Duke of Buckingham

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Buckingham, Earls, Marquesses And Dukes of

Not to be confused with Earl of Buckinghamshire.

The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.

On September 14, 1444, Humphrey Stafford, 6th Earl of Stafford, was created Duke of Buckingham. He was the son of Anne of Gloucester, "Countess of Buckingham", daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham (later Duke of Gloucester), youngest son of King Edward III of England. Stafford was an important supporter of the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses, and was killed at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460.

He was succeeded by his grandson, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who aided Richard III in his claiming the throne in 1483 (Edward IV of England's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville having been declared null and void and Edward's sons illegitimate by Act of Parliament Titulus Regius), but who then led a revolt against Richard and was executed later that same year. His son, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was restored to the title upon Henry VII's ascension to the throne in 1485, but he was ultimately executed for treason in 1521 due to his opposition to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII's chief advisor. At this time the title became extinct.

The Stafford family descended from Edmond de Stafford, who was summoned to Parliament as Lord Stafford in 1299. The second Baron was created Earl of Stafford in 1351. These titles were forfeited along with the dukedom.

George Villiers,
1st Duke of Buckingham

The Dukedom was created anew for James I's favourite, George Villiers. He was made Baron Whaddon, of Whaddon in the County of Buckingham, and Viscount Villiers in 1616, Earl of Buckingham in 1617, Marquess of Buckingham in 1618 and Earl of Coventry and Duke of Buckingham in 1623. Buckingham, who continued in office as chief minister into the reign of James's son, Charles I, was responsible for a policy of war against Spain and France, and was assassinated by a Puritan fanatic in 1628 as he prepared an expedition to relieve the Huguenots of La Rochelle.

His son, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was a notable advisor in the reign of Charles II, and, along with Lord Ashley made up the protestant axis of the famous Cabal Ministry. When he died in 1687, the title again became extinct.

Several other members of the Villiers family have been elevated to the peerage. Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, and John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck, were brothers of the first Duke of Buckingham. Also, Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, was the great-nephew of the first Duke of Buckingham while Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, was the second son of the second Earl of Jersey.

The title of Duke of Buckingham and Normanby was created in 1703 for John Sheffield, Marquess of Normanby, a notable Tory politician of the late Stuart period, who served under Queen Anne as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council. For more information on this title, see the Duke of Buckingham and Normanby.

In 1784, George Nugent Temple Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple, a son of Prime Minister George Grenville, was created Marquess of Buckingham in the peerage of Great Britain. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, among other offices. His son, Richard Nugent Temple Grenville was created Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1822. For more information on these titles, see the Viscount Cobham.

In November 2005 a man known as Christopher Buckingham was successfully prosecuted, and jailed for 21 months, for using an illegally obtained passport. His fake identity included a title (Lord Buckingham of Little Billing, Northampton) that had become extinct with the death of the Duke of Buckingham. The man used a trick made famous in the Frederick Forsyth novel The Day of the Jackal to steal the identity of Christopher Edward Buckingham, a baby who died aged 8 months in 1963. After several months of mystery, he was proved by fingerprint analysis in May 2006 to be an American named Charles Albert Stopford III.