It was created in 1797 for Thomas Powys, who had previously represented Northamptonshire in the House of Commons.
His grandson, the third Baron, served as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip) from 1837 to 1841 in the Whig administration of Lord Melbourne.
As of 2010[update], the title is held by his only son Mark Powys, the eighth Baron, who succeeded in 2005.
The current Baron Lilford retains ownership of land in Jersey, South Africa and West Lancashire, including the Bank Hall Estate, which were inherited in 1860 by Thomas Atherton Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford, upon the death of his wife's cousin George Anthony Legh Keck.
[2] The heir presumptive is the present holder's third cousin Victor Michael Powys (born 1961), whose heir is his son Matthew Paul Powys (born 1996).