Earl Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749 for Simon Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt. He was made Viscount Nuneham at the same time, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. Harcourt was the son of the Honourable Simon Harcourt and the grandson of Simon Harcourt, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, who had been created Baron Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, on 3 September 1711, and Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, on 24 July 1721. Both these titles were also in the Peerage of Great Britain.
The first earl fulfilled various diplomatic duties for King George II and George III as Prince of Wales and then King. In 1772, Harcourt was appointed Viceroy of Ireland. Five years later, he died at his own estate at Nuneham by falling into a well. He was succeeded by his eldest son, George, who was in turn succeeded by his younger brother, William. The titles became extinct on the latter's death in 1830 as neither brother left legitimate surviving sons of their own.[2]
^Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1883). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (3 ed.). London: Harrison. pp. 261–263. ISBN0-8063-0789-7.
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