| Earldom of Lichfield | |
|---|---|
  Arms of Anson:Argent, three bends engrailed and in the sinister chief point a crescent gules | |
| Creation date | 15 September 1831 |
| Creation | Third |
| Created by | King William IV |
| Peerage | Peerage of the United Kingdom |
| First holder | Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield |
| Present holder | Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield |
| Heir apparent | Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson |
| Subsidiary titles | Viscount Anson Baron Soberton |
| Status | Extant |
| Motto | NIL DESPERANDUM (Despair of nothing) |
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in thePeerage of England (1645 and 1674) and once in thePeerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of theAnson family.
Thefirst creation, in thePeerage of England, was in December 1645 by KingCharles I for his 4th cousinCharles Stewart (1639–1672), whose youngest uncleLord Bernard Stewart (1623-26 September 1645) (youngest son ofEsmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox), had been due to be created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I for his actions at the battles ofNewbury andNaseby but died aged 22 in theBattle of Rowton Heath before the creation could be implemented. Charles Stewart, the son of Bernard's elder brotherGeorge Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny (who had been killed at theBattle of Edgehill in 1642), was in his place createdEarl of Lichfield in December 1645. In 1660 the 1st Earl succeeded his infant first cousin,Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox (1649–1660) in his titles and thus became also 3rdDuke of Richmond and 6thDuke of Lennox.[1]
In that same year he was created HereditaryGreat Chamberlain of Scotland, Hereditary Great Admiral of Scotland, andLord-Lieutenant of Dorset. On 15 April 1661, following theRestoration of the Monarchy, he was invested by King Charles II with theOrder of the Garter.[2] He married three times, but produced no surviving male issue, being the last in the male line of Stewart of Aubigny, much beloved cousins of the Stewart monarchs. One of his wives wasFrances Teresa Stuart, the celebrated beauty and alleged former mistress ofKing Charles II.
In disgrace with the king, Charles was sent into exile as ambassador toDenmark, where he drowned on 12 December 1672. All of the English andScottish titles that descended in the male line became extinct. The titles of Richmond and Lennox (which had merged into the crown in 1485 and 1586 respectively) and Aubigny, were re-granted by King Charles II (with the cooperation of the French King) to his last mistressLouise de Kérouaille, 1st Duchesse d'Aubigny, and her illegitimate issue by him, namelyCharles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, whose descendants survive today atGoodwood House in Sussex.
Thesecond creation, in the Peerage of England, came in 1674 when King Charles II bestowed the titles ofBaron Spelsbury,Viscount Quarendon andEarl of Lichfield uponSir Edward Lee,5th Baronet, of Quarendon (1663–1716) in anticipation of his marriage to the king's illegitimate daughterCharlotte Fitzroy, whose mother wasBarbara Villiers. The wedding took place in 1677. TheLee baronetcy, of Quarendon in Buckinghamshire, had been created in theBaronetage of England in 1611 for Henry Lee. He was the cousin and heir ofHenry Lee of Ditchley.
The 1st Earl of Lichfield from the Lee family was succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son, George Henry Lee, who became the 2nd Earl and 6th Baronet. He constructed the stately home ofDitchley inOxfordshire. On his death the titles passed to his son George Henry Lee, the 3rd Earl. He representedOxfordshire in theHouse of Commons and served asCaptain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners from 1762 to 1772. He died childless and was succeeded by his grand-uncle Robert, the 4th Earl. He was also childless. On his death in 1776 all his titles became extinct.
The family seat of the Anson earls of Lichfield wasShugborough Hall,Staffordshire, about fifteen miles from the city ofLichfield.Admiral Anson, the1st Earl of Lichfield and others are buried at St Michael and All Angels Church inColwich, a short distance from Shugborough Hall. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Earl and other Ansons of Shugborough after 1854 were buried in the churchyard of St Stephen's Church inGreat Haywood.[3]
Following his father's death in 1960,Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, decided to give Shugborough Hall up to the National Trust in lieu of death duties, an arrangement finalized in 1966. For his own burial, he chose the Anson vault at Colwich and was buried there in 2005.[4]
Thethird creation, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom, came inWilliam IV's coronation honours of 1831 in favour ofThomas Anson, 2nd Viscount Anson (1795–1854),[5] a landowner andWhig politician from theAnson family who served asMaster of the Buckhounds from 1830 to 1834 and asPostmaster General from 1835 to 1841.
The 1st Earl was the eldest son ofThomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson, who on 17 February 1806 had been createdBaron Soberton, ofSoberton in theCounty of Southampton, andViscount Anson, ofShugborough andOrgreave in theCounty of Stafford, both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[6] Also in 1831, the 1st Earl's cousinWilliam Anson was made a baronet (seeAnson Baronets). The earldom of Lichfield continued to descend within theAnson family from father to son until the death of the 4th Earl, in 1960. He was succeeded by his grandson, the 5th Earl, the only son ofLieutenant-Colonel Thomas William Arnold Anson, Viscount Anson (1913–1958), eldest son of the 4th Earl. Known professionally asPatrick Lichfield, he was a successful photographer.
As of 2017[update] the titles are held by the 6th Earl, only son of the 5th Earl andLady Leonora Grosvenor, daughter of the5th Duke of Westminster. He succeeded as the 6th Earl of Lichfield upon his father's death on 11 November 2005. The 6th Earl married in December 2009 Lady Henrietta Conyngham, daughter ofHenry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham.[7][8] They have one son, Thomas Ossian Patrick Wolfe Anson, Viscount Anson (b. 20 May 2011).[9]
The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir apparent of the Earl isViscount Anson.
Thomas William Robert Hugh Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield (born 19 July 1978) is the son of the 5th Earl and his wife Lady Leonora Mary Grosvenor. Styled as Viscount Anson from birth, on 11 November 2005 he succeeded his father as Earl of Lichfield (U.K., 1831), Viscount Anson, of Shugborough (U.K., 1806), and Baron Soberton (U.K., 1806).[11]
In December 2009, at Chelsea Register Office,Chelsea, London, he married Lady Henrietta Conyngham, daughter ofHenry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham. They have two children:[11]
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