Earl of Cranbrook 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 B ...

, created in 1892 for Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Viscount Cranbrook. The title is named after Cranbrook in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The

Gathorne-Hardy family Gathorne-Hardy is the name of a British aristocratic family. The first part of the name is pronounced with a long ''a'', i.e. "gay-thorn". The founder of the family was Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook. The "eccentric Gathorne-Hard ...

seat is Great Glemham House, near

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed ...

, Suffolk.

History

It was created in 1892 for the prominent

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

politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook, son of John Hardy. He notably held office as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...

and

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

. Gathorne-Hardy gained the warm-personal regard of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and had already been created Viscount Cranbrook, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, in 1878, and was made Baron Medway, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, at the same time he was given the earldom. The latter title is used as a

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

for the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent. Lord Cranbrook's eldest son, the second Earl, represented

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

, Mid Kent and

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

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 ...

as a Conservative. His son, the third Earl, was gazetted as an officer and private secretary

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook (who was previously married to his cousin Bridget D'Oyly Carte) married Fidelity Seebohm (born 1912), on 26 July 1932 and had five children, including

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook, (born 20 June 1933), styled Lord Medway until 1978, is a British zoologist, biologist, naturalist, and peer. Since 1956, he has been active in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, and zooarcha ...

, the current earl. the titles are held by Gathorne, the fifth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1978. He is a zoologist and environmental biologist formerly active in Malaya, who was awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

in 1995. He was Chairman of the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature.

Notable family members

Hon.

Alfred Gathorne-Hardy Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy, (27 February 1845 – 11 November 1918) was a British Conservative politician, landowner, and writer. Born Alfred Erskine Hardy, he was the third son of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane ...

, third son of the first Earl, sat as a Member of Parliament for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy, daughter of the first Earl, was the wife of the 2nd Viscount Goschen, Viceroy of India. Hon. Edward Gathorne-Hardy, second son of the third Earl, was a traveller, botanist and socialite who lived in Athens. He was famously eccentric and rumoured to have been in a relationship with

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

. Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy, daughter of the third Earl, was the wife of

Rupert D'Oyly Carte Rupert D'Oyly Carte (; 3 November 1876 – 12 September 1948) was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948. Son of the impresario and hotelie ...

. Another member of the family was the writer

Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy (17 May 1933 – 16 July 2019) was a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system. For his autobiography, ''Half an Arch ...

, a son of Hon. Anthony Gathorne-Hardy, youngest son of the third Earl.

Earls of Cranbrook (1892)

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, (1 October 1814 – 30 October 1906) was a prominent British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. He held cabinet office in every Conservative government between 1858 and 1892. He s ...

(1814–1906) *

John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, (22 March 1839 – 13 July 1911) was a British hereditary peer, Conservative politician, and military officer. Early life Born John Stewart Hardy, Lord Cranbrook was the eldest son of the Co ...

(1839–1911) * Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook (1870–1915) * John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook (1900–1978) *

(b. 1933). The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is the present holder's son (John) Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (b. 1968).

Line of succession

* ''Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook'' (1870–1915) ** ''John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook'' (1900–1978) *** Dr. Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook (b. 1933) ****(1). John Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (b. 1968) ****(2). Hon. Argus Edward Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1973) *****(3). Jack Hector Jarvis Gathorne-Hardy (b. 2006) *****(4). Fergus Hawthorne Gathorne-Hardy (b. 2008) *****(5). Xan Ralph Gathorne-Hardy (b. 2011) *****(6). Hector Max Gathorne-Hardy (b. 2013) ***(7). Hon. Hugh Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1941) ****(8). Frederick Jasper Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1972) ****(9). Alfred Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1978) **''Hon. Antony Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (1907–1976)'' ***''Jonathan Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (1933–2019)'' ****(10). Benjamin Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1967) ***(11). Samuel Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1936) ****(12). Robert Dee Gathorne-Hardy (b. 1973)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cranbrook Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

Noble titles created in 1892 Peerages created for UK MPs Gathorne-Hardy family