Earl of Lovelace

Earl of Lovelace is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1838 for William King-Noel, 8th Baron King. The King family descends from Jerome King, a grocer, of Exeter, and his wife Anne, daughter of Peter Locke, nephew of the philosopher John Locke. Their son Sir Peter King was a noted lawyer and politician and served as Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1714 to 1725 and as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1725 to 1733. In 1725 he was created Lord King, Baron of Ockham, in the County of Surrey, in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He represented Launceston and Exeter in the House of Commons. His three younger brothers, Peter, William and Thomas all succeeded in the barony. The latter was succeeded by his son, the sixth Baron.

His son, the seventh Baron, was a Whig politician and writer. On his death the title passed to his eldest son, the eighth Baron. In 1838 he was created Viscount Ockham, of Ockham in the County of Surrey, and Earl of Lovelace in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He later held the honorary post of Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey from 1840 to 1893. In 1835, Lord Lovelace married as his first wife the Hon. Augusta Ada Byron, the only daughter of the famous poet, 6th Baron Byron, and his wife, 11th Baroness Wentworth. In 1860, he assumed for himself by Royal license the additional surname and arms of Noel. His eldest son Byron Noel, Viscount Ockham, succeeded his maternal grandmother as twelfth Baron Wentworth in 1860. However, he predeceased his father, unmarried.

Lord Lovelace had a home in East Horsley and a strong connection with St Martin's Church. He rebuilt the Chancel and the Nave in 1869. He also rebuilt the wall of the churchyard which included a number of interesting architectural features such as the Gazebo in the SW corner. He also planned for his death and 20 years before he died began work on a Mausoleum in the NW corner of the St Martin's Church churchyard. The Mausoleum, which has recently been restored, contains his tomb and that of his second wife.

Lord Lovelace was therefore succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He had already succeeded as thirteenth Baron Wentworth on the death of his elder brother in 1862. In 1861, Lord Lovelace assumed by Royal license the surname of Milbanke in lieu of Noel. He had no sons and was succeeded in the barony of Wentworth by his only child, Ada King-Milbanke, 14th Baroness Wentworth (she was succeeded by her aunt Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth, daughter of the first Earl; see the Baron Wentworth for later history of this title). Lord Lovelace was succeeded in his other titles by his half-brother, the third Earl. He served in the First World War as a Major in the Northumberland Fusiliers and as a Staff-Captain. In 1895, Lord Lovelace received for himself only Royal license to use the additional surname and arms of Noel, but resumed by Royal license, in 1908, the surname and arms of King only for himself and his children. As of 2010 the titles are held by his grandson, the fifth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1964.

The Hon. Peter King, second son of the seventh Baron, was a politician.

The former family seat was Ockham Park in Surrey, England. The fine Jacobean house was seriously damaged in a fire in 1948.

The present Earl lives at Torridon House, near Torridon in Ross-shire.