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Baron Redesdale

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Baron Redesdale
Arms of Baron Redesdale: Argent, a fess between three moles sable (Mitford); 2nd and 3rd, Azure three Lozenges conjoined in fess Or a Canton Ermine (Freeman)
Creation date1802
Creation1st creation
Created byGeorge III
First holderSir John Mitford
Last holderJohn Freeman-Mitford,
1st Earl of Redesdale
Statusextinct
Former seat(s)Mitford Castle
Batsford Park
Motto"God Careth For Us"
Baron Redesdale
Creation date1902
Creation2nd creation
Created byEdward VII
First holderBertram Freeman-Mitford
Present holderRupert Mitford
Heir apparentHon. Bertram Mitford
Statusextant
Former seat(s)Mitford Castle
Batsford Park
Motto"God Careth For Us"

Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was firstly created in 1802 for the lawyer and politician Sir John Mitford (later Freeman-Mitford).[1] The title was created anew in 1902 for the former's cousin thrice removed Bertram Freeman-Mitford.

History

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John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale, by George Clint, following the original by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, with origins in medieval Northumberland where they held Mitford Castle. Sir John Mitford was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1801 and 1802 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland between 1802 and 1806. His only son, the second Baron, served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords from 1851 to 1886. In 1877, he was created Earl of Redesdale, in the County of Northumberland, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[2] Lord Redesdale never married, and on his death in 1886 both titles became extinct. The Earl bequeathed his substantial estates to his first cousin twice removed, the diplomat, politician and writer Sir Bertram Mitford, the great-grandson of historian William Mitford, who was the elder brother of the first Baron Redesdale.

The Redesdale title was revived when Bertram Freeman-Mitford was raised to the peerage as Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, on 15 July 1902.[3] He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, who is chiefly remembered as the father of the famous Mitford sisters. He was also a member of the Right Club, founded by Archibald Maule Ramsay. His only son, the Hon. Thomas Freeman-Mitford, was killed in action in Burma in 1945.

Lord Redesdale was therefore succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1935. He died childless in 1962 when the title passed to his younger brother, the fourth Baron. He died in the following year, also childless, and was succeeded by his nephew, the fifth Baron. He was the son of the Hon. Ernest Rupert Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, fifth son of the first Baron.

As of 2020, the title is held by the fifth Baron's son, the sixth Baron, who succeeded in 1991. He is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, who in 2000 was created a life peer as Baron Mitford, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland,[4] to enable him to return to the House after the majority of hereditary peers lost their seats under the House of Lords Act 1999.

Barons Redesdale, first creation (1802)

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Earl of Redesdale (1877)

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Barons Redesdale, second creation (1902)

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The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son, the Hon. Bertram David Mitford (born 2000).

Male-line family tree

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Male-line family tree, Barons Redesdale (both creations) and Earls of Redesdale
John Mitford
died 1761
Baron Redesdale
(first creation)
William Mitford
1744–1827
John Freeman-Mitford
1st Baron Redesdale

1748–1830
Earl of Redesdale
Capt.
Henry Mitford
1769–1803
John Freeman-Mitford
1st Earl of Redesdale

2nd Baron Redesdale
1805–1886
Barony and
earldom extinct
Henry Mitford
1804–1883
Baron Redesdale
(second creation)
Bertram Freeman-Mitford
1st Baron Redesdale

1837–1916
Maj. Hon.
Clement Freeman-Mitford
1876–1915
David Freeman-Mitford
2nd Baron Redesdale

1878–1958
Bertram Freeman-Mitford
3rd Baron Redesdale

1880–1962
John Freeman-Mitford
4th Baron Redesdale

1885–1963
Hon.
Ernest Freeman-Mitford
1895–1939
Maj. Hon.
Thomas Freeman-Mitford
1909–1945
Clement Freeman-Mitford
5th Baron Redesdale

1932–1991
Rupert Mitford
6th Baron Redesdale

born 1967
Hon.
Bertram Mitford
born 2000

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "No. 15452". The London Gazette. 13 February 1802. p. 140.
  2. ^ "No. 24400". The London Gazette. 2 January 1977. p. 4.
  3. ^ "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4587.
  4. ^ "No. 55838". The London Gazette. 4 May 2000. p. 4915.

References

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