Duke of St Albans
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, Baron Heddington, in the same and Baron Vere, of Hanworth in the County of Middlesex. 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 until the end of the 18th century they were Hereditary Registrars of the Court of Chancery.
By tradition, the Earldom and Vere barony are used as courtesy titles by the duke's heir apparent and his heir apparent respectively.
Until the 20th century, the country seats of the dukes of St Albans included Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, which was given to the 1st Duke's mother, the celebrated actress and mistress to Charles II, Nell Gwyn. The 10th Duke made it his principal residence, but in 1939 the 12th Duke sold it. It is now a hotel. Another seat was Upper Gatton Park in Surrey. The 12th Duke also inherited Newtown Anner House, which continued to be a family seat in the 1940s until it was sold in the mid-20th century. Today the house is privately owned and not open to the public. - Tipperary County Council Library Service website
The 13th and present dukes have not inherited landed estates or country houses.
The accepted pronunciation of Beauclerk is reflected in frequent early renderings Beauclaire:.
Dukes of St Albans (1684)
- Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans
- Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans
- George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans
- George Beauclerk, 4th Duke of St Albans
- Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans
- Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans
- Aubrey Beauclerk, 7th Duke of St Albans
- William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans
- William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St. Albans
- William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans
- Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 11th Duke of St Albans
- Osborne de Vere Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans
- Charles Frederick Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans
- Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans
The heir apparent's heir in line is his only son, James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere.
Barons Vere (1750)
- Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere
- Aubrey Beauclerk, 2nd Baron Vere
Current line of succession
- Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans
- * Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans
- ** George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans
- *Lord William Beauclerk
- **George Beauclerk
- *** George Beauclerk, 4th Duke of St Albans
- * Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere
- ** Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans
- *** Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans
- **** Aubrey Beauclerk, 7th Duke of St Albans
- *** William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans
- **** William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans
- ***** William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans
- ****** Charles Beauclerk, 11th Duke of St Albans
- ****** Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans
- ****Lord Charles Beauclerk
- *****Aubrey Topham Beauclerk
- ****** Charles Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans
- ******* Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans
- ********' Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
- *********' James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere
- *******' Lord Peter Charles de Vere Beauclerk
- *******' Lord James Charles Fesq de Vere Beauclerk
- ******* Lord John William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk
- *Lord Sidney Beauclerk
- **Topham Beauclerk
- ***Charles George Beauclerk
- ****Charles Robert Beauclerk
- *****William Topham Sidney Beauclerk
- ******Ralph Beauclerk
- *******male descendants in remainder
Arms