Viscount_Mersey Knowpia

Viscountcy of Mersey
Viscountcy of Mersey
	Blazon Quarterly: 1st and 4th grandquarters: Per bend dancetty Azure and Or a Bend invected between three Crosses Patée in chief and as many Horseshoes in base all counterchanged (Bigham);2nd grandquarter:1st and 4th, Ermine, on a Bend Azure, a Magnetic Needle, pointing to the Polar Star Or (Petty); 2nd and 3rd, Argent, a Saltire Gules, and a Chief, Ermine (FitzMaurice); 3rd grandquarter: 1st, Parted per pale Sable and Argent on a Chaplet four Quatrefoils counterchanged (Nairne); 2nd counterquartered: 1st and 4th, Or on a Fess Gules between three Crosses Patée in chief of the second a Mullet Azure in base three Bezants (Mercer); 2nd and 3rd, Argent a Chevron Sable between three Boars' Heads erased Gules (Elphinstone); 3rd counterquartered: 1st and 4th, Paly of six Or and Sable (Atholl); 2nd, Or a Fess chequy Azure and Argent (Stewart); 3rd, Azure three Mullets Argent within a Double Tressure flory counterflory Or (Murray); 4th, Argent three Martlets Sable (de Flahault).;
Creation date	22 January 1916
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
Present holder	Edward John Hallam Bigham, 5th Viscount Mersey
Heir presumptive	Hon. David Edward Hugh Bigham
Seat(s)	Bignor Park
Motto	I Advance

Viscount Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the lawyer and politician John Bigham, 1st Baron Mersey. He had already been created Baron Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1910, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and also served as Liberal Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 1944 to 1949. His son, the third Viscount, married Katherine Petty-Fitzmaurice, 12th Lady Nairne, the eldest daughter of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne and 10th Lord Nairne. They were both succeeded by their son, the fourth Viscount Mersey and thirteenth Lord Nairne. As of 2017^[update] the titles are held by the latter's son, the fifth Viscount, who succeeded in 2006.

The family seat is Bignor Park, near Pulborough, Sussex.

Viscounts Mersey (1916) edit

John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey (1840–1929)
Charles Clive Bigham, 2nd Viscount Mersey (1872–1956)
Edward Clive Bigham, 3rd Viscount Mersey (1906–1979)
Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey (1934–2006)
Edward John Hallam Bigham, 5th Viscount Mersey (b. 1966)

The heir presumptive (to the Mersey but not Nairne titles) is the present holder's uncle Hon. David Edward Hugh Bigham (b. 1938).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son Charles Richard Petty Bigham (b. 1967).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent's heir apparent is his elder son Caspar Patrick Ronan Bigham (b. 1997)

Family tree edit

Lansdowne Family Tree

Baron Kerry, 1223

Earl of Kerry, 1753

Thomas FitzMaurice
1668–1741
1st Earl of Kerry,
21st Baron Kerry

Viscount FitzMaurice and Baron Dunkeron, 1751
Earl of Shelburne (2nd creation), 1753
Baron Wycombe, 1760

William FitzMaurice
1694–1747
2nd Earl of Kerry,
22nd Baron Kerry

John Petty-Fitzmaurice
1706–1761
1st Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe

Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 1784

Francis Thomas-Fitzmaurice
1740–1818
3rd Earl of Kerry,
23rd Baron Kerry

William Petty-Fitzmaurice
1737–1805
1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
2nd Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe

Baron Nairne

Baron Keith (1st creation: Ireland), 1797
Baron Keith (2nd creation: UK), 1801
Baron Keith (3rd creation: UK), 1803
Viscount Keith (UK), 1814

John Henry Petty
1765–1809
2nd Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
3rd Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe

George Keith Elphinstone
1746–1823
Viscount Keith, Baron Keith (Ire, UK, UK)

Jane Mercer

Viscountcy Keith and Barony Keith (1st creation) extinct, 1801

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice
1780–1863
3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
4th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe
4th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry

Margaret Mercer Elphinstone
1788–1867
Comtesse de Flahaut, 2nd Baroness Keith (Ire, UK), 7th Lady Nairne

Baronies Keith (2nd & 3rd creations) extinct, 1867

Henry Thomas Petty-Fitzmaurice
1816–1866
4th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
5th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe
5th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry

Emily Jane Petty-FitzMaurice
1819–1895
8th Lady Nairne

Baron Mersey, 1910
Viscount Mersey, 1916

Baron Fitzmaurice, 1906

John Charles Bigham
1840–1929
1st Viscount Mersey

Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice
1845–1927
5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
6th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 6th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry, 9th Lord Nairne

Edmond Fitzmaurice
1846–1935
Baron Fitzmaurice

Barony Fitzmaurice extinct, 1935

Charles Clive Bigham
1872–1956
2nd Viscount Mersey

Henry William Edmund Petty-Fitzmaurice
1872–1936
6th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
7th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 7th Earl of Kerry, 25th Baron Kerry, 10th Lord Nairne

Charles Fitzmaurice
1874–1914

Edward Clive Bigham
1906–1979
3rd Viscount Mersey

Katherine Bigham
1912–1995
11th Lady Nairne

Charles Hope Petty-Fitzmaurice
1917–1944
7th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
8th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 8th Earl of Kerry, 26th Baron Kerry, 11th Lord Nairne

George John Charles Mercer Nairne Petty-Fitzmaurice
1912–1999
8th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
9th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 9th Earl of Kerry, 27th Baron Kerry

Richard Maurice Clive Bigham
1934–2006
4th Viscount Mersey, 13th Lord Nairne

David Edward Hugh Bigham
b. 1938
Heir apparent to the Viscountcy Mersey

Charles Maurice Petty-Fitzmaurice
b. 1941
9th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston,
10th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 10th Earl of Kerry, 28th Baron Kerry

Edward John Hallam Bigham
b. 1966
5th Viscount Mersey, 14th Lord Nairne

Charles Richard Petty Bigham
b. 1967
Heir apparent in the heir presumptive to the Viscountcy Mersey

Simon Henry George Petty-Fitzmaurice
b. 1970
styled Earl of Kerry

Flora Bigham, Mistress of Nairne
b. 2003
styled Mistress of Nairne

George Henry Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice
b. 2020
styled Viscount Calne and Calston

Works edit

Mersey (Viscount), Charles Clive Bigham (1901). A Year in China, 1899-1900. Macmillan and Company, limited. Retrieved 1 April 2013.

Notes edit

References edit

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source]} ^{[better source needed]}

External links edit

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey
The Mersey Manuscripts are held at the Parliamentary Archives

Summary