Earl of Bridgewater was a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, once for the Daubeny family (1538) and once for the Egerton family (1617). From 1720 to 1803, the Earls of Bridgewater also held the title of Duke of Bridgewater. The 3rd Duke of Bridgewater is famously known as the "Canal Duke", for his creation of a series of canals in North West England.
The title Earl of Bridgewater was first created in 1538 for Henry Daubeny, 9th Baron Daubeny. The Daubeney (or Dabney [1] ) family descended from Elias Daubeny, who in 1295 was summoned by writ to the Model Parliament as Lord Daubeny. The eighth Baron was created Baron Daubeny by letters patent in the Peerage of England in 1486 and was also made a Knight of the Garter the following year. All three titles became extinct on the first Earl of Bridgewater's death in 1548.
The title Earl of Bridgewater was created secondly in 1617 for John Egerton, Baron Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley, after the town of Bridgwater in Somerset, where he owned estates. [2] The Egerton family descended from Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley, Cheshire, whose illegitimate son Sir Thomas Egerton was a prominent lawyer who served as Master of the Rolls from 1594 to 1603, as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1593 to 1603 and as Lord High Chancellor of England from 1603 to 1617. Thomas Egerton was knighted in 1594, admitted to the Privy Council in 1596 and in 1603 he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Ellesmere, in the County of Shropshire, and in 1616 to Viscount Brackley . In 1598 he had inherited the Tatton estate in Cheshire from his brother-in-law Richard Brereton. He was succeeded by his son, John who represented Callington and Shropshire in the House of Commons and served as Lord-Lieutenant of several counties in Wales and western England and who in 1617 was made Earl of Bridgewater in the Peerage of England.
He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Herefordshire. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the third Earl. He was a Whig politician and served as First Lord of Trade and as First Lord of the Admiralty. His eldest son from his first marriage, John Egerton, died as an infant, while his two elder sons from his second marriage, Charles Egerton, Viscount Brackley, and the Hon. Thomas Egerton, both died in the fire which destroyed Bridgwater House in London. Lord Bridgewater was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his second marriage, the fourth Earl. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and also held several positions at court. In 1720 he was created Marquess of Brackley, in the County of Northampton, and Duke of Bridgewater, in the County of Somerset. Both titles were in the Peerage of Great Britain.
The first Duke outlived his two elder sons and was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son from his second marriage, the second Duke. He died from fever at an early age. On his death the titles passed to his younger brother, the third Duke. He is remembered as the father of British inland navigation and commissioned the Bridgewater Canal, said to be the first true canal in Britain and the modern world. Bridgewater never married and on his death in 1803 the marquessate and dukedom became extinct.
The last Duke was succeeded in the other titles by his first cousin once removed, the seventh Earl. He was the son of the Right Reverend the Hon. John Egerton, Bishop of Durham, son of the Right Reverend the Hon. Henry Egerton, Bishop of Hereford, youngest son of the third Earl. Lord Bridgewater was a General in the Army and also sat as Tory Member of Parliament for Morpeth and for Brackley. He was childless and on his death in 1823 the titles passed to his younger brother, the eighth Earl. He was known as a patron of science as well as a great eccentric. Lord Bridgewater never married and on his death in 1829 his titles became extinct.
