Earl of Shelburne is a title that has been created two times while the title of Baron Shelburne has been created three times. The Shelburne title was created for the first time in the Peerage of Ireland

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,...

 in 1688 when Elizabeth, Lady Petty, was made Baroness Shelburne. She was the wife of the noted economist Sir William Petty

William Petty

Sir William Petty FRS was an English economist, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers...

. The title was for life only and became extinct on her death in circa 1708. On the same day that Lady Shelburne was elevated to the peerage, her eldest son by Sir William Petty, Charles Petty, was also raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Shelburne. He died young in 1696, when the title became extinct. The barony was created for a third time in the Peerage of Ireland in 1699 in favour of the Hon. Henry Petty

Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne

Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne PC was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.-Background:Petty was a younger son of Sir William Petty and Elizabeth, Baroness Shelburne, daughter of Sir Hardress Waller...

, younger son of Sir William Petty and Lady Shelburne. In 1719 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Dunkerron and Earl of Shelburne, also in the Peerage of Ireland. On his death in 1751 these titles also became extinct.

The Petty estates were inherited by the late Earl's nephew, the Hon. John Fitzmaurice

John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne

John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne PC , known as John FitzMaurice until 1751 and as The Viscount FitzMaurice between 1751 and 1753, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician...

. He was the second son of the Hon. Anne Petty, daughter of Sir William Petty and Lady Shelburne and sister of the Earl of Shelburne, and her husband Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry

Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry

Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry PC was an Irish peer and politician.He was the son of William FitzMaurice, 20th Baron Kerry, and Constance Long, and succeeded his father in March 1696/97 and was invested as a Privy Counsellor before April 1711...

. He assumed by Royal license the surname of Petty on succeeding to his maternal uncle's estates in 1751 and the same year he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Dunkeron and Viscount FitzMaurice. In 1753 the earldom was also revived when he was made Earl of Shelburne in the Peerage of Ireland. For further history of these titles, see the Marquess of Lansdowne

Marquess of Lansdowne

Marquess of Lansdowne, in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Petty-Fitzmaurice family. This branch of the family descends from the Hon...

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