Viscount Stansgate

William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate
Tony Benn, briefly and unwillingly 2nd Viscount Stansgate

Viscount Stansgate, of Stansgate in the County of Essex,[1] is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the Labour politician and former Secretary of State for India and Secretary of State for Air, William Wedgwood Benn. He was the second son of Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet, of The Old Knoll. Lord Stansgate's eldest son and heir apparent, the Hon. Michael Benn, had been killed in the Second World War, and he was consequently succeeded by his younger son, the second Viscount, better known as the Labour politician Tony Benn. He disclaimed the peerage on 31 July 1963, the day the Peerage Act 1963 passed into law and made it possible for him to do so.[2] Since 14 March 2014 the title has been held by the latter's son, Stephen, third Viscount Stansgate. As a descendant of the first Benn Baronet of The Old Knoll he is also in remainder to this title.

Stansgate is a hamlet near the village of Steeple, Essex, on the southern side of the River Blackwater estuary. The village has been home to several generations of the Benn family since about 1900.[3] They live in Stansgate House, described by Chris Mullin as "an ungainly, rambling 1920s house in a stunning location".[4]

Viscounts Stansgate (1942)

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son, Hon. Daniel John Wedgwood Benn (b. 1991).

See also

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 35426. p. 345. 20 January 1942. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 43072. pp. 6533–6534. 2 August 1963. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Stansgate Priory". Essex Family History. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Chris Mullin (2011). A Walk-On Part : Diaries 1994-1999. Profile Books. p. 261. ISBN 9781846685231.
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