Earl of Wiltshire
The Earl of Wiltshire is a title that England created and let die seven times over four centuries, from 1139 to 1550, and it rarely survived more than a generation or two intact. Some of the men who held it lost their lands to civil war. Others lost their heads after backing the wrong side in a royal succession fight. Still others simply ran out of sons to pass it on to. Only on the seventh attempt did the earldom finally take root and stay in one family for good. What kept breaking this particular title, and which family finally made it stick?
Harvey of Léon received the earldom's very first grant, in 1139, as a reward for marrying Sybilla, an illegitimate daughter of King Stephen. That marriage brought him English estates, and in the 12th century those estates were the whole basis of the title, not just an honor layered on top of it. During The Anarchy, the civil war of Stephen's reign, Harvey lost his English lands, and the earldom lapsed along with them. At the time, the rule was simple: nobody could hold the rank of earl without the territory needed to support it.
A second creation followed a few years later, probably after July 1143, when the Empress Matilda granted the earldom to Patrick of Salisbury. He was usually known by a different title, Earl of Salisbury, even though this new grant technically made him Earl of Wiltshire too. Patrick was the second son of William of Salisbury but became the eldest surviving son, and his grandfather Walter of Salisbury had founded Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire. In October 1152, he served as Sheriff of Wiltshire, and a writ issued in Stephen's name addressed him directly as "Earl Patrick, sheriff."
Patrick's own line would carry the earldom forward for generations, long after the war that had briefly destroyed it.
Margaret Longespée inherited the earldom as Patrick of Salisbury's great-granddaughter. Her grandfather, William Longespée, had been the 3rd Earl of Salisbury from around 1176 until his death in 1226, holding that title jure uxoris through his wife, Ela, Countess of Salisbury, who lived from 1187 to 1261. Margaret descended from William Longespée through his son, William III Longespée, and she held the countess title from around 1261 until around 1311. She married Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and the couple had a daughter.
That daughter, Alice de Lacy, became suo jure Countess of Lincoln and Wiltshire when her mother died, holding both titles in her own right rather than through a husband. She married three times over her life. When she died in October 1348, the earldom of Wiltshire appears to have reverted to the Crown instead of passing to a husband or heir.
The vacancy would not last forever. A very different kind of nobleman was about to inherit the name, and his fate would look nothing like Patrick of Salisbury's tenure as a sheriff.
William le Scrope became Earl of Wiltshire in 1397, a title he held for only two years. He was executed amid the events that ended with Henry IV deposing King Richard II. The charter creating his earldom restricted inheritance to heirs male, but it left out a phrase common in similar grants, the additional limitation "of his body." That missing phrase mattered five centuries later: in 1859, a collateral descendant tried to use it to claim the vacant earldom, but the House of Lords rejected the claim.
James Butler, eldest son of the 4th Earl of Ormond, received the earldom's third creation and fought on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Towton. His side lost, and Butler was executed afterward and posthumously attainted.
Two creations of the earldom had now ended in execution. The next three would end for a much quieter reason, with no sons left alive to inherit them.
John Stafford, a younger son of the 1st Duke of Buckingham, received the earldom's fourth creation and held it until his death in 1473. His successor, Edward Stafford, became the second Earl of Wiltshire of that creation but died in 1499, and the title went extinct for lack of an heir. A fifth creation revived the name in 1510 for Henry Stafford, another member of the same family, but he too died without heirs, in 1523, and the earldom lapsed again.
Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, was a great-nephew of James Butler, the earl of the 1449 creation, and he received the earldom's sixth creation in 1529. He outlived his own son, and when he died in 1539 with no other male heir alive, the sixth creation of the earldom disappeared, just as the fourth and fifth had before it.
Only one more attempt at the title remained, and this time the man who received it would make sure it did not vanish the same way.
William Paulet received the earldom's seventh creation in 1550, the last time the title was granted fresh. The following year, in 1551, he was also made Marquess of Winchester, and that second title is what finally let the earldom survive intact. His descendants have held both titles ever since, without another lapse or reversion to the Crown.
Today the name Earl of Wiltshire carries no land and no seat of its own. It survives only as a courtesy title for the eldest son and heir of the current Marquess of Winchester. Whoever next inherits the marquessate will pass the Earl of Wiltshire name on to his own eldest son in turn, continuing a line of succession that has now run unbroken since 1550.
Common questions
Who was the first Earl of Wiltshire?
Harvey of Léon, also recorded as Hervey le Breton, was the first Earl of Wiltshire, created in 1139 after he married Sybilla, an illegitimate daughter of King Stephen. The title lapsed after he lost his English lands during the civil war known as the Anarchy.
Why did the Earl of Wiltshire title lapse after its first creation?
The first Earl of Wiltshire, Harvey of Léon, lost his English lands during the Anarchy, and at that time nobody could hold the rank of earl without the territory to support it. The earldom lapsed as a result and was not revived until Patrick of Salisbury received a second creation, probably after July 1143.
How many times has the Earl of Wiltshire title been created?
The Earl of Wiltshire title has been created seven separate times, beginning in 1139 and ending with the seventh creation in 1550. Most of the earlier creations lapsed within one or two generations, through forfeiture, execution, or a lack of male heirs.
Which Earls of Wiltshire were executed?
William le Scrope, created Earl of Wiltshire in 1397, was executed amid the events that led to Henry IV deposing King Richard II. James Butler, who received the earldom's third creation, fought on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Towton and was executed and posthumously attainted afterward.
What was Thomas Boleyn's connection to the Earl of Wiltshire title?
Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, received the earldom's sixth creation in 1529 and was a great-nephew of James Butler, the earl of the 1449 creation. He outlived his own son, and when he died in 1539 with no other male heir, the title became vacant again.
Who holds the Earl of Wiltshire title today?
The Earl of Wiltshire title is currently held by the Marquess of Winchester and is used as a courtesy title for the marquess's eldest son. William Paulet received the earldom's seventh and final creation in 1550 and was made Marquess of Winchester the following year, and his descendants have held both titles since.