Herbert John Cairns, 3rd Earl Cairns (1863–1905) * Wilfred Dallas Cairns, 4th Earl Cairns (1865–1946) * David Charles Cairns, 5th Earl Cairns (1909–1989) * Simon Dallas Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns (born 1939) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's eldest son, Hugh Sebastian Frederick Cairns, Viscount Garmoyle (born 1965).
The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son, Hon. Oliver David Andrew Cairns (born 1993).

Male-line family tree

Notes

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1878 Noble titles created for UK MPs Peerages created for the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain