Earl Of Chester

The English County of Chester has been a County Palatine since the earliest times. It may however have been created in 1070 by King William The Conqueror to keep an eye on the Welsh. It reverted to the Crown in 1237 on the death of John The Scot, Earl Of Huntingdon , seventh and last of the palatine earls. It was annexed to the Crown in 1246. King Henry III then passed the earldom to his son Prince Edward in 1254, and as King Edward I he in turn conferred it first on his third son and then on his fourth son, Edward, the first Prince of Wales.

The establishment of royal control at Chester made possible King Edward I's conquest of north Wales, and Chester played a vital part as a supply base during the Welsh Wars (1275-84), so the separate organisation of a county palatine was preserved. This continued until the time of King Henry VIII . Since 1301 the earldom of Chester has always been conferred on the Princes of Wales.

Briefly erected into a Principality in 1398 by King Richard II , in 1399 King Henry IV settled it on the heir to the throne. But whereas the Sovereign's eldest son is born Duke of Cornwall he must be made or created Earl of Chester (and Prince of Wales; see the ''Prince Henry's Charter Case'' (1611) 1 Bulst 133; 80 ER 827). Prince Charles was created Earl of Chester on 26th July 1958, when he was also made Prince of Wales and Earl of Carrick.

The palatine jurisdiction of Chester survived until the time of King Henry VIII (1536), when the absorption of Wales into the English legal system rendered it unnecessary. However, the Exchequer Court of Chester lingered on until 1830, when it was abolished.

The importance of the royal county of Chester is shown by the survival of Chester Herald , in the College Of Arms , currently Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke , for some six hundred years. The office has anciently been nominally under the jurisdiction of Norroy King Of Arms .

EARLS OF CHESTER, FIRST CREATION ( 1071 )

Hugh D'Avranches, 1st Earl Of Chester (d. 1101 )

Richard D'Avranches, 2nd Earl Of Chester ( 1094 - 1120 )

EARLS OF CHESTER, SECOND CREATION ( 1121 )

Ranulph Le Meschin, 1st Earl Of Chester (d. c. 1129 )

Ranulph De Gernon, 2nd Earl Of Chester (d. c. 1153 )

Hugh De Kevelioc, 3rd Earl Of Chester ( 1147 - 1181 )

Ranulph De Blondeville, 4th Earl Of Chester (c. 1172 - 1232 )

EARLS OF CHESTER, THIRD CREATION ( 1232 )

John De Scotia, 9th Earl Of Huntingdon, 1st Earl Of Chester (c. 1207 - 1237 )

EARLS OF CHESTER, FOURTH CREATION ( 1254 )

Edward, Earl Of Chester ( 1239 - 1307 ) (became King in 1272)

EARLS OF CHESTER, FIFTH CREATION ( 1264 )

Simon De Montfort, 6th Earl Of Leicester, 1st Earl Of Chester ( 1208 - 1265 ) (forfeit 1265)

EARLS OF CHESTER, SIXTH CREATION ( 1284 )

Alphonso, Earl Of Chester ( 1273 - 1284 )

EARLS OF CHESTER, SEVENTH CREATION ( 1301 )

Edward Plantagenet, Earl Of Chester ( 1284 - 1327 ) (became King in 1307)

EARLS OF CHESTER, EIGHTH CREATION ( 1312 )

Edward Plantagenet, Earl Of Chester ( 1312 - 1377 ) (became King in 1327)

''Thereafter, the Earldom of Chester was created in conjunction with the Principality of Wales. See Prince Of Wales for further Earls of Chester.''

Sources:

BE Harris, "Administrative History" in CR Elrington (ed), The Victoria County History of Chester (University of London Institute of Historical Research, London, 1979) vol II 1-97

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Earl Of Chester

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