It was created in 1809 for the prominent politician and former Foreign Secretary, Dudley Ryder, 2nd Baron Harrowby.

[1] His nephew, the fifth Earl (who succeeded his father in 1900),[3] briefly represented Gravesend in the House of Commons as a Conservative and was also Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire.

He was the son of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1754 to 1756.

Dudley Ryder was offered a peerage by King George II on 24 May 1756, but died the following day, before the patent was completed.

Granville Ryder, second son of the first Earl, sat as Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Hertfordshire.

[1] The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son Dudley Anthony Hugo Coventry Ryder, Viscount Sandon (b.