Earl Spencer
Encyclopedia
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.Spencer was born in 1734, at his family home, Althorp. He was the son of Hon. John Spencer and Georgiana Carolina Carteret , and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland...
, a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
. He had been created Viscount Spencer, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire and Baron Spencer of Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, on 3 April 1761.
The future 6th Earl Spencer
Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer
Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer KG, GCVO, PC, VRD , styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as The Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician. An MP from 1880 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of...
was created Viscount Althorp, of Great Brington in the County of Northamptonshire, on 19 December 1905 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
.
The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Earl Spencer is Viscount Althorp.
The family seat is Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. The family estate includes significant land holdings in other parts of the country, including the village of North Creake
North Creake
North Creake is a village and civil parish in the north west of the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 414 in 184 households as of the 2001 census....
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
was the youngest of three daughters of the 8th Earl Spencer.
Earls Spencer (1765)
- John Spencer, 1st Earl SpencerJohn Spencer, 1st Earl SpencerJohn Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.Spencer was born in 1734, at his family home, Althorp. He was the son of Hon. John Spencer and Georgiana Carolina Carteret , and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland...
(1734–1783) - George John Spencer, 2nd Earl SpencerGeorge Spencer, 2nd Earl SpencerGeorge John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer KG PC FRS FSA , styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician...
(1758–1834) - John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl SpencerJohn Spencer, 3rd Earl SpencerJohn Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer PC, FRS , styled Viscount Althorp from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman...
(1782–1845) - Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl SpencerFrederick Spencer, 4th Earl SpencerVice-Admiral Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer KG, CB, PC , styled The Honourable Frederick Spencer until 1845, was a British naval commander, courtier and Whig politician. He initially served in the Royal Navy and fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the Greek War of Independence, eventually rising...
(1798–1857) - John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl SpencerJohn Spencer, 5th Earl SpencerJohn Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer KG, PC , known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 , was a British Liberal Party politician under and close friend of British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone...
(1835–1910) - Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl SpencerCharles Spencer, 6th Earl SpencerCharles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer KG, GCVO, PC, VRD , styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as The Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician. An MP from 1880 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of...
(1857–1922) - Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl SpencerAlbert Spencer, 7th Earl SpencerAlbert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer , styled The Honourable Albert Spencer until 1910 and as Viscount Althorp from 1910 to 1922, and known less formally as "Jack" Spencer, was a British peer...
(1892–1975), grandfather of Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century... - Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (1924–1992), father of Diana, Princess of Wales
- Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl SpencerCharles Spencer, 9th Earl SpencerCharles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, DL , styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peer and brother of Diana, Princess of Wales...
(b. 1964), brother of Diana, Princess of Wales
Line of succession
- Louis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount AlthorpLouis Spencer, Viscount AlthorpLouis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp is the son of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, and Victoria Lockwood.He is also the heir apparent to the earldom of his father, which will make him by then "Louis Spencer, 10th Earl Spencer". He is the nephew of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the...
(b. 1994) (elder son of the 9th Earl) - The Hon. Edmund Charles Spencer (b. 2003) (younger son of the 9th Earl)
- George Cecil Robert Maurice Spencer (b. 1932) (only son of the Hon. George Charles Spencer, third son of the 6th Earl)
Further reading
- Battiscombe, GeorginaGeorgina BattiscombeGeorgina Battiscombe was a British biographer, specialising mainly in lives from the Victorian era....
(1984) The Spencers of Althorp. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0094657007 - Spencer, CharlesCharles Spencer, 9th Earl SpencerCharles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, DL , styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peer and brother of Diana, Princess of Wales...
(1999) Althorp: the story of an English house. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0312208332 - Spencer, Charles (2000) The Spencers: a personal history of an English family. New York: St. Martin’s Press ISBN 978-0312266493