In the early 17th century, Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, had purchased Ashridge House in Hertfordshire, one of the largest country houses in England, from Queen Elizabeth I, who had inherited it from her father who had appropriated it after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Ashridge House served the Egerton family as a residence until the 19th century. The Egertons later had a family chapel (the Bridgewater Chapel) with burial vault in Little Gaddesden Church, where many monuments commemorate the Dukes and Earls of Bridgewater and their families. [3] Among those buried here is the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. [4]
Lady Amelia Egerton, sister of the seventh and eighth Earls, married Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet. Their daughter Sophia Hume married John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow. Their grandson John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton-Cust, 2nd Earl Brownlow (1842–1867), assumed the additional surname of Egerton and inherited the Bridgewater estates after a lengthy lawsuit (see the Baron Brownlow for additional information on the Cust family). Also, Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of the first Duke of Bridgewater, married Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. Their son George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford, was created Duke of Sutherland in 1833. His second son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower assumed by Royal licence the surname of Egerton in lieu of Leveson-Gower according to the will of the third Duke of Bridgewater. In 1846 the Brackley and Ellesmere titles were revived when he was made Viscount Brackley and Earl of Ellesmere . The Hon. Thomas Egerton, of Tatton Park, Cheshire, youngest son of the second Earl of Bridgewater, was the grandfather of Hester Egerton (d. 1780). She married William Tatton. In 1780 they assumed by Royal licence the surname of Egerton in lieu of Tatton. Their great-grandson William Tatton Egerton was created Baron Egerton in 1859.
A scoundrel claiming to be the long-lost but rightful Duke of Bridgewater appears in the 1885 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, which is set before the American Civil War.
The original spelling is likely to have been Bridgwater, meaning the burg of Water, and the same as Bridgwater in Somerset (see archive reference 2/79).
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The title Viscount Brackley has been created twice for members of the Egerton family; once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Earl of Ellesmere, of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the Conservative politician Lord Francis Egerton. He was granted the subsidiary title of Viscount Brackley, of Brackley in the County of Northampton, at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Born Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, he was the third son of George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland and Elizabeth Gordon, 19th Countess of Sutherland. In 1803 his father had inherited the substantial estates of his maternal uncle Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. On his father's death in 1833, Lord Francis succeeded to the Egerton estates according to the will of the late Duke of Bridgewater, and assumed by Royal licence the surname of Egerton in lieu of Leveson-Gower. The Brackley and Ellesmere titles created for him in 1846 were revivals of titles held by the Dukes of Bridgewater. In 1963 his great-great-grandson, the fifth Earl, succeeded his kinsman as 6th Duke of Sutherland. The earldom of Ellesmere and viscountcy of Brackley are now subsidiary titles of the dukedom.
Baron Egerton, of Tatton in the County Palatine of Chester, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 April 1859 for William Egerton (1806–1883), a politician from the Egerton family.
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expired with him, although the earldom was inherited by a cousin, Lieutenant-General John Egerton.
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, PC, was an English nobleman from the Egerton family.
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley,, known as Lord Ellesmere from 1603 to 1616, was an English nobleman, judge and statesman from the Egerton family who served as Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for twenty-one years.
John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater KB PC was a British nobleman from the Egerton family.
Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, styled as Viscount Brackley from 1687 to 1701 and as the Earl of Bridgewater from 1701 to 1720, was an English peer, courtier and landowner. Born into the Egerton family, he succeeded as Earl of Bridgewater in 1701, before being created Duke of Bridgewater on 18 June 1720, with subsidiary titles including Marquess of Brackley.
John Hume Egerton, Viscount Alford was a British Tory Member of Parliament from the Egerton family.
John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater, KB, PC, was an English peer and politician from the Egerton family.
John William Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater FRS, known as John Egerton until 1803, was a British cavalry officer, and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1777 to 1803 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Bridgewater. He was from the Egerton family.
The Egerton family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Egerton family were made Dukes, Earls, knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Egerton family include the dukedoms of Bridgewater (1720–1803) and Sutherland, as well as the earldoms of Bridgewater (1617–1829), Wilton (1801–1999) and Egerton (1897–1909). Several other members of the family have also risen to prominence. The Egerton family motto is Virtuti non armis fido.
Jane Egerton, Countess of Bridgewater, was the second wife of John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater. She was a daughter of Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, by his second wife Mary Scrope.
Charlotte Catherine Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, née Charlotte Haynes, was a British noblewoman. She was known for her philanthropic and charitable acts, and supported numerous educational and religious causes. She was responsible for the laying out of the ornamental gardens around her family home at Ashridge in Hertfordshire.
Sir Thomas Egerton was an English landowner, soldier and politician who represented Cheshire in the House of Commons from 1597 to 1598.