View source for Earl of Lytton

{{Short description|Earldom in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox nobility title
| name              = Earl of Lytton 
| image             = [[File:Coronet of a British Earl.svg|150px]]<br />[[File:COA of Bulwer-Lytton.svg|180px]] 
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = ''Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Ermine on a chief dancettée azure two ducal coronets or a canton argent charged with a rose gules barbed and seeded proper (Lytton); 2nd and 3rd, gules on a chevron argent between three eagles regardant or, as many cinquefoils sable (Bulwer)''
| creation_date     = 28 April 1880<ref name="dnb">{{cite book |title=Dictionary of National Biography |date=1893 |page=390 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8ccAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA390 |access-date=5 February 2016 |last1=Stephen |first1=Leslie |last2=Lee |first2=Sir Sidney}}</ref> 
| creation          = 
| monarch           = [[Queen Victoria]] 
| peerage           = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]] 
| baronetage        = 
| first_holder      = [[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton]] 
| last_holder       = 
| present_holder    = [[John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton]] 
| heir_apparent     = Philip Lytton, Viscount Knebworth 
| heir_presumptive  = 
| remainder_to      = 1st Earl's heirs male lawfully begotten 
| subsidiary_titles = Viscount Knebworth<br />[[Baron Wentworth]]<br />Baron Lytton<br />Baronet (of Knebworth) 
| status            = 
| extinction_date   = 
| family_seat       = [[Newbuildings Place]] 
| former_seat       = [[Knebworth House]] 
| motto             = ''Hoc Virtutis Opus'' ("This is the work of virtue")<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Sir Bernard |title=The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales |date=2009 |publisher=Heritage Books |isbn=978-0-7884-3721-2 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8UujEDqn9oC&pg=PA117 |access-date=5 February 2016}}</ref> 
| footnotes         = 
}}

[[Image:University of Glasgow - Old and New, Robert Bulwer Lytton.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton]]]]
'''Earl of Lytton''', in the [[Derbyshire|County of Derby]], is a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]. It was created in 1880 for the diplomat and poet [[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24838 |date=27 April 1880 |page=2725}}</ref> He was [[Viceroy of India]] from 1876 to 1880 and [[British Ambassador to France]] from 1887 to 1891. He was made '''Viscount Knebworth''', of [[Knebworth]] in the [[County of Hertford]], at the same time he was given the earldom, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

==History==
Robert Bulwer-Lytton was the son of the poet, novelist and politician [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton]], and his wife, the novelist [[Rosina Bulwer-Lytton|Rosina Doyle Wheeler]]. Edward was the author of numerous popular novels, poems and dramas and also served as [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] under the [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]] between 1858 and 1859. Born Edward Bulwer, he was the third and youngest son of General William Earle Bulwer and his wife [[Elizabeth Bulwer-Lytton|Elizabeth Barbara Lytton]], daughter of [[Richard Warburton Lytton]] of [[Knebworth House]], [[Hertfordshire]] (through which marriage the Knebworth estate came into the Bulwer family). He was created a '''Baronet''', of Knebworth House in the County of Hertford, in the [[Baronetage of the United Kingdom]], in 1838,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=19631 |date=3 July 1838 |page=1488}}</ref> and in 1866, he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as '''Baron Lytton''', of Knebworth in the County of Hertford.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=23137 |date=13 July 1866 |page=3984}}</ref><ref name="dnb"/> In 1844, he also assumed by Royal licence the [[Name change#Historical usage|additional surname and arms]] of Lytton.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=20318 |date=20 February 1844 |page=580}}</ref>

The first Earl of Lytton was succeeded by his son, [[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|the second Earl]]. He was also a politician and served as [[Under-Secretary of State for India]] from 1920 to 1922 and as [[Governor of Bengal]] from 1922 to 1927. Lord Lytton married Pamela Plowden, remembered as the first great love of [[Winston Churchill]]. Their two sons, [[Antony Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth]], and Alexander Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth, both predeceased them, Antony killed in a plane crash in 1933 and Alexander killed in action in World War II. Their daughter, [[Hermione Cobbold, Baroness Cobbold|Lady Hermione Lytton]], married [[Cameron Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold]], and through this marriage Knebworth House passed to the [[Cobbold family]] (see the [[Baron Cobbold]]).

