Earl of Stockton is a title in the

peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great ...

. It was created on 24 February 1984 for

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...

, the former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

prime minister (from 1957 to 1963), less than three years before his death in 1986. At the same time a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some con ...

was conferred for the earl's

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

: Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden, of Chelwood Gate in the County of

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

and of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimat ...

in the

County of Cleveland Cleveland was a ceremonial county located in northern England. It was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. The county was abolished in 1996. The area was partitioned b ...

. the titles are held by the first holder's grandson, being the second earl, who succeeded in 1986 on his grandfather's death (namely Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton, son of Maurice Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden, only son of the first earl, who died in 1984). The earldom and viscountcy are the most recent

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsidi ...

ages created outside of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

and the only such titles which survive of the few created since 1965. The family seat was

Birch Grove Birch Grove, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, England is a country house dating from 1926. It was the family home of the British prime minister Harold Macmillan, Earl of Stockton, who died there in 1986. During Macmillan's time, Charles De Gaulle, ...

, near

Chelwood Gate Chelwood Gate is a small village within the civil parish of Danehill in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. Its nearest town is Uckfield, which lies approximately south-east from the village, just off the A22 road. The village is ...

, but it was sold by the 2nd Earl in 1989.

Earls of Stockton (1984)

* (Maurice) Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (1894–1986) * Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton (born 1943) The

is the present holder's only son, Daniel Maurice Alan Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (b. 1974).

Line of succession

* '' (Maurice) Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (1894–1986)'' **'' Maurice Victor Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (1921–1984)'' *** Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton (born 1943) ****(1) Daniel Maurice Alan Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (b. 1974) ***''Hon. Adam Julian Robert Macmillan (1948–2016)'' ****(2) Frederick Maurice Brian Macmillan (b. 1990) ****(3) Joshua Gabriel P. Macmillan (b. 1995) ***(4) Hon. David Maurice Benjamin Macmillan (b. 1957) ****(5) Finn Joshua Marcus Macmillan (b. 1995)

References

Bibliography

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockton Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1984 Peerages created for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Noble titles created for UK MPs