Creation for the Daubeny family (1538) The title
Earl of Bridgewater was first created in 1538 for
Henry Daubeny, 9th Baron Daubeny. The Daubeney (or Dabney) family descended from Elias Daubeny, who in 1295 was summoned by
writ to the
Model Parliament as
Lord Daubeny. The eighth Baron was created
Baron Daubeny by
letters patent in the Peerage of England in 1486 and was also made a
Knight of the Garter the following year. All three titles became extinct on the first Earl of Bridgewater's death in 1548.
Creation for the Egerton family (1617) , where many
Egerton family members are buried in the Bridgewater Chapel The title
Earl of Bridgewater was created secondly in 1617 for
John Egerton, Baron Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley, after the town of
Bridgwater in Somerset, where he owned estates. The Egerton family descended from Sir Richard Egerton of
Ridley, Cheshire, whose illegitimate son
Sir Thomas Egerton was a prominent lawyer who served as
Master of the Rolls from 1594 to 1603, as
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1593 to 1603 and as
Lord High Chancellor of England from 1603 to 1617. Thomas Egerton was knighted in 1594, admitted to the
Privy Council in 1596 and in 1603 he was raised to the Peerage of England as
Baron Ellesmere, in the County of Shropshire, and in 1616 to
Viscount Brackley. In 1598 he had inherited the
Tatton estate in
Cheshire from his brother-in-law Richard Brereton. He was succeeded by his son, John who represented
Callington and
Shropshire in the
House of Commons and served as
Lord-Lieutenant of several counties in Wales and western England and who in 1617 was made
Earl of Bridgewater in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He was
Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire,
Lancashire,
Cheshire and
Herefordshire. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the third Earl. He was a
Whig politician and served as
First Lord of Trade and as
First Lord of the Admiralty. His eldest son from his first marriage, John Egerton, died as an infant, while his two elder sons from his second marriage, Charles Egerton, Viscount Brackley, and the Hon. Thomas Egerton, both died in the fire which destroyed
Bridgwater House in
London. Lord Bridgewater was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his second marriage, the fourth Earl. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and also held several positions at court. In 1720 he was created
Marquess of Brackley, in the County of Northampton, and
Duke of Bridgewater, in the County of Somerset. Both titles were in the
Peerage of Great Britain. The first Duke outlived his two elder sons and was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son from his second marriage, the second Duke. He died from fever at an early age. On his death the titles passed to his younger brother, the third Duke. He is remembered as the father of British inland navigation and commissioned the
Bridgewater Canal, said to be the first true
canal in Britain and the modern world. Bridgewater never married and on his death in 1803 the marquessate and dukedom became extinct. The last Duke was succeeded in the other titles by his first cousin once removed, the seventh Earl. He was the son of the Right Reverend the Hon.
John Egerton,
Bishop of Durham, son of the Right Reverend the Hon.
Henry Egerton,
Bishop of Hereford, youngest son of the third Earl. Lord Bridgewater was a General in the Army and also sat as
Tory Member of Parliament for
Morpeth and for
Brackley. He was childless and on his death in 1823 the titles passed to his younger brother, the eighth Earl. He was known as a patron of science as well as a great eccentric. Lord Bridgewater never married and on his death in 1829 his titles became extinct. In the early 17th century,
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, had purchased
Ashridge House in
Hertfordshire, one of the largest
country houses in England, from Queen Elizabeth I, who had inherited it from her father who had appropriated it after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Ashridge House served the Egerton family as a residence until the 19th century. The Egertons later had a family chapel (the Bridgewater Chapel) with burial vault in
Little Gaddesden Church, where many monuments commemorate the Dukes and Earls of Bridgewater and their families. Among those buried here is the
3rd Duke of Bridgewater. Lady Amelia Egerton, sister of the seventh and eighth Earls, married
Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet. Their daughter Sophia Hume married
John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow. Their grandson John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton-Cust, 2nd Earl Brownlow (1842–1867), assumed the additional surname of Egerton and inherited the Bridgewater estates after a lengthy lawsuit (see the
Baron Brownlow for additional information on the Cust family). Also, Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of the first Duke of Bridgewater, married
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. Their son
George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford, was created
Duke of Sutherland in 1833. His second son
Lord Francis Leveson-Gower assumed by Royal licence the surname of Egerton in lieu of Leveson-Gower according to the will of the third Duke of Bridgewater. In 1846 the Brackley and Ellesmere titles were revived when he was made
Viscount Brackley and
Earl of Ellesmere. The Hon. Thomas Egerton, of
Tatton Park,
Cheshire, youngest son of the second Earl of Bridgewater, was the grandfather of Hester Egerton (d. 1780). She married William Tatton. In 1780 they assumed by Royal licence the surname of Egerton in lieu of Tatton. Their great-grandson
William Tatton Egerton was created
Baron Egerton in 1859. The original spelling is likely to have been
Bridgwater, meaning the burg of Water, and the same as
Bridgwater in
Somerset (see archive reference 2/79). ==In literature==