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The title of Earl of Torrington was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation was in 1660 as a subsidiary title of the Duke of Albemarle. Following the extinction of this title in 1688, the title was created anew in 1689, but became extinct upon the death of the first earl in 1716.
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising hereditary titles in various countries, comprising various noble ranks.
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain.
The Dukedom of Albemarle has been created twice in the Peerage of England, each time ending in extinction. Additionally, the title was created a third time by James II in exile and a fourth time by his son the Old Pretender, in the Jacobite Peerage. The name Albemarle is derived from the Latinised form of the French county of Aumale in Normandy, other forms being Aubemarle and Aumerle. It arose in connection with the ancient Norman Counts of Aumale of Aumale in Normandy. See also Earl of Albemarle.
Duke of Marlborough is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Queen Anne in 1702 for John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough (1650–1722), the noted military leader. In historical texts, it is often to him that an unqualified use of the title refers. The name of the dukedom refers to Marlborough in Wiltshire. It is one of the few titles in the peerage which allows for suo jure female inheritance.
Earl of Albemarle is a title created several times from Norman times onwards. The word Albemarle is derived from the Latinised form of the French county of Aumale in Normandy, other forms being Aubemarle and Aumerle. It is described in the patent of nobility granted in 1697 by William III to Arnold Joost van Keppel as "a town and territory in the Dukedom of Normandy."
Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham and Marquesses of Buckingham.
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family.
Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for the 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1635 to 1636 and also established his claim in right of his mother to the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England. Lord Lindsey fought on the Royalist side in the Civil War and was killed at the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October 1642. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He also fought at Edgehill and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in order to attend his mortally wounded father. Lord Lindsey later fought at the First Battle of Newbury, Second Battle of Newbury, and at Naseby. His son from his second marriage, James, was created Earl of Abingdon in 1682. He was succeeded by his son from his first marriage to Martha Cockayne, the third Earl. He represented Boston in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire.
Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, first in 1633 and again in 1689. The title Duke of Portland was created in 1716 but became extinct in 1990 upon the death of the ninth Duke, when the Earldom was inherited by a distant cousin.
Earl of Perth is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for James Drummond, 4th Lord Drummond. The Drummond family claim descent from Maurice, son of George, a younger son of King Andrew I of Hungary. Maurice arrived in Scotland on the ship which brought Edgar Ætheling, the Saxon claimant to the crown of England after the Norman Conquest, and his sister Margaret to Scotland in 1068. Maurice was given lands in Lennox (Dunbartonshire), together with the hereditary stewardship of the county. The Hungarian Prince theory has been discounted as no evidence of any relationships exists in written records. "The Red Book of the Menteiths" clearly discounts the Hungarian Prince as a myth likely formed to give status to the Drummond origins. The Drummonds in the 12th Century were allied to the Menteiths their early fortunes became through the relationship. Indeed, one "Johannes De Drumon", said to have died in 1301, was buried in Inchmahome Priory which was founded by the Menteiths. His successor John Drummond, the 7th Steward, was deprived of the lands and retired into Perthshire.
Viscount Torrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1721 for the statesman Sir George Byng, 1st Baronet, along with the subsidiary title Baron Byng, of Southill in the County of Bedford, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. He had already been created a baronet, of Wrotham in the County of Kent, in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1715. His eldest son, the second Viscount, represented Plymouth and Bedfordshire in the House of Commons and later served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1746 to 1747. His younger brother, the third Viscount, was a major-general in the Army. His grandson, the sixth Viscount, was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy. His son, the seventh Viscount, served as Governor of Ceylon between 1847 and 1850.
Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history.
The County of Aumale, later elevated to a duchy, was a medieval fief in Normandy. It was disputed between England and France during parts of the Hundred Years' War.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny was an English nobleman and politician. He was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1667 to 1670 when he inherited the Dukedom and sat in the House of Lords.
Admiral Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington was an English admiral and politician. Dismissed by King James II in 1688 for refusing to vote to repeal the Test Act, which prevented Roman Catholics from holding public office, he brought the Invitation to William to the Prince of Orange at The Hague, disguised as a simple sailor. As a reward he was made commander of William's invasion fleet which landed at Torbay in Devon on 5 November 1688 thus initiating the Glorious Revolution.
The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriffs and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569 there was provision for the appointment of Deputy Lieutenants, and in 1662 the Lord-Lieutenant was given entire control of the militia. The Forces Act of 1871 transferred this function back to the Crown, and in 1921, the office lost its power to call upon men of the County to fight in case of need. Since 1711 all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Devon.
Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC, styled Viscount Mansfield until 1676, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1676, and then inherited the dukedom.
Viscount Cullen of Tipperary was a title in the Peerage of Ireland created on 11 August 1642, along with the title Baron Cullen, for Charles Cokayne.
Thomas Newport, 1st Baron Torrington, styled The Honourable from 1675 until 1716, was an English barrister and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1716 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Torrington.
Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Potheridge, in the parish of Merton, in the historic hundred of Shebbear, 3 miles south-east of Great Torrington, Devon, England, is a former Domesday Book estate and the site of the former grand mansion house re-built by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608–1700) circa 1660 on the site of the former manor house occupied by his family since at the latest 1287. It was mostly demolished in 1734 after the death of the widow of his son Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle and the surviving section forms the present Great Potheridge farmhouse, a Grade I listed building, inside which however some remnants of the former mansion remain, including a grand staircase, two massive 17th-century classical-style doorcases and a colossal relief-sculpted wooden overmantel. The latter depicts within a wreath of flowers, against a background of an elaborate antique trophy of arms, five putti, two of which, in flight, hold between them a crown, an allusion to Monck's central role in the Restoration of the Monarchy. The chapel "of Grecian architecture", i.e. classical, was in ruins in 1770 and was almost entirely demolished before 1822, with only the west wall left standing. In 1879 the stables, however, were still standing and were said to "give the visitor some idea of the magnificence of the ancient building". In 2014 Great Potheridge with 6 acres of land remaining of the former estate is used as an outdoor activity centre for young people operated by Encompass Training. It is today known as "Great Potheridge" to distinguish it from the nearby house, formerly on the estate, known as "Little Potheridge".