Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England (1645 and 1674) and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family.

History

Earls of Lichfield, first creation (1645)

The first creation, in the Peerage of England, was in December 1645 by King Charles I for his 4th cousin Charles Stewart (1639–1672), whose youngest uncle Lord Bernard Stewart (1623-26 September 1645) (youngest son of

Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox (157930 July 1624), KG, 7th Seigneur d'Aubigny, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was a Scottish nobleman and through their paternal lines was a second cousin of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. H ...

), had been due to be created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I for his actions at the battles of Newbury and

Naseby Naseby is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687. The village is 14 mi (22.5 km) north of Northampton, 13.3 mi (21.4 km) northeast of Daventry, and 7&nb ...

but died aged 22 in the

Battle of Rowton Heath The Battle of Rowton Heath, also known as the Battle of Rowton Moor, occurred on 24 September 1645 during the English Civil War. Fought by the Parliamentarians, commanded by Sydnam Poyntz, and the Royalists under the personal command of King ...

before the creation could be implemented. Charles Stewart, the son of Bernard's elder brother George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny (who had been killed at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...

in 1642), was in his place created ''Earl of Lichfield'' in December 1645. In 1660 the 1st Earl succeeded his infant first cousin, Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox (1649-1660) in his titles and thus became also 3rd Duke of Richmond and 6th

Duke of Lennox The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Dumbarton, was first created in 1581, and had formerly been the Earldom of Lenno ...

.Money 1881, pp. 187–188 In that same year he was created Hereditary Great Chamberlain of Scotland, Hereditary Great Admiral of Scotland, and Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset. On 15 April 1661, following the Restoration of the Monarchy, he was invested by King Charles II with the Order of the Garter.Dictionary of National Biography, p. 73 He married three times, but produced no surviving male issue, being the last in the male line of Stewart of Aubigny, much beloved cousins of the Stewart monarchs. One of his wives was

Frances Teresa Stuart Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (8 July 1647Encyclopædia Britannica – 15 October 1702) was a prominent member of the Court of the Restoration and famous for refusing to become a mistress of Charles II of England. For h ...

, the celebrated beauty and alleged former mistress of King Charles II. In disgrace with the king, Charles was sent into exile as ambassador to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, where he drowned on 12 December 1672. All of the English and Scottish titles that descended in the male line became extinct. The titles of Richmond and Lennox (which had merged into the crown in 1485 and 1586 respectively) and Aubigny, were re-granted by King Charles II (with the cooperation of the French King) to his last mistress Louise de Kérouaille, 1st Duchesse d'Aubigny, and her illegitimate issue by him, namely Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, whose descendants survive today at Goodwood House in Sussex.

Earls of Lichfield, second creation (1674)

The second creation, in the Peerage of England, came in 1674 when King Charles II bestowed the titles of ''Baron Spelsbury'', ''Viscount Quarendon'' and ''Earl of Lichfield'' upon Sir Edward Lee, 5th Baronet, of Quarendon (1663–1716) in anticipation of his marriage to the king's illegitimate daughter Charlotte Fitzroy, whose mother was Barbara Villiers. The wedding took place in 1677. The ''Lee baronetcy'', of Quarendon in Buckinghamshire, had been created in the Baronetage of England in 1611 for Henry Lee. He was the cousin and heir of

Henry Lee of Ditchley Sir Henry Lee KG (March 1533 – 12 February 1611), of Ditchley, was Queen's Champion and Master of the Armouries under Queen Elizabeth I of England. Family Henry Lee, born in Kent in March 1533, was the grandson of Sir Robert Lee (d.1539 ...

. The 1st Earl of Lichfield from the Lee family was succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son, George Henry Lee, who became the 2nd Earl and 6th Baronet. He constructed the stately home of

Ditchley Ditchley Park is a country house near Charlbury in Oxfordshire, England. The estate was once the site of a Roman villa. Later it became a royal hunting ground, and then the property of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley. The 2nd Earl of Lichfield built ...

in Oxfordshire. On his death the titles passed to his son George Henry Lee, the 3rd Earl. He represented Oxfordshire 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 ...

and served as

Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is th ...

from 1762 to 1772. He died childless and was succeeded by his grand-uncle Robert, the 4th Earl. He was also childless. On his death in 1776 all his titles became extinct.

