After my ancestor, Patrick Bellew, was created Baron Bellew in the Peerage of Ireland in 1848 only three more Irish Peerages were handed out. That doesn’t sound quite right, but you know what I mean; namely Lord Fermoy (1865), Lord Rathdonnell and the Duke of Abercorn (both 1868).
Recently I visited three Dukes of Buckingham reposing in their columbarium. The Dukedom was created in 1822 and became extinct on the death of the third Duke in 1870. This was the fourth attempt to create a Buckingham dynasty. Why the title is not Buckinghamshire I don’t know, except that it sounds better. The first Duke was a Stafford, the 6th Earl of Stafford, in 1444. His descendants were on the wrong side of history. The second and third Dukes were executed for treason – clever of the third Duke to get the title back – but it became extinct.
The second creation of the Dukedom wasn’t any luckier. George Villiers already had a portfolio of titles ranging from Baron to Marquess but James I chucked in a Dukedom in 1623. He was succeeded by his son who, inter alia, founded the Bilsdale Hunt in 1668, the first pack of fox hounds in England. This innocent enthusiasm led to his death and the extinction of the title again in 1687.
“After digging for a fox above Kirkbymoorside, and being too far from his home in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, he died from a chill in the house of a tenant.“ (Wikipedia)
The third creation of the dukedom in 1703 also ran out of steam. John Sheffield, already an Earl and a Marquess, was promoted by Queen Anne by virtue of being Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council. His son died uncontroversially in 1735 without issue leaving the way for another creation – the Grenvilles – who didn’t last much longer.
The four creations of the Dukes of Buckingham have no relationship with each other. They chose the best title on the shelf and who could blame them. The Bellew title of 1848 is the second creation. The first creation, in 1686, became extinct in 1770 on the death of the 4th Lord Bellew. I am descended from the grandfather of the first holder of the title in the first creation.
To digress, I happen to have the e mail addresses of a few Dukes. My absolute favourite is “dookanddoll@…” You may wonder which Duke and Duchess have this priceless address and I’ll not be the one to tell you but the heavens are telling.
Wasn’t Curzon’s peerage before Viceregal duties an Irish peerage…one of the great consuls and not a bad cinema.
Well spotted. He was created Baron Curzon in the Peerage of Ireland in 1899, when he was appointed Viceroy of India. In 1908 he sat in the House of Lords as a Irish representative peer. Subsequently he inherited his father’s hereditary title and received three more peerages.
Curzon was given an Irish peerage (actually in 1898, just before he his Viceroyalty formally began) because he wanted to be able to return to the House of Commons on ceasing to be Viceroy, his father being relatively young. However on return from India he wasn’t nominated for a UK peerage and he was either discouraged from standing for parliament or couldn’t find a seat. So ironically he then used his Irish peerage to get into the House of Lords, even though it had been created to avoid his doing just that! He only just squeaked in at the representative peerage election by 2 votes in a 3 horse race. All a nice oddity of political history for those of us who enjoy that sort of thing.