Baron Ashford
| Earldom of Albemarle (1697 creation) |
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Gules, three escallops argent (Arms of Keppel)
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| Creation date | 10 February 1697 |
| Monarch | King William III |
| Peerage | Peerage of England |
| First holder | Arnold Joost van Keppel |
| Present holder | Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl |
| Heir apparent | Augustus Keppel, Viscount Bury |
| Remainder to | the 1st Earl's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten. |
| Subsidiary titles | Viscount Bury Baron Ashford |
Earl of Albemarle is a title created several times from Norman times onwards. The word Albemarle is the Latinised form of the French county of Aumale in Normandy (Latin: Alba Marla meaning "White Marl", marl being a type of fertile soil), other forms being Aubemarle and Aumerle. It is described in the patent of nobility granted in 1697 by William III to Arnold Joost van Keppel as "a town and territory in the Dukedom of Normandy."
During the period in which England and France contended for the rule of Normandy (through the end of the Hundred Years' War), the kings of England not infrequently created peers as Counts and Dukes of Aumale. The last, to Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick(d.1439), was in 1422; Aumale, anglicized as Albemarle, was not revived in the peerage until 1660.
In that year, Charles II bestowed the title of Duke of Albemarle on General George Monck. The title became extinct in 1688, on the death of Christopher, 2nd Duke of Albemarle.
The family seat is Hurst Barns Farm, near East Chiltington, East Sussex
See Counts and Dukes of Aumale
In 1697, King William III created his Dutch favourite Arnold Joost van Keppel Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England. He was made Baron Ashford, of Ashford in the County of Kent, and Viscount Bury, in the County of Lancaster, at the same time. The motive for choosing this title was probably that, apart from its traditions, it avoided the difficulty created by the fact that the Keppels had as yet no territorial possessions in the British Islands. Lord Albemarle was succeeded by his only son, the second Earl. He was a general in the army and also served as Governor of Virginia and as Ambassador to France. Albemarle County in Virginia is named in his honour. He married Lady Anne Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of King Charles II.
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Wikipedia