Baron Redesdale

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Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was firstly created in 1802 for the lawyer and politician Sir John Freeman-Mitford. His only son, the second Baron, served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords from 1851 to 1886. In 1877 he was created Earl of Redesdale, in the County of Northumberland, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Redesdale never married and on his death in 1886 both titles became extinct. The Earl bequeathed his substantial estates to his first cousin twice removed, the diplomat, politician and writer Sir Algernon Freeman-Mitford. He was the great-grandson of the historian William Mitford, elder brother of John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale. In 1902 the Redesdale title was revived when Freeman-Mitford was raised to the peerage as Baron Redesdale. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the second Baron. The latter is chiefly remembered as the father of the famous Mitford sisters. As of 2006 the title is held by his great-nephew, the sixth Baron. In 2000 he was created the youngest life peer ever as Baron Mitford, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland.