| Admin_History | The title of earl of Derwentwater was originally created for Sir Francis Radclyffe in 1688. Sir Francis was made Baron Tyndale, of Tynedale in Northumberland, as well as Viscount Radclyffe and Langley. He was succeeded by his son Edward, who married Lady Mary Tudor, daughter of Charles II by his mistress, Mary Davis. It was the 3rd earl of Derwentwater, James, who is perhaps the most widely known member of the Radclyffe family. James was brought up in the exile court of St Germain as a companion to the young prince, James Francis Edward Stuart, and succeeded to the family title in 1705. In 1715, he joined the Jacobite cause with his brother, Charles, and was subsequently executed for treason in 1716. Following his death, the Derwentwater title was abolished and the estates were confiscated. However, his son, John, continued to use the title and became titular 4th earl of Derwentwater until his early death in 1731. The 5th earl, Charles, who had fought with James in the '15, had originally escaped to France but was captured thirty years later on his return to support the 1745 uprising and was executed in 1746. Although the earls of Newburgh, James and Anthony, continued as respective titular 6th and 7th earls of Derwentwater later in the century, the male hereditary line died out and the title became extinct in 1814. |