Baron Hunsdon

Baron Hunsdon is a title that has been created three times.

It was first created in 1559 in the Peerage of England for the soldier and courtier Henry Carey. His grandson, the fourth Baron, was created by Viscount Rochford 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, the 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 second creation was in 1832 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lucius Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland, a peer of Scotland, was created Baron Hunsdon, of Scutterskelfe in the county of York. This title became extinct on his death in 1884.

The title was created again in 1923 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The barony was revived for the businessman Herbert Gibbs, who was made Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, of Briggens in the County of Hertford. Gibbs was the fourth son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham (see the Baron Aldenham for earlier history of the family). 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 to the barony of Aldenham. The two baronies remain united.