Baron Heytesbury

Baron Heytesbury, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1828 for the prominent politician and diplomat Sir William à Court, 2nd Baronet, who later served as Ambassador to Russia and as Viceroy of Ireland. His son, the second Baron, sat as Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight. On his marriage in 1837 to Elizabeth Holmes, daughter of Sir Leonard Worsley Holmes, Lord Heytesbury assumed the additional surname of Holmes. As of 2009 the titles are held by his great-great-great-grandson, the seventh Baron, who succeeded his father in 2004.

The Baronetcy, of Heytesbury House in the County of Wiltshire, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain on 4 July 1795 for the first Baron father, William à Court. He was a colonel in the army and represented Heytesbury in the House of Commons. His father, William Ashe-à Court, was a general in the army and also sat as a Member of Parliament for Heytesbury.

The present Lord Heytesbury still owns property at Heytesbury, and the fifth Baron died there in 1971, while living at a house in the village called Westover.^[1]

A junior line of the family has attained fortune and fame in Australia, thanks to the business empire of Robert Holmes à Court, who was of South African birth, and his Western Australian wife Janet Holmes à Court, now one of Australia's richest women. Their vast business interests are managed through Heytesbury Pty Ltd, a company named after the family peerage. The current Heir Presumptive, Peter Holmes à Court, belongs to the Australian branch of the family.

à Court, Baronets of Heytesbury (1795)

Sir William Pierce Ashe à Court, 1st Baronet (c. 1747–1817)
Sir William à Court, 2nd Baronet (1779–1860) (created Baron Heytesbury in 1828)

Barons Heytesbury (1828)

William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury (1779–1860)
William Henry Ashe à Court-Holmes, 2nd Baron Heytesbury (1809–1891)
William Frederick Holmes à Court, 3rd Baron Heytesbury (1862–1903), buried at Heytesbury^[2]
Colonel Leonard Holmes à Court, 4th Baron Heytesbury (1863–1949), an officer of the Wiltshire Regiment,^[3] buried at Longbridge Deverill^[4]
William Leonard Frank Holmes à Court, 5th Baron Heytesbury (1906–1971)
Francis William Holmes à Court, 6th Baron Heytesbury (1931–2004)
James William Holmes à Court, 7th Baron Heytesbury (b. 1967)

The Heir Presumptive is the present holder's third cousin Peter Michael Hamilton Holmes à Court (b. 1968). He is a a great-great-great-grandson of the 2nd Baron Heytesbury.

References

^ Deaths in The Times, November 30, 1971; pg. 26; col. A
^ The Times, August 19, 1903, pg. 7, col F
^ Old Comrades of the Wiltshire Regiment in The Times, August 17, 1936, pg. 7, col. D
^ The Times, February 8, 1949, pg. 7, col. B

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

[1] Deaths in The Times, November 30, 1971; pg. 26; col. A

[2] The Times, August 19, 1903, pg. 7, col F

[3] Old Comrades of the Wiltshire Regiment in The Times, August 17, 1936, pg. 7, col. D

[4] The Times, February 8, 1949, pg. 7, col. B

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