Earl of Normanton
Encyclopedia
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. It was created in 1806 for Charles Agar, 1st Viscount Somerton
Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton
Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton , was an Anglo-Irish Protestant clergyman. He served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1801 to 1809....
, Archbishop of Dublin
Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)
The Archbishop of Dublin is the title of the senior cleric who presides over the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough in the Church of Ireland...
. He had already been created Baron Somerton, of Somerton in the County of Kilkenny, in 1795 and Viscount Somerton, of Somerton in the County of Kilkenny, in 1800, also in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Normanton sat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
from 1800 to 1809 as one of the 28 original Irish Representative Peers
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
. His grandson, the third Earl, represented Wilton
Wilton (UK Parliament constituency)
Wilton was the name of a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1295 to 1707, then in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of the Parliament of the...
in Parliament from 1841 to 1852. In 1873 he was created Baron Somerton, of Somerley in the County of Southampton, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. This peerage gave the Earls an automatic seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. As of 2009 the titles are held by the third Earl's great-grandson, the sixth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1967.
The first Earl of Normanton was the younger brother of James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden
James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden
James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden was an Irish peer and politician.He was the second son of Henry Agar, a former MP for Gowran, and Anne Ellis, and probably born at Gowran Castle...
and the nephew of the politician Welbore Ellis
Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip
Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip PC FRS was a British statesman. He held a number of political offices, including briefly serving as Secretary for the Colonies in 1782 during the American War of Independence.-Background:...
. The latter was in 1794 created Baron Mendip, with remainder to his nephews Lord Clifden, the future Lord Normanton and a younger brother of theirs. On Lord Mendip's death in 1802 the barony passed according to the special remainder to his great-nephew the second Viscount Clifden. The titles remained united until 1974, when the viscountcy became extinct. However, the barony of Mendip survived, and was inherited by the sixth Earl of Normanton, who became the ninth Baron Mendip as well.
The family seat is Somerley House
Somerley
Somerley is a large house and grounds in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley in the New Forest district in Hampshire, England. It is 2 miles west of the New Forest National Park...
, near Ringwood
Ringwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
Earls of Normanton (1806)
- Charles Agar, 1st Earl of NormantonCharles Agar, 1st Earl of NormantonCharles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton , was an Anglo-Irish Protestant clergyman. He served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1801 to 1809....
(1736–1809) - Welbore Ellis Agar, 2nd Earl of Normanton (1778–1868)
- James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar, 3rd Earl of NormantonJames Agar, 3rd Earl of NormantonJames Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar, 3rd Earl of Normanton , known as Viscount Somerton until 1868, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom....
(1818–1896)- Charles George Welbore Ellis Agar, Viscount Somerton (1858–1894)
- Sidney James Agar, 4th Earl of Normanton (1865–1933)
- Edward John Sidney Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 5th Earl of Normanton (1910–1967)
- Shaun James Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 6th Earl of Normanton (b. 1945)
The heir apparent is the present holder's only son James Shaun Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, Viscount Somerton (b. 1982)