Frederick Paul de Vere Capell, 11th Earl of Essex (born 29 May 1944) is the current

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

. He succeeded his father

Robert Capell, 10th Earl of Essex Robert Edward de Vere Capell, 10th Earl of Essex (13 January 1920 – 5 June 2005) was Earl of Essex from 1981, but was only recognized as such in 1989. He was then a member of the House of Lords until the slimming down of the house in 1999. ...

, in 2005. Born to Robert Capell and his wife Doris, Lord Essex began his life as Frederick Paul de Vere Capell. His father, a

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

grocer, was a distant cousin of the 9th Earl of Essex. Capell’s career was as a schoolteacher. He was deputy head at Marsh County Primary School from 1966 to 1978, briefly headteacher at Cockerham Parochial Church of England School, from 1979 to 1980, and finally deputy head and Acting Head at Skerton County Primary School in Lancashire from 1981 to 1995. When his father proved that he was the heir to the earldom in 1989, Paul Capel became entitled to the

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 ...

of Viscount Malden. However, few people at his primary school knew of this, and when he inherited the earldom in 2005 ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' noted that the new Earl of Essex was "ever so humble". Essex is unmarried at age . If he dies without a legitimate son, the earldom will pass to

William Jennings Capell William Jennings "Bill" Capell (born 9 August 1952), a retired grocery clerk from Yuba City, California, is the heir presumptive to the Earldom of Essex. He will be the 12th Earl if the current earl, Paul Capell, 11th Earl of Essex (currently ...

, his fourth cousin once removed, whose father, Bladen Horace, was a strong claimant to the earldom, before the 10th earl proved his better claim.

Shorthand titles

* Paul de Vere Capell, Esq (from birth; ''de jure'' until 1981; ''de facto'' until 1989) * Viscount Malden (''de jure'' from 1981, ''de facto'' from 1989, until 5 June 2005) * ''The Right Honourable'' The Earl of Essex (since 5 June 2005)

Family tree

References

* Bunyan, Nigel; Fenton, Ben
New Earl of Essex is ever so humble
''Daily Telegraph'', June 18, 2005. Accessed August 22, 2010. * Freer, Alan (2005)

Retrieved June 22, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Essex, Paul Capell, 11th Earl Of 1944 births Living people 20th-century British people 21st-century British people

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...