The titles Earl of
Mansfield (in the County of Nottingham) and Earl of Mansfield (in the County of Middlesex) were created in 1776 and 1792, respectively, for the
Scottish lawyer and judge
William Murray, 1st Baron Mansfield, fourth son of
David Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont (see
Viscount of Stormont for the earlier history of the family). He was
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1756 to 1788. Murray had already been created
Baron Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1756, with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body. The two earldoms were created with different remainders. The 1776 earldom was created with remainder to Louisa Murray (née Cathcart), Lady Stormont (daughter of
Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart), second wife of his nephew
David Murray, 7th Viscount of Stormont, while the 1792 earldom (referring to a fictitious Mansfield in Middlesex to differentiate it from the first earldom) was created with remainder to his nephew Lord Stormont. Lord Mansfield was childless and on his death in 1793, the barony became extinct. He was succeeded in the 1776 earldom according to the special remainder by his nephew's wife Louisa, the second Countess, and in the 1792 earldom according to the special remainder by his nephew Lord Stormont, who became the second Earl. The latter was a noted politician in his own right and served as
Lord Justice General,
Secretary of State for the Northern Department and
Lord President of the Council. He was succeeded by his and Louisa's eldest son, the third Earl (of the 1792 creation). He was
Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire. On his death, the title passed to his son, the fourth Earl (of the 1792 creation). He was a
Tory politician and served as a
Lord of the Treasury from 1834 to 1835 in the
first administration of
Sir Robert Peel. In 1843, he succeeded his grandmother the second Countess of Mansfield (who had outlived her husband by forty-seven years) and became in addition the third Earl of Mansfield of the 1776 creation. He was succeeded by his grandson, the fifth and fourth Earl. He was the eldest son of William David Murray, Viscount of Stormont. He died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixth and fifth Earl. His son, the seventh and sixth Earl, represented
Perth in the
House of Commons and served as
Lord Lieutenant of Perthshire. The eighth and seventh Earl of Mansfield held office in the
Conservative government of
Margaret Thatcher as a
Minister of State at the
Scottish Office from 1979 to 1983, and at the
Northern Ireland Office from 1983 to 1984. The titles are presently held by his elder son, the ninth Earl of Mansfield of the 1792 creation and the eighth Earl of Mansfield of the 1776 creation. He is also the fifteenth
Viscount of Stormont, the fifteenth Lord Scone and the thirteenth
Lord Balvaird. The family seat is
Scone Palace, near
Scone,
Perthshire. The Earl of Mansfield is the Hereditary Keeper of Bruce's Castle of Lochmaben. The family also owned
Kenwood House in London from 1754 to 1925. ==Earls of Mansfield, in the County of Middlesex (1792)==