Earl of Selborne, in the County of Southampton, 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 1882 for the lawyer 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 Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne PC , was a British lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...

, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Wolmer, of Blackmoor in the County of Southampton. He had already been made Baron Selborne, of Selborne in the County of Southampton, in 1872, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Both his son, the second Earl, and grandson, the third Earl, were prominent Liberal Unionist politicians. The latter was in 1941 called 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 barony of Selborne. As of 2009 the titles are held by the third Earl's grandson, the fourth Earl. He is one of the ninety elected hereditary peer

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

s that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999

House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...

, and sits as a Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

.

The family seat is Temple Manor, near Selborne

Selborne

Selborne is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of Alton. It will be just within the extreme northern boundary of the proposed South Downs National Park, which is due to take effect in mid-2010....

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.

Earls of Selborne (1882)

• Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne
  Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne
  Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne PC , was a British lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
  
   (1812–1895)
• William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
  William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
  William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne KG, GCMG, PC , styled Viscount Wolmer between 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator.-Background and education:...
  
   (1859–1942)
• Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne
  Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne
  Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne, CH, PC was a British Conservative politician, known as Viscount Wolmer from 1895 to 1941....
  
   (1887–1971)
• John Roundell Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne
  John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne
  John Roundell Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne, GBE, FRS, FIBiol is a British peer and businessman. He is one of the hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999....
  
   (b. 1940)

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 William Lewis Palmer, Viscount Wolmer (b. 1971)

See also

• Ralph Matthew Palmer, 12th Baron Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall