There have been three baronetcies created for descendants of the ancient Lancashire family of Gerard.
The Baronetcy of Gerard of Bryn Lancashire was created in the
Baronetage of England in 1611 for Thomas Gerard,
Member of Parliament for
Liverpool,
Lancashire, and
Wigan who was a direct descendant of the family of Bryn.[1] From him derived a line of baronets that was elevated to the peerage in 1879, when the baronetcy was merged with the title of
Barons Gerard of Bryn,[2] with which it descends to the present holder, the seventeenth baronet.
The Baronetcy of Gerard of Harrow on the Hill was created in the Baronetage of England on 12 April 1620 for Gilbert Gerard of Flambards,
Harrow on the Hill,
Middlesex, (a grand-nephew of
Gilbert Gerard,
Attorney General 1559–81, of
Gerards Bromley,
Staffordshire) who was
Member of Parliament for
Wigan 1614,
Middlesex 1621–48 and
Lancaster 1660. His son Francis, the second Baronet represented
Seaford 1641–48,
Middlesex 1659 and
Bossiney in 1660. His son Charles, third Baronet, was the member for
Middlesex 1685–95 and
Cockermouth 1695–98. His two brothers followed as fourth and fifth Baronets but the Baronetcy was extinct on the death of the latter in 1716. The Flambards estate passed to the daughter of the third Baronet and was sold off in 1767.[3]
The Baronetcy of Gerard of Fiskerton, Lincolnshire was created on 17 November 1666 for Gilbert Gerard a great-grandson of Gilbert Gerard, Attorney General. His second wife was Mary Cosin, daughter of
John Cosin the
Bishop of Durham. Sir Gilbert acquired an estate at Gateshead Durham and was elected Member of Parliament for
Northallerton in 1661. He was appointed by his father in law as
High Sheriff of Durham in 1665. He was buried in
York Minster in 1687. He was succeeded by his son Gilbert Cosin-Gerard on whose death in 1730 the Baronetcy was extinct.[4]
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abGeorge Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Vol. VII, eds. Vicary Gibbs; H.A. Doubleday (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1926), pp. 637–638