View source for Baron Aberdare

{{Short description|Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox hereditary title
| name              = Baron Aberdare 
| image             = Baron Aberdare Arms.jpg
| image_size        = 150px
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| creation_date     = 23 August 1873 
| creation          = 
| monarch           = [[Queen Victoria]] 
| peerage           = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] 
| baronetage        = 
| first_holder      = [[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare]] 
| last_holder       = 
| present_holder    = [[Alastair Bruce, 5th Baron Aberdare]] 
| heir_apparent     = Hon. Hector Bruce 
| heir_presumptive  = 
| remainder_to      = the 1st Baron's [[heirs male]] [[heirs of the body|of the body]] lawfully begotten. 
| subsidiary_titles = 
| status            = 
| extinction_date   = 
| family_seat       = 
| former_seat       = [[Dyffryn Gardens]]
| motto             = 
| footnotes         = 
}}
'''Baron Aberdare''', of Duffryn in the [[Glamorgan|County of Glamorgan]], is a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]. It was created on 23 August 1873 for the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician [[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare|Henry Bruce]]. He served as [[Home Secretary]] from 1868 to 1873.{{sfn|Cokayne|1910|p=13}}

His grandson, the third Baron, was a soldier, cricketer and tennis player and a member of the [[International Olympic Committee]]. His son, the fourth Baron, held office in the [[Conservative Government 1970-1974|Conservative administration]] of [[Edward Heath]] and was later a Deputy Speaker of the [[House of Lords]].{{sfn|Montague-Smith|2008}} Lord Aberdare was one of the ninety-two elected [[hereditary peer]]s that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the [[House of Lords Act 1999]].

{{As of|2024}}, the title is held by his son, the fifth Baron, who succeeded in 2005 and was elected to the House of Lords in 2009.

==Lineage==
[[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare]], was the son of John Bruce-Pryce (born John Bruce Knight in [[Barnstaple]], Devon), the eldest son of John Knight (died 1799) and Margaret Bruce (died 1809), daughter and heir of William Bruce of [[Llanblethian]], [[Glamorgan]].<ref name="burke">{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry |date=1925 |publisher=Burke Publishing Company |page=1455 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RVXAAAAYAAJ&dq=Bruce+&pg=RA1-PA1455 |access-date=13 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> He descends from the Welsh [[Clan Bruce|Bruces]], a branch of [[Bruce of Kennet]] of [[Clackmannan]] that dates to the 14th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=John |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank: But Uninvested with Heritable Honours |date=1835 |publisher=Henry Colburn |pages=485–486 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_4GAAAAQAAJ&dq=Bruce+of+Kennet&pg=PA485 |access-date=13 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1805, Lord Aberdare's father changed his surname from Knight to Bruce when he reached the age of majority and inherited the Bruce estates in Llanblethian, as per his grandfather's will. His younger brothers were Rev. [[William Bruce Knight]] (1785–1845) and Sir [[James Knight-Bruce]] (1791–1866).

In 1837, he changed his name again to Bruce-Pryce when he inherited Duffryn and the Monknash estates from a distant cousin, Frances Anne Grey (''née'' Pryce; the daughter and heiress of Thomas Pryce), who had married Hon. William Booth Grey (1773–1852; the second son of the [[George Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford|5th Earl of Stamford]]).<ref name="burke"/>

Lord Aberdare's great-grandmother, Jane Lewis, was the daughter of MP [[Gabriel Lewis]], of Llanishen House.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nicholas |first1=Thomas |title=The History and Antiquities of Glamorganshire and Its Families |date=1874 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Company |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cm0DAAAAMAAJ&dq=bruce+of+dyffryn&pg=PA181 |access-date=13 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> The Lewis family of Van Castle, Glamorgan, had been prominent in politics since the 16th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=LEWIS family, of Van, Glamorganshire |url=https://biography.wales/article/s-LEWI-VAN-1548 |website=[[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]] |access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref>

==Coat of arms==
The heraldic blazon for the coat of arms of the family is: ''Or, a saltire gules, on a chief of the last a martlet of the field''.

==Barons Aberdare (1873)==
*[[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare|Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare]] (1815–1895)
*[[Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare|Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare]] (1851–1929)
** Hon. Henry Lyndhurst Bruce (1881–1914), killed in action at Ypres
*[[Clarence Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare|Clarence Napier Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare]] (1885–1957)
*[[Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare|Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare]] (1919–2005)
*[[Alastair Bruce, 5th Baron Aberdare|Alastair John Lyndhurst Bruce, 5th Baron Aberdare]] (born 1947)

The [[heir apparent]] is the present holder's son, the Hon. Hector Morys Napier Bruce (born 1974).

===Title succession chart===
{{chart top|width=100%|Title succession chart, Barons Aberdare.}}
{{tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{tree chart|HB1B|HB1B='''[[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare|Henry Bruce<br>1st Baron Aberdare]]'''<br>1815–1895}}
{{tree chart| |!| | }}
{{tree chart|HB2B|HB2B='''[[Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare|Henry Bruce<br>2nd Baron Aberdare]]'''<br>1851–1929}}
{{tree chart| |)|-|-|-|.| | }}
{{tree chart|HHB| |CB3B|HHB=Hon.<br>Henry Bruce<br>1881–1914|CB3B='''[[Clarence Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare|Clarence Bruce<br>3rd Baron Aberdare]]'''<br>1885–1957}}
{{tree chart| | | | | |!| | }}
{{tree chart| | | | |MB4B|MB4B='''[[Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare|Morys Bruce<br>4th Baron Aberdare]]'''<br>1919–2005}}
{{tree chart| | | | | |!| | }}
{{tree chart| | | | |AB5B|AB5B='''[[Alastair Bruce, 5th Baron Aberdare|Alastair Bruce<br>5th Baron Aberdare]]'''<br>born 1947}}
{{tree chart| | | | | |!| | }}
{{tree chart| | | | |HHB|HHB=Hon.<br>Hector Bruce<br>born 1974}}
{{tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Cokayne |first=George E. |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) |title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant |volume=I, Ab-Adam to Basing |publisher=St. Catherine Press |location=London |year=1910 |pages=13–14 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066332571 }}
*{{cite book |last=Cokayne |first=George E. |editor-last=Hammond |editor-first=Peter W. |title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant |volume=XIV, Addenda and Corrigenda |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=London |year=1998 |pages=3–4 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/568116-redirection }}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Montague-Smith |editor-first=Patrick W. |chapter=ABERDARE, BARON (Bruce) (BARON UK 1873). |title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Debrett's Peerage Limited |location=London}}{{Page needed |date=November 2021}}
*{{cite book |last=Kidd |first=Charles |date=1903 |title=Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage |url=https://archive.org/details/b24883797/page/62 |location=London |publisher=Dean & Son |page=62}}
*{{cite book |last=Hesilrige |first=Arthur G. M. |date=1921 |title=Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy |url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeeraget00unse/page/18 |location=London |publisher=Dean & Son |page=18}}

{{Extant baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdare}}
[[Category:Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1873]]
[[Category:Peerages created for UK MPs]]
[[Category:Barons Aberdare|*]]