Earl of Plymouth

Windsor-Clive family plot in the cemetery of St Bartholomew's church, Tardebigge, Worcestershire. Robert, 1st Earl of Plymouth (1857–1923), and his family are buried here.

The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitimate children of King Charles II and one of a few by his mistress Catherine Pegge. He died without heirs in 1680, and the title became extinct.

The second creation came in 1682 in favour of Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 7th Baron Windsor. The family descends from Sir Andrew Windsor, who fought at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513, where he was knighted. In 1529 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Windsor, of Stanwell in the County of Buckingham. His grandson, Edward, the third Baron, fought at the Battle of St Quentin in 1557. Edward's elder son Frederick, the fourth Baron, died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry. The latter's son, Thomas, the sixth Baron, was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. On Thomas's death in 1641, the barony fell into abeyance between his sisters.

The abeyance was terminated in 1660 in favour of his nephew, Thomas Hickman. He was the son of Elizabeth Windsor, and her husband Dixie Hickman, and assumed the additional surname of Windsor as 7th Baron. He notably served as Governor of Jamaica and as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. In 1682, he was created Earl of Plymouth in the Peerage of England, a higher title of nobility. He was succeeded by his grandson Other, who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, Denbigh and Flint. His grandson and namesake, Other, the fourth Earl, was Lord Lieutenant of Glamorganshire.

On the death of fourth Earl's childless grandson, Other, the sixth Earl, in 1833, the barony and earldom separated. The barony fell into abeyance between his sisters Lady Maria Windsor, wife of Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire, and Lady Harriet Windsor, wife of Robert Clive, second son of Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis (see below for further history of the barony and Earl of Powis for earlier history of the Clive family). The sixth Earl was succeeded in the earldom by his uncle, Andrew, the seventh Earl. The seventh Earl died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry, the eighth Earl. The eighth Earl was childless and on his death in 1843 the earldom became extinct. The barony of Windsor remained in abeyance until 1855 when the abeyance was terminated in favour of Lady Harriet Windsor-(Clive), who became the thirteenth Baroness. The same year she re-assumed by Royal licence her maiden surname, as a first barrel of her name. Her eldest son Robert Windsor-Clive predeceased her and she was succeeded by her grandson, Robert, the fourteenth Baron, who was a prominent Conservative politician and held office as Paymaster General and First Commissioner of Works.

In 1905 the earldom of Plymouth was revived in the third creation when Robert was created Viscount Windsor, of St Fagans in the County of Glamorgan, and Earl of Plymouth, in the County of Devon.[1] These titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first Earl was succeeded by his second and only surviving son, Ivor, the second Earl, who was also a Conservative politician and served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Ivor's eldest son, Other, the third Earl, succeeded in 1943 and died on 7 March 2018 when he was succeeded by his own son, Ivor, the present fourth Earl. As a male-line descendant of the first Earl of Powis in its present creation the Earl is a far heir-in-remainder to that peerage and its subsidiary titles.

Another member of the family was Thomas Windsor, younger son of Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth, who was elevated to the new title Viscount Windsor in 1699. After the death of his son, the second Viscount, the title was extinct for 38 years from 1758. However his daughter and heiress, Charlotte Jane, married John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute and the title "of" Windsor was revived in 1796 ( Earl of Windsor) as a (courtesy) style for the Marquess of Bute (the first subsidiary title is Earl of Dumfries since 1803 when this title, created in 1633, was inherited by the second Marquess).

The family seat was Hewell Grange, Worcestershire. Later residences are Oakly Park, Bromfield near Ludlow, Shropshire, and a house in London W8.[2]

'Other' (pronounced ǒðer), a customary male forename for Earls of Plymouth, derives from medieval writings of earlier oral traditions regarding a Saxon ancestor 'Otho' or 'Othere' of the Hickman-Windsor family.

• Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth (1657–1680)

The second earl died, seized of St Fagans Castle, in 1943. His probate was sworn the next year at £1,204,429 (equivalent to about £57,600,000 in 2021).[5] The castle went (by gift) to the National Museum of Wales, becoming one of its key sites from his wife's death in 1947 (leading to his double probate) whereby the total assets amounted to £1,824,359 (equivalent to about £87,300,000 in 2021).[5]

• Viscount Windsor
• Earl of Powis (1804 creation)
• Marquess of Bute
• Hewell Grange
• Barnt Green House
• St Fagans Castle
• Oakly Park, Shropshire

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Windsor-Clive-Plymouth family.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Other Robert Ivor Windsor-Clive, 3rd Earl of Plymouth