Earl of Dorchester, in the County of Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, was a title 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...

. It was created in 1792 for Joseph Damer, 1st Baron Milton

Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester

Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester was a wealthy landowner particularly associated with the reshaping of Milton Abbey and the creation of the village of Milton Abbas in Dorset, south-west England....

. He was a politician but is best remembered for the reshaping of Milton Abbey

Milton Abbey

Milton Abbey School is a British independent school in the Dorset countryside. It has 227 pupils in six boarding Houses, called Athelstan, Bancks, Damer, Hambro, Middleton and Tregonwell. Founded in 1954, it welcomes boys from 13 to 16 years and is coeducational in the sixth form.The school has a...

 and the creation of the village of Milton Abbas

Milton Abbas

Milton Abbas is a village in Dorset in the south-west of England, approximately seven miles south-west of the market town of Blandford Forum and 11 miles north-east of Dorchester. The village has a population of 766...

 in Dorset. Damer had already been created Baron Milton, of Shronehill in the County of Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, 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 1753 and Baron Milton, of Milton Abbey in the County of Dorset, in the Peerage of Great Britain, in 1762, and was made Viscount Milton, of Milton Abbey

Milton Abbey

Milton Abbey School is a British independent school in the Dorset countryside. It has 227 pupils in six boarding Houses, called Athelstan, Bancks, Damer, Hambro, Middleton and Tregonwell. Founded in 1954, it welcomes boys from 13 to 16 years and is coeducational in the sixth form.The school has a...

 in the County of Dorset, at the same time he was given the earldom. He was succeeded by his elder son, the second Earl. He was a politician and notably served as Chief Secretary for Ireland

Chief Secretary for Ireland

The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...

 between 1794 and 1795. He was unmarried and the titles became extinct on his death in 1808.

The title Countess of Dorchester had previously been created 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 1686, together with the title Baroness Darlington, as life peer

Life peer

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...

ages, for Catherine Sedley, a mistress of King James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

. Both titles became extinct on her death in 1717, but her heirs were Earls of Portmore

Earl of Portmore

Earl of Portmore was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for the Scottish military commander David Colyear, 1st Lord Portmore. He had already been created Lord Portmore in 1699 and was made Lord Colyear and Viscount of Milsington at the same time as he was granted the...

 in the Peerage of Scotland

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

.

Earls of Dorchester (1792)

• Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester
  Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester
  Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester was a wealthy landowner particularly associated with the reshaping of Milton Abbey and the creation of the village of Milton Abbas in Dorset, south-west England....
  
   (1718–1798)
• George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester
  George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester
  George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester PC, PC , styled Viscount Milton between 1792 and 1798, was a British politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1794 and 1795.-Background:...
  
  (1746–1808)