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Dukedom of St Albans
Arms of Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans: Grand quarterly, 1st and 4th grand quarters: the Royal Arms of Charles II, viz. quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a baton sinister gules charged with three roses argent barbed and seeded proper (Lennox); 2nd and 3rd grand quarters: quarterly gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent (De Vere). (Arms of the 2nd Duke onwards)
Creation date	10 January 1684
Created by	Charles II
Peerage	Peerage of England
First holder	Charles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford
Present holder	Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans
Heir apparent	Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
Remainder to	1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Burford Baron Heddington Baron Vere
Former seat(s)	Bestwood Lodge Upper Gatton Park Newtown Anner House
Motto	Auspicium melioris aevi (Latin for 'A pledge of better times')

Duke of St Albans is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford, then 14 years old. King Charles II had accepted that Burford was his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn, an actress, and awarded him the dukedom just as he had conferred those of Monmouth, Southampton, Grafton, Northumberland, and Richmond and Lennox on his other illegitimate sons who married.

The subsidiary titles of the Duke are Earl of Burford, in the County of Oxford (1676), Baron Heddington, in the same (1676) and Baron Vere, of Hanworth in the County of Middlesex (1750). The Earldom and the Barony of Heddington are in the Peerage of England, and the Barony of Vere is in the Peerage of Great Britain. The dukes hold the hereditary title of Grand Falconer of England, and until the end of the 18th century they were Hereditary Registrars of the Court of Chancery.

By tradition, the Earldom and Vere barony are used as courtesy titles by the duke's heir apparent and his heir apparent respectively.

Until the 20th century, the country seats of the dukes of St Albans included Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, which was given to the 1st Duke's mother, the celebrated actress and mistress to Charles II Nell Gwyn. The 10th Duke made it his principal residence, but in 1939 the 12th Duke sold it. It is now a hotel. Another seat was Upper Gatton Park in Surrey. The 12th Duke also inherited Newtown Anner House (near Clonmel, County Tipperary), which continued to be a family seat in the 1940s until it was sold in the mid-20th century. Today the house is privately owned and not open to the public.

The 13th and present dukes have not inherited landed estates or country houses.

The accepted pronunciation of Beauclerk is reflected in frequent early renderings Beauclaire: /ˈboʊklɛər, boʊˈklɛər/.

Dukes of St Albans (1684)

Other titles: Earl of Burford, in the county of Oxford, and Baron Heddington, in the county of Oxford (1676)

• Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670–1726) (elder illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwynn)
• Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans (1696–1751) (eldest son of the 1st Duke)
• George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans (1720–1786) (only son of the 2nd Duke, died without issue)
• George Beauclerk, 4th Duke of St Albans (1758–1787) (grandson of Lord William Beauclerk, second son of the 1st Duke, died unmarried)

Other titles (5th Duke onwards): Baron Vere, of Hanworth in the county of Middlesex (1750)

• Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans (1740–1802) (fourth and youngest son of Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere, himself third son of the 1st Duke)
• Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans (1765–1815) (eldest son of the 5th Duke)
• Aubrey Beauclerk, 7th Duke of St Albans (1815–1816) (only son of the 6th Duke, died in infancy)
• William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (1766–1825) (second son of the 5th Duke)
• William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St. Albans (1801–1849) (eldest son of the 8th Duke)
• William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans (1840–1898) (only son of the 9th Duke)
• Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 11th Duke of St Albans (1870–1934) (eldest son of the 10th Duke, died without issue)
• Osborne de Vere Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans (1874–1964) (second son of the 10th Duke, died without issue)
• Charles Frederick Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans (1915–1988) (grandson of Lord Charles Beauclerk, fifth son of the 8th Duke)
• Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans (b. 1939) (eldest son of the 13th Duke)

The heir apparent is Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (b. 1965) (only son of the 14th Duke).

The heir apparent's heir in line is his only son, James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere (b. 1995).

