Earl of Conway

Earl of Conway was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1679 for Edward Conway, 3rd Viscount Conway, subsequently Secretary of State for the Northern Department. The Conway family descended from Sir John Conway, Governor of Ostend. His son Edward Conway served as Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council. He was created Baron Conway, of Ragley in the County of Warwick, in 1624, and Viscount Conway, of Conway Castle, in 1627, both in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1627 he was also made Viscount Killultagh in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son, the second Viscount. He was a soldier and politician. In 1628 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title Baron Conway. On his death the titles passed to his only son, the aforementioned third Viscount, who was elevated to an earldom in 1679. The Earl of Conway was childless and all the titles became extinct on his death in 1683.

The Conway estates were inherited by the Earl's second cousin Popham Seymour, who was shortly afterwards killed in a duel by a Colonel Kirk. The estates then passed to the next brother Francis Seymour. Both assumed the additional surname of Conway in accordance with the Earl's will. In 1703, Francis was created Baron Conway, of Ragley in the County of Warwick, in the Peerage of England. In 1712 he was also made Baron Conway and Killultagh, of Killultagh in the County of Antrim, in the Peerage of Ireland. His son, the second Baron, was created Marquess of Hertford in 1793. See this title for further history of the peerages.

The family seats of the Conway family were Conway Castle in Wales and Ragley Hall, Warwickshire.