Earls of Lichfield, third creation (1831)

The third creation, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, came in

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

's coronation honours of 1831 in favour of Thomas Anson, 2nd Viscount Anson (1795–1854), a landowner and Whig politician from the Anson family who served as Master of the Buckhounds from 1830 to 1834 and as

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 ...

from 1835 to 1841. The 1st Earl was the eldest son of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson, who on 17 February 1806 had been created Baron Soberton, of

Soberton Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England, east of the A32 and a few miles south of the village of Droxford. It appears in the Domesday Book as "Sudbertone" or "Sudbertune". For administration, it is in the Hampshire County C ...

in the

County of Southampton Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire is ...

, and Viscount Anson, of Shugborough and Orgreave in the

County of Stafford Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Also in 1831, the 1st Earl's cousin William Anson was made a baronet (see Anson Baronets). The earldom of Lichfield continued to descend within the Anson family from father to son until the death of the 4th Earl, in 1960. He was succeeded by his grandson, the 5th Earl, the only son of

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Thomas William Arnold Anson, Viscount Anson (1913–1958), eldest son of the 4th Earl. Known professionally as Patrick Lichfield, he was a successful photographer. the titles are held by the 6th Earl, only son of the 5th Earl and Lady Leonora Grosvenor, daughter of the 5th Duke of Westminster. He succeeded as the 6th Earl of Lichfield upon his father's death on 11 November 2005. The 6th Earl married in December 2009 Lady Henrietta Conyngham, daughter of

Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham The Most Hon. Henry Vivien Pierpont Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham (born 25 May 1951), styled as Viscount Slane until 1974 and as Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009 and predominantly known as Lord Mount Charles, is an Anglo-Irish nob ...

. They have one son, Thomas Ossian Patrick Wolfe Anson, Viscount Anson (b. 20 May 2011). The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir apparent of the Earl is ''Viscount Anson''. The family seat of the Anson earls of Lichfield is

Shugborough Hall Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolutio ...

, Staffordshire, which is about 15 miles from the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

. Admiral Anson, the 1st Earl of Lichfield and others are buried at St Michael and All Angels Church in Colwich, a short distance from Shugborough Hall. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Earl and other Ansons of Shugborough after 1854 were buried in the churchyard of St Stephen's Church in Great Haywood until the 5th Earl decided to return to the Anson vault at Colwich. He was buried there in 2005.

List of title holders

Earls of Lichfield (1645)

* Charles Stewart (1639–1672), created 1st Earl of Lichfield in 1645 :

Earls of Lichfield (1674)

:''Other titles: Baronet, of Quarendon'' (1611), ''Baron Spelsbury'' (1674), ''Viscount Quarendon'' (1674) * Sir Edward Henry Lee, 5th Baronet (1663–1716), created 1st Earl of Lichfield in 1674 **Charles Lee, Viscount Quarendon (1680–1680) **Edward Henry Lee, Viscount Quarendon (1681–1713) * Sir George Henry Lee, 6th Baronet, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (1690–1742) * Sir George Henry Lee, 7th Baronet, 3rd Earl of Lichfield (1718–1772) * Sir Robert Lee, 8th Baronet, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1706–1776)

Earls of Lichfield (1831)

:''Other titles: Baron Soberton'' (1806), ''Viscount Anson'' (1806) * Thomas William Anson, 2nd Viscount Anson (1795–1854), created 1st Earl of Lichfield in 1831 * Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (1825–1892) *Thomas Francis Anson, 3rd Earl of Lichfield (1856–1918) *Thomas Edward Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1883–1960) **Thomas William Arnold Anson, Viscount Anson (1913–1958), married and divorced Lady Anne Bowes-Lyon, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. * Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939–2005), married and divorced Lady Leonara Grosvenor, daughter of the 5th Duke of Westminister *Thomas William Robert Hugh Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield (b. 1978) m. Lady Henrietta Conyngham, daughter of

. 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, Thomas Ossian Patrick Wolfe Anson, Viscount Anson (b. 2011).

References

Sources

* * *
Peerage of England, Arthur Collins, 1812
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lichfield Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of England Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1645 Noble titles created in 1674 Noble titles created in 1831 Noble titles created for UK MPs * Anson family