Lord Lytton was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Lord Lytton |work=[[The Times]] |page=6 |date=27 October 1947 }}</ref> He was a portrait and landscape painter. In 1899 he married [[Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth|Judith Blunt, 16th Baroness Wentworth]], the renowned horse breeder who devoted her life to the [[Crabbet Arabian Stud]]. The stud had been created by her parents, the poet [[Wilfrid Scawen Blunt]] and his wife [[Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth]], granddaughter of [[Lord Byron]] through his daughter [[Ada Lovelace]] (see the [[Baron Wentworth]] for earlier history of this title). They were divorced in 1923.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Lord Lytton: Painter, Soldier and Sportsman |work=[[The Times]] |page=6 |date=12 February 1951 }}</ref>

Lord Lytton and Lady Wentworth were succeeded, respectively, in 1951 and 1957 by their son [[Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton]]; as a consequence the title '''[[Baron Wentworth]]''', in the [[Peerage of England]], became subsidiary to the Earldom of Lytton. He assumed by [[deed poll]] the additional surname of Milbanke in 1925,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33026 |date=3 March 1925 |page=1572 }}</ref> but discontinued by deed poll the use of this surname in 1951.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39225 |date=11 May 1951 |page=2669}}</ref> {{As of|2017}} the titles are held by his eldest son, the fifth Earl, who succeeded in 1985.

Another member of the family was the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician, diplomat and writer [[Henry Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer]]. He was the elder brother of the first Baron Lytton.

The [[family seat]] is [[Newbuildings Place]], near [[Shipley, West Sussex]].

==Lytton baronets, of Knebworth House (1838)==
*[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton|Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baronet]] (1803–1873) (created '''Baron Lytton''' in 1866)

===Baron Lytton (1866)===
*[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton|Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton]] (1803–1873)
*[[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|(Edward) Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton]] (1831–1891) (created '''Earl of Lytton''' in 1880)

===Earl of Lytton (1880)===
*[[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|(Edward) Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton]] (1831–1891)
**Edward Roland John Bulwer-Lytton (1865–1871)
**Hon. Henry Meredith Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1872–1874)
*[[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton]] (1876–1947)
**[[Antony Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth|(Edward) Antony James Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth]] (1903–1933)
**Alexander Edward John Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth (1910–1942)
*[[Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton|Neville Stephen Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton]] (1879–1951)
*[[Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton|Noel Anthony Scawen Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton]] (1900–1985)
*[[John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton|John Peter Michael Scawen Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton]] (born 1950)

The [[heir apparent]] is the present holder's son, Philip Anthony Scawen Lytton, Viscount Knebworth (born 1989)
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==Title succession chart==
{{chart top|width=100%|Title succession chart, Lytton baronets, Barons Lytton and Earls of Lytton}}
{{tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | |EBL1B|EBL1B='''[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton|{{nowrap|Edward Bulwer-Lytton}}<br>1st Baron Lytton]]'''<br>1st Baronet<br>1803–1873}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |!| }}
{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | | | |EL|EL=''Earl of Lytton''}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | |RBL1E|RBL1E='''[[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|Robert Bulwer-Lytton<br>1st Earl of Lytton<br>2nd Baron Lytton]]'''<br>1831–1891}}
{{tree chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart|EBL| |HHBL| |VBL2E| | | | | |NBL3E|EBL={{nowrap|Edward Bulwer-Lytton}}<br>1865–1871|HHBL=Hon.<br>{{nowrap|Henry Bulwer-Lytton}}<br>1872–1874|VBL2E='''[[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Victor Bulwer-Lytton<br>2nd Earl of Lytton]]'''<br>1876–1947|NBL3E='''[[Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton|Neville Bulwer-Lytton<br>3rd Earl of Lytton]]'''<br>1879–1951}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | |Antony| |Alexander| |NL4E|Antony=[[Antony Bulwer-Lytton, Viscount Knebworth|Antony Bulwer-Lytton<br>Viscount Knebworth]]<br>1903–1933|Alexander={{nowrap|Alexander Bulwer-Lytton}}<br>Viscount Knebworth<br>1910–1942|NL4E='''[[Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton|Noel Lytton<br>4th Earl of Lytton<br>{{nowrap|17th Baron Wentworth}}]]'''<br>1900–1985}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |JL5E|JL5E='''[[John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton|John Lytton<br>5th Earl of Lytton<br>18th Baron Wentworth]]'''<br>born 1950}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |PLVK|PLVK=Philip Lytton<br>Viscount Knebworth<br>born 1989}}
{{tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

==See also==
* [[Baron Wentworth]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

===Additional source===

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

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{{Extant British earldoms}}

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[[Category:Earls of Lytton| ]]
[[Category:1880 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1880]]