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Duke of St Albans

(Redirected from Baron Vere of Hanworth)

Duke of St Albans is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford, then 14 years old. King Charles II had accepted that Burford was his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn, an actress, and awarded him the dukedom just as he had conferred those of Monmouth, Southampton, Grafton, Northumberland, and Richmond and Lennox on his other illegitimate sons who married.

Dukedom of St Albans

Arms of the Dukes of St Albans
Arms of Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans: Grand quarterly, 1st and 4th grand quarters: the Royal Arms of Charles II, viz. quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a baton sinister gules charged with three roses argent barbed and seeded proper (Lennox[1]); 2nd and 3rd grand quarters: quarterly gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent (De Vere). (Arms of the 2nd Duke onwards)
Creation date10 January 1684
Created byCharles II
PeeragePeerage of England
First holderCharles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford
Present holderCharles Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans
Heir apparentJames Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
Remainder to1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesEarl of Burford
Baron Heddington
Baron Vere
Former seatsBestwood Lodge
Upper Gatton Park
Newtown Anner House
MottoAuspicium melioris aevi (Latin for 'A pledge of better times')[2]

The subsidiary titles of the Duke are Earl of Burford, in the County of Oxford (1676), Baron Heddington, in the same (1676) and Baron Vere, of Hanworth in the County of Middlesex (1750). The Earldom and the Barony of Heddington are in the Peerage of England, and the Barony of Vere is in the Peerage of Great Britain. The dukes hold the hereditary title of Grand Falconer of England, and until the end of the 18th century they were Hereditary Registrars of the Court of Chancery.[3]

By tradition, the Earldom and Vere barony are used as courtesy titles by the duke's heir apparent and his heir apparent respectively.

The accepted pronunciation of Beauclerk is reflected in frequent early renderings Beauclaire: /ˈboʊklɛər, boʊˈklɛər/.[4][5]

Estates and residences

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Country seats

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Until the 20th century, the country seats of the dukes of St Albans included Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, which was given to the 1st Duke's mother, the celebrated actress and mistress to Charles II, Nell Gwyn, as well as Redbourne Hall near Redbourne, Lincolnshire.[6]

William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans made Bestwood his principal residence in 1849, and oversaw the construction of the current house on the site of a former hunting lodge during 1862-1865.[7] Following the completion of the Gothic Revival-style house which still stands today in 1865, the 10th Duke continued to occupy the house until his death in 1898.

In the 1883 Edition of John Bateman's The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland the Duke of St Albans was recorded as owning an estate comprising 5,255 acres in Lincolnshire and 3,743 acres in Nottinghamshire, which produced an combined income of £10,955 annually.[8]

Following the death of the 10th Duke, Bestwood Lodge was leased by a series of tenants during the early 20th century, until the house and surrounding estate were sold 1939 by Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans. When the estate was soon offered for re-sale in 1940, The Daily Telegraph reported that it comprised 3,485 acres producing over £3,300 annually.[9] Bestwood Lodge was later converted into a hotel.[10][11]

The family estates in Lincolnshire, comprising approximlately 5,400 acres centred on Redbourne Hall, were sold in 1917 for £106,000.[12][13]

The 12th Duke also inherited Newtown Anner House (near Clonmel, County Tipperary), which continued to be a family seat in the 1940s until it was sold in the mid-20th century.[14] Today the house is privately owned and not open to the public.[15]

The 13th, 14th and present dukes have not inherited landed estates or country houses.

London residences

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During the early-to-mid nineteenth century, the London residence of William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans was No. 80 Piccadilly; the house had been bequeathed by the Banker Thomas Coutts to his widow, Harriet Mellon, who had remarried the Duke in 1827.[16][17][18][19] Following Harriet's death in 1837 she bequeathed most of her property to her first husband's granddaughter Angela Burdett-Coutts, although No. 80 Piccadilly continued to be the London residence associated with the Duke of St Albans during the 1840s.[20]

The 9th Duke died in 1849, and by 1863 his son William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans had taken No. 4 Prince's Gate in Knightsbridge as his London house;[21] which he continued to occupy until at least 1882.[22] By 1890 the 10th Duke had taken 13 Grosvenor Crescent, Belgravia as his London house,[23] which continued to be his London home until his death in 1898.[24][25]

Following his death his widow Grace, Dowager Duchess of St Albans leased No. 49 Cadogan Gardens,[26] which remained as her London residence until her death in 1926.[27][28][29]

The 10th Duke's eldest son Charles Beauclerk, 11th Duke of St Albans was soon confined in Ticehurst Asylum in 1899, where he continued to reside until he died in 1934. He was succeeded by his younger half-brother Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans, who did not maintain a residence in London. He died childless in 1964, and was succeeded by his second-cousin Charles Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans, whose son, Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans lived at No. 16 Ovington Street during the 21st century.[30]

Dukes of St Albans (1684)

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Arms of the 1st Duke of St Albans
Other titles: Earl of Burford, in the county of Oxford, and Baron Heddington, in the county of Oxford (1676)
Other titles (5th Duke onwards): Baron Vere, of Hanworth in the county of Middlesex (1750)

The heir apparent is the current holder's only son, James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (b. 1995).

