Earl of Ducie 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 1837 for Thomas Reynolds Moreton, 4th Baron Ducie. The family descends from Edward Moreton (17th century), who married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Ducie. Their son Matthew Ducie Moreton represented Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

The constituency of Gloucestershire was a UK Parliamentary constituency. After it was abolished under the 1832 Electoral Reform Act, two new constituencies, West Gloucestershire and East Gloucestershire, were created....

 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 1720 he was raised to 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...

 as Lord Ducie, Baron of Moreton, in the County of Stafford. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He was also a 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,...

 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. In 1763 he was created Baron Ducie, of Tortworth in the County of Gloucester, with remainder to the sons of his sister Elizabeth Reynolds. This title was also in the Peerage of Great Britain.

On his death in 1770 the barony of 1720 became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of 1763 according to the special remainder by his nephew, the second Baron. He assumed the surname of Moreton by Act of Parliament in 1771. He died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He had earlier represented Lancaster

Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)

Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England...

 in Parliament. Lord Ducie assumed the surname of Moreton by Act of Parliament in 1786. Remote Ducie Island

Ducie Island

Ducie Island is an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Islands. It lies east of Pitcairn and has a total area of , which includes the lagoon. It is long, measured northeast to southwest, and about wide. The island is composed of four islets: Acadia, Pandora, Westward and Edwards.Despite its...

 in the South Pacific is named after him. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. In 1837 he was created Baron Moreton, of Tortworth in the County of Gloucester, and Earl of Ducie. These titles are 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...

.

His son, the second Earl, represented Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire East in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Earl. He was a 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 and served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...

 from 1859 to 1866 under Lord Palmerston

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...

 and Lord Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....

. His only son Henry Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton

Henry Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton

Henry Haughton Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton , was a British Liberal Party politician.Moreton was the son of Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie, and his wife Elizabeth...

, sat as Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire West. However, he predeceased his father and on Lord Ducie's death the titles passed to his younger brother, the fourth Earl. He was a sheep and cattle farmer in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and also held several political offices in the state government. His son, the fifth Earl, was a dairy and fruit farmer in Australia. He was succeeded by his nephew, the sixth Earl. He was the son of the Hon. Algernon Howard Moreton, second son of the fourth Earl. the titles are held by his eldest son, the seventh Earl, who succeeded in 1991.

The Hon. Augustus Macdonald

Augustus Macdonald

The Hon. Augustus Henry Moreton Macdonald of Largie , born Augustus Moreton, was a British Whig politician and writer.-Background:...

 (who assumed the surname of Macdonald in lieu of Moreton), younger son of the first Earl, was a politician and writer.

The ancestral seat of the Moreton family was Tortworth Court

Tortworth Court

Tortworth Court is a Victorian mansion in South Gloucestershire built in Tudor style between 1848 and 1853 by Lord Ducie. Its architect was Samuel Sanders Teulon. During World War II the Grade II listed mansion became a naval training base for coding and signals, under the name of HMS Cabbala, and...

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. Another family seats was Spring Park, Gloucestershire, which was demolished and replaced with the incomplete Woodchester Mansion

Woodchester Mansion

Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house located in Woodchester Park near Nympsfield in Woodchester, Gloucestershire, England...

.

Barons Ducie, First creation (1720)

• Matthew Ducie Moreton, 1st Baron Ducie (1663–1735)
• Matthew Ducie Moreton, 2nd Baron Ducie (1695–1770) (created Baron Ducie in 1763; barony of 1720 extinct on his death)

Barons Ducie, Second creation (1763)

• Matthew Ducie Moreton, 1st Baron Ducie (1695–1770)
• Thomas Reynolds Moreton, 2nd Baron Ducie (1733–1785)
• Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie
  Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie
  Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie was a British politician and naval officer.He served in the Royal Navy, being commissioned lieutenant with a date of seniority of 12 April 1762. By the outbreak of the American War of Independence he had been promoted Captain and was stationed in the West...
  
   (1739–1808)
• Thomas Reynolds Moreton, 4th Baron Ducie (1766–1840) (created Earl of Ducie in 1837)

Earls of Ducie (1837)

• Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie (1766–1840)
• Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie
  Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie
  Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie , styled the Hon. Henry Reynolds-Moreton from 1808 to 1837 and the Lord Moreton from 1837 to 1840, was a British Whig politician, agriculturalist and cattle breeder.Ducie was the son of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and his wife...
  
   (1802–1853)
• Henry John Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie
  Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie
  Henry John Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie GCVO, PC, FRS, JP , styled Lord Moreton between 1840 and 1853, was a British courtier and Liberal Party politician. He notably served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1859 to 1866...
  
   (1827–1921)
  • Henry Haughton Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton
    Henry Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton
    Henry Haughton Reynolds-Moreton, Lord Moreton , was a British Liberal Party politician.Moreton was the son of Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie, and his wife Elizabeth...
    
     (1857–1920)
• Berkeley Basil Moreton, 4th Earl of Ducie
  Berkeley Moreton, 4th Earl of Ducie
  Berkeley Basil Moreton, 4th Earl of Ducie was a British peer and a politician and pastoralist in Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly at various times from 1871 until 1922, but not continuously. In 1920, his brother Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie died and...
  
   (1834–1924)
• Capel Henry Berkeley Reynolds Moreton, 5th Earl of Ducie (1875–1952)
• Basil Howard Moreton, 6th Earl of Ducie (1917–1991)
• David Leslie Moreton, 7th Earl of Ducie (b. 1951)

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 son James Berkeley Moreton, Lord Moreton (b. 1981)