Marquess of Reading 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 1926 for Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading

Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading

Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...

, the former Viceroy of India and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...

. He had already been created Baron Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1914, Viscount Reading, of Erleigh

Earley

Earley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The Office for National Statistics places Earley within the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area, for purposes of local government it falls within the Borough of Wokingham, outside of the jurisdiction of Reading Borough Council. The name...

 in the County of Berkshire, in 1916, and Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh

Earley

Earley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The Office for National Statistics places Earley within the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area, for purposes of local government it falls within the Borough of Wokingham, outside of the jurisdiction of Reading Borough Council. The name...

 in the County of Berkshire, and Earl of Reading, in 1917. The marquessate is the highest title in the British peerage ever attained by a Jew, and is the junior-most extant Marquessate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Lord Reading was succeeded by his son, the second Marquess. He notably held ministerial office from 1951 to 1957 in the Conservative administrations

Conservative Government 1951-1957

The Conservative Party came to power in the United Kingdom after victory in the 1951 general election. This was the first purely Conservative government since Stanley Baldwin's 1924-1929 administration. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister for a second time. The administration saw several...

 of Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 and Anthony Eden

Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...

. the titles are held by his grandson, the fourth Marquess, who succeeded his father in 1980. The Isaacs family lived until recently at Jaynes Court, Bisley, Gloucestershire

Bisley, Gloucestershire

Bisley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, approximately east of Stroud. The parish is today united administratively with the adjoining parish of Lypiatt and the two are usually referred to as Bisley-with-Lypiatt...

.

In May 1804, the title of Baron Reading was offered to the outgoing Prime Minister, Henry Addington

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC was a British statesman, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804....

, who had many links with the town, as a subsidiary title of the customary retirement Earldom for Prime Ministers. However, Addington refused the honour, though later accepting a peerage as Viscount Sidmouth

Viscount Sidmouth

Viscount Sidmouth, of Sidmouth in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1805 for the former Prime Minister, Henry Addington. In May 1804, King George III intended to confer the titles of Earl of Banbury, Viscount Wallingford and Baron Reading on...

. See also 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...

.

Marquesses of Reading (1926)

• Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
  Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
  Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
  
   (1860–1935)
• Gerald Rufus Isaacs, 2nd Marquess of Reading
  Gerald Isaacs, 2nd Marquess of Reading
  Gerald Rufus Isaacs, 2nd Marquess of Reading GCMG, CBE, MC, TD, PC, QC , styled Viscount Erleigh from 1917 to 1935, was a British barrister and Conservative politician.-Background and education:...
  
   (1889–1960)
• Michael Alfred Rufus Isaacs, 3rd Marquess of Reading (1916–1980)
• Simon Charles Henry Rufus Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading (b. 1942)

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 Julian Michael Rufus Isaacs, Viscount Erleigh (b. 1986)