Baron Westbury

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Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury

The Baron Westbury, of Westbury in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1861 for the lawyer and Liberal politician Richard Bethell on his appointment as Lord Chancellor, a post he held until 1865. The title descended in the direct line until the death of his great-great-grandson, the fourth baron (who succeeded his grandfather), in 1961. The fourth baron was succeeded by his younger brother, the fifth baron. He was equerry to His Royal Highness Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester from 1947 to 1949 and also served as Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire in 1973. As of 2010 the title is held by his son, the sixth baron, who succeeded in 2001.

Barons Westbury (1861)

• Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury (1800–1873)
• Richard Augustus Bethell, 2nd Baron Westbury (1830–1875)
• Richard Luttrell Pilkington Bethell, 3rd Baron Westbury (1852–20 February 1930). Believed to have thrown himself from his seventh floor St James's apartment. He left a note that read: "I really cannot stand any more horrors and hardly see what good I am going to do here, so I am making my exit." His son the Honourable Captain Richard Bethell was found smothered to death at a Mayfair club.
• Richard Morland Tollemache Bethell, 4th Baron Westbury (1914–1961)
• David Allan Bethell, 5th Baron Westbury (1922–2001)
• Richard Nicholas Bethell, 6th Baron Westbury (b. 1950)

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