Finally, on the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, Harold became king, reuniting the earldom of Wessex with the crown.

In England, Earl Godwin died in 1053 and his sons were increasing in power ; Harold succeeded to his father's earldom and another son, Tostig, became Earl of Northumbria.

Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror.

Devonshire married Charlotte Boyle, 6th Baroness Clifford, daughter of the famous architect Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington ( on whose death in 1753 the earldom of Burlington became extinct ).

He had no sons and on his death in 1753 the barony of Clifford of Lanesborough and earldom of Burlington became extinct.

Lord Burlington was succeeded in the earldom of Cork and the other remaining titles by his third cousin John Boyle, 5th Earl of Orrery, who became the fifth Earl of Cork as well ( he was descended from the third son of the first Earl of Cork, and had also inherited the titles of Baron Broghill and Baron Boyle of Marston in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, thus a seat in the British House of Lords until 1999 ( see the Earl of Orrery for earlier history of this branch of the family ).

The viscountcy and earldom became extinct on his death as he had no sons while he was succeeded in the barony according to the special remainder by his nephew George Montagu.

In 1826 he also obtained a reversal of the attainder of the earldom of Wemyss and became the eighth Earl of Wemyss.

On his death the barony of Douglas of Amesbury and earldom of Ruglen became extinct.

However, he was succeeded in the earldom and barony by his distant relative James Richard Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope, who became the thirteenth Earl of Chesterfield and thirteenth Baron Stanhope.

The earldom was inherited by his distant relative Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet, of Bickerstaffe, a descendant of a younger brother of the second Earl, who became the 11th Earl of Derby ( see below for earlier history of the Baronetcy ).

She was born the Honourable Caroline Ponsonby, and became Lady Caroline when her father succeeded to the earldom in 1793.

He regained it in 1950, but the following year he left the Commons when, on the death of his father, he inherited the earldom of Home and thereby became a member of the House of Lords.

In late medieval times Steinfurt became an independent earldom.

Originally it was a part of the earldom of Bentheim, before it became independent in 1454.

In the 12th century the area of today's district became the property of the earldom Berg.

He was unmarried and on his death the earldom became extinct, while he was succeeded in the barony by his younger brother, Robert.

In November 1644, on his father's elevation to the earldom of Norwich, he became Lord Goring.

The earldom and the viscountcy of the United Kingdom, being limited to male heirs, became extinct.

In 1306, Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, became King Robert I of Scotland, with the earldom merging in the Crown.

He became known by the courtesy title Lord Cavendish of Keighley in 1831 when the earldom of Burlington was revived in favour of his grandfather.

The second ( 1554-created ) earldom became extinct in 1599, although the original earldom survived.

After the death of his father, Godwin the Earl of Wessex, Leofwine ( c. 1035 – 1066 ), sometime between 1056 and 1058, became Earl of Kent, a new earldom at the time.

On his death, in 1756, the earldom became extinct and the barony fell into abeyance.

In May, Harley obtained the earldom of Oxford and was made lord treasurer, while in July, St John was greatly disappointed at receiving only his viscountcy instead of the earldom lately extinct in his family, and at being passed over for the Order of the Garter.

These later creations bear the double title because the original earldom is not certainly known to be extinct ; the first de Vere Earl may still have living legitimate descendants in the male line, though it would be exceedingly difficult to prove such a claim.

The dukedom was forfeit on his attainder in 1397, but the earldom passed to his son, Humphrey, but became extinct on his death two years later.

On his death in 1590 the earldom became extinct.

The earldom of Warwick created in 1618 for a member of the Rich family became extinct in September 1759, and in November of the same year Lord Brooke was created Earl of Warwick, re-uniting the earldom and Warwick Castle for the first time in over a century.

His son was allowed to inherit it in 1678 by a bill of Parliament, and the barony and earldom remained united until the death of the eighth earl, when the earldom became extinct, and the barony went to George Thicknesse, later Thicknesse-Tuchet.

Upon his death in 1347, the earldom was extinct, and the barony became dormant.

His two viscountcies and his earldom became extinct on his death while he was succeeded in his junior title of Baron Ward by his second cousin Reverend William Humble Ward.

