Earl of Wycombe
| Marquessate of Lansdowne | |
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Arms: 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). Crests: 1st, A Beehive beset with Bees volant proper (Petty). 2nd, A Centaur drawing a Bow and Arrow proper, the part below the waist Argent (FitzMaurice). Supporters: On either side a Pegasus Ermine, bridled crined winged and unguled Or, each charged on the shoulder with a Fleur-de-lis Azure.
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| Creation date | 6 December 1784 |
| Monarch | George III |
| Peerage | Peerage of Great Britain |
| First holder | William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne |
| Present holder | Charles Petty-FitzMaurice, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne |
| Heir apparent | Simon Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Kerry |
| Remainder to | The 1st Marquess' heirs male of the body lawfully begotten |
| Subsidiary titles |
Earl of Kerry Earl of Shelburne Earl of Wycombe Viscount Clanmaurice Viscount Fitzmaurice Viscount Calne and Calston Baron of Kerry and Lixnaw Baron Dunkeron Baron Wycombe of Chipping Wycombe |
| Status | Extant |
| Seat(s) | Bowood House |
| Former seat(s) | Lansdowne House |
| Armorial motto |
VIRTUTE NON VERBIS (By courage, not words) |
Marquess of Lansdowne is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1784, and held by the head of the Petty-FitzMaurice family. The first Marquess served as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
This branch of the family descends from the Hon. John Petty-Fitzmaurice (originally John Fitzmaurice), second son of Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry (see the Earl of Kerry for earlier history of the family), and his wife Anne, the daughter of the noted political economist Sir William Petty (whose wife had been created Baroness Shelburne and whose two sons had been created Baron Shelburne and Earl of Shelburne respectively, but who had died without heirs; see these titles for more information). In 1751 he succeeded to the estates of his maternal uncle Henry Petty, Earl of Shelburne, and assumed by Act of Parliament the surname of Petty in addition to FitzMaurice. The same year he was created Baron Dunkeron and Viscount FitzMaurice in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1753 the earldom held by his uncle was revived when he was made Earl of Shelburne, in the County of Wexford, in the Peerage of Ireland. He later represented Wycombe in the House of Commons as a Whig. In 1760 he was created Baron Wycombe, of Chepping Wycombe in the County of Buckingham, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which gave him an automatic seat in the British House of Lords.
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