Earl Beauchamp

Earl Beauchamp (pronounced "Beecham") was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester. He had already been created Baron Beauchamp of Powyke in the County of Worcester, in 1806, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Beauchamp had previously represented Worcestershire in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He also sat as Member of Parliament for Worcestershire. He never married and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. In 1813 he assumed by Royal license the surname of Pyndar in lieu of Lygon. On his death in 1853 the titles passed to his younger brother, the fourth Earl. He was a General in the Army as well as a Member of Parliament.

His second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl, represented Worcestershire West in Parliament. He died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixth Earl. He was a Conservative politician and held office in the 1870's and 1880's under Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury. His eldest son, the seventh Earl, was in contrast to his father a prominent Liberal politician and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. He was also Governor of New South Wales. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the eighth Earl. He was also a politician. On Lord Beauchamp's death in 1979 the titles became extinct.

The Earls Beauchamp were descended from Richard Lygon (pronounced "Liggon"), of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, who married the Hon. Anne (d. 1535), second daughter and co-heir of Richard Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp "of Powyke" (1435-1503) (see Baron Beauchamp, the fifth creation ("of Powyke")), and through the latter from the early Earls of Warwick. Their descendant, William Lygon (1642-1721), also resided at Madresfield. His daughter, Margaret (d. 1734), married as her first husband Reginald Pyndar (c. 1687-1721), of Kempley, Gloucestershire. Their son Reginald Pyndar (1712-1788) assumed by Royal license the surname of Lygon in lieu of Pyndar. His son was the first Earl Beauchamp.

The ancestral family seat of the Lygon family was Madresfield Court, near Malvern, Worcestershire. It is currently the home of the Hon. Lady Morrison, a niece of the 8th and last Earl Beauchamp and the younger daughter of the late Hon. Richard Lygon, the youngest son of the 7th Earl by his wife, the former Lady Lettice Grosvenor.