Earl of Lucan was a title in the Peerage of Ireland which has been possessed by two related Irish families in creations of 1691 and 1795. The current holder is presumed to be Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, who vanished in 1974.
The subsidiary titles associated with the Earldom are: Baron Lucan, of Castlebar in the County of Mayo (created 1776), and Baron Bingham, of Melcombe Bingham in the County of Dorset (1934). The first is in the Peerage of Ireland, the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and therefore allowed Earls of Lucan to sit in the House of Lords after the practice of electing representative peers from Ireland ceased. The Earl of Lucan also has a Baronetcy (of Castlebar, Co Mayo) created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia 7 June 1634.
In 1691, Patrick Sarsfield, who had been one of King James II's senior Irish commanders during his battles in Ireland with William of Orange for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones (see Glorious Revolution), was given the title of Earl of Lucan. Sarsfield's son James Sarsfield died without an heir in 1718 and the title became extinct.
Patrick Sarsfield's great nephew, Charles Bingham, had the title re-created in 1795. Since this is a new title, despite the family connection, Charles Bingham is (as usual) called the 1st Earl of Lucan (i.e. of that creation).
The title became notorious when George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, as cavalry commander in the Crimean War, was one of the men involved in the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade.
Its notoriety was renewed after the disappearance in 1974 of the 7th Earl. In June 1975, in his absence, a Coroner's Jury decided that Lord Lucan had murdered Mrs Sandra Rivett who at the time was his childrens' Nanny. Lord Lucan's son and heir can style himself Earl of Lucan but cannot take his seat in the House of Lords. He now uses the style Earl of Lucan and is the beneficiary of the Lucan Settled Estates. His father is now presumed to have died in November 1974 by most commentators. Lord Bingham petitioned to take his father's seat in the House of Lords in 1999 but was refused by the Lord Chancellor. Later the High Court, on an application made by the Bingham family, declared Lucan officially dead but did not issue a death certificate. Whether he is actually dead or not remains a mystery and the title still in limbo.
Earls of Lucan, First creation (1691)
- Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan (d. 1693)
- James Sarsfield, 2nd Earl of Lucan (1693–1718)
Earls of Lucan, Second creation (1795)
- Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan (1735–1799)
- Richard Bingham, 2nd Earl of Lucan (1764–1839), elected a Representative Peer in 1800
- George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800–1888), elected a Representative Peer in 1840
- Charles George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan (1830–1914), elected a Representative Peer in 1889
- George Charles Bingham, 5th Earl of Lucan (1860–1949), elected a Representative Peer in 1914
- George Charles Patrick Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan (1898–1964)
- Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (b. 1934)
The Heir Apparent is the seventh Earl's son George Charles Bingham, Lord Bingham (b. 1967)
See also
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