Baron Henley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Barony of Henley has been created twice: first in the Peerage of Great Britain and then in the Peerage of Ireland. Robert Henley, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, was created Baron Henley in 1760 and Earl of Northington in 1764. On the death of his son, the second Earl, both titles became extinct. However, Lady Elizabeth Henley, youngest daughter of the first Earl and co-heiress of the second Earl, married the prominent diplomat Morton Eden. In 1799 the Henley title was revived when Eden was created Baron Henley, of Chardstock in the County of Dorset, in the Peerage of Ireland. Their son, the second Baron, assumed the surname of Henley in lieu of Eden and notably published a biography of his maternal grandfather, Memoir of the Life of Robert Henley, Earl of Northington, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. His son, the third Baron, sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Northampton. In 1885 the Northington title was also revived when he was created Baron Northington, of Watford in the County of Northamptonshire, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This title gave the Barons an automatic seat in the House of Lords. His younger son, the sixth Baron, resumed the surname of Eden in 1925, the same year he succeeded his half-brother in the titles. The present holder of the Baronies, Oliver Michael Robert Eden, 8th Baron Henley, is a Conservative politician, and served in the Conservativeadministrations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He is now one of the ninety elected hereditary peers who remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Reform Act of 1999.

The Barons Henley are members of the prominent Eden family. The first Baron was the fifth son of Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, of West Auckland and the younger brother of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland. Their elder brother Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland (second son of the third Baronet of West Auckland), was the great-great-grandfather of Prime Minister Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon and the great-great-great-grandfather of the Conservative politician John Benedict Eden, Baron Eden of Winton.