The peerage

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 title of Viscount Launceston, named for Launceston in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, has been twice created, each time for an individual connected with the British Royal Family

British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

.

The first creation was 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...

, when Prince Frederick Lewis

Frederick, Prince of Wales

Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...

, eldest son of the Prince of Wales

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...

, was created Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...

, Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham

Earl of Eltham

The title of Earl of Eltham has been created two times as a subsidiary title. The first creation was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1726 as a subsidiary title for the Duke of Edinburgh, eldest son of the Prince of Wales...

, Viscount of Launceston and Baron of Snaudon, on 26 July 1726. These titles merged with the Crown when the grantee's son succeeded as King George III

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

 on 25 October 1760.

The second creation was 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...

, when Sir Alexander Mountbatten

Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke

Alexander Albert Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, GCB, GCVO, GJStJ was a member of the Hessian princely Battenberg family and the extended British Royal Family, a grandson of Queen Victoria...

 (formerly Prince Alexander of Battenberg), eldest son of the late Prince Henry of Battenberg

Prince Henry of Battenberg

Colonel Prince Henry of Battenberg was a morganatic descendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse, later becoming a member of the British Royal Family, through his marriage to Princess Beatrice.-Early life:...

 and of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom

Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom

The Princess Beatrice was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Juan Carlos, King of Spain, is her great-grandson...

, was created Marquess of Carisbrooke

Marquess of Carisbrooke

The title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1917 for Prince Alexander of Battenberg, eldest son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg...

, Earl of Berkhampsted and Viscount Launceston, on 18 July 1917. These titles became extinct on the grantee's death on 23 February 1960.

First creation (1726)

• see Duke of Edinburgh
  Duke of Edinburgh
  The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
  
  , first creation

The precise text of the Gazette for this creation reads "Viscount of Launceston". It is, however, common to see the "of" retroactively dropped in modern references.

Sources

• http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersL1.htm
• http://www.peerages.info/peerages2.htm#19170718