Viscount Mersey, of Toxteth

Toxteth

Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...

 in the County Palatine of Lancaster

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, 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 1916 for the lawyer and politician John Bigham, 1st Baron Mersey

John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey

John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey was a British jurist and politician. After early success as a lawyer, and a less successful spell as a politician, he was appointed a judge, working in commercial law....

. He had already been created Baron Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1910, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, was a Deputy Speaker of 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....

 and also served as 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...

 Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 1944 to 1949. His son, the third Viscount, married Katherine Petty-FitzMaurice, 12th Lady Nairne, the eldest daughter of Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry William Edmund Petty-Fitzmaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne DSO MVO , styled Earl of Kerry until 1927, was a British soldier and politician.-Background:...

 and 10th Lord Nairne

Lord Nairne

Lord Nairne is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which since 1995 is held by the Viscount Mersey. It was created in 1681 for the Scottish lawyer Sir Robert Nairne, with remainder to his son-in-law Lord William Murray, fourth son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. Nairne notably served as a...

. They were both succeeded by their son, the fourth Viscount Mersey and thirteenth Lord Nairne

Lord Nairne

Lord Nairne is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which since 1995 is held by the Viscount Mersey. It was created in 1681 for the Scottish lawyer Sir Robert Nairne, with remainder to his son-in-law Lord William Murray, fourth son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. Nairne notably served as a...

. the titles are held by the latter's son, the fifth Viscount, who succeeded in 2006.

The family seat is Bignor Park, near Pulborough

Pulborough

Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north-south A29 and the east-west roads.The village is near the...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

.

Viscounts Mersey (1916)

• John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
  John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
  John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey was a British jurist and politician. After early success as a lawyer, and a less successful spell as a politician, he was appointed a judge, working in commercial law....
  
   (1840–1929)
• Charles Clive Bigham, 2nd Viscount Mersey (1872–1956)
• Edward Clive Bigham, 3rd Viscount Mersey (1906–1979)
• Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey (1934–2006)
• Edward John Hallam Bigham, 5th Viscount Mersey (b. 1966)

The heir presumptive

Heir Presumptive

An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...

 to the barony and viscountcy of Mersey is the present holder's uncle the Hon. David Edward Hugh Bigham (b. 1938)

The heiress presumptive

Heir Presumptive

An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...

to the lordship of Nairne is the present holder's daughter the Hon. Flora Diana Joan Bigham, Mistress of Nairne (b. 2003)