Earl of Bristol is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first creation came 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....

 in 1622 in favour of the politician and diplomat John Digby

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol , was an English diplomat and a moderate royalist during the English Civil War.- Early career :...

 who served for many years as Ambassador to Spain, and had already been created Baron Digby of Sherborne, in the County of Dorset, in 1618, also in the Peerage of England. Digby was the brother of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire

Coleshill, Warwickshire

Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...

, whose son also Robert Digby

Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby

Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby was an Anglo-Irish peer.Digby was the son of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire and Lettice FitzGerald, of Geashill, Ireland, granddaughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare. John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, was his uncle, and Essex Digby, Bishop of...

 became 1st Baron Digby of Geashill

Geashill

Geashill is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated between the towns of Tullamore and Portarlington on the R420 regional road. Geashill has a Church of Ireland church, a shop, a petrol station, post office, primary school, a Gaelic Athletic Association and two pubs, .-History:The...

 in the Peerage of Ireland

Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...

 in 1620. (See the article Baron Digby

Baron Digby

Baron Digby, of Geashill in the King's County, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1620 for Robert Digby, Governor of King's County. He was the nephew of John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol. Lord Digby's grandson, the third Baron, and the latter's younger brothers the fourth and...

 for more information on this other branch of the family).

He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He was a prominent statesman and served as Secretary of State for King Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. In 1641 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....

 through a writ of acceleration

Writ of acceleration

A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, was a type of writ of summons to the British House of Lords that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with multiple peerage titles to attend the British House of Lords or Irish House of Lords, using one of his father's...

 in his father's junior title of Baron Digby of Sherborne. When he died the titles passed to his son, the third Earl. 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 Dorset

Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)

Dorset was a county constituency covering Dorset in southern England, which elected two Members of Parliament , traditionally known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England from 1290 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of...

 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset. He was childless and the titles became extinct on his death in 1698.

The second creation of the earldom came in the Peerage of Great Britain

Peerage of Great Britain

The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...

 in 1714. For more information on this creation, see the Marquess of Bristol

Marquess of Bristol

Marquess of Bristol is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom held by the Hervey family since 1826. The Marquess's subsidiary titles are: Earl of Bristol , Earl Jermyn, of Horningsheath in the County of Suffolk , and Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the County of Suffolk...

.

Earls of Bristol, First creation (1622)

• John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol
  John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol
  John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol , was an English diplomat and a moderate royalist during the English Civil War.- Early career :...
  
   (1586–1653)
• George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
  George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
  George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...
  
   (1612–1677)
• John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol
  John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol
  John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol was a British peer and Member of Parliament, styled Lord Digby from 1653 to 1677....
  
  (c. 1635–1698)