Earl of Lichfield
Earl of Lichfield is a title in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created twice previously in the
Peerage of England.
The subsidiary titles of the present Earl of Lichfield are
Viscount Anson, of Shugborough and Orgrave in the County of Suffolk, and
Baron Soberton, of Soberton in the County of Southampton. Both are in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom and were created on
17 February 1806. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Earl is "Viscount Anson".
The fifth Earl, Thomas Patrick John Anson, was more commonly known as the society photographer
Patrick Lichfield. He died at the age of 66 on
November 11 2005 after suffering a major
stroke.
The family seat is
Shugborough Hall,
Staffordshire, which is about 15 miles from the city of
Lichfield.
Lord Bernard Stewart, second son of
Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, was rewarded by
King Charles I for his actions at the battles of
Newbury and
Naseby, and created Baron Stuart of Newbury and Earl of Lichfield in
1644. Charles Stewart (
1639-
1672), the son of Bernard's younger brother George, who had been killed at the battle of
Edgehill, inherited the title upon his uncle's death on
September 26,
1645 soon after the
Battle of Rowton Heath. Charles' cousin, who held the titles of
Duke of Richmond and
Earl of Lennox through the 1st Duke of Lennox's eldest son James, died aged 11 in 1660 with Charles as his heir. He married
Frances Teresa Stuart, the celebrated beauty and alleged former mistress of
King Charles II. In disgrace with the king, Charles was sent into exile as ambassador to
Denmark, where he drowned in
December 12,
1672. All of the English and
Scottish titles that had been bestowed upon the male heirs became extinct.
In
1674, King Charles II created Sir Edward Henry Lee Bt, Viscount Quarendon and Earl of Lichfield. The Earl married
Charlotte Fitzroy in
1667. She was the illegitimate daughter of the King and
Barbara Villiers. Their eldest son George Henry Lee (1690-1742) passed the title onto his son George Henry Lee (1718-1772) who died without issue. The last male heir of the Lees of Quarendon, was Edward's only surviving son Robert and when Robert died childless, the title became extinct once more.
George Anson (
1697-
1762), joined the
Royal Navy in
1712 and by
1722 had risen to Captain. During the
War of the Austrian Succession he commanded
HMS Centurian on a mission to harass and capture Spanish ships en route from
Acapulco to the
Philippines. Anson returned to England in
1744 having captured the
Señora de Cavadonga a
galleon containing an immense amount of treasure worth around £500,000. His new wealth bought him status and privileges and he rose to become
Admiral of the Fleet. George's elder brother, Thomas, had succeeded to the family estate in
1720 and served as
Member of Parliament for
Lichfield from
1747. Thomas inherited all his brother's enormous fortune and died unmarried in
1773. The family estate of Shugborough was left to his sister's son, George Adams of Orgreave. George Adams legally adopted the name of Anson on
April 30 1773 and in 1806 his son was created Viscount Anson. His grandson Thomas was created Earl of Lichfield in the 1831 coronation honours of
King William IV.
*
Bernard Stewart, 1st Earl of Lichfield (c.
1623-
1645)
*
Charles Stewart, 6th Duke of Lennox, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (
1639-
1672)
*
Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield (
1663-
1716)
*
George Henry Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (
1690-
1742)
*
George Henry Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield (
1718-
1772)
*
Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield (
1706-
1776)
*
Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson (
1767-
1818)
*
Thomas William Anson, 2nd Viscount Anson (
1795-
1854) (became Earl of Lichfield in 1831)
*
Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield (
1795-
1854)
*
Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (
1825-
1892)
*
Thomas Francis Anson, 3rd Earl of Lichfield (
1856-
1918)
*
Thomas Edward Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (
1883-
1960)
*
Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (
1939-
2005)
*
Thomas William Robert Hugh Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield (b.
1978)The Heir Presumptive is the 4th earl's grandnephew, George Rupert Anson (b.
1960), followed by his eldest son, Douglas Rupert (b.
1992)
