Earl Poulett was a title in the Peerage of England

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

. It was created in 1706 for John Poulett, 4th Baron Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett KG was the son of John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett and his wife Susan Herbert, daughter of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke....

. The Poulett family descended from Sir Anthony Poulett, who served as Governor of Jersey and as Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

. His eldest son Sir John Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett, was an English sailor and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1621 and was later raised to the peerage....

 represented Somerset

Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...

 and Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis (UK Parliament constituency)

Lyme Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1868, when the borough was abolished.-1295-1629:...

 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...

. In 1627 he was raised to the Peerage of England

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

 as Baron Poulett, of Hinton St George

Hinton St George

Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....

 in the County of Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

. Lord Poulett later supported the Royalist cause in the Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He sat as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Stamford

Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)

Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...

 and later fought as an officer in the Royalist Army in the Civil War. His son, the third Baron, represented Somerset in Parliament and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset.

He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. He was a commissioner for the Treaty of Union

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

 with Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. In 1706 he was created Viscount Hinton and Earl Poulett in the Peerage of England

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

. Lord Poulett later served as First Lord of the Treasury

First Lord of the Treasury

The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is now always also the Prime Minister...

 and as Lord Steward of the Household. When he died the titles passed to his eldest son, the second Earl. He was summoned to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 as Lord Poulett in his father's lifetime and also served as Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset. He died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament for Bridgwater

Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, until 2010 when it was replaced by the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency...

 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Devon. His son, the fourth Earl, was Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the fifth Earl. On his death the titles passed to his nephew, the sixth Earl. He was the third son of Vice-Admiral the Hon. George Poulett, second son of the fourth Earl.

The sixth earl was heavily involved in steeplechasing as a racehorse owner whose cerise and blue colours were most famed for being carried to victory twice in the Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

 in 1868 and 1871 by The Lamb 

On the sixth Earl's death in 1899 a dispute arose over the succession to the titles. The titles were claimed by William Turnour Thomas Poulett, born to the Earl's first wife Elizabeth Lavinia during her marriage to Lord Poulett. He was born within wedlock and had styled himself "Viscount Hinton". His mother claimed that the Earl was his father, but this was widely believed to be untrue, including by the Earl himself (his father was instead believed to be Captain William Turnour Granville). In 1903 the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords rejected William Turnour Thomas Poulett's claim to the titles. This was an interesting legal case as the House of Lords rejected the doctrine of pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant – that any child born within wedlock is always believed to fathered by the husband (see the Earl of Banbury

Earl of Banbury

Earl of Banbury was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for William Knollys. He had already been created Baron Knollys in 1603 and Viscount Wallingford in 1616, both in the Peerage of England. The titles are considered to have become extinct on his death in 1632. However, the...

 for a similar case). The Committee for Privileges instead decided that the rightful heir was the late Earl's son from his third marriage, William John Lydston Poulett, who became the seventh Earl Poulett. He fought in the First World War as a Captain in the Royal Horse Artillery

Royal Horse Artillery

The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...

 and died on active service in 1918. He was succeeded by his only son, the eighth Earl. He was childless, though married thrice, and on his death in 1973 all his titles became extinct.

Lady Bridgett Poulett (1912-1975), the only sibling of the 8th Earl, was considered to be one of the most strikingly beautiful women of her time and generation.
The ancestral family seat was Hinton House in the village of Hinton St George

Hinton St George

Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....

, Somerset. The Hinton Estate was sold by the 8th and last Earl Poulett in 1968 after which Lord and Lady Poulett settled in Jersey, Channel Islands. Since the 8th Earl lacked direct heirs and his sister Lady Bridget Poulett was childless, Hinton House was later subdivided into luxury flats.

Barons Poulett (1627)

• John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett, was an English sailor and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1621 and was later raised to the peerage....
  
   (1585–1649)
• John Poulett, 2nd Baron Poulett
  John Poulett, 2nd Baron Poulett
  John Poulett, 2nd Baron Poulett , of Hinton St George in Somerset, was an English peer and Member of Parliament who fought on the Royalist side during the English Civil War....
  
   (1615–1665)
• John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett (1641–1679)
• John Poulett, 4th Baron Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett KG was the son of John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett and his wife Susan Herbert, daughter of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke....
  
   (1663–1743) (created Earl Poulett in 1706)

Earls Poulett (1706)

• John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett
  John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett KG was the son of John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett and his wife Susan Herbert, daughter of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke....
  
   (1663–1743)
• John Poulett, 2nd Earl Poulett
  John Poulett, 2nd Earl Poulett
  John Poulett, 2nd Earl Poulett was an English peer, known as Viscount Hinton from birth until 1743....
  
   (1708–1764)
• Vere Poulett, 3rd Earl Poulett (1710–1788)
• John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett (1756–1819)
• John Poulett, 5th Earl Poulett (1783–1864)
• William Henry Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett (1827–1899)
• William John Lydston Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett (1883–1918)
• George Amias Fitzwarrine Poulett, 8th Earl Poulett (1909–1973)