Baron Coleridge, of Ottery St Mary

Ottery St Mary

Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery" , is a town in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about ten miles east of Exeter on the B3174. It is part of a large civil parish of the same name, which also covers the villages of West Hill, Metcombe, Fairmile, Alfington, Tipton St...

 in the County of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

. It was created in 1874 for the prominent lawyer, judge and Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician Sir John Coleridge

John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge PC was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.-Background and...

. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1880 to 1894. His son, the second Baron, represented Attercliffe in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 and served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

. the title is held by the latter's great-grandson, the fifth Baron, who succeeded in 1984.

The first Baron was the son of Sir John Taylor Coleridge

John Taylor Coleridge

Sir John Taylor Coleridge was an English judge, the second son of Captain James Coleridge and nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.-Life:...

 and the great-nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...

.

The ancestral home of the Coleridge family is The Chanter's House in Ottery St Mary. In October 2006 the increasing costs of maintaining the property caused the family trust

Trust law

In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...

 to put the property up for sale and auction the contents.

Barons Coleridge (1874)

• John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge
  John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge
  John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge PC was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.-Background and...
  
   (1821–1894)
• Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge
  Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge
  Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge QC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1894 when he inherited his peerage....
  
   (1851–1927)
• Geoffrey Duke Coleridge, 3rd Baron Coleridge (1877–1955)
• Richard Duke Coleridge, 4th Baron Coleridge (1905–1984)
• William Duke Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge (b. 1937)

The heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

is the present holder's only son The Hon. James Duke Coleridge (b. 1967)