Earl of Kent (original) (raw)

The title of the Earl of Kent has been discontinuous throughout history it is successor to the kingss and underkings of Kent. More recent successions are known as Duke of Kent.

Earls of Kent, pre-Conquest

• Godwin (1020-1053)
• Leofwin Godwinson (1053-1066)

Earls of Kent, first Creation (1066)

• Odo of Bayeux, Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux (d. 1082)

Earls of Kent, second Creation (1227)

• Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent (d. 1232)
• Hubert de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 1243)

Earls of Kent, third Creation (1321)

• Edmund Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (d. 1330)
• Edmund Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 1331)
• John Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Kent (d. 1352)
• Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent (d. 1360)
• Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 1397)
• Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, also 3rd Earl of Kent (d. 1400)
• Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)

Earls of Kent, fourth Creation (1461)

• William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent (d. 1463)

Earls of Kent, fifth Creation (1465)

The Greys were a baronial family with substantial property in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and later around Ruthin in Wales. They rose to greater prominence during the Wars of the Roses. Edmund Grey, Lord Grey of Ruthin, started out a Lancastrian, but switched to the Yorkist side at the Battle of Northampton. He was a member of Edward IV's council, became Lord Treasurer in 1463/4, was created Earl of Kent in 1465 and was keeper of the Tower of London in 1470. He remained loyal through Richard III's accesion, taking part in his coronation (1483).

Edmund's son George, the 2nd Earl, had continued as a Yorkist, marrying Anne Woodville, a sister of Edward IV's queen Elizabeth Woodville. (He is not related to Elizabeth's first husband Sir John Grey or to their descendants the Marquesses of Dorset.) He later married Catherine Herbert, daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

The third earl, Richard, was the son of 2nd earl and Anne Woodville. He wound up heavily in debt, probably through gambling, and was forced to alienate most of his property. A good part ended up in the crown's hands; historians disagree regarding what this says about Henry VII's relationship with the aristocracy.

He was succeed as earl by his half-brother Henry, son of the 2nd earl and Catherine Herbert. Henry tried, with little success, to reacquire the property Richard had sold, and had to live as a modest gentleman, never formally taking title as earl.

• Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent (d. 1490)
• George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 1503)
• Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent (c. 1481-1524)
• Henry Grey, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1562)
• Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent (d. 1573)
• Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent (d. 1615)
• Charles Grey, 7th Earl of Kent (d. 1623)
• Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent (c. 1583-1639)
• Anthony Grey, 9th Earl of Kent (1557-1643)
• Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent (1594-1651)
• Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent (1645-1702)
• Henry Grey, 12th Earl of Kent (1671-1740) (became Marquess of Kent in 1706, Duke of Kent in 1710)

References

G.W. Bernard, "The Fortunes of the Greys, Earls of Kent, in the Early Sixteenth Century", The Historical Journal, 25 (1982), 671-685