Viscount Bledisloe

Viscount Bledisloe, of Lydney in the County of Gloucester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for the Conservative politician Charles Bathurst, 1st Baron Bledisloe, upon his retirement as Governor-General of New Zealand. He had already been created Baron Bledisloe, of Lydney in the County of Gloucester, in 1918, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Bathurst was the great-grandson and namesake of the early-19th-century politician Charles Bathurst. The latter was the son of Charles Bragge and Anne Bathurst, granddaughter of Sir Benjamin Bathurst, younger brother of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst. In 1804, Charles Bathurst assumed the surname of Bathurst in lieu of Bragge. The first Viscount's grandson, third Viscount, was one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sat as a cross-bencher until his death on 12 May 2009. He was also a member of the Lords Constitution Committee. He was succeeded by his son, Rupert, the fourth and current holder of the titles as of 2012.

The family seat is Lydney Park, near Lydney, Gloucestershire.