Baron Bolton

Baron Bolton, of Bolton Castle in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1797 for the Tory politician Thomas Orde-Powlett, who had previously served as Chief Secretary for Ireland. Born Thomas Orde, he was the husband of Jean Mary Browne-Powlett, illegitimate daughter of Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton, who had entailed the greater part of his extensive estates to her in default of male issue of his younger brother Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton. The sixth Duke died without male heirs in 1794 when the dukedom became extinct and the Bolton estates passed to Thomas Orde in right of his wife. In 1795 he assumed the additional surname of Powlett. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He briefly represented Yarmouth in the House of Commons. On his death the title passed to his nephew, the third Baron. His grandson, the fifth Baron, sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Richmond and served as Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire. As of 2010 the title is held by the latter's great-grandson, the eighth Baron, who succeeded his father in 2001.

John Orde, younger brother of the first Baron Bolton, was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and was created a baronet, of Morpeth in the County of Northumberland, in 1790.

The family seat is Bolton Hall near Leyburn in North Yorkshire.