Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire.

The current holder is Christopher Paulet, 19th Marquess of Winchester (born 1969), whose son uses the courtesy title Earl of Wiltshire.

The king at the time was Edward VI, who was not of age, and the decision was that of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, who in the same year promoted himself to a dukedom.

He was succeeded by his son, the second duke, who, as heir apparent to the marquessate in 1675, was the first to adopt the courtesy title of Earl of Wiltshire.

In 1717 he was meant to be summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron St John (of Basing).

However, the barony of Pawlett of Basing became extinct as he had no legitimate offspring while he was succeeded in the other titles by his younger brother, the fourth duke.

Most of the family estates passed to his niece Jean Mary Browne-Powlett, illegitimate daughter of the fifth duke.

She was the wife of Thomas Orde, who assumed the additional surname of Powlett and was created Baron Bolton in 1797.

His son, the thirteenth marquess, was a member of Parliament for Truro and served as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire.

His son, the fifteenth marquess, was a major in the Coldstream Guards and was killed in action at the Battle of Magersfontein in 1899 during the Second Boer War.

[dubious – discuss] On 8 April 2016, he succeeded as Marquess of Winchester (1551), Earl of Wiltshire (1550), and Baron St. John (1539), all in the peerage of England.