Grey Egerton Baronets

Grey Egerton Baronets

The Egerton, later Grey Egerton Baronetcy, of Egerton and Oulton in the County of Chester, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 5 April 1617 for Roland Egerton. He later represented Wootton Bassett in Parliament. Egerton married Bridget, sister and co-heir of Thomas Grey, 15th Baron Grey de Wilton, who was attainted in 1603 and his title forfeited (see Baron Grey de Wilton). The Egertons were an ancient Cheshire family. An ancestor of the first Baronet, William le Belward, took the surname of Egerton from the lordship of Egerton, which he inherited. The sixth Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Newton.

In 1784, the seventh Baronet was created Baron Grey de Wilton, of Wilton Castle in the County of Hereford, in the Peerage of Great Britain, a revival of the title held by his ancestors. The peerage was created with remainder to the heirs male of his body. In 1801 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Grey de Wilton and Earl of Wilton, of Wilton Castle in the County of Hereford, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. These titles were created with special remainder to the second and the younger sons successively of his daughter Lady Eleanor, wife of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster. On Lord Wilton's death in 1814 the barony became extinct as he had no sons, while he was succeeded in the viscountcy and earldom according to the special remainder by his grandson, the second Earl (see the Earl of Wilton for the later history of these titles). The baronetcy passed to his kinsman, the eighth Baronet, a descendant of a younger son of the first Baronet. He represented Chester in the House of Commons. The ninth Baronet was in 1825 granted by Royal Warrant, and for all subsequent Baronets on succeeding to the title, the right to assume for themselves only the additional surname of Grey and the arms and supporters of Grey de Wilton (although the 16th and 17th Baronets have chosen not to use this additional surname). The tenth Baronet was a politician and noted palaeontologist. The sixteenth Baronet, David Egerton, was a Major-General in the British Army; inheriting the baronetcy at the age of 94, General Egerton opted not to use the title.

Several other members of the Egerton family have also gained distinction. Caledon Richard Egerton, fifth son of the ninth Baronet, was a Major-General in the British Army. His third son, Sir Charles Comyn Egerton, was a Field Marshal in the British Army. His son Wion de Malpas Egerton (1879–1943) was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy and was killed in action in the Second World War. His son David Boswell Egerton was a Major-General in the Royal Artillery, was awarded the Military Cross, and later became the sixteenth Baronet. Sir Reginald Arthur Egerton, another son of the aforementioned Major-General Caledon Richard Egerton (d. 1930), was Private Secretary to the Postmaster-General, Surveyor to the General Post Office, London, and Secretary to the General Post Office, Dublin. Sir Stephen Loftus Egerton (1932–2006) (son of William le Belward Egerton, son of William Egerton, son of Philip Henry Egerton, son of William Egerton, third son of Philip Egerton, father of the eighth and ninth Baronets), was a prominent diplomat. He was British Ambassador to Iraq from 1980 to 1982 and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1986 to 1989. Sir Robert Eyles Egerton (1827–1912), youngest son of William Egerton, third son of Philip Egerton, father of the eighth and ninth Baronets, was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. His son Sir Raleigh Gilbert Egerton (1860–1931) was a Lieutenant-General in the British Army. A junior branch of the family is settled in Australia (see Peter Warburton); one of the present day members of the family, Richard Egerton-Warburton AO LVO, is a recipient of the Order of Australia.