| Earldom of Ranfurly | |
|---|---|
  Arms: Gules, a Falcon volant Or, within an Orle, the outer edge wavy and the inner edge engrailed, Argent.Crest: A Falcon close standing on a Perch proper.Supporters: On either side a Falcon wings inverted proper, ducally gorged, lined, beaked, membered and belled Or. | |
| Creation date | 14 September 1831 |
| Created by | William IV |
| Peerage | Peerage of Ireland |
| First holder | Thomas Knox 2nd Viscount Northland |
| Present holder | Edward Knox, 8th Earl of Ranfurly |
| Heir apparent | Edward Knox, Viscount Northland |
| Subsidiary titles | Viscount Northland Baron Welles Baron Ranfurly (United Kingdom) |
| Status | Extant |
| Seat(s) | Maltings Chase |
| Motto | MOVEO ET PROFICIO (I move and make progress) |
Earl of Ranfurly, ofDungannon in theCounty of Tyrone, a title in thePeerage of Ireland, was created in 1831 forThomas Knox, 2nd Viscount Northland.[1] He had earlier representedCounty Tyrone in theHouse of Commons, and had already been createdBaron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in theCounty of Renfrew, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom in 1826.[2] Knox was the eldest son ofThomas Knox, who representedDungannon in theIrish House of Commons. He was createdBaron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781,[3] andViscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791.[4]Both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Northland also sat in theBritish House of Lords as one of the 28 originalIrish representative peers.
The firstEarl was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He sat asMember of Parliament for County Tyrone andDungannon. His son, the third Earl, also represented Dungannon in Parliament. On his early death in 1858, having held the titles for only two months, the peerages passed to his eight-year-old son, the fourth Earl. He also died young and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fifth Earl. He served as aLord-in-Waiting (government whip in theHouse of Lords) in the thirdConservative administration ofLord Salisbury and becameGovernor of New Zealand between 1897 and 1904. He also was a member of TheApprentice Boys of Derry Parent Club inDerry.
His grandson, the sixth Earl, mainly known asDan Ranfurly, became well known for his exploits in theSecond World War, and also served asGovernor of the Bahamas from 1953 to 1956. His wifeHermione, Countess of Ranfurly, also became well known for her memoirs of her and her husband's lives during the Second World War, and for establishing the organisation which is now known asBook Aid International. They had one daughter but no sons. After his death, the titles passed to his fifth cousin, the seventh Earl. He was the great-great-great-grandson of the Hon. John Knox, third son of the first Earl. As of 2018, the title is held by his son, the eighth earl, who succeeded in that year.
The Hon.William Knox, younger son of the second Earl, served as Member of Parliament for Dungannon.
The earldom of Ranfurly, pronounced "Ran-fully", is the last earldom created in the Peerage of Ireland. Despite itsterritorial designation and the fact that it is in the Peerage of Ireland, the name of the earldom (like that of the UK barony) references the village ofRanfurly (Scottish Gaelic:Rann Feòirling) inRenfrewshire in the south-west ofScotland.
The Earls of Ranfurly owned a largecountry estate centred onDungannon in the south-east ofCounty Tyrone inUlster,Ireland, from 1692[5][6] until the very early twentieth-century.[7]
The family seat isMaltings Chase, a house designed byTed Cullinan and built in the late 1960s, nearNayland,Suffolk.
Edward John Knox, 8th Earl of Ranfurly (born 21 May 1957) is the son of the 7th Earl and his wife Rosemary Beatrice Vesey Holt. He was educated atThe Leys School,Cambridge, andLoughborough University of Technology, where he graduatedBA.[8]
He was formally known as Viscount Northland between 1988, when his father inherited the peerages from a distant cousin, and 2018, when he succeeded his father as Earl of Ranfurly, Viscount Northland, Baron Ranfurly of Ramphorlie, and Baron Welles of Dungannon.[8]
In 1980, Knox married firstly, Rachel Sarah Lee, daughter of Frank Hilton Lee, and they were divorced in 1984. In 1994 he married secondly Johannah Humphrey Walton, daughter of Squadron Leader Harry Richard Walton, and they have two children:[8]
In 2003, Knox was living at 9 Parkgate, London SE3.[8]
