Earl of Rochester

Earl of Rochester was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1652 in favour of the Royalist soldier Henry Wilmot, 2nd Viscount Wilmot. He had already been created Baron Wilmot, of Adderbury in the County of Oxford, in 1643, also in the Peerage of England. He was the son of Charles Wilmot, who had been elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Viscount Wilmot, of Athlone, in 1622. Lord Rochester died in 1658 and was succeeded by his son John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. He was a poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of satirical and bawdy poetry. He married the heiress Elizabeth Malet. He was succeeded on his death in 1680 by his only son, the third Earl. He, in turn, died at a young age the following year, when the titles became extinct.