Dukes of Buckingham, first creation (1444) (1402–1460) The first creation of the dukedom was on 14 September 1444, when
Humphrey Stafford was made Duke of Buckingham. On his father's side, Stafford was descended from
Edmund de Stafford, who had been summoned to Parliament as
Lord Stafford in 1299. The second Baron had been created
Earl of Stafford in 1351. On his mother's side, Stafford was the son of
Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Buckingham, daughter of
Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham (later
Duke of Gloucester), youngest son of King
Edward III of England. Stafford was an important supporter of the
House of Lancaster in the
Wars of the Roses, and was killed at the
Battle of Northampton in July 1460. The 1st Duke of Buckingham was succeeded by his grandson,
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who aided
Richard III in his claiming the throne in 1483, but who then led a revolt against Richard and was executed later that same year. His titles were forfeited along with the dukedom. His son,
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was restored to the title upon
Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485, but he was ultimately executed for treason in 1521 due to his opposition to Cardinal
Thomas Wolsey,
Henry VIII's chief advisor. At this time the title became extinct; it was posthumously
attainted in 1523. as he prepared an expedition to relieve the
Huguenots of
La Rochelle. His son,
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was a notable advisor in the reign of
Charles II, and along with
Lord Ashley made up the Protestant axis of the famous
Cabal Ministry. He started the first
foxhunt in England, the Bilsdale Hunt, in 1668, and then started the Sinnington Hunt in 1680. After digging for a fox above Kirkbymoorside, near York, and being too far from his home in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, he died from a chill in the house of a tenant. With his death in 1687, and having no issue, the title again became extinct. Several other members of the
Villiers family have been elevated to the peerage.
Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, and
John Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, were brothers of the first Duke of Buckingham. Also,
Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, was the great-nephew of the first Duke of Buckingham while
Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, was the second son of the second Earl of Jersey.
Dukes of Buckingham, third creation (1703) (1648–1721) The third creation of the dukedom, as
Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, was in 1703 for
John Sheffield, 3rd
Earl of Mulgrave, 1st
Marquess of Normanby, a notable
Tory politician of the late Stuart period, who served under
Queen Anne as
Lord Privy Seal and
Lord President of the Council. The dukedom was created in the
Peerage of England. The full title was
Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby but in practice only
Duke of Buckingham and Normanby was used. The duke's family descended from
Sir Edmund Sheffield, second cousin of
Henry VIII, who in 1547 was raised to the Peerage of England as
Baron Sheffield and in 1549 was killed in the streets of
Norwich during
Kett's Rebellion. On the death of the
2nd Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1735, the titles became extinct. The Sheffield family estates passed to the 2nd Duke's half-brother Charles Herbert Sheffield, the illegitimate son of the 1st Duke by Frances Stewart. He was created a Baronet in 1755 and is the ancestor of the
Sheffield Baronets, of Normanby. The seat of the family was
Buckingham House, which John Sheffield built, until it was sold to King George III in 1761 by Charles Sheffield, John's son.
Dukes of Buckingham, fourth creation (1822) s of the dukes of Buckingham from the Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville family The fourth creation of the dukedom, as
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom, was in 1822 for
Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, a landowner and politician. He was the son of
George Nugent Temple Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple, who was the son of
Prime Minister George Grenville, and who had been created
Marquess of Buckingham in the peerage of Great Britain in 1784. The 1st Marquess of Buckingham had married Lady Mary Nugent, daughter of
Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent. Mary was in 1800 created Baroness Nugent in her own right in the
Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to her second son George (see the
Baron Nugent). In 1788 Lord Buckingham also succeeded his father-in-law as second
Earl Nugent according to a special remainder in the
letters patent, and at the same time assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Nugent. After the 1st Marquess of Buckingham's death in 1813, his titles passed to his son
Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham. He married Lady Anne Eliza Brydges, the only child of
James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos (a title which became extinct on his death in 1789), and assumed by Royal licence the additional surnames of Brydges-Chandos in 1799. In 1822 Lord Buckingham was created
Earl Temple of Stowe, in the County of Buckingham,
Marquess of Chandos and
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, all in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. The earldom was created with remainder, failing male issue of his own, to (1) the heirs male of the body of his deceased great-grandmother
Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple, and (2) in default thereof to his granddaughter Lady Anne Eliza Mary Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, daughter of his son
Richard, who succeeded as second Duke in 1839. After the 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos' death in 1861, the titles passed to his son, the third Duke. He was also a prominent politician and served as
Lord President of the Council and as
Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1868 the Duke established his right to the Scottish
lordship of Kinloss before the Committee for Privileges of the
House of Lords. On his death in 1889 without male issue, the dukedom and its subsidiary titles (the marquessate of Buckingham, marquessate of Chandos, earldom of Temple and
earldom of Nugent) became extinct. The lordship of Kinloss passed to his daughter
Mary. The
earldom of Temple of Stowe passed to his sister's son William Temple-Gore-Langton because the title had been created with a special remainder to her heirs male. The
viscountcy of Cobham, which had also been created with a special remainder, passed to
Charles Lyttelton, 5th Baron Lyttelton, a descendant of
Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple's sister Christian, who had married
Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th Baronet. ==List of title holders==