Earl Cornwallis was a title in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself re ...

. It was created in 1753 for Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis. The second Earl was created Marquess Cornwallis but this title became extinct in 1823, while the earldom and its subsidiary titles became extinct in 1852 (the barony was recreated in the 20th century). The Cornwallis family descended from

Frederick Cornwallis Frederick Cornwallis (5 March 1713 – 19 March 1783) served as Archbishop of Canterbury, after an illustrious career in the Anglican Church. He was born the seventh son of an aristocratic family. His twin brother Edward Cornwallis had a mili ...

, who represented Eye and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

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 ...

. He was created a Baronet in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James ...

in 1627 and

Baron Cornwallis Baron Cornwallis is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The holders of the first creation were later made Earl Cornwallis and Marquess Cornwallis, but these titles ...

, of Eye in the County of

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 ...

, in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in th ...

in 1661. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron, who also sat as

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 Eye. On his death, the titles passed to his son, the third Baron. He notably served as

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

. His son, the fourth Baron, was Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk and

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...

. He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Baron. In 1753 he was created Viscount Brome, in the County of Suffolk, and Earl Cornwallis in the Peerage of Great Britain. His son, the second Earl, was a noted military commander, best known as one of the leading British generals in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

; his surrender at Yorktown ended the war. He subsequently served as Commander-in-Chief of India. In 1792 he was created Marquess Cornwallis in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his son, the second Marquess. He represented Eye (which by this time was considered a

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

of the Cornwallis family)Pages 144 and 199,

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

, ''

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' was a book written by Lewis Namier. At the time of its first publication in 1929 it caused a historiographical revolution in understanding the 18th century by challenging the Whig view ...

'' (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957) and

in Parliament. Lord Cornwallis had four daughters but no sons, and the marquessate became extinct on his death in 1823. He was succeeded in the other titles by his uncle, the fourth Earl. He was Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry from 1781 to 1824. He married Catherine, daughter of Galfridus Mann of Boughton Malherbe in Kent. He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament for Eye. In 1814 Lord Cornwallis assumed by Royal licence his maternal grandfather's surname of Mann in lieu of his patronymic. He had no surviving male issue and the earldom, viscountcy, barony and baronetcy became extinct on his death in 1852. His daughter Lady Jemima Isabella married Charles Wykeham-Martin. Their son Fiennes Wykeham-Martin assumed by Royal licence the surname of Cornwallis in lieu of his patronymic in 1859. In 1927 the Cornwallis title was revived when his son Fiennes Cornwallis was raised to the peerage as

. Several other members of the Cornwallis family also gained distinction. The Hon.

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and was a member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacob ...

, the sixth son of the fourth Baron, was a soldier and is known as "the founder of Halifax". His younger twin brother, the Right Reverend the Hon.

, was

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

. The Hon.

William Cornwallis Admiral of the Red Sir William Cornwallis, (10 February 17445 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a n ...

, younger son of the first Earl and younger brother of the first Marquess, was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Barons Cornwallis (1661)

Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis (14 March 1610/1 – January 1662) was an English peer, MP and Privy Counsellor. He was Treasurer of the Household 1660–1662. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Cornwallis of Brome, Su ...

(1610–1662) * Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis (1632–1673) * Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis (1655–1698) * Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis (1675–1722) * Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis (1700–1762) (created Earl Cornwallis in 1753)

Earls Cornwallis (1753)

* Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis (1700–1762) * Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis (1738–1805) (created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792)

Marquesses Cornwallis (1792)

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United ...

(1738–1805) *

Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis (19 October 1774 – 9 August 1823), styled Viscount Brome until 1805, was a British Tory politician. He served as Master of the Buckhounds between 1807 and 1823. Background Cornwallis was the only s ...

(1774–1823)

Earls Cornwallis (1753, reverted)

James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis (25 February 1743 – 20 January 1824) was a British clergyman, and peer. Life He was the third son of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Townshen ...

(1743–1824) * James Mann, 5th Earl Cornwallis (1778–1852) **Hon Charles James Cornwallis later Mann, styled Viscount Brome (1813-1835),

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 ...

until his death with no other heirs in remainder to the title.

References

External links

Home of the Cornwallis family nr Eye, Suffolk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Great Britain People from Eye, Suffolk

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", particu ...