The title Duke of St Albans was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk when he was fourteen years old. King Charles II had accepted that Beauclerk was his illegitimate son by Eleanor Gwynn, an actress, and had awarded Beauclerk the dukedom, just as he had awarded the dukedoms of Richmond and Lennox, Buccleuch and Grafton on his other illegitimate sons.
The subsidiary titles of the Duke are: Earl of Burford (1676), Baron Heddington (1676) and Baron Vere of Hanworth (1750). The titles created in 1676 were in the peerage of England, while that created in 1750 was in the peerage of Great Britain. The eldest son and heir of the Duke of St Albans is known by the courtesy title of Earl of Burford. The present Earl of Burford became briefly prominent in 1999 when he ran from the steps of the throne to stand on the Woolsack in the House of Lords to denounce the House of Lords Bill which would remove hereditary peers from the House.
Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans (1696_1751)
George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans (1720_1786)
George Beauclerk, 4th Duke of St Albans (1758_1787)
Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans (1740_1802)
Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans (1765_1816)
Aubrey Beauclerk, 7th Duke of St Albans (1815_1816)
William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (1766_1825)
William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans (1801-1849)
William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans (1840-1898)
Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 11th Duke of St Albans (1870-1934)
Osborne de Vere Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans (1874-1964)
Charles Frederick Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans (1915-1988)
Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans (b. 1939)
Heir Apparent: Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (b. February 22, 1965) Lord Burford's Heir Apparent: James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere of Hanworth (b. August 2, 1995)
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