Duke of Newcastle

Duke Of Newcastle

Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a title which has been created three times in British history while the title of Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne has been created once. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1665 when William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was made Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was a prominent Royalist commander in the Civil War. He had already been created Viscount Mansfield in 1620, Baron Cavendish of Bolsover and Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1621 and Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1643, and was made Earl of Ogle at the same time as he was given the dukedom. These titles were also in the Peerage of England.

Cavendish was the son of Sir Charles Cavendish, third son of Sir William Cavendish and his wife Bess of Hardwick. William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, was his uncle (see the Duke of Devonshire for further history of this branch of the family). Sir Charles Cavendish married as his second wife Catherine Ogle, 8th Baroness Ogle, daughter of Cuthbert Ogle, 7th Baron Ogle. In 1629 their son William Cavendish (then Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne) succeeded as ninth Baron Ogle. He was succeeded by his son, the second Duke. He was also a politician. His only son and heir apparent Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, predeceased him. On the Duke's death in 1691 all the titles became extinct, except the barony of Ogle which fell into abeyance between his four daughters (one of whom was Lady Elizabeth Cavendish).

Another daughter, Lady Margaret Cavendish, married John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare. In 1694 the dukedom was revived when he was created Marquess of Clare and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the Peerage of England. The Holles family descended from John Holles, 1st Baron Haughton. He was created Baron Haughton, of Haughton in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, and was made Earl of Clare in 1624. His second son was the politician Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles. Lord Clare was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He represented East Retford in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. His son, the third Earl, was briefly Member of Parliament for Nottinghamshire in 1660. He was succeeded by his son, the aforementioned fourth Earl, who was elevated to a dukedom in 1694. The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne had one daughter but no sons and on his death in 1711 all his titles became extinct.

The Duke's sister, Lady Grace Holles (d. 1700), married Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham (see the Earl of Chichester for earlier history of the Pelham family). On his uncle's death in 1711 their eldest son succeeded to the substantial Holles estates and assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Holles. In 1714 the earldom of Clare was revived when he was created Viscount Haughton, in the County of Nottingham, and Earl of Clare, with remainder to his younger brother Henry Pelham, and the following year the dukedom was also revived when he was made Marquess of Clare and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with similar remainder to his younger brother Henry. These titles were in the Peerage of Great Britain.

In 1756 (when Henry Pelham had died without male issue and it was apparent that the Duke was to have no children of his own) the Duke was also made Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, in the County of Stafford, with remainder to his nephew Henry Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln. On the Duke's death in 1768 he was succeeded in the dukedom of Newcastle-under-Lyne according to the special remainder by his nephew, the second Duke (for further history of this title see the Earl of Lincoln). All his other titles became extinct except for the Pelham Baronetcy of Laughton and the barony of Pelham of Stanmer, which were passed on to his first cousin once removed, Thomas Pelham (for further history of these titles, see the Earl of Chichester).

The title of the 1756 dukedom was "of Newcastle-under-Lyne" and not "Newcastle-under-Lyme", the usual spelling of the Staffordshire town it refers to.

Extensive personal and estate papers of the Dukes of Newcastle are held in the Portland (Welbeck) and Newcastle (Clumber) collections at the department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham.