Earl of Oxford was one of the oldest titles in the English peerage, and was held for several centuries by the de Vere family. It finally became dormant in 1703 with the death of the 20th Earl. Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is perhaps the most famous of the line, due to the claims put forward by some that he was the actual author of the works of William Shakespeare (see Shakespeare authorship). The Vere Earls of Oxford were also hereditary holders of the office of Lord Great Chamberlain until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625.
The title of Earl of Oxford and Mortimer was given out in the peerage of Great Britain to Robert Harley in 1711; in the 20th century the title of Earl of Oxford and Asquith was given out in the peerage of the United Kingdom to the former Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, whose descendants still bear that title. These later creations bear the double title because the original creation is dormant but not extinct.
In 1886 Asquith was elected as the Liberal MP for East Fife, despite the constraints of being a young widower with five children.
Asquith appeared sidelined when he accepted Lloyd George's suggestion that a small cabinet committee direct the war, to the exclusion of the PM himself.
In 1925 Asquith was granted the title of Earl of Oxford and elevated to the House of Lords.
Oxford and Asquith, Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st earl of.
Of a middle-class family, he attended Oxford, became a barrister in London in 1876, and was elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1886.
Asquith’s second wife, Margot (Tennant) Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith, 1864–1945, whom he married in 1894, was prominent in London society and noted for her wit.
Feeds |
Contact