Viscount Stansgate, of Stansgate in the County of Essex, 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 1942 for the Labour politician, former

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 ...

and future

Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government, which existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...

, William Wedgwood Benn. He was the second son of Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet, of The Old Knoll. Stansgate's eldest son and heir apparent, Michael Benn, was later killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Consequently, he was succeeded in the title by his second son, the Labour politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, who disclaimed the peerage on 31 July 1963, the day the Peerage Act 1963 passed into law and made it possible for him to do so. , the title is held by Tony Benn's eldest son,

Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate (born 21 August 1951), is a British hereditary peer and Labour member of the House of Lords. Early life His father, Tony Benn, and his younger brother, Hilary Benn, have both been senior ...

. Stansgate is a hamlet near the village of

Steeple, Essex Steeple is a village on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. It is situated just east of Maylandsea and Mayland, on the southern side of the River Blackwater estuary. A hamlet, within the village of Steeple, on the banks of the River Blac ...

, on the southern side of the River Blackwater

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. The village has been home to several generations of the Benn family since about 1900. They live in Stansgate Abbey, described by Chris Mullin as "an ungainly, rambling 1920s house in a stunning location".

Viscounts Stansgate (1942—)

* ''

William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary ...

'' (1877–1960) ** ''Hon. Michael Julius Wedgwood Benn'' (1921—1944) ** '' Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn, 2nd Viscount Stansgate'' (1925–2014) ( disclaimed 1963) *** Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate (1951—) **** (1) Hon. Daniel John Wedgwood Benn (1991—) *** (2) Hon. Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (1953—) **** (3) James Leon C. Benn (1983—) **** (4) Jonathan Anthony C. Benn (1987—) *** (5) Hon. Joshua William Wedgwood Benn (1958—) **** (6) William Graydon F. Benn (1985—) **** (7) Zachary Daniel T. Benn (1995—) ** ''Hon. David Julian Wedgwood Benn'' (1928—2017) *** (8) Piers Michael Wedgwood Benn (1962—) 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, the Hon. Daniel John Wedgwood Benn (born 1991). The heir apparent's

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 1953).

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stansgate Viscountcies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1942 Benn family Tony Benn

Viscounts Stansgate (1942—)

See also

References