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Duke of Cleveland

The Dukedom of Cleveland was a peerage in the Peerage of England, and later in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, named for Cleveland in northern England.

The first creation in 1670 (along with the Barony of Nunsuch and the Earldom of Southampton) was for Barbara Palmer, a mistress of King Charles II. The Dukedom was created with a special remainder allowing it to be inherited by Charles FitzRoy, her illegitimate son by Charles II. Being illegitimate, he would not normally have inherited the peerage. He was made Duke of Southampton, Earl of Chichester, and Baron Newbury in 1675 and inherited the Dukedom of Cleveland in 1709.

His son William inherited both Dukedoms, but he had no issue, and since his uncles (Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (died 1690) and George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (died 1716)) had not been made eligible to inherit the peerage, the title could not pass to one of their descendants and became extinct upon his death.

The Dukedom of Cleveland was created again in 1833 for the third Earl of Darlington, along with the title Baron Raby. He was a great-grandson of Charles FitzRoy (the second Duke of the first Creation) and had been created Marquess of Cleveland in 1827. He was succeeded by each of his three sons and on the death of the fourth Duke of Cleveland in 1891 the title became extinct for a second time.

In 2005, Joshua Gardner, a sex offender from Minnesota, masqueraded as a "fifth Duke of Cleveland" attempting to use a self-edited version of this article and a page on Myspace to corroborate his claims.

Dukes of Cleveland, First Creation (1670)

Dukes of Cleveland, Second Creation (1833)

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