  earl of essex is a title that was first created in the 12th century for geoffrey ii de mandeville (d. 1144). upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct. geoffrey fitz peter, who had married beatrice de say, granddaughter of the first earl's sister and eventual heir to the mandeville honour, gained the earldom in 1199. the title passed to two of his sons before again becoming extinct after the death of the second, william, the 6th earl of essex, who had taken the surname de mandeville.g. e. cokayne, et al., the complete peerage, vol. 5, "essex" the third creation was for humphrey de bohun, 2nd earl of hereford in 1239, whose father henry had married maud, sister of the sixth earl. both the earldom of hereford, earldom of northampton and the earldom of essex became extant in 1373, reconfirmation of titles on heirs to be issued soon. there were several more creations until the famous devereux creation in 1572, which included robert devereux, 2nd earl of essex (1566â1601) a favourite of queen elizabeth i and his son robert devereux, 3rd earl of essex, the general who commanded the parliamentary army at the battle of edge hill, the first major battle of the english civil war (for further history of the devereux family, see the viscount hereford). upon its extinction, the present creation was made in 1661. ==capell creation== thumb|400px|arthur capell, 1st baron capell of hadham, and his family the capell (or capel) family descends from sir arthur capell of raines hall in essex and of hadham in hertfordshire. his grandson arthur capell represented hertfordshire in both the short and long parliaments. in 1641 he was raised to the peerage of england as baron capell of hadham, in the county of hertford. capell later fought as a royalist in the civil war. he was tried and condemned to death by the parliamentarians and beheaded in may 1649. he was succeeded by his eldest son, the second baron. in 1661 he was created viscount malden, in the county of essex, and earl of essex, with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to, firstly, his brother henry capell (later baron capell of tewkesbury; see below), failing which to, secondly, his brother edward capell. these titles are also in the peerage of england. lord essex later served as lord-lieutenant of ireland and as first lord of the treasury. on his death the titles passed to his son, the second earl. he was a lieutenant-general in the army and served as lord-lieutenant of hertfordshire. he was succeeded by his son, the third earl. he served as captain of the yeomen of the guard fr
Bourchier_family Capell_family Earldoms_in_the_Peerage_of_England Earls_of_Essex Extinct_earldoms_in_the_Peerage_of_England Forfeited_peerages Lists_of_nobility