Earl of Cranbrook, in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

, 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 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

, created in 1892 for Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Baron Medway. The family seat is Great Glemham House, near

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England, set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the main A12 road between London and Lowestoft. The town is ser ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. The title remains held by the

Gathorne-Hardy family Gathorne-Hardy is the name of a British aristocratic family. The first part of the name is pronounced with a long ''a'', i.e. "gay-thorn". The founder of the family was Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook. The "eccentric Gathorne-Hardys ...

Creation and 1st Earl

It was created in 1892 for the prominent

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 i ...

politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook. He notably held office as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

and

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

. Gathorne-Hardy had already been created Viscount Cranbrook, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, in 1878, and was made Baron Medway, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, at the same time he was given the earldom. The latter title is used as a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

for the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent.

Second earl

Lord Cranbrook's eldest son, the second Earl, represented Rye, Mid Kent and

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

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. ...

as a Conservative.

Fourth earl

John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook (who was previously married to

Bridget D'Oyly Carte Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte DBE (25 March 1908 – 2 May 1985) was head of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1948 until 1982. She was the granddaughter of the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Thoug ...

). Married Fidelity Seebohm(4), (born in 1912, JP), on 26 July 1932 and had five children: Gathorne, 5th Earl of Cranbrook, 1933-; Hugh 1941-; Juliet 1934-; (Catherine) Sophia 1936-; Christina 1940-

Fifth and current earl

the titles are held by the latter's great-grandson, the fifth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1978. He is a zoologist and environmental biologist, who was awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

's Founder's Medal in 1995.

Other members of the family

Hon.

Alfred Gathorne-Hardy Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy (27 February 1845 – 11 November 1918), styled The Honourable from 1878, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament. Gathorne-Hardy was the third son of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane ...

, third son of the first Earl, sat as a

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 of ...

for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

. Another member of the family was the writer

Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy (17 May 1933 – 16 July 2019) was a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system. For his autobiography, ''Half an Arc ...

, a son of Hon. Anthony Gathorne-Hardy, youngest son of the third Earl.

Earls of Cranbrook (1892)

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, (born Gathorne Hardy; 1 October 1814 – 30 October 1906) was a prominent British statesman, Conservative politician and key ally of Benjamin Disraeli. He held cabinet office in every Conservati ...

(1814–1906) *

John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook (22 March 1839 – 13 July 1911), known as Lord Medway from 1892 to 1906, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament. Born John Stewart Hardy, Cranbrook was the eldest son of the Co ...

(1839–1911) * Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook (1870–1915) * John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook (1900–1978) *

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook, (born 20 June 1933), styled Lord Medway until 1978, is a British zoologist, biologist, naturalist, and peer. Since 1956, he has been active in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, and zooarch ...

(b. 1933). 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 son John Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (b. 1968).

Line of succession

#John Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (b. 1968) #Hon. Argus Edward Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1973), younger son of the 5th Earl #Hon. Hugh Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1941), younger son of the 4th Earl #Frederick Jasper Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1971), elder son of (3) #Alfred Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1978), younger son of (3) #Benjamin Garthorne-Hardy (b. 1967), great-grandson of the 3rd Earl by his youngest son Hon. Antony Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (1907-1976) via

(1933-2019) #Robert Dee Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1973), grandson of Antony Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy aforesaid via Samuel Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (1936-2019)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cranbrook Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

Noble titles created in 1892 Noble titles created for UK MPs