Earl of Anglesey

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Arthur Annesley, 2nd Viscount Valentia was created Earl of Anglesey in 1661. Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey by John Michael Wright.jpg
Arthur Annesley, 2nd Viscount Valentia was created Earl of Anglesey in 1661.

The title Earl of Anglesey was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1623 when Christopher Villiers was created Earl of Anglesey, in Wales, as well as Baron Villiers. He was the elder brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and the younger brother of John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck.

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However, the Earldom and Barony became extinct on the death of his son, the second Earl, in 1661, who in 1644 had married the young widow of his cousin William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison, becoming the step-father of her only child, Barbara Villiers. The second creation came in 1661 when Arthur Annesley, 2nd Viscount Valentia, was created Earl of Anglesey, in Wales, and Baron Annesley, of Newport Pagnel in the County of Buckinghamshire. For more information on these titles, which were deemed extinct in 1761, see the Viscount Valentia.

Earls of Anglesey; First creation (1623)

Earls of Anglesey; Second creation (1661)

All but the last of these, and various other family members, are believed to be buried in the crypt of St Peter's Old Parish Church, Farnborough, Hampshire - (see list of early burials).

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