Viscount Mersey

Viscount Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the lawyer and politician John Bigham, 1st Baron Mersey. He had already been created Baron Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1910, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and also served as Liberal Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 1944 to 1949. His son, the third Viscount, married Katherine Petty-Fitzmaurice, 12th Lady Nairne, the eldest daughter of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne and 10th Lord Nairne. They were both succeeded by their son, the fourth Viscount Mersey and thirteenth Lord Nairne. As of 2017^[update] the titles are held by the latter's son, the fifth Viscount, who succeeded in 2006.

Viscountcy of Mersey
Blazon Quarterly: 1st and 4th grandquarters: Per bend dancetty Azure and Or a Bend invected between three Crosses Patée in chief and as many Horseshoes in base all counterchanged (Bigham);2nd grandquarter:1st and 4th, Ermine, on a Bend Azure, a Magnetic Needle, pointing to the Polar Star Or (Petty); 2nd and 3rd, Argent, a Saltire Gules, and a Chief, Ermine (FitzMaurice); 3rd grandquarter: 1st, Parted per pale Sable and Argent on a Chaplet four Quatrefoils counterchanged (Nairne); 2nd counterquartered: 1st and 4th, Or on a Fess Gules between three Crosses Patée in chief of the second a Mullet Azure in base three Bezants (Mercer); 2nd and 3rd, Argent a Chevron Sable between three Boars' Heads erased Gules (Elphinstone); 3rd counterquartered: 1st and 4th, Paly of six Or and Sable (Atholl); 2nd, Or a Fess chequy Azure and Argent (Stewart); 3rd, Azure three Mullets Argent within a Double Tressure flory counterflory Or (Murray); 4th, Argent three Martlets Sable (de Flahault).
Creation date	22 January 1916
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
Present holder	Edward John Hallam Bigham, 5th Viscount Mersey
Heir presumptive	Hon. David Edward Hugh Bigham
Seat(s)	Bignor Park
Motto	I Advance

John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey.

The family seat is Bignor Park, near Pulborough, Sussex.

Viscounts Mersey (1916)

• John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey (1840–1929)
• Charles Clive Bigham, 2nd Viscount Mersey (1872–1956)
• Edward Clive Bigham, 3rd Viscount Mersey (1906–1979)
• Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey (1934–2006)
• Edward John Hallam Bigham, 5th Viscount Mersey (b. 1966)

The heir presumptive (to the Mersey but not Nairne titles) is the present holder's cousin Charles Richard Petty Bigham (b. 1967).

Family tree

v t e Lansdowne Family Tree

Baron Kerry, 1223 Earl of Kerry, 1753 Thomas FitzMaurice 1668–1741 1st Earl of Kerry, 21st Baron Kerry Viscount FitzMaurice and Baron Dunkeron, 1751 Earl of Shelburne (2nd creation), 1753 Baron Wycombe, 1760 William FitzMaurice 1694–1747 2nd Earl of Kerry, 22nd Baron Kerry John Petty-Fitzmaurice 1706–1761 1st Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 1784 Francis Thomas-Fitzmaurice 1740–1818 3rd Earl of Kerry, 23rd Baron Kerry William Petty-Fitzmaurice 1737–1805 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe Baron Nairne Baron Keith (1st creation: Ireland), 1797 Baron Keith (2nd creation: UK), 1801 Baron Keith (3rd creation: UK), 1803 Viscount Keith (UK), 1814 John Henry Petty 1765–1809 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 3rd Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe George Keith Elphinstone 1746–1823 Viscount Keith, Baron Keith (Ire, UK, UK) Jane Mercer Viscountcy Keith and Barony Keith (1st creation) extinct, 1801 Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 1780–1863 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 4th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe 4th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry Margaret Mercer Elphinstone 1788–1867 Comtesse de Flahaut, 2nd Baroness Keith (Ire, UK), 7th Lady Nairne Baronies Keith (2nd & 3rd creations) extinct, 1867 Henry Thomas Petty-Fitzmaurice 1816–1866 4th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 5th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe 5th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry Emily Jane Petty-FitzMaurice 1819–1895 8th Lady Nairne Baron Mersey, 1910 Viscount Mersey, 1916 Baron Fitzmaurice, 1906 John Charles Bigham 1840–1929 1st Viscount Mersey Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice 1845–1927 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 6th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 6th Earl of Kerry, 24th Baron Kerry, 9th Lord Nairne Edmond Fitzmaurice 1846–1935 Baron Fitzmaurice Barony Fitzmaurice extinct, 1935 Charles Clive Bigham 1872–1956 2nd Viscount Mersey Henry William Edmund Petty-Fitzmaurice 1872–1936 6th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 7th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 7th Earl of Kerry, 25th Baron Kerry, 10th Lord Nairne Charles Fitzmaurice 1874–1914 Edward Clive Bigham 1906–1979 3rd Viscount Mersey Katherine Bigham 1912–1995 12th Lady Nairne Charles Hope Petty-Fitzmaurice 1917–1944 7th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 8th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 8th Earl of Kerry, 26th Baron Kerry, 11th Lord Nairne George John Charles Mercer Nairne Petty-Fitzmaurice 1912–1999 8th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 9th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 9th Earl of Kerry, 27th Baron Kerry Richard Maurice Clive Bigham 1934–2006 4th Viscount Mersey, 13th Lord Nairne David Edward Hugh Bigham b. 1938 Heir apparent to the Viscountcy Mersey Charles Maurice Petty-Fitzmaurice b. 1941 9th Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Wycombe, and Viscount Calne and Calston, 10th Earl of Shelburne, Viscount FitzMaurice, Baron Dunkeron, and Baron Wycombe, 10th Earl of Kerry, 28th Baron Kerry Edward John Hallam Bigham b. 1966 5th Viscount Mersey, 14th Lord Nairne Charles Richard Petty Bigham b. 1967 Heir apparent in the heir presumptive to the Viscountcy Mersey Simon Henry George Petty-Fitzmaurice b. 1970 styled Earl of Kerry Flora Bigham, Mistress of Nairne b. 2003 styled Mistress of Nairne George Henry Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice b. 2020 styled Viscount Calne and Calston

Works

• Mersey (Viscount), Charles Clive Bigham (1901). A Year in China, 1899-1900. Macmillan and Company, limited. Retrieved 1 April 2013.

See also

• Lord Nairne

Notes

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source] [better source needed]}

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey
• The Mersey Manuscripts are held at the Parliamentary Archives