He never married and on his death in 1957 the baronies of Murray and Glenlyon and earldom of Strange became extinct, the barony of Percy was passed on to his kinsman the 10th Duke of Northumberland ( see Baron Percy ), while the barony of Strange fell into abeyance ( see Baron Strange ).

On his death the viscountcy and earldom became extinct while he was succeeded in the barony by his nephew, Charles.

Without a male heir the marquessate became extinct, while the earldom is dormant.

He died already in 1746 when the barony of Throwley, viscountcy and earldom became extinct.

* Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham ( 1715 – 1746 ) ( earldom extinct at his death )

The same was true of Malcolm ; his agreement with the English king was followed by further raids into Northumbria, which led to further trouble in the earldom and the killing of Bishop William Walcher at Gateshead.

The northern part ( ex-Bernicia ) at first retained its status as a kingdom but when it become subordinate to the Danish kingdom it had its powers curtailed to that of an earldom, and retained that status when England was reunited by the Wessex-led reconquest of the Danelaw.

Edward's nephew, Earl Ralph, who had been one of his chief supporters in the crisis of 1051 – 52, may have received Sweyn's marcher earldom of Hereford at this time.

Godwin himself died in 1053 and although Harold succeeded to his earldom of Wessex, none of his other brothers were earls at this date.

But, as with Gaveston, the barons were indignant at the privileges Edward lavished upon the Despenser father and son, especially when the younger Despenser began in 1318 to strive to procure for himself the earldom of Gloucester and its associated lands.

When Sigurd was killed, the earldom was divided among Sumarlidi, Brusi, and Einar ( Thorfinn was only 5 years old at the time ).

Gormenghast is a remote and reclusive earldom dominated by the huge Castle Gormenghast at its centre, and ruled by the noble family of Groan since time immemorial.

Initial from the charter granting Gaveston the Earl of Cornwall | earldom of Cornwall, showing the Coat of arms of England | arms of England at top, and Gaveston's coat of arms Impalement ( heraldry ) | impaled with those of de Clare below.

He had already been created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal, in the County of Cork, in 1616, and was made Viscount of Dungarvan, in the County of Waterford, at the same time he was given the earldom.

Honoured for his services at William's coronation with the earldom of Marlborough, he served with further distinction in the early years of the Nine Years ' War, but persistent charges of Jacobitism brought about his fall from office and temporary imprisonment in the Tower.

The Stainborough Wentworths, for whom the Strafford earldom was revived, lived, not by accident, at the nearby Wentworth Castle, which was purchased in 1708, in a competitive spirit, and strenuously rebuilt in a magnificent manner.

He had already been created Viscount Alexander of Tunis, of Errigal in the County of Donegal, on 1 March 1946, and was made Baron Rideau, of Ottawa and of Castle Derg in the County of Tyrone, at the same time he was given the earldom.

Furthermore, two records in the Annals of Innisfallen hint that the Western Isles may not have been " organised into a kingdom or earldom " at this time but rather that they were " ruled by assemblies of freeholders who regularly elected lawmen to preside over their public affairs ".

After a hasty and controversial trial, they were both beheaded at Kenilworth on 12 August 1469 and Anthony succeeded his father in the earldom.

On Henry II's accession in December 1154, Bigod at once received confirmation of the possession of his earldom and stewardship by charter issued apparently in January of the next year.

Though defeated and compelled to surrender his castles, Bigod kept his lands and his earldom, and lived at peace with Henry II until his death reportedly in 1177 in Palestine.

He had already been created Baron Grey, of Howick in the County of Northumberland, in 1801, and was made Viscount Howick, in the County of Northumberland, at the same time as he was given the earldom.

Conn O ' Neill was a relative of Gerald Fitzgerald, and this event accordingly led to the formation of the short-lived Geraldine League, a federation including the O ' Neills, the O ' Donnells, the O ' Briens of Thomond, and other powerful clans ; the primary object of which was to restore Gerald to the earldom of Kildare, but which afterwards aimed at the complete overthrow of English rule in Ireland.

Lord Stanley, as he was styled before acceding to the earldom, was educated at Eton, Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first in classics and became a member of the society known as the Cambridge Apostles.

He tried in vain to obtain promotion to an earldom, a title on which he had set his heart, and he died at Holland House, Kensington, a sorely disappointed man, with a reputation for cunning and unscrupulousness, the most unpopular politician of his day.