Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the

County of Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

, is a title that has been created twice, both times 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 firstly created in 1802 for lawyer and politician Sir John Mitford (later Freeman-Mitford). He was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1801 and 1802 and

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

between 1802 and 1806. His only son, the second Baron, served as Chairman of Committees in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

from 1851 to 1886. In 1877, he was created Earl of Redesdale, in the County of Northumberland, in the

. Lord Redesdale never married, and on his death in 1886 both titles became extinct. The Earl bequeathed his substantial estates to his first cousin twice removed, the diplomat, politician and writer Sir Algernon Freeman-Mitford, the great-grandson of historian

William Mitford William Mitford (10 February 1744 – 10 February 1827) was an English Member of Parliament and historian, best known for his ''The History of Greece'' (1784–1810). Youth William Mitford was born in Exbury, Hampshire, on 10 February 1744, i ...

, who was the elder brother of the first Baron Redesdale. The Redesdale title was revived when Algernon Freeman-Mitford was raised to the peerage as Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, on 15 July 1902. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son,

David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (13 March 1878 – 17 March 1958) was an English landowner and the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted. Ancestry and early life Mitford's l ...

, who is chiefly remembered as the father of the famous

Mitford sisters The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberlan ...

. He was also a member of the

Right Club The Right Club was a small group of antisemitic and fascist sympathising renegades within the British establishment formed a few months before World War II by the Scottish Unionist MP Archibald Maule Ramsay. It was focused on opposition to war ...

, founded by

Archibald Maule Ramsay Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop o ...

. His only son,

the Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Thomas Freeman-Mitford, was killed in action in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in 1945. Lord Redesdale was therefore succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He was

High Sheriff of Oxfordshire The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much olde ...

in 1935. He died childless in 1962 when the title passed to his younger brother, the fourth Baron. He died in the following year, also childless, and was succeeded by his nephew, the fifth Baron. He was the son of the Hon. Ernest Rupert Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, fifth son of the first Baron. , the title is held by the fifth Baron's son, the sixth Baron, who succeeded in 1991. He is a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

member of the

, who in 2000 was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Mitford, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, to enable him to return to the House after the majority of

hereditary peers 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 ...

lost their seats under the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

; he is the youngest person ever created a life peer.

Barons Redesdale, first creation (1802)

John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale, PC, KC, FRS (18 August 1748 – 16 January 1830), known as Sir John Mitford between 1793 and 1802, was an English lawyer and politician. He was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1801 an ...

(1748–1830) * John Thomas Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (1805–1886; created Earl of Redesdale in 1877)

Earl of Redesdale (1877)

* John Thomas Freeman-Mitford, 1st Earl of Redesdale (1805–1886)

Barons Redesdale, second creation (1902)

Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale, (24 February 183717 August 1916) was a British diplomat, collector and writer. Nicknamed "Barty", he was the paternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters. Early years Freeman-Mitford was ...

(1837–1916) * David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (1878–1958) *Bertram Thomas Carlyle Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 3rd Baron Redesdale (1880–1962) *John Power Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 4th Baron Redesdale (1885–1963) *Clement Napier Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 5th Baron Redesdale (1932–1991) * Rupert Bertram Mitford, 6th Baron Redesdale (b. 1967) The

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 ...

is the present holder's eldest son, the Hon. Bertram David Mitford (b. 2000).

Male-line family tree

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Redesdale 1802 establishments in the United Kingdom 1886 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1902 establishments in the United Kingdom Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Mitford family Noble titles created in 1802 Extinct baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1902 Noble titles created for UK MPs Peerages created for the Speaker of the House of Commons