Earl De La Warr

Earldom of De La Warr

Blazon
  • Quarterly: 1st, argent a fess dancettée sable (for West); 2nd: azure three leopard's heads reversed jessant-de-lys or (for Cantelupe); 3rd: gules crusilly and a lion argent (for La Warr); 4th, quarterly or and gules a bend vair (for Sackville)
Creation date18 March 1761[1]
Created byGeorge III
PeeragePeerage of Great Britain
First holderJohn West, 7th Baron De La Warr
Present holderWilliam Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr
Heir apparentWilliam Sackville, Baron Buckhurst
Subsidiary titlesViscount Cantelupe
Baron De La Warr
Baron Buckhurst
Former seatBourn Hall
MottoJour de ma vie ("Day of my life")[1]
A portrait of John West, 4th Earl De La Warr

Earl De La Warr (/ˈdɛləwɛər/ ⓘ DEL-ə-wair) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr (1570) in the Peerage of England, and Baron Buckhurst (1864) in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

The Earls De La Warr descend from Roger De La Warr (d. 1320), of Isfield, Sussex, and Wickwar, Gloucestershire, who was made a baron by Edward I in 1299. The male line failed on the death of the 5th Baron De La Warr in 1426, and the title passed to the latter's nephew, Reginald West. It fell into abeyance with the death of Thomas West, 9th Baron De La Warr, in 1554.[2] Thomas had named his nephew William as his heir, but had disinherited him when William tried to obtain his inheritance early by poisoning his uncle. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1550 to prevent William from inheriting the barony. Elizabeth I restored the title to him in 1570. This was regarded as a new creation, and William hence sat in the House of Lords as junior baron, but his son and heir was able to claim the precedence associated with the original title.[3]

The family seat is Buckhurst Park, near Withyham, Sussex.

Etymology

The name De La Warr literally means "of the war" (warr being a Norman form of standard French guerre) and originated as a nickname for a warrior.[4][5] In the form Delaware, it has been transferred to several places in the United States, including the state of Delaware. All were named either directly or indirectly after the 3rd Baron De La Warr, who served as Virginia's first governor.

The subsidiary title Viscount Cantelupe commemorates the West family's descent from the Anglo-Norman Cantilupe family. In the 14th century Sir Thomas West married Eleanor, heiress of Sir John de Cantilupe. Their son, also Thomas, inherited Hempston Cantilupe and was the father of Thomas West, 1st Baron West.

Barons De La Warr; first creation (1299)

Barons De La Warr; second creation (1570)

Earls De La Warr (1761)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, William Herbrand Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst (b. 1979), nine generations away from the first Earl.

The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son William Lionel Robert Sackville (b. 2014).

Other family members

Notable 20th-century descendants of the 5th Earl De La Warr include the authors Lady Margaret Sackville, Vita Sackville-West, Nigel Nicolson and Adam Nicolson.[6]

Another member of the West family was William Cornwallis-West (1835–1917), who was the grandson of the Hon. Frederick West, youngest son of the second Earl. Cornwallis-West was the father of George Cornwallis-West; Daisy, Princess of Pless; and Constance, Duchess of Westminster.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 1074. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ↑ Cokayne, G. E., ed. (1890). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. 3. London: George Bell and Sons. pp. 45–48.
  3. ↑ "West, Thomas, eighth Baron West and ninth Baron de la Warr". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29099. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ↑ Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford: the University Press. p. 2837. ISBN 978-0-19-967776-4.
  5. ↑ Hanks, Patrick; Lenarčič, Simon; McClure, Peter, eds. (2022). "Warr". Dictionary of American Family Names (2nd ed.). Oxford: the University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-024512-2.
  6. ↑ "Sackville-West family tree" (PDF). National Portrait Gallery. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
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