PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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If you were to ask a Plymothian “Who is the Earl of Plymouth” he or she would most likely point you in the direction of the firm of funeral undertakers of that name. Few, if any at all, would know that it is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Only readers of the Plymouth Data Website will know who holds that title today. That is because the title has nothing whatsoever to do with the City of Plymouth. Indeed, the estates owned by the family have been in Worcestershire (Hewell Grange), Cheshire (Peel Hall), Flintshire and Shropshire (Oakley). FIRST CREATION The Earldom of Plymouth was first conferred in 1675 upon Charles FitzCharles, an illegitimate son of King Charles II born to Catharine Pegg in 1657. He died in 1680 without heirs so the title became extinct. SECOND CREATION However, two years later, in 1682, the title was once again brought into use, when it was conferred upon Thomas Windsor Hickman-Windsor (1627-1687), the 7th Baron Windsor de Stanwell, who had fought for King Charles I at the Battle of Naseby. He was the son of Dixie Hickman of Kew in Surrey and his wife Elizabeth Windsor, a sister of Thomas Windsor, the 6th Baron Windsor de Stanwell. In 1641 he had inherited the estate of his uncle at Hewell Grange in Worcestershire, which the family had been forced by King Henry VIII to exchange for Stanwell in Middlesex in 1543. As the 7th Baron Windsor he also became the 1st Earl of Plymouth of the second creation. The Earldom continued through his grandson, Other (1679-1725), 2nd Earl; Other Windsor (1707-1732) 3rd Earl; Other Lewis Windsor (1731-1771) 4th Earl; Other Hickman Windsor (1751-1799) 5th Earl; Other Archer Windsor (1789-1833) 6th Earl; the Reverend Andrews Windsor (1754-1837) 7th Earl; until Henry Windsor, the 8th Earl, died in December 1843, when the title once again went in to abeyance. It was through the marriage of Other Windsor, 3rd Earl, and Elizabeth Lewis, the sole heir of Thomas Lewis, that the family gained a family seat at St Fagan’s Castle, in Glamorgan. THIRD CREATION Robert George Windsor-Clive (1857-1923), was created 1st Earl of Plymouth of the third creation in 1905, after serving as paymaster-general in 1891/92 and as the first Commissioner of Works from 1902 until 1905. He was the son of the Honourable Robert Windsor-Clive and Lady Mary Selina Lousia Bridgeman and was born on August 27th 1857. He was the grandson of Robert Henry Clive and his wife Harriet, the daughter of Other Archer, the 6th Earl of Plymouth. He married Alberta Victoria Sarah Caroline Paget on August 11th 1883. Robert George Windsor-Clive died on March 6th 1923 at the age of 65 years. Their eldest son, Other Robert Windsor-Clive (1889-1943), was born on October 3rd 1884 but died on Decemebr 23rd 1908 in India, so the title passed to the second son, Ivor Miles Windsor-Clive, who was born on February 4th 1889. He married Lady Irene Corona Charteris on July 14th 1921. Ivor Miles Windsor-Clive died on 1 October 1943 at the age of 54 years. The title passed to their eldest son, Other Robert Ivor Windsor-Clive, born on October 9th 1923, who thus became the 3rd Earl of Plymouth.
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