Earl of Chichester - First Creation

First Creation

It was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1644 when Francis Leigh, 1st Baron Dunsmore, was made Earl of Chichester, in the County of Sussex, with remainder to his son-in-law Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (the husband of his daughter Elizabeth). He had already been created a baronet, of Newnham in the County of Warwick, in 1618 (in the Baronetage of England), with remainder to the male heirs of his body, and Baron Dunsmore, in the County of Warwick, in 1628 (in the Peerage of England), with remainder to his stepson John Anderson (the son of his second wife the Hon. Audrey Boteler by her first husband Sir Francis Anderson). Lord Chichester had no sons and on his death in 1653 the baronetcy became extinct. The barony of Dunsmore also became extinct as his stepson John (who had been created a baronet in 1629) had died childless in 1630. The earldom was passed on according to the special remainder to his son-in-law Lord Southampton (see the Earl of Southampton for earlier history of this title). However, he had no male issue and on his death in 1667 both earldoms became extinct. Francis Leigh, 1st Earl of Chichester, was the grandson of Sir William Leigh, third son of Sir Thomas Leigh (c. 1504–1571), Lord Mayor of London in 1558. Sir Thomas's eldest son Rowland Leigh was the ancestor of the Barons Leigh of the 1838 creation while his second son Sir Thomas Leigh, 1st Baronet, of Stoneleigh, was the ancestor of the Barons Leigh of the 1643 creation.