Duke of Buckingham

Stafford was an important supporter of the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses, and was killed at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460.

His son, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was restored to the title upon Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485, but he was ultimately executed for treason in 1521 due to his opposition to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII's chief advisor.

Buckingham, who continued in office as chief minister into the reign of James's son, Charles I, was responsible for a policy of war against Spain and France.

In 1628, he was assassinated by John Felton, a disgruntled army officer who had served under him, as he prepared an expedition to relieve the Huguenots of La Rochelle.

His son, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was a notable advisor in the reign of Charles II, and along with Lord Ashley made up the Protestant axis of the famous Cabal Ministry.

After digging for a fox above Kirkbymoorside, and being too far from his home in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, he died from a chill in the house of a tenant.

The third creation of the dukedom, as Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, was in 1703 for John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of Mulgrave, 1st Marquess of Normanby, a notable Tory politician of the late Stuart period, who served under Queen Anne as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council.

The earldom was created with remainder, failing male issue of his own, to (1) the heirs male of the body of his deceased great-grandmother Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple, and (2) in default thereof to his granddaughter Lady Anne Eliza Mary Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, daughter of his son Richard, who succeeded as second Duke in 1839.

The earldom of Temple of Stowe passed to his sister's son William Temple-Gore-Langton because the title had been created with a special remainder to her heirs male.