Earl of Portsmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1743 for John Wallop, 1st Viscount Lymington, who had previously represented Hampshire in the House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Wallop, of Farleigh Wallop in Hampshire in the County of Southampton, and Viscount Lymington, in 1720, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl (who succeeded his elder brother in 1853, who in his turn had succeeded his father in 1797, who in his turn had succeeded his grandfather the first Earl), represented Andover and Devonshire North in Parliament. In 1794 he assumed by Royal license for himself and his issue the surname and arms of Fellowes only.
He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Earl. He resumed, without Royal license, the family surname and arms of Wallop. His son, the sixth Earl, represented Barnstaple in Parliament as a Liberal. Oliver Henry Wallop, the 8th Earl, had moved from England to the United States, and had been living the life of a rancher in Sheridan, Wyoming, at the time of the death of his older brother, the 7th Earl. Known as O.H. Wallop, he had served two terms a state representative in the Wyoming Legislature.[1] Wallop, who had become an American citizen in 1891, was allowed to take his seat in the House of Lords after renouncing American citizenship.[2]
The ninth Earl (who succeeded his father, who had succeeded his elder brother who in his turn had succeeded his elder brother, the sixth Earl), sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Basingstoke. As of 2010[update] the titles are held by his grandson, the tenth Earl, who succeeded in 1984. He is the only son of Oliver Kintzing Wallop, Viscount Lymington (1923–1984).
The American politician Malcolm Wallop was a grandson of the 8th Earl.
The family seat is Farleigh House in Hampshire.
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Oliver Henry Rufus Wallop, Viscount Lymington (b. 1981)