Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull

Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1715 for Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester. The seat of the Pierrepont family had been at Holme Pierrepont Hall, Nottinghamshire, since the 13th century. Several members of the family had served in the 15th and 16th centuries as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Sir Henry Pierrepont represented Nottinghamshire in Parliament. His sonSir Robert Pierrepont was created Baron Pierrepont, of Holme Pierrepont in the County of Nottingham, in the Peerage of England in 1627. In 1628 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Newark Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, also in the Peerage of England. His son, the second Earl, was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1645, but he died without heirs in 1660 when the Marquessate became extinct. The earldom and other titles devolved on his nephew, Robert, the third Earl, the eldest son of the Honourable William Pierrepont, second son of the first Earl. Robert died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, William, the fourth Earl. William was in his turn succeeded by his younger brother, the aforementioned Evely, the fifth Earl, who was created Marquess of Winchester in the Peerage of England in 1706, a revival of the title held by his uncle, and Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1715. All the titles became extinct on the death of the first Duke's son, Evely, the second Duke, in 1773.

The aforementioned the Honourable William Pierrepont, second son of the first Earl, was a politician. His third son Gervase Pierrepont was created Baron Pierrepont in 1701. Lady Mary Pierrepont, better known as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, daughter of the first Duke, was a writer. Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull, wife of the second Duke, was a courtier.

The estates of the Dukes of Kingston-upon-Hull were eventually inherited by Charles Medows, a great-grandson of the 1st Duke through the female line, who changed his surname to Pierrepont and was created Viscount Newark and Baron Pierrepont in 1796 and Earl Manvers in 1806. Those titles became extinct on the death of the 6th Earl in 1955.