Earl of Shaftesbury

Earldom of Shaftesbury

Quarterly: 1st and 4th: Argent, three bulls passant sable, armed and unguled Or (Ashley); 2nd and 3rd: Gules, a bend engrailed between six lions rampant or (Cooper)
Creation date23 April 1672
Created byCharles II of England
PeeragePeerage of England
First holderAnthony Ashley-Cooper
Present holderNicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury
Heir apparentAnthony Ashley-Cooper,
Lord Ashley
Remainder toHeirs male of the body of the 1st earl
Subsidiary titlesBaron Ashley
Baron Cooper
StatusExtant
Seat(s)St Giles House
MottoLOVE, SERVE

Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his father as second Baronet of Rockbourne in 1631 and been created Baron Ashley, of Wimborne St Giles in the County of Dorset, in 1661, and he was made Baron Cooper, of Paulett in the County of Somerset, at the same time he was given the earldom.

These titles are also in the Peerage of England. Baron Ashley is used as a courtesy title by the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent. The Cooper baronetcy, of Rockbourne in the County of Southampton, was created in the Baronetage of England in 1622 for the Earl's father, John Cooper. He sat as Member of Parliament for Poole.[1]

The current holder is Nicholas Ashley-Cooper (born 1979).

  1. ^ Doyle, James William Edmund. The Official Baronage of England: Pembroke-Zetland, London: Longman, Green, & Company, 1886, Vol. II, p. 300.