The peerage was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester.

He had already been created Baron Beauchamp of Powyke in the County of Worcester, in 1806, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

His eldest son, the seventh Earl, was in contrast to his father a prominent Liberal politician and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith.

The Earls Beauchamp were descended from Richard Lygon (pronounced "Liggon", /ˈlɪɡən/), of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, who married the Hon.

Lady Morrison (nee Rosalind Lygon), a niece of the 8th and last Earl Beauchamp and the younger daughter of the late Hon.

Rosalind Morrison inherited Madresfield Court in 1990 after the death of Mona Lygon, Countess Beauchamp, widow of the 8th and last Earl (d 1979).