Viscount Stansgate

Viscount Stansgate, of Stansgate in the County of Essex,[2] is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the Labour politician, former Secretary of State for India and future Secretary of State for Air, William Wedgwood Benn. He was the second son of Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet, of The Old Knoll. Lord Stansgate's eldest son and heir apparent, the Hon. Michael Benn, was later killed in the Second World War; consequently, he was succeeded in the title by his second son, the second Viscount, better known as the Labour politician Tony Benn. The latter disclaimed the peerage on 31 July 1963, the day the Peerage Act 1963 passed into law and made it possible for him to do so.[3] As of 2018, the title is held by Tony Benn's eldest son Stephen as third Viscount.

Viscountcy Stansgate

Escutcheon: Argent two Barrulets Gules between in chief as many Dragons' Heads erased and in base a Pencil and Pen in saltire proper tied with a Lace Azure pendent therefrom a Torteau charged with Figures "1914" Or; Crest: On a Rock a Spear erect proper flowing therefrom a Pennon Azure charged with the word "Onward" in Letters Or[1]
Creation date20 January 1942
MonarchKing George VI
PeeragePeerage of the United Kingdom
First holderWilliam Wedgwood Benn
Present holderStephen Benn
Heir apparentThe Hon. Daniel Benn
Remainder toHeirs male of the first viscount's body, lawfully begotten
Former seat(s)Stansgate Abbey
MottoDeo Favente

Stansgate is a hamlet near the village of Steeple, Essex, on the southern side of the River Blackwater estuary. The village has been home to several generations of the Benn family since about 1900.[4] They live in Stansgate Abbey,[5] described by Chris Mullin as "an ungainly, rambling 1920s house in a stunning location".[6]

Viscounts Stansgate (1942)
William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate
Tony Benn, briefly and unwillingly 2nd Viscount Stansgate

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son, the Hon. Daniel John Wedgwood Benn (b. 1991).

See also

References
  1. http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/stansgate1942.htm
  2. "No. 35426". The London Gazette. 20 January 1942. p. 345.
  3. "No. 43072". The London Gazette. 2 August 1963. pp. 6533–6534.
  4. "Stansgate Priory". Essex Family History. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. "Stansgate Abbey". Google Maps. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  6. Chris Mullin (2011). A Walk-On Part : Diaries 1994-1999. Profile Books. p. 261. ISBN 9781846685231.
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