The title Earl of Bolingbroke has been created twice, once in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerag ...

and once in the

Jacobite Peerage The Jacobite peerage includes those peerages created by James II and VII, and the subsequent Jacobite pretenders, after James's deposition from the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. These creati ...

Initial creation

The creation in the Peerage of England occurred on 28 December 1624, when Oliver St John, 4th Baron St John of Bletso, was created Earl of Bolingbroke. His eldest son and heir apparent,

Oliver St John Sir Oliver St John (; c. 1598 – 31 December 1673) was an English barrister, judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640-53. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War. Early life St John was the son o ...

, was in 1641 summoned to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

through a

writ of acceleration A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, is a type of writ of summons that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with more than one peerage to attend the British or Irish House of Lords, using one of his fathe ...

in his father's junior title of Baron St John of Bletsoe. However, he predeceased his father (killed at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill, Warwickshire, Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitution ...

in 1642); nevertheless, the writ of acceleration means that he is formally known as the fifth Baron St John of Bletsoe. The Earl was succeeded by his grandson, Oliver St John, 2nd Earl of Bolingbroke, who was the son of Sir Paulet St John, younger son of the first Earl. The 2nd Earl died childless in 1688 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Paulet St John, 3rd Earl of Bolingbroke, who represented

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. He never married, and on his death, on 5 October 1711, the earldom became extinct.

List of Earls of Bolingbroke (1st creation)

, 1st Earl of Bolingbroke, 4th Baron St John of Bletso (–1646) **

, 5th Baron St John of Bletso (1603–1642) (by

) *

, 2nd Earl of Bolingbroke, 6th Baron St John of Bletso (before 1634–1688) * Paulet St John, 3rd Earl of Bolingbroke, 7th Baron St John of Bletso (1634–1711)

Second creation

The creation in the Jacobite Peerage occurred on 26 July 1715 when

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tory (British political party), Tories, and supported the ...

, was created Earl of Bolingbroke by

the Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until ...

, this title not being recognised by the British Government, although Bolingbroke returned from exile, was pardoned, and briefly returned to royal favour. He died on 12 December 1751, aged 73, his second wife having predeceased him by one year, and the Jacobite earldom became extinct. Bolingbroke and his wife were both buried in St Mary's Church, Battersea, where a monument with medallions and inscriptions composed by Bolingbroke was erected to their memory. Bolingbroke's great-nephew Frederick St John, succeeded him in the viscountcy.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, pp. 207 & 208

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolingbroke Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of England Extinct earldoms in the Jacobite Peerage Noble titles created in 1624 Noble titles created in 1715