Barons Vere (1750)

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for subsequent Barons Vere see Dukes of St Albans above

Current line of succession

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Arms

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Coat of arms of the Duke of St Albans
Coronet
A Duke's coronet
Crest
On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or crowned with a ducal coronet per pale Argent and of the First and gorged with a Collar of the Last thereon three Roses also Argent barbed and seeded Proper
Escutcheon
Grand quarterly, 1st and 4th grand quarters: the Royal Arms of Charles II, viz quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a Baton sinister Gules charged with three Roses Argent barbed and seeded Proper (Beauclerk); 2nd and 3rd grand quarters: quarterly Gules and Or in the first quarter a Mullet Argent (De Vere)
Supporters
Dexter: an Antelope Argent armed and unguled Or; Sinister: a Greyhound Argent, each gorged with a Collar as in the Crest
Motto
Auspicium melioris aevi (Latin for 'A pledge of better times')

Family tree

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ The Scottish Earldom of Lennox had merged into the crown on the accession of King James VI and I, whose father Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley was the heir presumptive to that earldom, the king was thus at liberty to re-award the Lennox arms, or versions of them, as he pleased
  2. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1876, p. 411
  3. ↑ Hardy, Thomas Duffus (1843). A Catalogue of Lords Chancellors, Keepers of the Great Seal, Masters of the Rolls, and Principal Officers of the High Court of Chancery. London: Henry Butterworth. p. 119.
  4. ↑ British Museum – Madame Ellen Groinn
  5. ↑ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  6. ↑ Mair, Robert Henry (1884). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. London: Dean & Son. p. 592. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "History of Bestwood". Nottinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Bateman, John (1883). The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison. p. 392. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ The Daily Telegraph. (8 June 1940). Page 2. Bestwood Estate. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 21 May 2026, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-bestwood-estate/197965821/
  10. ↑ "History of Bestwood", nottinghamshire.gov.uk, accessed 12 September 2023
  11. ↑ "Home". bestwoodlodgehotel.co.uk.
  12. ↑ St. Ives Weekly Summary, Visitors' List and Advertiser, etc.. (5 July 1917). Page 4. Sale of a Large Estate (Duke of St Albans' 5,400 acres in Lincolnshire). Newspapers.com. Retrieved 21 May 2026, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-ives-weekly-summary-visitors-list/197963485/
  13. ↑ Lincolnshire Echo. (30 June 1917). Page 2. Sale of the Duje of St. Albans' Redbourne Estate.. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 21 May 2026, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/lincolnshire-echo-sale-of-the-duje-of-st/197963501/
  14. ↑ Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1940. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. 1940. p. 172. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  15. ↑ -part- 4 /#:~:text=Today%20the%20house%20is%20in,life%20at%20Newtown%20Anner%20House around our city Ep. 25 – The Osborne's Of Newtown Anner (part 4) - Tipperary County Council Library Service website
  16. ↑ "Theft - Duke of St Albans' House - 80 Piccadilly". The Morning Post. 22 September 1836. p. 4. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Vanishing Piccadilly". The Daily Telegraph. 30 April 1910. p. 12. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Houses and Estates. No. 1, Stratton Street". The Daily Telegraph. 16 December 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "80 and 81, Piccadilly. The Romance of Two Houses". The Daily Telegraph. 5 November 1907. p. 14. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd. p. 58. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  21. ↑ "Duke of St Albans - 4 Prince's Gate". The Morning Post. 13 April 1863. p. 6. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1882). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Vol. 50. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd. p. 75. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  23. ↑ "Duke and Duchess of St Albans - 13 Grosvenor Crescent". Evening Post. 1 October 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Vol. 64. London: Whittaker & Co. 1896. p. 87. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  25. ↑ "Duke and Duchess of St Albans - 13 Grosvenor Crescent". The Daily Telegraph. 17 June 1897. p. 9. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Wedding in London - Capt. W. F. Lascelles & Lady S. de Vere Beauclerk". The Argus. 6 November 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, and Titles of Courtesy. London: Dean. 1921. p. 786. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  28. ↑ "Will of the Duchess of St. Albans". The Guardian. 12 April 1927. p. 5. Retrieved 21 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. London: Dean & Son. 1903. p. 713. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  30. ↑ Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David, eds. (2003). Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2003. London: Macmillan. p. 1403. ISBN 9780333660935. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  31. ↑ Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "St Albans, Duke of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's Ltd. pp. 3042–3047. ISBN 978-1-999767-0-5-1.
  32. 1 2 Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P., eds. (1915). "St. Albans". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (77th ed.). London: Burke Publishing Co. Ltd. pp. 1746–1749.

References

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Further reading

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  • Donald Adamson and Peter Beauclerk Dewar, The House of Nell Gwyn. The Fortunes of the Beauclerk Family, 1670-1974, London: William Kimber, 1974
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