Barons Vere (1750)

• Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere (1699–1781) (third son of the 1st Duke)
• Aubrey Beauclerk, 2nd Baron Vere (1740–1802) (succeeded as 5th Duke of St Albans in 1787)

for subsequent Barons Vere see Dukes of St Albans above

Current line of succession

• Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670–1726)
  • Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere (1699–1781)
    • Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans (1740–1802)
      • William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (1766–1825)
        • Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813–1861)
          • Aubrey Topham Beauclerk (1850–1933)
            • Charles Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans (1915–1988)
              • Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans (born 1939)
                • (1) Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (b. 1965)
                  • (2) James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere (b. 1995)
              • (3) Lord Peter Charles de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1948)
              • (4) Lord James Charles Fesq de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1949)
              • (5) Lord John William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1950)
  • Lord Sidney Beauclerk (1703–1744)
    • Topham Beauclerk (1739–1780)
      • Charles George Beauclerk (1774–1845)
        • Charles Robert Beauclerk (1802–1872)
          • William Topham Sidney Beauclerk (1864–1950)
            • Ralph Beauclerk (1917–2007)
              • (6) William Rafael Beauclerk (born 1961)
                • (7) Alexander Charles Beauclerk (born 1990)
                • (8) Cameron William Beauclerk (born 1993)

Arms

Coat of arms of the Duke of St Albans

Coronet A Duke's coronet Crest On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or crowned with a ducal coronet per pale Argent and of the First and gorged with a Collar of the Last thereon three Roses also Argent barbed and seeded Proper Escutcheon Grand quarterly, 1st and 4th grand quarters: the Royal Arms of Charles II, viz quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a Baton sinister Gules charged with three Roses Argent barbed and seeded Proper (Beauclerk); 2nd and 3rd grand quarters: quarterly Gules and Or in the first quarter a Mullet Argent (De Vere) Supporters Dexter: an Antelope Argent armed and unguled Or; Sinister: a Greyhound Argent, each gorged with a Collar as in the Crest Motto Auspicium melioris aevi (Latin for 'A pledge of better times')

Family tree

See also

• Duchess of St Albans

Notes

1. The Scottish Earldom of Lennox had merged into the crown on the accession of King James VI and I, whose father Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley was the heir presumptive to that earldom, the king was thus at liberty to re-award the Lennox arms, or versions of them, as he pleased
2. Debrett's Peerage, 1876, p. 411
3. Hardy, Thomas Duffus (1843). A Catalogue of Lords Chancellors, Keepers of the Great Seal, Masters of the Rolls, and Principal Officers of the High Court of Chancery. London: Henry Butterworth. p. 119.
4. "History of Bestwood", nottinghamshire.gov.uk, accessed 12 September 2023
5. "Home". bestwoodlodgehotel.co.uk.
6. https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/2872061/doc_0_6.pdf Sale brochure for Upper Gatton Park, June 2016.
7. -part- 4 /#:~:text=Today%20the%20house%20is%20in,life%20at%20Newtown%20Anner%20House around our city Ep. 25 – The Osborne's Of Newtown Anner (part 4) - Tipperary County Council Library Service website
8. British Museum – Madame Ellen Groinn
9. Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
10. Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "St Albans, Duke of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's Ltd. pp. 3042–3047. ISBN 978-1-999767-0-5-1.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Charles Kidd & David Williamson (ed.), Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition), New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

Further reading

• Donald Adamson and Peter Beauclerk Dewar, The House of Nell Gwyn. The Fortunes of the Beauclerk Family, 1670-1974, London: William Kimber, 1974

v t e Extant dukedoms in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
Royal dukedoms	Cornwall and Rothesay Cambridge Sussex York Edinburgh Gloucester Kent
England	Norfolk Somerset Richmond Grafton Beaufort St Albans Bedford Devonshire Marlborough Rutland
Scotland	Hamilton Buccleuch Lennox Queensberry Argyll Atholl Montrose Roxburghe
Great Britain	Brandon Manchester Northumberland
Ireland	Leinster Abercorn
United Kingdom	Wellington Sutherland Westminster Gordon Argyll Fife
Italics: This title is held by a peer who holds another of higher precedence.

• Dukedoms in the Peerage of England
• 1684 establishments in England
• Noble titles created in 1684
• Dukes of St Albans