[2][3] At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County of Devon, which is used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom.

It had become common in the 19th century for members of the post-mediaeval nobility when elevated further in the peerage to adopt defunct mediaeval titles which bore some ostensible link to the family, thus lending it an air of great antiquity.

Such actions were often adopted in all innocence based on erroneous pedigrees produced by genealogists overly eager to please their patrons.

His son, the third Earl, was a Liberal politician and notably served under William Ewart Gladstone as Under-Secretary of State for War and as First Commissioner of Works.

Styled formally as Viscount Boringdon between 1962 and 2015, he was educated at Eton College and was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets, rising to the rank of Captain.