Earl of Godolphin
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Earl of Godolphin was a hereditary British title in the Peerage of England .
Ancestral home of the Earls was Godolphin House near Helston in Cornwall .
Award and subordinate titles
The title was created on December 26, 1706 for Lord High Treasurer Sidney Godolphin, 1st Baron Godolphin of the Godolphin family .
With the earliest title , the subordinate title Viscount Rialton , Rialton in the County of Cornwall , was awarded in the Peerage of England. As early as September 28, 1684, the first Earl in the Peerage of England had been raised to Baron Godolphin , of Rialton in the County of Cornwall.
When the first earl died, his son Francis inherited the title. From his marriage to Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough , Francis had a son, William Godolphin, Marquess of Blandford , who however died childless before him in 1731. As a result of this death, the title Baron Godolphin , of Helston in the County of Cornwall, was created for the second earl on January 23, 1735 in the Peerage of Great Britain with the special succession arrangement that this title should also be given to male descendants of his deceased uncle Henry Godolphin , Dean of St. Paul's , is inheritable. When the second Earl died in 1766, the latter title fell to his cousin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin , while his other titles became void because he had no surviving male descendants.
List of Earls of Godolphin (1706)
- Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (1645-1712)
- Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin (1678–1766)
Literature and web links
- Charles Kidd, David Williamson (Eds.): Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. St Martin's Press, New York 1990.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
- Godolphin, Earl of (E, 1706-1766) at Cracroft's Peerage