Clare", in which Clare was taken as a title rather than a surname. One view is there was no such title in existence, and that the first creation of the title Earl of Clare dates to 1624. However, John Burke in 1831 states that prior to the 1624 creation, Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, was to be created Earl of Clare, but that it was refused by the crown lawyers, "on a solemn declaration, that it was a title peculiar to the royal blood and not to be conferred upon a subject." Earl of Clare, first creation (1624) The title of Earl of Clare was formally created by letters patent in the peerage of England on 2 November 1624 for John Holles. He was first elevated to the peerage as Baron Houghton of Houghton by King James I on 9 July 1616. According to Burke, he was ennobled thanks to the influence of the George Villiers, Viscount Villiers, future Duke of Buckingham, to whom Holles paid £10,000 (). He was created Earl of Clare following an additional payment of £5,000. The fourth earl married Lady Margaret Cavendish, third daughter and co-heir of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle, and he inherited the majority of the Duke's estates upon his death in 1691. On 14 May 1694, he was created Marquess of Clare and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The fourth earl's only child, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, married Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. Their daughter, Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, who married William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland. The title became extinct upon the death the fourth earl in 1711. John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (1564–1637) John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare (1595–1666) Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare (1633–1689) John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare (1662–1711), created Marquess of Clare and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1694 Earl of Clare, second creation (1714) The next creation of the Earl of Clare was in the Peerage of Great Britain for Thomas Pelham, nephew and heir of the last earl of the first creation. He had been adopted by his uncle and assumed the arms and surname of Holles. He was a significant statesman during the early Georgian era, and he served as the First Lord of the Treasury, among other roles. He was created Viscount Pelham of Houghton and Earl of Clare on 26 October 1714. Marquess of Clare