Peerage creations and extinctions-a comparison of two reigns Part 2

[malcolm davies]

In the first part we looked at dukes.In this part,we look at marquesses.
So far as creations are concerned,Queen Victoria created 7 titles.The present Queen has made no creations and no doubt that will remain the position.
Queen Victoria's creations were:-
1838 Normanby for Constantine Phipps,2nd Earl of Mulgrave
1849 Dalhousie for James Ramsay,10th Earl of Dalhousie
1871 Ripon for George Robinson,2nd Earl of Ripon
1876 Abergavenny for William Nevill,5th Earl of Abergavenny
1885 Breadalbane for Gavin Campbell,7th Earl of Breadalbane
1888 Dufferin for Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood,1st Earl of Dufferin
1892 Zetland for Lawrence Dundas,3rd Earl of Zetland
All the above creations were due to political or pro consular office.
The extinctions in Queen Victoria's reign were:-
1842 Wellesley upon the death of Richard,1st Marquess
1855 Thomond upon the death of James,3rd Marquess
1860 Dalhousie upon the death of James,1st Marquess
1862 Breadalbane upon the death of John,2nd Marquess of the 1831 creation(note he was succeeded by John Campbell,6th Earl who was the father of Gavin Campbell,7th Earl referred to above)
1868 Hastings upon the death of Henry,4th Marquess
1871 Westmeath upon the death of George,1st Marquess
1889 Buckingham on the death of Richard,3rd Duke of Buckingham & Chandos
1891 Cleveland upon the death of Harry,4th Duke of Cleveland
1892 Drogheda upon the death of Henry,3rd Marquess

Note that in Burkes Dormant & Extinct Peerages,the reader is referred to Burkes Peerage in the cases o Dalhousie and Westmeath.They are to be found,however,in Pine's New Extinct Peerage.

In the present reign the extinctions have been:-
1960 Carisbrooke upon the death of Alexander,1st Marquess
1979 Willingdon upon the death of Inigo,2nd Marquess(note that this marquessate was the last one to be created and one of the few peerage creations of Edward VIII)
1981 Cambridge upon the death of George,2nd Marquess
1988 Dufferin & Ava upon the death of Sheridan,5th Marquess
1997 Ormonde upon the death of James,7th Marquess

Barring accidents it is unlikely there will be further extinctions although Abergavenny has no heir to the marqessate and Camden's heir is over 50,unmarried and without an heir.

[Ind_Duke]

Its interesting to note that though the current Queen has reigned for 2.5 years longer than Victoria, Queen Victoria's reign saw almost more than double the number of both creations and extinctions. We can understand why there were more creations, but as to the high number of extinctions during the Victorian era, i am a bit puzzled. From my limited knowledge of the peerage especially through TV series, I always thought that the Victorian nobles would have been busy planning and executing marriages to provide as many heirs as possible in order to save titles from extinction. Maybe they all tried and failed to produced male heirs or some of them didn't care even then? 

[Ind_Duke]

It would be interesting to note if the same trend of more number of creations and extinctions during the Victorian era would hold good for the Earls, viscounts and barons. Also, I think Marquess is the only title that the current Queen has never created even as a subsidiary title. 

Did Queen Victoria also create the most number of marquesses??

On Friday, March 30, 2018 at 11:57:00 AM UTC+5:30, malcolm davies wrote:

[Richard R]

Queen Victoria was the fourth most prolific marquess maker with 7 creations. Of the 100 marquess creations, George III tops the table with 32, Charles I comes next with 10 and George V just pips his grandmother to 3rd place with 8 creations.
(Source: Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 1995, page 28)