Earl Beauchamp ( /ˈbiːtʃəm/ ) was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The peerage was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester. He had already been created Baron Beauchamp of Powyke in the County of Worcester, in 1806, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Beauchamp had previously represented Worcestershire in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl, who also sat as Member of Parliament for Worcestershire. He never married and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. In 1813 he assumed by royal licence the surname of Pyndar in lieu of Lygon. On his death in 1853 the titles passed to his younger brother, the fourth Earl. He was a General in the Army as well as a Member of Parliament. [1]
The fourth earl’s second but eldest surviving son, the fifth earl, represented Worcestershire West in Parliament. He died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixth Earl. He was a Conservative politician and held office in the 1870s and 1880s under Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury. His eldest son, the seventh Earl, was in contrast to his father a prominent Liberal politician and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. He was also Governor of New South Wales. [1] He was succeeded by his eldest son, the eighth Earl. He was also a politician. On Lord Beauchamp's death in 1979 the titles became extinct.
Pyndar's Name Act 1735 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act to enable Reginald Lygon Esquire, otherwise Pyndar, and the Heirs Male of his Body, to take upon him and them the Surname and Arms of Lygon, pursuant to the Settlement of William Lygon Esquire, deceased. |
Citation | 9 Geo. 2. c. 21Pr. |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 5 May 1736 |
The Earls Beauchamp were descended from Richard Lygon (pronounced "Liggon", /ˈlɪɡən/ ), of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, who married the Hon. Anne (died 1535), second daughter and co-heir of Richard Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp "of Powyke" (1435–1503) (see Baron Beauchamp, the fifth creation ("of Powyke")), and through the latter from the early Earls of Warwick. Their descendant, William Lygon (1642–1721), also resided at Madresfield. His daughter, Margaret (died 1734), married as her first husband Reginald Pyndar (c. 1687–1721), of Kempley, Gloucestershire. Their son Reginald Pyndar (1712–1788) changed his surname to Lygon in lieu of Pyndar, by a private act of Parliament, Reginald Pyndar's Name Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2. c. 21Pr.). [2] His son was the first Earl Beauchamp.
The ancestral family seat of the Lygon family was Madresfield Court, near Malvern, Worcestershire. [1] It is currently the home of Jonathan and Lucy Chenevix-Trench, the 29th generation in descent to live at Madresfield, since 2012. Lucy Chenevix-Trench is the younger daughter of the Hon. Lady Morrison (nee Rosalind Lygon), a niece of the 8th and last Earl Beauchamp and the younger daughter of the late Hon. Richard Lygon (1916–1970), the youngest son of the 7th Earl by his wife, the former Lady Lettice Grosvenor. Rosalind Morrison inherited Madresfield Court in 1990 after the death of Mona Lygon, Countess Beauchamp, widow of the 8th and last Earl (d 1979). She took up residence around 1993 with her daughters and two surviving aunts, Lady Sibell Rowley and Lady Dorothy Heber-Percy. The house has been extensively restored by the Chenevix-Trenches and has been the subject of articles in Tatler and the Daily Mail.[ citation needed ]
The arms of the head of the Lygon family are blazoned argent, two lions passant in pale tails fourchee gules, meaning that there are two red lions with forked tails on a silver field. [1]
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William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp,, styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal politician. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901, a member of the Liberal administrations of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith between 1905 and 1915, and leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords between 1924 and 1931. When political enemies threatened to make his homosexuality public, he resigned from office to go into exile. Lord Beauchamp is generally considered to be the model for the character Lord Marchmain in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited.
Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp PC DL, styled The Honourable Frederick Lygon between 1853 and 1866, was a British Conservative politician.
Margaret Russell, Baroness Ampthill, was an English courtier and Red Cross volunteer, known for her long friendship with Queen Mary.
George William Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry,, styled Viscount Deerhurst from November 1838 until 1843, was a British Conservative politician. He was Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms between 1877 and 1880 and again between 1885 and 1886 as well as Master of the Buckhounds between 1886 and 1892 and again between 1895 and 1901.
Madresfield Court is a country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The home of the Lygon family for nearly six centuries, it has never been sold and has passed only by inheritance since the 12th century; a line of unbroken family ownership reputedly exceeded in length in England only by homes owned by the British Royal Family. The present building is largely a Victorian reconstruction, although the origins of the present house are from the 16th century, and the site has been occupied since Anglo-Saxon times. The novelist Evelyn Waugh was a frequent visitor to the house and based the family of Marchmain, who are central to his novel Brideshead Revisited, on the Lygons. Surrounded by a moat, the Court is a Grade I listed building.
William Lygon, 8th Earl Beauchamp, JP, DL, styled as Viscount Elmley until 1938, was a politician in the United Kingdom. The eldest son of the controversial William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, sometime leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) for East Norfolk before in 1938 inheriting his father's seat in the House of Lords. He remained a member there until his death.
George William Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry, styled Viscount Deerhurst from 1809 to 1831, was a British peer and Tory Member of Parliament.
General Henry Beauchamp Lygon, 4th Earl Beauchamp DL, styled The Honourable Henry Lygon from 1806 until 1853, was a British Army officer and politician.
Henry Lygon, 5th Earl Beauchamp, styled Viscount Elmley between 1853 and 1863, was a British politician.
George William Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry, styled Viscount Deerhurst until 1809, was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
Sir William Lygon (1568–1608) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1608.
William Beauchamp Lygon, 2nd Earl Beauchamp FRS, styled The Honourable William Lygon between 1806 and 1815 and Viscount Elmley between 1815 and 1816, was a British politician.
William Lygon, 1st Earl of Beauchamp, known as Lord Beauchamp of Powyke between 1806 and 1815, was a British politician.