Baron Hesketh

Baron Hesketh, of Hesketh in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 8th Baronet, who had previously briefly represented Enfield in the House of Commons as a Conservative. As of 2006 the titles are held by his grandson, the third Baron, who succeeded his father in 1955. Lord Hesketh held junior ministerial positions in the Conservative administrations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. However, he lost his seat in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the upper chamber of Parliament.

The Hesketh Baronetcy, of Rufford in the County Palatine of Lancaster, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1761 for Thomas Hesketh, with special remainder to his brother Robert, who succeeded him as second Baronet. The latter's great-great-grandson, the fifth Baronet, sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston. His grandson, the eighth Baronet, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hesketh in 1935.

The former seat of the Barons Hesketh was Easton Neston in Northamptonshire. The house was previously the seat of the Fermor family (Earls of Pomfret since 1721), and came into the Hesketh family through the marriage in 1846 of Sir Thomas George Hesketh, 5th Baronet, to Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor, sister and heiress of George Richard William Fermor, 5th and last Earl of Pomfret. However, the house was sold by the current Baron in 2005.

The original seat of the Hesketh family was Rufford Old Hall in the village of Rufford in Lancashire. This house was sold to the National Trust by the first Baron Hesketh in 1936.

Baronets of Rufford (1761)

*Sir Thomas Hesketh, 1st Baronet (1727–1778)
*Sir Robert Hesketh, 2nd Baronet (1728–1798)
*Sir Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh, 3rd Baronet (1777–1842)
*Sir Thomas Henry Hesketh, 4th Baronet (1799–1843)
*Sir Thomas George Hesketh, 5th Baronet (1825–1872)married Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor, daughter of William Fermor, 4th Earl of Pomfret. Through this marriage the Easton Neston estate came into the Hesketh family.
*Sir Thomas Henry Fermor-Hesketh, 6th Baronet (1847–1876)

*Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet (9 May 1849 – 19 April 1924). Fermor-Hesketh was a British baronet and soldier. Born Thomas George Hesketh, he was the second son of Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet, and Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor, daughter of William Fermor, 4th Earl of Pomfret. In 1867 he and his father assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Fermor and in 1876 he succeeded his elder brother as seventh Baronet of Rufford. Fermor-Hesketh gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade and was also an Honorary Colonel in the service of the 4th Battalion, Liverpool Regiment of Militia. In 1880, Sir Thomas was instrumental in the rescue at sea off the coast of Mexico of a number of citizens of San Francisco. In recognition of this, he was honoured by the city, and at a party in his honour he came to the attention of the San Francisco heiress Florence Emily Sharon (1858–1924). Florence Emily Sharon was the daughter of the Hon. William Sharon (1812–1885), who had made an enormous fortune in the gold, silver, banking and hotel business in California and Nevada. The first United States Senator from Nevada, Sharon was also the wealthiest man in the state. By the early 1880s, his empire was such that he was the largest single tax payer in California. When he died in 1885, he left the bulk of his estate to his daughter Florence Emily Sharon — and this she brought with her to the marriage. When her brother died, the whole of the Senator's fortune passed to her. The two were married at the Ralston Hall Mansion of Belmont, California, in 1880, and had two sons. Fermor-Hesketh died penniless on April 19 1924, aged 74, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Thomas, who in 1935 was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hesketh. Lady Fermor-Hesketh died by falling down the stairs at Euston Hall in a rage in September of the same year.

*Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 8th Baronet (1881–1944) (created Baron Hesketh in 1935)

Barons Hesketh (1935)

*Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh (1881–1944)
*Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh (1916–1955)
*Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh (b. 1950)

The Heir Apparent is the present holder's son the Hon. Frederick Hatton Fermor-Hesketh (b. 1988)

ee also

*Earl of Pomfret

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page]