Duke of St Albans

Dukedom of St Albans
Arms of Murray de Vere 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[1]); 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
Monarch	Charles II
Peerage	Peerage of England
First holder	Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans
Present holder	Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke
Heir apparent	Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
Remainder to	the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Burford Baron Heddington Baron Vere
Motto	Auspicium melioris aevi ("A pledge of better times")[2]

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 of no effect Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery.

The top two of these are enjoyed courtesy titles, as usual, by the Duke's first living son and to any son of his in turn.

Recent Dukes have not held a great estate nor stately home. Late twentieth century seats were Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, which was originally the property of the 1st Duke's mother, the celebrated actress and mistress to Charles II Nell Gwyn, and which is now a hotel,^[3] and Upper Gatton Park in Surrey.^[4]

The accepted pronunciation of Beauclerk is reflected in frequent early renderings Beauclaire: /ˈboʊklɛər, boʊˈklɛər/.^[5][6]

Dukes of St Albans (1684)[]

Arms of the 1st Duke of St Albans

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[]

1. Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (b. 1965) (only son of the 14th Duke)
2. James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere (b. 1995) (only son of Lord Burford)
3. Lord Peter Charles de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1948) (second son of the 13th Duke)
4. Tenzin Beauclerk (b. 2005) (younger but only surviving son of Lord Peter)
5. Lord James Charles Fesq de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1949) (third son of the 13th Duke)
6. Lord John William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (b. 1950) (youngest son of the 13th Duke)
7. William Rafael Beauclerk, Marques de Valero de Urria (great-great-great-great-grandson of Lord Sidney Beauclerk, fifth son of the 1st Duke)
8. Alexander Charles Beauclerk (b. 1990) (elder son of the Marques de Valero de Urria)
9. Cameron Beauclerk (b. 1993) (younger son of the Marques de Valero de Urria)

Issue of the fifth son of the 1st duke are not in remainder to the subsidiary Barony of Vere.

Arms[]

Coat of arms of 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 (A pledge of better times)

Family tree[]

See also[]

• Duchess of St Albans

Notes[]

References[]

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source][better source needed]}
• Charles Kidd & David Williamson (ed.), Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition), New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,^{[page needed]}

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