Edward Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough

Edward Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough (1641 – January 1689) was a British peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Hon. Edward Noel from 1660 to 1681.

The son of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden, he represented Rutland in the House of Commons of England from 1661 to 1679. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Rutland in March 1670. In 1676, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire in February, and Warden and Keeper of the New Forest in March.

After being appointed Colonel of the Hampshire Militia in 1678, he was briefly knight of the shire for Hampshire in 1679. On 3 February 1681, he was created Baron Noel and entered the House of Lords, and was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire. In 1682, he was given several local offices in Hampshire: Governor of Portsmouth, Constable of Porchester Castle, and Lieutenant of South Bere Forest. He succeeded his father in October as Viscount Campden and as Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Rutland, and was further honored at the end of the year when he was created Earl of Gainsborough on 1 December 1682.

Between December 1687 and January 1688, during the purge of James II, he was dismissed from all his Hampshire offices in favor of the Duke of Berwick, although he was commissioned a captain in the Queen Dowager's Regiment of Foot in 1687. He was also replaced by Earl of Peterborough as Lord Lieutenant of Rutland at this time.

By his first marriage to Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley, daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, he had five children:

• Wriothesley Baptist Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough (d. 1690)
• Lady Frances Noel (d. 1684), married Simon Digby, 4th Baron Digby
• Lady Jane Noel, married William Digby, 5th Baron Digby
• Lady Elizabeth Noel, married Richard Norton
• Lady Juliana Noel, died unmarried

He had no issue by his second marriage to Mary, widow of Sir Robert Worsley, 3rd Baronet and daughter of James Herbert.

On 25 March 1688, he was reappointed Warden and Keeper of the New Forest and the Park of Lyndhurst. He died in January 1689 and was succeeded by his son Wriothesley Baptist Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough.

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by Philip Sherard Samuel Browne	Member of Parliament for Rutland 1661–1679 With: Philip Sherard	Succeeded by Philip Sherard Sir Thomas Mackworth
Preceded by Sir John Norton Sir Francis Rolle	Member of Parliament for Hampshire 1679 With: Richard Norton	Succeeded by Lord Russell Sir Francis Rolle
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Marquess of Winchester	Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1676–1687 Served alongside: Viscount Campden 1684–1687	Succeeded by James FitzJames
Preceded by Lord Annesley	Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire 1681–1688
Preceded by George Legge	Governor of Portsmouth 1682–1687
Preceded by The Viscount Campden	Lord Lieutenant of Rutland 1682–1688 Served alongside: Viscount Campden 1685–1688	Succeeded by The Earl of Peterborough
	Custos Rotulorum of Rutland 1682–1689	Succeeded by The Lord Sherard
Peerage of England
New creation	Earl of Gainsborough 1682–1689	Succeeded by Wriothesley Noel
Preceded by Baptist Noel	Viscount Campden 1682–1689
New creation	Baron Noel 1681–1689