| Marquessate of Bath | |
| Creation Date: | 18 August 1789 |
| Heir Apparent: | John Thynn, Viscount Weymouth |
| Remainder To: | The 1st Marquess' heirs male of the body lawfully begotten |
| Subsidiary Titles: |
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| Status: | Extant |
| Motto: | J'AY BONNE CAUSE (I have good reason) |
Marquess of Bath is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1789 for Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles Baron Thynne, of Warminster in the County of Wiltshire, and Viscount Weymouth, both created in 1682 in the Peerage of England. He is also a baronet in the Baronetage of England.
The Thynne family descends from the soldier and courtier Sir John Thynne (died 1580), who constructed Longleat House between 1567 and 1579. In 1641 his great-grandson Henry Frederick Thynne was created a Baronet, of Caus Castle, in the Baronetage of England (some sources claim that the territorial designation is "Kempsford in the County of Gloucester"). He was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He represented Oxford University and Tamworth in the House of Commons and also served as Envoy to Sweden. In 1682 he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Thynne, of Warminster in the County of Wilts, and Viscount Weymouth, in the County of Dorset, with remainder to his younger brothers James Thynne (who died unmarried) and Henry Frederick Thynne and the heirs male of their bodies.
Lord Weymouth died without surviving male issue in 1714 (one of his three sons, the Honourable Henry Thynne, represented Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and Tamworth in Parliament but had died in 1708, leaving only daughters) and was succeeded in the peerages (according to the special remainders) by his great-nephew, the second Viscount. He was the grandson of the aforementioned Henry Frederick Thynne, brother of the first Viscount. He married as his second wife Lady Louisa Carteret, daughter of John, Earl Granville, a female-line grandson of John, 1st Earl of Bath of the second creation (a title which had become extinct in 1711). Lord Weymouth was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Viscount. He was a prominent statesman and served as Secretary of State for the Northern Department and as Secretary of State for the Southern Department. In 1789 the Bath title held by his ancestors was revived when he was created Marquess of Bath. Unusually, the Earldom of Bath was revived during the Marquess's lifetime for Laura Pulteney, the heiress of the Earl of Bath of the fourth creation. Place names used by existing peerages are normally avoided when new ones are created. This earldom went extinct on her death in 1808.
The 1st Marquess's son Thomas, the 2nd Marquess, sat as Tory Member of Parliament for Weobley and Bath and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset. His eldest son Thomas, represented Weobly in Parliament but predeceased his father by two months. Lord Bath was therefore succeeded by his second son Henry, the 3rd Marquess, who died three months later. He was a captain in the Royal Navy and also sat as Member of Parliament for Weobly. His son John, the 4th Marquess, succeeded at age six; he was Chairman of the Wiltshire County Council and Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire. He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas, the 5th Marquess. He was a Conservative politician and served briefly as Under-Secretary of State for India in 1895. His second but eldest surviving son Henry, the 6th Marquess, represented Frome in the House of Commons as a Conservative.
The 6th Marquess's second son, Alexander, the 7th Marquess, succeeded in 1992. He was a well-known politician, author and artist. In 2015 the Times described him as "a steaming pile of ancient kaftans and one of our wuffliest and weirdest mad-hatter aristocrats. He is best known for swanning around Longleat, his enormous Elizabethan pad in Wiltshire, entertaining his 75 concubines, or as he called them, "wifelets".The wifelets have included former Bond girls and Sri Lankan teenagers, as well as housewives and, according to some, prostitutes. The deal is simple: the wifelets get to hang out with Lord Bath in a jewel of a palace and in return he gets unlimited sex."[1]
The titles are currently held by Ceawlin Thynn, the son of the 7th Marquess.
The Honourable Henry Thynne, second son of the second Viscount, succeeded to the Carteret estates through his mother and assumed the surname of Carteret in lieu of Thynne. In 1784 he was created Baron Carteret with remainder to the younger sons of his brother the first Marquess of Bath (see the Baron Carteret for more information on this title). Several other members of the Thynne family have also gained distinction. The Reverend Lord John Thynne, third son of the second Marquess, was sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey; his seventh son was Major-General Sir Reginald Thomas Thynne (1843–1926). Lord Henry Thynne, second son of the third Marquess, was a Conservative politician and notably served as Treasurer of the Household from 1875 to 1880. Lord Alexander Thynne, third son of the fourth Marquess, represented Bath in the House of Commons from 1910 to 1918.
The family seat is Longleat House.
The arms borne by the Thynne family are: Quarterly: 1st and 4th, barry of ten Or and Sable (Botteville); 2nd and 3rd, Argent, a lion rampant with tail nowed and erected Gules (Thynne). This can be translated as: a shield divided into quarters, the top left and bottom right made of ten horizontal bars alternating gold and black (for the Boteville family); the top right and bottom left quarters white with a red lion rampant with a knotted tail (for the Thynne family).
The heir apparent is the 8th Marquess' son, John Alexander Ladi Thynn, Viscount Weymouth (b. 2014).