Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon - The Baron's Hunsdon

Baron Hunsdon is a title that has been created twice. It was first created in 1559 in the Peerage of England for the soldier and courtier Henry Carey (pictured here).He was the son of Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn and also the mistress to King Henry VIII of England. Historians differ as to whether he was the biological child of Henry VIII, or of Boleyn's husband, Sir William Carey, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and Esquire of the Body to King Henry VIII. Henry Carey died at Somerset House, Strand on 23 July 1596 and was buried on 12 August 1596 at Westminster Abbey. On his deathbed his cousin Queen Elizabeth I offered to create him Earl of Wiltshire in honour of his grandfather Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire. However, he refused, saying: “Madam, as you did ...not count me worthy of this honour in life, then I shall account myself not worthy of it in death". His grandson, the fourth Baron, was created Viscount Rochford (another Boleyn family title) in 1621 and Earl of Dover, in the County of Kent, in 1628. These titles were also in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He had already in 1640 been summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's barony of Hunsdon. However, on his death in 1677 the viscountcy and earldom became extinct. The barony passed to his second cousin once removed, the sixth Baron. He was the great-grandson of Sir Edmund Carey, younger son of the first Baron. On his death the title passed to his first cousin, the seventh Baron. He died unmarried and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, the eighth Baron. On the latter's death in 1765 the barony became extinct as well.
The title was created again in 1923 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The barony was revived for the businessman the Hon. Herbert Gibbs, who was made Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, of Briggens in the County of Hertford. Although the full title of the barony is Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, only Baron Hunsdon is used in practice. Gibbs was the fourth son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham . He was a partner in the family firm of Antony Gibbs & Sons and also served as Chairman of the Public Works Loan Board. In 1908 Gibbs acquired Hunsdon House and the Briggens Estate in Hertfordshire. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. In 1939 he succeeded his cousin in the barony of Aldenham. The two baronies remain united. The current holder of the titles is Vicary Tyser Gibbs, ( born 9 June 1948), the son of Anthony Durant Gibbs, 3rd Baron Hudson / 5th Baron Aldenham. He succeeded to the titles 4th Baron Hunsdon, and 6th Baron Aldenham on 25 January 1986.