Baron Cornwallis is a British peerage title. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1661 for Sir Frederick Cornwallis, who had previously been created an Englishbaronet in 1627. The fifth Baron was created the Earl Cornwallis in 1753; in 1792 the second Earl was created the Marquess Cornwallis. At the death of the second Marquess, the marquessate became extinct; at the death of the fifth Earl, the earldom, barony, and baronetcy became extinct.
Cornwallis was the eldest son of the 5th BaronCornwallis (later 1st Earl Cornwallis) and was born at Grosvenor Square in London, even though his family's estates were in Kent.
The Cornwallis family was established at Brome Hall, near Eye, in Suffolk, in the course of the fourteenth century, and members of it occasionally represented the county in the House of Commons during the next three hundred years.
As Cornwallis waited for resupply from the Royal Navy, the American commander, George Washington, learned that a French naval force was moving to enter the War for the first time, and he realised that Cornwallis' exposed position was an opportunity to win a victory that would resonate in the public imagination.
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