Baron Gerard

Gilbert, 2nd Baron Gerard (d.1622). Gerard Chapel, Church of St John the Baptist, Ashley, Staffordshire.

The Gerard Family: Thomas, 1st Baron Gerard (kneeling); Gilbert Gerard, Attorney General 1559-81; Anne Radcliffe. Gerard Memorial, Ashley.

There have been three baronies created for descendants of the Gerard family who resided at Bryn, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire and Kingsley, Cheshire, in the 13th century.

The title Baron Gerard, of Gerards Bromley, was created in the Peerage of England on 21 July 1603 for Sir Thomas Gerard (d. 1617), son of Sir Gilbert Gerard (d. 1593) Attorney General between 1559 and 1581 and Master of the Rolls in 1581, who acquired estates at Gerards Bromley and Hilderstone, Staffordshire. The first Baron was Lord President of Wales between 1616 and 1617. The barony passed in direct line of succession until the death of the fifth Baron in 1684 when it passed to his second cousin Charles, and upon his death without a male heir, to his brother Philip Gerard, a Jesuit priest who died childless in 1773 when the barony expired.

The title of Baron Gerard of Bryn in the County Palatine of Lancaster, was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1876 for Sir Robert Gerard, 13th Baronet. The title followed the line of the first Baron's eldest son until the death of the latter's grandson, the fourth Baron, in 1992. He was succeeded by his second cousin once removed, the fifth and (As of 2010) present holder of the barony. He is the great grandson of Captain the Hon. Robert Joseph Gerard-Dicconson, second son of the first Baron. The family seat was originally Bryn Hall, Ashton-in-Makerfield, but later Garswood Hall, followed by New Hall, a majestic, modernist, building of considerable size.

A Gerard Baronetcy had been created in the Baronetage of England in 1611 for Thomas Gerard, Member of Parliament for Liverpool, Lancashire, and Wigan who was a direct descendant of the family of Bryn. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He also represented Liverpool in the House of Commons. His son, the third Baronet, was a Royalist during the Civil War and spent a large part of his estate in his support for King Charles I. His great-great-great-grandson was the aforementioned thirteenth Baronet, who was elevated to the peerage in 1876.

For the title Baron Gerard of Brandon, in the County of Suffolk, created in 1645 for a great-grandson of Sir Gilbert Gerard (mentioned above), see Earl of Macclesfield.

Barons Gerard, of Gerards Bromley First creation (1603)

• Thomas Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard (d. 1617)
• Gilbert Gerard, 2nd Baron Gerard (d. 1622)
• Dutton Gerard, 3rd Baron Gerard (1613–1640)
• Charles Gerard, 4th Baron Gerard (1634–1667)
• Digby Gerard, 5th Baron Gerard (1662–1684)
• Charles Gerard, 6th Baron Gerard (1659–1707)
• Philip Gerard, 7th Baron Gerard (1665–1733)

Gerard Baronets, of Bryn (1611)

• Sir Thomas Gerard, 1st Baronet (1560–1621)
• Sir Thomas Gerard, 2nd Baronet (c. 1584–1630)
• Sir William Gerard, 3rd Baronet (1612–1681)
• Sir William Gerard, 4th Baronet (1638–1702)
• Sir William Gerard, 5th Baronet (1662–1721)
• Sir William Gerard, 6th Baronet (1697–1732)
• Sir William Gerard, 7th Baronet (1721–1740)
• Sir Thomas Gerard, 8th Baronet (c. 1723–1780)
• Sir Robert Gerard, 9th Baronet (c. 1725–1784)
• Sir Robert Gerard, 10th Baronet (d. 1791)
• Sir William Gerard, 11th Baronet (1773–1826)
• Sir John Gerard, 12th Baronet (1804–1854)
• Sir Robert Gerard, 13th Baronet (1808–1887) (created Baron Gerard in 1876)

Barons Gerard, of Bryn Second creation (1876)

"a new peer". Caricature of Robert Tolver Gerard by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1878.

• Robert Tolver Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard (12 May 1808 – 15 March 1887). Gerard was the younger son of John Gerard and his wife Elizabeth (née Ferrers). He succeeded his elder brother in the baronetcy in 1854. In 1876 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Gerard, of Bryn in the County Palatine of Lancaster. Lord Gerard married Harriet, daughter of Edward Clifton, in 1849. He died in March 1887, aged 78, and was succeeded in his titles by his son William. Lady Gerard died in 1888.
• William Cansfield Gerard, 2nd Baron Gerard (1851–1902). His daughter Ethel (1881-1966) married the Liechtenstein nobleman Baron Arnold Maurice de Bendern.
• Frederic John Gerard, 3rd Baron Gerard (1883–1953)
• Robert William Frederick Alwyn Gerard, 4th Baron Gerard (1918–1992)
• Anthony Robert Hugo Gerard, 5th Baron Gerard (b. 1949)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son Hon. Rupert Bernard Charles Gerard (b. 1981).

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages