Viscount

Astor, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount, 1848-1919, American-British financier, b. New York City, educated in Germany and in Italy and at the Columbia law school; son of John Jacob Astor (1822-90). He served as a state assemblyman and senator, but his political career was halted by his failure to win an election to the U.S. Congress. He was then appointed minister to Italy (1881-85). In 1890 he moved to England, where he acquired control of a newspaper and several magazines. He also founded—mainly to forward the literary ambition he had shown in two mediocre novels—Pall Mall Magazine. His estates, Cliveden and Hever Castle, were magnificent, his entertainments extravagant, his contributions to public causes—especially in World War I—munificent. He was made a baron in 1916 and a viscount in 1917.

His elder son, Waldorf Astor, 1879-1952, succeeded him as viscount and was a leader of "Tory democracy." His wife was Nancy, Lady Astor. The younger son, John Jacob Astor, 1886-1971, bought a major share of The Times of London and was made 1st Baron Astor of Hever.

Wolseley, Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount, 1833-1913, British field marshal. He fought in Burma (present-day Myanmar; 1852-53), the Crimea (1854-56), India (1857-58), and China (1860), and was an observer in the American Civil War. Later he went to Canada as commander of the Red River expedition (1870), and suppressed the rebellion led by Louis Riel at Fort Garry. After conducting the Ashanti campaign (1873-74), he served as high commissioner of Cyprus (1878) and as an administrator in South Africa (1879-80). His most famous achievements were the brilliant defeat of Arabi Pasha, leader of an Egyptian army revolt, at Tell el Kebir in 1882 and his attempt to relieve General Charles G. Gordon at Khartoum (1884-85), for which he was made a viscount. A tireless advocate of army reform, he became (1871) assistant adjutant general at the war office and worked with Viscount Cardwell to achieve shorter periods of enlistment, abolition of the purchase of commissions, and the creation of an army reserve. As quartermaster general (1880-82), adjutant general (1882-90), commander in chief for Ireland (1890-95), and commander in chief of the army (1895-1901), he continued to press for reform and was responsible for the modernization of training and equipment. He wrote The Story of a Soldier's Life (1903).

Brookeborough, Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount, 1888-1973, Northern Irish politician. After serving in the cavalry in World War I he was elected to the Senate of the first Northern Ireland Parliament (1921). He resigned the following year to lead the Ulster special constabulary against the Irish Republican Army's border raids in Fermanagh. Reelected (1929) as a Unionist member of Stormont, he served as minister of agriculture (1933-41), minister of commerce (1941-45), and prime minister (1943-63). A staunch advocate of Protestant dominance in Ulster, he remained opposed to any reconciliation with the Republic of Ireland. Created Viscount Brookeborough in 1952, he continued to sit at Stormont until 1968.

Bruce of Melbourne, Stanley Melbourne Bruce, Viscount: see Bruce, Stanley Melbourne.

Bryce, James Bryce, 1st Viscount, 1838-1922, British historian, statesman, and diplomat, b. Belfast. After his education at the Univ. of Glasgow and at Oxford, he practiced law in London for a short time before becoming professor of civil law at Oxford. He wrote significant works in several fields; the first of these was his History of the Holy Roman Empire (1864). He entered politics and became a leader of the Liberal party, occupying a variety of posts, including the presidency of the Board of Trade and the chief secretaryship of Ireland. His interest in sociology and philosophy is evident in the second of his great treatises, The American Commonwealth (1888), a classic that is still read and used. Bryce was ambassador to the United States from 1907 to 1913; he was one of the most popular ever to be in Washington, since his knowledge of Americans, as revealed in his writings, was profound. He was created a peer in 1914. His other major works are Studies in History and Jurisprudence (1901) and Modern Democracies (1921).

Templewood, Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 1st Viscount, 1880-1959, British statesman. He entered parliament as a Conservative in 1910, served (1922-24, 1924-29) as secretary of state for air, and in 1931 became secretary of state for India. He piloted through Parliament the Government of India Act (1935), providing limited home rule for India. Appointed foreign secretary in 1935, Hoare was faced with the task of forestalling the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. He made a speech before the League of Nations in favor of collective security, but later he and Pierre Laval of France secretly agreed (Dec., 1935) on a plan of settlement by which a large portion of Ethiopia would have been surrendered to Italian control. The plan, when leaked to the press, raised a storm of protest in Great Britain, and Hoare resigned. He was henceforth labeled an appeaser. Hoare reentered (1936) the cabinet as first lord of the admiralty and was home secretary from 1937 to 1939. He was made secretary for air (1940) and served as special ambassador to Spain (1940-44), with the task of keeping that country neutral in World War II. He was raised to the peerage in 1944. His numerous writings include Nine Troubled Years (1954).

Saye and Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount, 1582-1662, English politician and promoter of colonization in America. He was a Puritan in religious sympathy and a leader in the House of Lords of the opposition to James I and Charles I. From 1630, Saye, with Robert Greville (2d Baron Brooke), John Pym, and others, entered into several colonization schemes. The first of these was on Providence Island (now Providencia, part of Colombia) in the Caribbean. The second was at Saybrook (named for the two lords), Conn., settled in 1635 on the basis of a deed obtained from the 2d earl of Warwick. John Winthrop the younger (1606-76) was their governor at Saybrook. In 1633 they bought a plantation at Cocheco (now Dover, N.H.). The lords planned to settle in New England, but their plan for establishing a hereditary aristocracy in the colonies met with disfavor in New England, and after a few years they lost interest in the settlements. In 1641 they sold the Dover establishment to Massachusetts, and three years later they sold Saybrook to Connecticut. Providence Island was taken by the Spanish in 1641. In the English civil war Saye remained in the parliamentary party and played a decisive role in securing the adoption of the Self-Denying Ordinance (1645). In the dispute between the army and Parliament in 1647 he supported the army. He did not, however, desire the abolition of the monarchy, and he was one of the parliamentary commissioners who negotiated with Charles at Newport in 1648. He retired from public life after the king's execution (1649).

Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount, 1868-1947, British politician. He was (1900-1918) a Conservative member of the House of Commons. During World War I, Lee was military secretary to David Lloyd George (1916) and director-general of food production (1917-18). He was later minister of agriculture (1919-21), first lord of the admiralty (1921-22), and a delegate to the Washington Naval Conference (1921-22). He was raised to the peerage in 1918. In 1921 he presented Chequers, his estate, to the nation as a country residence for the prime minister.

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount, 1862-1933, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1885 and became (1905) foreign secretary in the difficult period preceding World War I. Coming to office in the middle of the Moroccan crisis (see Morocco), Grey continued the policy of support of France initiated by the 5th marquess of Lansdowne and authorized secret military conversations with France. In 1907 he concluded the Anglo-Russian entente, thus completing the so-called Triple Entente against Germany (see Triple Alliance and Triple Entente). He again stood firmly in support of France during the Agadir crisis (1911). Having successfully convened a conference of the Great Powers during the Balkan Wars, Grey attempted the same course after the assassination (1914) of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria. This time he failed, however, and World War I began. Remaining as foreign secretary until 1916, Grey maintained good relations with the United States and concluded the secret Treaty of London (1915), which brought Italy into the war. He was created a peer in 1916. Grey was president of the League of Nations Union from 1918 and served (1919-20) as a special ambassador to the United States. His chief publications are Twenty-five Years, 1892-1916 (1926), Fallodon Papers (1926), and Speeches on Foreign Affairs, 1904-1914 (1931).

Samuel, Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount, 1870-1963, British statesman. Entering Parliament as a Liberal in 1902, he was postmaster general (1910-14, 1915-16) and home secretary (1916). He lost his seat in Parliament in 1918 but served as first British high commissioner in Palestine (1920-25) and chairman of the royal commission of inquiry into the coal industry (1925-26). He played an important role in negotiating an end to the general strike of 1926. In the Commons again (1929-35), Samuel was home secretary (1931-32) and leader of the Liberal party (1931-35). He was created a peer in 1937. Samuel's writings include Practical Ethics (1935), Belief and Action: An Everyday Philosophy (1937), and In Search of Reality (1957).

Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount, 1724-1816, British admiral. Entering the navy in 1741, he served with distinction in the Seven Years War. In 1781 he was sent to the West Indies as second in command to Lord Rodney. He fought in many engagements in the American Revolution, including the victory (1782) over the French fleet under the comte de Grasse (who had earlier defeated Hood) off Dominica. As commander in chief in the Mediterranean he captured Toulon (1793) and Corsica (1794). He was created viscount in 1796.

Beresford, William Carr Beresford, Viscount, 1768-1854, British general. He served with distinction in Egypt (1801-3) and participated (1806) in the capture of Cape Colony (later Cape Province, South Africa) from the Dutch. He captured Buenos Aires in 1806 but held it only briefly before it was retaken by Jacques de Liniers. Beresford occupied Madeira (1807) and for a time was governor of the island. Joining Arthur Wellesley (later duke of Wellington) in Portugal (1808), he successfully reorganized the Portuguese army and was prominent throughout the Peninsular War. Created viscount in 1823, he was master general of ordnance in Wellington's cabinet from 1828 to 1830.

Exmouth, Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount, 1757-1833, English admiral. He entered the navy in 1770 and served in both the American Revolutionary War and the subsequent British conflicts with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. In 1793 he captured the Cléopâtre, the first French frigate to be taken in the war with France. He was given command of the Mediterranean fleet in 1811 and was created Baron Exmouth in 1814. In 1816 under his command a combined force of British and Dutch ships bombarded Algiers and thereby compelled its Turkish ruler to abolish Christian slavery. As a reward for his achievement at Algiers, he was created Viscount Exmouth.

Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, 1758-1805, British admiral. The most famous of Britain's naval heroes, he is commemorated by the celebrated Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, London.

Early Life

He entered the navy at the age of 12 and became a captain at the age of 20. He saw service in the West Indies, in the Baltic, and in Canada. During these years he became friendly with the duke of Clarence (later William IV) and married (1787) a widow, Frances Nisbet, in the West Indies. That same year he returned to England and remained inactive and somewhat in disfavor at the admiralty.

In the French Revolutionary Wars

In 1793 Great Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars, and Nelson was given command of the British ship Agamemnon. He served in the Mediterranean, fighting at Toulon and helping to capture Corsica. At Calvi he lost the sight in one eye. Under John Jervis, later earl of St. Vincent, he was largely responsible, acting boldly and without orders, for the victory over the Spanish off Cape St. Vincent (1797). He was made a rear admiral by seniority and was created a knight of the Bath. In the unsuccessful British attempt (1797) to capture Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Nelson lost his right arm and was returned to England.

Upon his return to service, he was sent on detached duty to find the French fleet. After a long pursuit the French fleet was destroyed in 1798 at Aboukir (the modern Abu Qir), stranding Napoleon I and the entire French army in Egypt. Nelson was showered with rewards and honors, but received only the comparatively modest title of Baron Nelson of the Nile. He was placed in command of a squadron assisting the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Here he fell in love with Emma, Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador, who became his mistress.

After the French took possession of Naples (1799) and set up the Parthenopean Republic, Nelson blockaded the city. During his absence on one occasion, the royalist commander, Fabrizio Ruffo, made a generous peace with the Neapolitan republicans. But Nelson, on his return, annulled the treaty and executed the Neapolitan admiral, Francesco Caracciolo, for desertion to the French. When the British commander in chief in the Mediterranean ordered him to Minorca, Nelson refused to obey on the grounds that his presence in Naples was politically necessary, but it was suspected that he did not wish to leave Lady Hamilton.

In 1800 he returned to England with the Hamiltons and soon separated (1801) from his wife. The same year, Lady Hamilton bore him a daughter, Horatia. Nelson contrived his appointment as second in command, under Sir Hyde Parker, of the fleet sent against the armed neutrality of the Baltic powers. He defeated (1801) the Danes at Copenhagen, ignoring Parker's order to cease action by putting his telescope to his blind eye and saying that he could not see the signal. He was made a viscount, returned to England, and was given command of the Channel fleet to repel an expected French invasion. During the interlude of peace (1802-3), he lived in the country with the Hamiltons.

In the Napoleonic Wars

Upon the renewal of war (1803), Nelson was given command of the fleet in the Mediterranean and blockaded the French fleet at Toulon for 22 months. When the French finally escaped, he pursued the fleet across the Atlantic to the West Indies and back to Spain, where it took refuge with the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. On Oct. 21, 1805, the combined fleets ventured out of port, and found Nelson waiting for them off Cape Trafalgar. Before the battle he gave the famous signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty." He won his most spectacular victory but died in the action.

Nuffield, William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount, 1877-1963, English automobile manufacturer and philanthropist. Beginning his career as the proprietor of a bicycle shop, he later became a manufacturer of motorcycles and, in 1912, of automobiles. The Morris cars quickly became one of the biggest mass-production industries in Great Britain, and Morris became known as the "British Ford." During World War II, Morris, who was created Viscount Nuffield in 1938, engaged in the manufacture of aircraft. At the time of his death his philanthropic bequests amounted to over £30 million, the largest part of which was directed to research in medicine and social services, notably at Oxford, where Nuffield College is named in his honor.

Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Viscount, 1661-1723, colonial governor of New York and New Jersey (1702-8). Appointed governor by William III, he became extremely unpopular, and his administration was a period of turmoil in both provinces. After his removal, he was imprisoned for debt in New York, but upon becoming 3d earl of Clarendon in 1709 he was able to free himself and return to England.

Cardwell, Edward Cardwell, Viscount, 1813-86, British statesman. He entered Parliament (1842) as a supporter of Sir Robert Peel, under whom he was secretary to the treasury (1845-46). He was president of the Board of Trade (1852-55) under Lord Aberdeen and secretary for Ireland (1859-61) and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster (1861-64) under Lord Palmerston. While colonial secretary (1864-66) he worked toward federation in Canada. As war secretary (1868-74) under Gladstone, he reformed the British army, abolishing the purchase of commissions, shortening the term of enlistment, and creating a reserve.

Rhondda, David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount, 1856-1918, British industrialist and public official. He entered his father's coal business in S Wales and eventually developed one of the largest coal combines in Britain. He sat in Parliament, as a Liberal, from 1888 to 1910. During World War I he served the government in facilitating the munitions output and arranging war contracts in the United States and Canada. In 1917 he was made food minister, instituted a compulsory rationing system of vital foodstuffs, and successfully curbed food profiteering. He was created baron in 1916 and viscount shortly before his death.

His daughter, Margaret Haig, 2d Viscountess Rhondda, 1883-1958, by special provision inherited his title. She was active from 1906 to 1914 in the militant woman-suffrage movement and was founder (1920) and editor of Time and Tide, a liberal and feminist weekly. She and her father were both on the Lusitania when it was sunk by the Germans in 1915.

Sackville, George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount: see Germain, George Sackville.

Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount: see St. John, Henry, Viscount Bolingbroke.

Palmerston, Henry John Temple, 3d Viscount, 1784-1865, British statesman. His viscountcy, to which he succeeded in 1802, was in the Irish peerage and therefore did not prevent him from entering the House of Commons in 1807. Initially a Tory, he served (1809-28) as secretary of war, but he differed with his party over his advocacy of parliamentary reform and joined (1830) the Whig government of the 2d Earl Grey as foreign minister. A firm believer in liberal constitutionalism, Palmerston was instrumental in securing the independence of Belgium (1830-31), and in 1834 he formed a quadruple alliance with France, Spain, and Portugal to help the Iberian countries put down rebellions aimed at restoring absolutist rule. He also organized the joint intervention with Russia, Austria, Prussia, and a reluctant France to prevent the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire as a result of the revolt of Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1839-41). He was in opposition during Sir Robert Peel's administration (1841-46) but returned to the foreign office under Lord John Russell. Palmerston was an impulsive man who often acted without consultation; during his second period as foreign secretary he succeeded in offending not only foreign powers but also his colleagues and Queen Victoria. He quarreled with France in the affair of the Spanish Marriages (1846; see Isabella II), gave encouragement to the European revolutionaries of 1848, and in 1850 caused widespread outrage by blockading Greece in order to secure compensation for Don Pacifico, a Portuguese merchant claiming British citizenship, whose house in Athens had been destroyed in a riot. Finally his unofficial and unauthorized approval of the coup in France by Napoleon III led to his dismissal in 1851. Nevertheless he became home secretary in 1852 and in 1855 succeeded the 4th earl of Aberdeen as prime minister. His vigorous prosecution of the Crimean War increased his already great popularity, as did the effective suppression of the Indian Mutiny, and although he lost office in 1858, he returned to power in 1859 and remained prime minister until his death. His attitude greatly facilitated the progress of the Italian Risorgimento and the proclamation (1861) of the kingdom of Italy, but his attempt (1864) to help the Danes in the Schleswig-Holstein question was unsuccessful. He maintained British neutrality in the American Civil War, despite his sympathy for the South and despite the irritating Trent Affair. Palmerston was not much interested in internal affairs, but he did firmly oppose further parliamentary reform. His diplomacy, reckless and domineering though it frequently was, usually served to advance British prestige.

Rothermere, Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount, 1868-1940, English publisher. He was the financial wizard of the publishing firm headed by his brother Alfred, Viscount Northcliffe. In 1915 he founded the Sunday Pictorial and after his brother's death in 1922 gained control of the vast newspaper empire. He was created viscount in 1919. Though long friendly to Fascism and a proponent of appeasement in 1938, he wholeheartedly supported the British cause in World War II.

Falkland, Lucius Cary, 2d Viscount, 1610?-1643, English statesman and literary figure. He entered Parliament in 1640, where he opposed the exaction of ship money and spoke in favor of the attainder of the earl of Strafford. However, he objected to the abolition of the episcopacy and in 1642 became an adviser to Charles I. He represented the king in attempts to make peace with Parliament in Sept., 1642, and was with Charles at Edgehill and the siege of Gloucester. In despair at the prospect of the civil war continuing, he is supposed to have deliberately allowed himself to be killed at the battle of Newbury. A poet in his own right, Falkland was also a liberal patron of many of his literary contemporaries.

Melbourne, William Lamb, 2d Viscount, 1779-1848, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Whig in 1805, was (1827-28) chief secretary for Ireland, and entered (1828) the House of Lords on the death of his father. As home secretary (1830-34) for the 2d Earl Grey, his vigorous suppression of agrarian disturbances and trade unionism (see Tolpuddle Martyrs) ended a reputation for indolence. A believer in aristocratic government, unsympathetic with middle-class political and economic aims, Melbourne accepted the Reform Bill of 1832 as a political necessity.

As prime minister (1834, 1835-39, 1839-41) his views brought him support from Whigs and moderate Tories, and he excluded radicals from his ministries. He conceded such reforms as amendment of the poor law (1834), the Municipal Corporations Act (1835), and liberalization of the Canadian government. He was also conciliatory in his policy toward Ireland. However, he resisted further parliamentary reform and repeal of the corn laws.

Melbourne viewed the prime ministership as a supervisory position; cabinet members, such as Lord Palmerston, played a vital role in developing policy. Handsome and urbane, Melbourne was a favorite of the young Queen Victoria and taught her important lessons in statecraft. It was at her request that he returned to office (1839) after Sir Robert Peel resigned over a disagreement with the queen.

Melbourne's wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, 1785-1828, was clever and beautiful, but also eccentric, impulsive, and indiscreet. She is remembered less for the minor novels that she wrote than for her love affair with Lord Byron. Lady Caroline and her husband separated in 1825.

Melville, Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount, 1742-1811, British lawyer and politician. He was solicitor general for Scotland (1766-75), entered Parliament in 1774, and became lord advocate in 1775. During the American Revolution he favored harsh punishment of the colonists and considered Lord North much too conciliatory. A close friend and lieutenant of William Pitt the younger, he displayed remarkable administrative talents as treasurer of the navy (1783-1800), member of the board of control for India (1784-1801), home secretary (1791-94), secretary for war during the early Napoleonic Wars (1794-1801), and first lord of the admiralty (1804-5). He was impeached (1806), charged with mismanagement of navy funds, and despite acquittal he never returned to office.

Gladstone, Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount, 1854-1930, British statesman; son of William Gladstone. A member of Parliament from 1880 to 1910, he held various offices under his father, was chief whip of the Liberal party (1899-1905), and served as home secretary (1905-9). His influence in the advancement of welfare legislation was seen in bills providing workmen's compensation (1906) and an eight-hour day for miners (1908). Gladstone was created (1910) viscount and was the first governor-general and high commissioner for South Africa (1910-14). His two books about his father are W. E. Gladstone (1918) and After Thirty Years (1928).

Runciman, Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount, 1870-1949, British shipping magnate and public official. He inherited his father's large shipping business. As a Liberal he served in Parliament, with two interruptions, from 1899 to 1937 and held a number of governmental administrative positions, including the presidency of the Board of Trade (1914-16, 1931-37). He was made viscount in 1937. In July, 1938, he was sent to Czechoslovakia to mediate between the Czech government and the Sudeten Germans. The unsuccessful mission was a prelude to the Munich Pact.

Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount, 1861-1936, British field marshal. Educated at Sandhurst, he saw active service in Bechuanaland (1884-85) and Zululand (1888) and in the South African War (1899-1902). When World War I broke out (1914), he commanded first the cavalry and then (1915-17) the 3d Army in France. Appointed commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in June, 1917, he waged the last of the great cavalry campaigns by invading Palestine, capturing Jerusalem, and ending Turkish resistance after the battle of Megiddo (Sept. 18-21, 1918). He served as British high commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan (1919-25). He was made viscount in 1919.

Althorp, John Charles Spencer, Viscount: see under Spencer, George John Spencer, 2d Earl.

Alverstone, Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount, 1842-1915, lord chief justice of England (1900-1913). He served on various international arbitration commissions, including those dealing with the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy (1893) and the Venezuela Boundary Dispute (1898-99). In the Alaska Boundary Dispute (1903), he gave the deciding vote against the Canadian claims. He wrote Recollections of Bar and Bench (1914).

Howe, William Howe, 5th Viscount, 1729-1814, English general in the American Revolution; younger brother of Admiral Richard Howe. He took up a military career, and in the last of the French and Indian Wars served with distinction at the capture of Louisburg and in the fight for Quebec (1759). He took part in the Havana expedition of 1762. In 1775 he arrived at Boston with British reinforcements for Gen. Thomas Gage, and he was a commander in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was knighted and succeeded (Oct., 1775) Gage as commander in chief in the colonies (the command in Canada being given to Gen. Guy Carleton). In 1776 he withdrew his men from besieged Boston to Halifax, then (May, 1776) went with his brother Richard to Staten Island. After negotiations for a peaceful settlement failed, Howe led his troops in the successful battle of Long Island, captured New York City, and defeated the Continental Army at White Plains. Although he gained control over SE New York and much of New Jersey, Howe missed several opportunities to capture George Washington's army. In 1777 he did not take the part planned for him in the British strategy in the Saratoga campaign. Instead he launched a successful drive for Philadelphia, defeating Washington in the battle of Brandywine. He later repelled an attack on Germantown and held his position in Philadelphia, but again, as at New York, he did not wipe out the Continental forces. Charging that he was not properly supported by the home government, he resigned and in 1778 returned to England. His command in America was taken over by Sir Henry Clinton. On his brother's death in 1799, Howe succeeded to the Irish title, becoming 5th Viscount Howe.

Trenchard, Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount, 1873-1956, British air marshal. He entered the army in 1893 and served in the South African War. During World War I he commanded the Royal Flying Corps. As chief of air staff (1918, 1919-29), Trenchard shaped the offensive air strategy (to the neglect of air defense) that the Royal Air Force adhered to into World War II. He was (1931-35) commissioner of the London police force and was created a peer in 1936.

Northcliffe, Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount, 1865-1922, British journalist, b. Ireland. He was one of the most spectacular of popular journalists and newspaper publishers in the history of the British press. Beginning his career as a free-lance contributor to popular periodicals, he launched in 1888 his first independent effort, Answers to Correspondents, a weekly of informative tidbits. With his brother Harold (later Viscount Rothermere) as his financial administrator, he increased the circulation of his magazine in five years to more than a million copies a week. Other publications were gradually acquired that formed the basis for what became the world's largest periodical combine, the Amalgamated Press. In 1894, Northcliffe bought the London Evening News, launching his career in newspaper publishing. Continuing to popularize, he inaugurated such specialties as woman's columns, serials, and social gossip in this and in later papers that he founded—the Daily Mail in 1896 and the Daily Mirror in 1903. He gained control of the dying Times in 1908, putting it back on its feet with changes in makeup and editorial policy; The Times was sold to John Jacob Astor (1886-1971) after Northcliffe's death. His newspaper campaigns during World War I, particularly those concerning faulty munitions, national conscription, and food rationing, were determining factors in England's conduct of the war, and his support of Lloyd George in 1916 was instrumental in bringing the downfall of the Asquith government. He was made a viscount in 1917.

Torrington, George Byng, Viscount, 1663-1733, British admiral. Early in his career he helped win the support of the navy for William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. After thwarting attempted Jacobite invasions in 1708 and 1715 and defeating a Spanish fleet in the Strait of Messina in 1718, he was raised to the peerage in 1721. He was the father of Admiral John Byng.

Townshend, Charles Townshend, 2d Viscount, 1674-1738, English statesman. A leading Whig in the reign of Queen Anne, he served as a commissioner to negotiate the union (1707) with Scotland and as ambassador (1708-11) to the Netherlands. He strongly supported the Hanoverian succession, and when George I became king (1714) Townshend was appointed a secretary of state. He was somewhat overshadowed by his colleague James Stanhope (later 1st Earl Stanhope), and in 1716 Stanhope and the 3d earl of Sunderland undermined his influence with the king and secured his dismissal. With his brother-in-law Robert Walpole, who left office with him, Townshend formed an opposition group, led nominally by the prince of Wales (later George II). He returned to office in 1720, and after the fall of Sunderland and the death of Stanhope, he became (1721) secretary of state again, sharing leadership of the ministry with Walpole. He negotiated the Treaty of Hanover (1725) with Prussia and France to counter the alliance between Spain and Austria and, after a brief war in which the Spanish besieged Gibraltar, concluded the Treaty of Seville (1729) with Spain. Foreign policy disagreements with Walpole led to Townshend's resignation in 1730. He retired to the country, where, as an experimental farmer, he became known as Turnip Townshend.

Haldane of Cloan, Richard Burdon Haldane, Viscount, 1856-1928, British statesman. He entered (1885) the House of Commons as a Liberal. As war secretary (1905-12) he effected drastic army reforms, creating a British expeditionary force, an imperial general staff, an officers training corps, and the territorial army. He was created a peer in 1911. On a diplomatic mission to Germany (1912), he rejected a proposal of British neutrality in any war into which Germany might be drawn. His tenure of office as lord chancellor (1912-15) ended after the outbreak of World War I, when popular clamor mistakenly attacked him as pro-German. In Ramsay MacDonald's first short Labour ministry (1924) he was again lord chancellor. He was first chancellor of the Univ. of Bristol and was elected lord rector of Edinburgh. He wrote a number of philosophical works, including Pathway to Reality (1903), Reign of Relativity (1921), The Philosophy of Humanism (1922), and Selected Addresses and Essays (1928, repr. 1970). He also wrote an autobiography (1929).

Milner, Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount, 1854-1925, British statesman and colonial administrator. He distinguished himself as a student at Oxford and was briefly a journalist in London. He became (1887) private secretary to George Goschen, chancellor of the exchequer, and served (1890-92) as undersecretary of finance in Egypt. His England in Egypt (1892) effectively argued for greater British involvement there. In 1897, Milner was appointed high commissioner for South Africa and governor-general of Cape Colony. His efforts to gain political rights for British settlers in Boer territories heightened growing tension between the rival groups and helped precipitate (1899) the South African War. After the war, Milner's financial policies aided economic recovery, but his importation of indentured Chinese laborers raised strong opposition. He remained in South Africa until 1905, working for the assimilation of the Boer territories into a South African federation firmly linked to Britain. During this period he gathered around him a group of able young administrators, including Philip Kerr, later marquess of Lothian, who became known as "Milner's kindergarten." Milner was one of the Conservative lords who opposed the revolutionary budget of 1909 introduced by David Lloyd George, but in 1916 Lloyd George appointed him to his war cabinet. After serving (1918) as secretary of war, he was (1919-21) colonial secretary and in 1920 led a commission to Egypt that recommended Egyptian independence. He was created viscount in 1902.

Stair, James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount, 1619-95, Scottish jurist. A student and then a regent of the Univ. of Glasgow, he was admitted to the bar in 1648. He supported the exiled Charles II and refused to swear allegiance to the Commonwealth, but he was nevertheless appointed (1657) a judge. After the Restoration he was prominent until his sympathy with the Covenanters at the time of the Scottish Test Act caused him to lose (1681) his appointment as judge. He then finished his Institutions of the Law of Scotland (1681), a great treatise on Scottish law. His exile in the Netherlands ended when he came (1688) to Great Britain with King William III, who made him lord advocate and raised him to the peerage.

Whitelaw of Penrith, William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, Viscount, 1918-99, British politician. A Scottish landowner and cattle farmer, he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1955 and served as parliamentary private secretary in various ministries (1956-64). As lord president of the council and leader of the House of Commons (1970-72) he was one of Prime Minister Edward Heath's closest advisers. In 1972, with the institution of direct British rule in Northern Ireland, Whitelaw became secretary of state for the province. He attempted to bring the Roman Catholic and Protestant political groups into negotiations with each other, lifted the ban on protest marches, relaxed the policy of internment of suspected members of the Irish Republican Army, and created a short-lived legislative assembly and executive in which Protestants and Catholics shared power. As secretary of state for employment (1973-74), he unsuccessfully attempted to reach a wage settlement with the miners' union, whose ban on overtime, followed by a strike, threw Britain into a severe economic crisis. He became chairman of the Conservative party (1974) but lost the party leadership to Margaret Thatcher (1975). As deputy leader, he was Thatcher's close adviser and was home secretary (1979-83). In 1983 he was created a viscount and led the House of Lords until his retirement in 1988.

Craigavon, James Craig, 1st Viscount, 1871-1940, Irish statesman. He worked with Edward Carson in rousing the Protestants of Ulster against Home Rule in the crisis preceding World War I. He organized the Ulster Volunteers to resist any attempt to enforce Home Rule. In 1921 he became prime minister of the newly established government of Northern Ireland, a position he held until his death. He was created a viscount in 1927.

Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, 2d Viscount, 1769-1822, British statesman, b. Ireland. Entering the Irish Parliament in 1790 and the British Parliament in 1794, he was acting chief secretary for Ireland at the time of the Irish rebellion of 1798. Having worked for the Act of Union of England and Ireland (1800), he resigned with William Pitt in 1801 when George III refused to allow Catholic Emancipation. President of the India board of control from 1802 to 1806, he also served (1805-6, 1807-9) as secretary of war. In the latter office, he planned the reorganization and expansion of the army and the effective coordination of British land and sea power. He dispatched a British expedition to Portugal, and after the early disasters in the Peninsular War he succeeded in putting Arthur Wellesley (later duke of Wellington) in command. The opposition of his colleague George Canning to Castlereagh's policies flared into a serious quarrel. Castlereagh accused Canning of political betrayal, and they fought (1809) a duel. Canning was wounded, and both resigned. As foreign secretary (1812-22), Castlereagh helped to organize the successful final coalition against Napoleon I, partly by secret treaties promising territorial changes. In the Treaty of Chaumont (1814) he obtained that "concert of Europe" later confirmed by the Quadruple Alliance. He advocated a moderate peace settlement for France, including restoration of the Bourbon monarchy and the limitation of France to her prewar boundaries. A dominant figure at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15; see Vienna, Congress of), Castlereagh worked for the establishment of the United Netherlands and the German Confederation. He favored an independent Poland but was compelled to accept a repartitioning of that country. Castlereagh placed great hope in the "congress system" agreed on at Vienna, by which the great powers would consult regularly for the maintenance of peace. However, he did not approve of outright intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries and protested, in increasingly explicit terms, the assumption of this right by the powers of the Holy Alliance. By the time of his death it is almost certain that he had decided to break with the wartime allies. In England, however, he was much criticized for his apparent cooperation with those same autocratic governments, and he was also blamed for repressive actions to curb unrest in England, though he was not directly responsible for them. He became (1821) the 2d marquess of Londonderry on his father's death. He committed suicide the next year. One of the foremost statesmen of his time, Castlereagh was cold in personality and lacked ability as an orator; he never gained an easy popularity and was hated by radicals like Shelley.

Stratford de Redcliffe, Stratford Canning, Viscount, 1786-1880, British diplomat. He entered (1807) the foreign office under the aegis of his cousin, George Canning. Sent (1808) to Turkey, he negotiated the Treaty of Bucharest (1812) between Turkey and Russia. He served in Switzerland (1814-18), at the Congress of Vienna, and in Washington (1819-23), where he negotiated concerning disputes arising from the War of 1812. In Turkey again (1825-29, 1831), he helped settle the frontier problem with Greece. After a period in Parliament he returned (1842) to Turkey, remaining with interruptions until 1858. Stratford exercised enormous influence over Sultan Abd al-Majid, but the documentary evidence does not support the belief of his contemporaries that he encouraged Turkish intransigence in the face of Russian demands in 1853 and thus brought on the Crimean War. He appears rather to have counseled moderation and attempted to avert the war. He was created a viscount in 1852.

Goderich, Frederick John Robinson, Viscount: see Ripon, Frederick John Robinson, 1st earl of.

Goschen, George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount, 1831-1907, British statesman. A leading financier, he was elected (1863) to Parliament as a Liberal and was first lord of the admiralty (1871-74). In 1876 he negotiated the establishment of Anglo-French control over Egypt's finances. He later served (1880-81) as ambassador to Turkey. Goschen was one of the leading Liberal Unionists, who in 1886 broke with William Gladstone over Irish Home Rule. As chancellor of the exchequer (1886-92) in the Conservative government he successfully converted the national debt and reduced currency stringencies, and as first lord of the admiralty (1895-1900) he supervised expansion of the navy.

Sherbrooke, Robert Lowe, Viscount, 1811-92, British statesman. He emigrated (1842) to Australia and achieved recognition as a reform politician. Returning (1850) to England, he entered (1852) the House of Commons, distinguished himself as a speaker, and held subordinate offices in the ministries of Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston. In 1866 he led the "cave of Adullam," the insurgent Liberals who attacked and defeated their government's reform bill. Despite this action, he served William Gladstone as chancellor of the exchequer (1868-73). In his first budgets Sherbrooke successfully reduced taxes, but he carried the Liberal policy of retrenchment too far and was transferred (1873) to the post of home secretary. He was created viscount in 1880.

Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, British statesman. He entered Parliament in 1784 and in 1789, through the sponsorship of William Pitt, became speaker of the House of Commons. He subscribed to Pitt's policies in the French wars, and when Pitt resigned because of George III's refusal to approve Catholic Emancipation, Addington became (1801) prime minister. The chief event of his administration was the Treaty of Amiens (1802) with Napoleon I. On the renewal of war, his ineffectual ministry yielded (1804) to Pitt, upon whose tolerance it had depended. Addington was created Viscount Sidmouth in 1805. Since Sidmouth controlled nearly 50 votes in Parliament, his support remained valuable to the government, and he served as president of the council under Pitt (1805), Lord Grenville (1806-7), and Spencer Perceval (1812) and as home secretary under Lord Liverpool (1812-22). In the last position he incurred great odium for his part in the government's policy of repression—its strong measures against the Luddites, its periodic suspension of habeas corpus, and the Peterloo massacre.

Brackley, Thomas Egerton, Viscount: see Ellesmere, Thomas Egerton, Baron.

Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount, 1649?-1689, Scottish soldier, known as Bonnie Dundee. After service abroad under William of Orange (later William III of England), he returned (1678) to Scotland to help in the suppression of the Covenanters, a task to which he devoted himself for 10 years. He was second in command of the Scottish force vainly sent to help James II repel William of Orange in 1688, and James made him Viscount Dundee. After James's flight, Dundee raised forces in Scotland to help restore him, but was killed in his hour of victory at Killiecrankie. Loathed by the Covenanters and venerated by the Jacobites, Dundee has been immortalized in ballads and novels, especially in Sir Walter Scott's song usually called Bonnie Dundee and in Scott's Old Mortality.

Esher, Reginald Baliol Brett, 2d Viscount, 1852-1930, English historian and government official. After sitting in Parliament (1880-85) as a Liberal, he thereafter preferred to exercise his influence from behind the scenes and withdrew from active politics. He succeeded to the peerage in 1899. As deputy governor (later governor) of Windsor Castle (1901-30), he was close to the royal family for 30 years. He was given access to Queen Victoria's papers, from which he edited, with A. C. Benson, The Correspondence of Queen Victoria (1907). He was offered many public offices, among them the viceroyalty of India and the secretaryship for war, but refused them all. His most important service was in the furtherance of army reforms before World War I. He wrote works on King Edward VII (1914) and Lord Kitchener (1921).

Slim, William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount, 1891-1970, British field marshal. He saw service in several campaigns, notably Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, in World War I. After the war he joined the Indian army, rising in rank to brigadier in 1940. He commanded (1940) British forces in Sudan and led (1941) a division in Iran and Iraq. He went (1942) to Myanmar as corps commander and led (1943-45) the 14th British Army in the reconquest of that country from the Japanese. He served as chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1948 to 1952 and was made field marshal in 1949. He served as governor-general of Australia from 1953 to 1960, when he was created viscount.

Snowden, Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount, 1864-1937, British statesman. Born to poverty, he was a civil service clerk until crippled by a spinal ailment. Resigning in 1893, he began to work for the Independent Labour party (ILP). He was twice (1903-6, 1917-20) chairman of the party, but resigned in 1927 in favor of the Labour party proper as a protest against what he considered the revolutionary tendencies of the ILP. He belonged to the pacifist minority of the socialist group during World War I. Snowden served in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1918 and from 1922 until 1931. As an acknowledged specialist in finance, he became chancellor of the exchequer in the Labour ministries formed by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929. He won popularity by his refusal to accept a reduction in the British share of German reparations in the Young Plan (1929). However, his rigidly orthodox financial measures, including the maintenance of free trade and balanced budgets, were insufficient to stem the growing economic depression. Snowden remained chancellor in the national government of 1931 and announced (1931) the suspension of the gold standard. Created Viscount Snowden of Ickornshaw in 1931, he served (1931-32) as lord privy seal but resigned when free trade was abandoned.

Monck, Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount, 1819-94, governor-general of Canada, b. Ireland. An Irish peer, he was elected (1852) to the British House of Commons as a Liberal and was (1855-58) a lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's government. As governor-general (1861-67) of British North America (Canada), he worked to prevent a rupture between the United States and Great Britain during the American Civil War and to bring about confederation of the Canadian provinces. Created (1866) a baron in the peerage of Great Britain, he was appointed (1867) the first governor-general of the Dominion of Canada. He resigned in 1868 and returned to Ireland, where he served (1874-92) as lord lieutenant of Dublin county.

Alanbrooke, Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount, 1883-1963, British general. He entered the field artillery in 1902 and served with distinction during World War I. In the 1930s he made himself a master of mechanized warfare. At the beginning of World War II he commanded the 2d Army Corps in France and was (1940-41) commander in chief of the British Home Forces. From Dec., 1941, to 1946 he was chief of the imperial general staff and participated in the war conferences of Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. He was made Baron Alanbrooke in 1945 and Viscount Alanbrooke in 1946.

Keith, George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount 1746-1823, British admiral. After serving as a captain in the American Revolution and early French Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed (1795) vice admiral. He suppressed the mutinies at Nore and Spithead (1797) and commanded the Mediterranean fleet (1798-1801), the North Sea fleet (1803-7), and the Channel fleet (1812-15), receiving Napoleon's surrender after Waterloo. Not a military tactician, he won no notable battles but was a skilled administrator and commander.

European h1 of nobility, ranking immediately below a count, or earl. The wife of a viscount is a viscountess. In the Carolingian period, the vicecomes were deputies or lieutenants of the counts (comes), whose official powers they exercised by delegation. In the 11th century most of Normandy was divided into vicomtés, but the viscountcy was not introduced into the English peerage until nearly 400 years after the Norman conquest.

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formerly Melville Sound

Body of water, northern Canada. Located in the Arctic Archipelago, between Melville and Victoria islands, the sound is 250 mi (400 km) long and 100 mi (160 km) wide. Its discovery, when reached from the east (1819–20) by William E. Parry and from the west (1850–54) by Robert McClure, proved the existence of the Northwest Passage. The sound is navigable only under favourable weather conditions.

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orig. Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne

(born Sept. 11, 1611, Sedan, France—died July 27, 1675, Sasbach, Baden-Baden) French military leader. He earned his reputation as a military leader in the Thirty Years' War, especially with the capture of Turin (1640). Made a marshal of France (1643), he commanded the French army in Germany and joined the Swedish army in conquering Bavaria (1648). In France he joined the aristocrats in the Fronde (1649), but later he skillfully commanded the royal army to defeat the forces led by the prince de Condé, who had allied himself with Spain, and to bring about the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), which ended France's war with Spain. Appointed marshal-general (1660), Turenne marched alongside Louis XIV in joint command of the French armies in the War of Devolution (1667–68). His bold strategies won numerous victories against the imperial army in Germany (1672–75), but he was killed in action at Sasbach. He was buried with the kings of France at Saint-Denis and later moved to the Invalides by Napoleon, who esteemed Turenne as the greatest military leader in history.

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(born Nov. 4, 1786, London, Eng.—died Aug. 14, 1880, Frant, Sussex) British diplomat. A cousin of George Canning, he served as minister to Switzerland (1814–18) and later to the U.S. (1820–23). As ambassador to Constantinople intermittently for almost 20 years, he exerted a strong influence on Turkish policy. He was involved with the movement for Greek independence from Turkey. He later became friends with the Ottoman sultan and encouraged the Tanzimat program of reforms. He supported Turkish resistance to Russian attempts to influence Ottoman affairs and tried in vain to prevent the Crimean War. He retired after leaving Turkey in 1858.

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known as Lord Nelson

(born Sept. 29, 1758, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, Eng.—died Oct. 21, 1805, at sea, off Cape Trafalgar, Spain) British naval commander. He entered the navy in 1770 and served in the West Indies from 1777 to 1783. In 1793 he was sent to support the British allies against the French in the Mediterranean. After the British victory against the Spanish and French in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797), he was promoted to rear admiral. In 1798 he pursued Napoleon's fleet to Egypt, where he won the decisive Battle of the Nile. During a prolonged stay in Naples for his ships' repairs, he pursued a love affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton. For helping restore the Neapolitan king Ferdinand I to power (1799), he was created duke di Bronte. As second in command of an expedition to attack Denmark, he skillfully won the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and was appointed commander in chief of the navy. In 1805 he was sent to the Mediterranean to meet the threat posed by the French fleet in Napoleon's scheme to invade England. In the ensuing Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson, aboard his flagship Victory, was shot by a French sniper from the Redoutable and died just as the British fleet secured its victory. His death was widely mourned, and he became England's most popular hero. His brilliant tactical command assured British naval supremacy for over 100 years.

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(born Aug. 10, 1729—died July 12, 1814, Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng.) British military commander. The brother of Adm. Richard Howe, he fought in the last French and Indian War (1754–63), in which he earned a reputation as one of the army's most brilliant young generals. In the American Revolution, he succeeded Thomas Gage as supreme commander of British forces in North America in 1776. He soon captured New York City and the surrounding area, and in 1777 he led British troops to victories at the Battles of the Brandywine and of Germantown. Moving his forces to Philadelphia, he left troops under John Burgoyne vulnerable in New York state, thus contributing to the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga. He resigned in 1778 and was succeeded by Henry Clinton.

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(born May 28, 1760, Martinique—died June 23, 1794, Paris, France) French politician and general, first husband of Joséphine. A liberal noble, he became a prominent figure during the French Revolution. He presided over the Constituent Assembly in 1791, served with gallantry in the army, and was named general in chief of the Army of the Rhine in 1793. He was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, largely because he was a noble. He was the father of Eugène and Hortense de Beauharnais and the grandfather of Napoleon III.

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(born April 23, 1861, Brackenhurst, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, Eng.—died May 14, 1936, London) British field marshal. He fought in the South African War and served as inspector general of cavalry (1910–14). In World War I, he commanded with distinction in the Middle East. His victory over the Turks at Gaza (1917) led to the capture of Jerusalem, and his victory at Megiddo, along with his capture of Damascus and Aleppo, ended Ottoman power in Syria. His success was partly due to his innovative use of cavalry and other mobile forces, and he is remembered as the last great British leader of mounted cavalry. As high commissioner for Egypt (1919–25), he steered that country to recognition as a sovereign state (1922).

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(born July 23, 1883, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France—died June 17, 1963, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, Eng.) British military leader. He served in World War I and later became director of military training (1936–37) and an expert on gunnery. In World War II he began as commander of a corps in France and covered the Dunkirk evacuation. After serving as commander of the British home forces (1940–41), he was promoted to chief of staff (1941–46). He established good relations with the U.S. forces and exercised a strong influence on Allied strategy. He was promoted to field marshal in 1944 and created a viscount in 1946.

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A viscount (VAI-count) is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl (in Britain) or a count (the earl's continental equivalent).

Etymology

The word viscount, known to be used in English since 1387, comes from Old French visconte (modern French: vicomte), itself from Medieval Latin vicecomitem, accusative of vicecomes, from Late Latin vice- "deputy" + Latin comes (originally "companion; later Roman imperial courtier or trusted appointee, ultimately count).

As a rank in British peerage, it was first recorded in 1440, when John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont, was made one by King Henry VI. The word viscount corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of sheriff). Thus early viscounts were originally normally given their titles by the monarch, not hereditary; but soon they too tended to establish hereditary principalities lato sensu.

Viscounts in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

A viscount is said to hold a "viscountship" or "viscounty", or (more as the area of his jurisdiction) a "viscountcy". The female equivalent of a viscount is a viscountess. There are approximately 270 viscountships currently extant in the peerages of the British Isles.

• In British practice, the title of a viscount may be either a place name, or a surname, or sometimes, a combination thereof. In any event, the style of a viscount is "The Viscount [X]", or "The Viscount [X] of [Y]". He is addressed as "My Lord". Examples include: The Viscount Falmouth (place name); The Viscount Hardinge (surname); The Viscount Gage of Castle Island (surname of place name); and The Viscount Combermere of Bhurtpore (placename of placename). An exception exists for Viscounts in the peerage of Scotland, who were traditionally styled "The Viscount of [X]", as in: The Viscount of Arbuthnott (surname)—very few maintain this style, instead using the more common version "The Viscount [X]".

A British viscount is addressed in speech as Lord [X], while his wife is Lady [X], and formally styles "The Viscount [X]". The children of a viscount are known as The Honourable [Forename] [Surname].

• A specifically British custom is the use of viscount as a courtesy title for the heir of an earl or marquess. The peer's heir apparent will sometimes be referred to as a viscount, if the second most senior title held by the head of the family is a viscountcy. For example, the eldest son of the Earl Howe is Viscount Curzon, because this is the second most senior title held by the Earl.

A more recent example of the above is with the Earl of Wessex' son, James, who is styled Viscount Severn.

More often than not, the eldest son of a British duke enjoys the courtesy title of marquess; with exceptions such as the Dukedom of Norfolk, which does not hold the secondary title of marquess, so the heir enjoys the next title down in status, which is that of an earl.

• The son of a marquess or an earl can be referred to as a viscount when the title of viscount is not the second most senior if those above it share their name with the substantive title. For example, the second most senior title of the Marquess of Salisbury is the Earl of Salisbury. The eldest son of the Marquess does not use the title Earl of Salisbury, but rather the next most senior title, Viscount Cranborne. This is because peers sign their name with the name of their title only (e.g., "Salisbury") thus to prevent confusion the heir would not use the title Earl of Salisbury.
• Sometimes the son of a peer can be referred to as a viscount even when he could use a more senior courtesy title which differs in name from the substantive title. Family tradition plays a role in this. For example, the eldest son of the Marquess of Londonderry is Viscount Castlereagh, even though the Marquess is also the Earl Vane. See Courtesy titles for more information.

Coronet

A viscount's coronet of rank bears 16 silver balls around the rim. Like all heraldic coronets, it is mostly worn at the coronation of a sovereign, but a viscount has the right to bear his coronet of rank on his coat of arms, above the shield.

Continental forms of the title

• The title of viscount is less common in Italy ("visconte"), though the noble Visconti family, rulers of Milan, offers an outstanding example. In Italy, a younger member of a conte (count)'s family, assigned a fortified rocca on the outskirts of the territory, would be more likely to be "X, dei conti Y" ("X, of the counts of Y") than Viscount.
• In the former kingdom of Portugal a visconde ranks above a barão (baron) and below a conde. The first Portuguese viscountcy, that of D. Leonel de Lima, visconde de Vila Nova de Cerveira, dates from the reign of Afonso V. A flood of viscountcies, some 86 new titles, was awarded in Portugal between 1848 and 1880 (Portuguese Wikipedia).
• In the kingdom of Spain the title was awarded from the reign of Felipe IV (1621–65; Habsburg dynasty) until 1846.
• In various languages we need to verify whether the existing title has actually been awarded there, or is just an empty rendering of foreign realities.
• Hungarian: várgróf or vikomt and even vicomte (as in French)
• Polish: Wicehrabia (literally vice-count)

Equivalent western titles

There are non-etymological equivalents to the title of Viscount (i.e., 'Vice-Count') in several languages including German.

However, in such case titles of the etymological Burgrave family (not in countries with a viscount-form, such as Italian burgravio alongside visconte) bearers of the title could establish themselves at the same gap, thus at generally the same level. Consequentally a Freiherr (or Baron) ranks not immediately below a Graf, but below a Burggraf.

Thus in Dutch, Burggraaf is the rank above Baron, below Graaf (i.e., Count) in the kingdoms of the Netherlands and of Belgium (by Belgian law, its equivalents in the other official languages are Burggraf in German and vicomte in French). In Welsh the title is rendered as Isiarll.

Non-western counterparts

Like other major Western noble titles, Viscount is sometimes used to render certain titles in non-western languages with their own traditions, even though they are as a rule historically unrelated and thus hard to compare, which are considered 'equivalent' in relative rank.

This is the case with:

• the Korean jajak or Pansoh
• the Chinese Tzu or Zi (子), hereditary title of nobility of the fourth rank
• the Japanese Shishaku (子爵) or Shi, fourth and lowest but one of the five peerage ranks
• the Vietnamese Tu
• the Manchu jingkini hafan

See also

• List of British Viscountcies
• List of Viscountcies in Portugal
• Visconti, the leading noble family that became ruling dukes of Milan, apparently taking its surname from a returning crusader Ottone who was created Visconte of Milan
• Shen Kuo, a Chinese viscount

Sources and references

• EtymologyOnLine
• RoyalArk: Royal and Ruling Houses of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas—see various non-European countries
• WorldStatesmen—see various non-European countries
• Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 1956, introduction, pp cxx–cxxviii.