Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford

The Earl of Oxford

Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford KG PC (28 February 1627 – 12 March 1703) was the son of Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford and his wife Beatrix van Hemmend.

Aubrey was a Royalist during the English Civil War, and for this he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was richly rewarded for his loyalty by Charles II after the Restoration in 1660. He later took the side of William of Orange against James II in the Glorious Revolution.

On 12 April 1647, he married Anne Bayning, a daughter of Paul Bayning, 2nd Viscount Bayning. Anne died in 1659 and Aubrey married Diana Kirke. They had five children:

1. Charles, died young
2. Charlotte, died young
3. Lady Diana de Vere, who married King Charles II's illegitimate son, Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans.
4. Mary, died unmarried
5. Henrietta, died unmarried

Since he had no surviving sons, he became the last de Vere Earl of Oxford, one of the longest-lived peerages in the country. The first de Vere earl had received his title from the Empress Matilda in 1141.

Sources

• Stater, Victor (2004-09), "Vere, Aubrey de, twentieth earl of Oxford (1627–1703)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28206, retrieved 2008-11-18 

References

Legal offices
Preceded by Vacant (The Protectorate)	Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1660–1673	Succeeded by The Duke of Monmouth
Military offices
New regiment	Colonel of The Royal Regiment of Horse 1661–1688	Succeeded by The Duke of Berwick
Preceded by Earl of Arran	Colonel of The Royal Regiment of Horse 1688–1703	Succeeded by The Duke of Northumberland
Honorary titles
English Interregnum	Lord Lieutenant of Essex jointly with The Duke of Albemarle 1675–1687 1660–1687	Succeeded by The Lord Petre
Preceded by The Lord Petre	Lord Lieutenant of Essex 1688–1703	Succeeded by The Lord Guilford
Peerage of England
Preceded by Robert de Vere	Earl of Oxford 1632–1703	Dormant