Earl of Wharncliffe

Earl of Wharncliffe
Created by	Queen Victoria
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
Motto	AVITO VIRET HONORE (He flourishes with the honour of his ancestors)

James Stuart-Wortley,
1st Baron Wharncliffe

Earl of Wharncliffe, in the West Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

History

The title was created in 1876 for Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Baron Wharncliffe. He was a descendant of Edward Wortley Montagu (grandson of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich,) and his wife, the author Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Their daughter, Mary, married the future Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (see the Marquess of Bute for earlier history of the Stuart family). Their second son, the Hon. James, succeeded to the Wortley estates in Yorkshire and Cornwall through his mother and assumed the additional surname of Wortley. In 1803 he also inherited the Scottish estates of his uncle James Stuart-Mackenzie, and assumed the additional surname of Mackenzie. His second son James was a soldier and prominent Tory politician. In 1826 he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Wharncliffe, of Wortley in the County of York.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, John, the second Baron. He represented Bossiney, Perth and the West Riding of Yorkshire in the House of Commons. On his death the title passed to his eldest son Edward, the third Baron. He was Chairman of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which under his leadership became the Great Central Railway. In 1876 he was created Viscount Carlton, of Carlton in the West Riding of the County of York, and Earl of Wharncliffe, in the West Riding of the County of York, with remainder to his younger brother the Hon. Francis Dudley Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (1829–1893). These titles are also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1880 Lord Wharncliffe assumed the additional surname of Montagu. He was succeeded (in the viscountcy and earldom according to the special remainder) by his nephew Francis, the second Earl. He was the eldest son of the Hon. Francis Dudley Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie. This line of the family failed on the death of his grandson, the fourth Earl, in 1987. The late Earl was succeeded by his second cousin once removed, the fifth and present American born Earl, Richard Alan Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, of Portland, Maine. He is the elder son of Alan Ralph Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, only son of Ralph Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, only son of the Hon. Ralph Granville Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, younger brother of the second Earl. As a descendant of the third Earl of Bute he is also in remainder to the earldom of Bute and its subsidiary titles, now held by his kinsman John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute.

Several other members of this branch of the Stuart family have also gained distinction. John Stuart-Wortley, younger brother of the first Baron, sat as Member of Parliament for Bossiney. The Hon. Charles Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, second son of the first Baron, was also Member of Parliament for Bossiney. His daughter Victoria, Lady Welby, was a philosopher of language. Charles Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Stuart of Wortley, was the son of the Hon. James Stuart-Wortley, third son of the first Baron (see the Baron Stuart of Wortley for more information on this branch of the family). The Hon. Edward James Montague-Stuart-Wortley (1857–1934), second son of the Hon. Francis, second son of the second Baron, was a Major-General in the British Army. The Hon. Sir (Alan) Richard Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (1868–1949), younger son of the Hon. Francis, second son of the second Baron, was a Lieutenant-General in the British Army. The Hon. James Stuart-Wortley, third son of the second Baron, was a member of the first Parliament of New Zealand.

The family seat was Wortley Hall but the present Earl, Rick Wortley, is a distantly-related construction worker from Maine, USA. He did not inherit the estate, which has been reduced by death duties then passed to a different line of the family, namely to Lady Rowena Montagu Stuart Wortley Hunt, second and only surviving daughter of the 4th earl; this is because the estate did not go with the title but was in the family before they became en-nobled.

Barons Wharncliffe (1826)

• James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Wharncliffe (1776–1845)
• John Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Wharncliffe (1801–1855)
• Edward Montagu Stuart Granville Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Baron Wharncliffe (1827–1899) (created Earl of Wharncliffe in 1876)

Earls of Wharncliffe (1876)

• Edward Montagu Stuart Granville Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Wharncliffe (1827–1899)
• Francis John Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Wharncliffe (1856–1926)
• Archibald Ralph Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Wharncliffe (1892–1953) married on 24 March 1918 to Lady Maud Lillian Elfreda Mary Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, daughter of William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam
• Alan James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Wharncliffe (1935–1987)
• Richard Alan Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, 5th Earl of Wharncliffe (b. 1953)

The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son Reed Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, Viscount Carlton (b. 1980).

See also

• Marquess of Bute
• Baron Stuart of Wortley
• Baron Stuart de Rothesay
• Baron Stuart de Decies
• Wortley Hall
• Earl of Sandwich

References

• Kidd, Charles & Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alan James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Wharncliffe