The title was reputedly granted for the Admiral's role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. He subsequently went on to obtain the title of Earl of Suffolk from Elizabeth I's successor, King James I, which latter title continues in his male-line descendants. However, the barony of Howard de Walden eventually passed out of the Howard family with the death in 1688 of James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, and it came briefly to the 4th Earl of Bristol before passing in 1803 to his great-grandson, the four-year-old Charles Augustus Ellis. The title actually fell into abeyance between 1688 and 1784, between the heirs of the 3rd Earl's two daughters – Lady Essex Howard and Lady Elizabeth Howard. Lady Essex Howard married Edward Griffin, 1st Baron Griffin, and had descendants. Her granddaughter the Hon. Ann Griffin was the only surviving daughter of the 2nd Baron Griffin, and her son John Griffin Whitwell, later Field Marshal John Griffin Griffin, inherited one-half or a moiety of the barony when his maternal uncle the 3rd Baron Griffin died without legitimate issue. In 1784, the barony was called out of abeyance in his favour. In 1788, the new 4th Baron Howard de Walden was also created 1st Baron Braybrooke with special remainder to a kinsman, Richard Aldsworth Neville, who had married a daughter of the powerful Grenville family. At the death of Lord Howard de Walden and Braybrooke in 1797 without any issue, the barony of Howard de Walden passed to the only other heir – the representative of the 3rd Earl of Suffolk's younger daughter, Lady Elizabeth Felton. Her daughter Elizabeth Felton had married as his 2nd wife John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, and their grandson was Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol. He had inherited the earldom only upon the death of two older brothers. At his death, his second but eldest surviving son inherited the earldom as 5th Earl and eventually became the 1st Marquess of Bristol. However, the barony of Howard de Walden passed out of the Hervey family once again, to a great-grandson, Charles Ellis, 6th Baron Howard de Walden, who was also 2nd Baron Seaford, and whose family's wealth came from the sugar estates in the Colony of Jamaica. The wealth generated by sugar and slavery in Jamaica would later be used to buy prime real estate in London. The young Lord Howard de Walden, aged four when he inherited the title from his great-grandfather, eventually married Lady Lucy Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, youngest daughter of William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland, and sister and co-heiress of the reclusive William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland. It was through her that the Barons Howard de Walden inherited substantial properties in London, and adopted the name of Scott-Ellis instead of Ellis. The 6th Baron was succeeded by his son the 7th Baron, then by the 8th Baron. The great-grandson was John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden and 5th Baron Seaford. In 1999, while a cousin succeeded as Baron Seaford, the barony of Howard de Walden fell into abeyance among the 9th Baron's four daughters and co-heiresses, who also inherited jointly substantial estates in London. By royal warrant dated 25 June 2004, the Queen called the barony of Howard de Walden out of abeyance in favour of the eldest daughter, Hazel Czernin. In 1957, she had married Joseph Czernin, son of Count Franz Josef Czernin. He is descended from one of the oldest and most prominent families of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Czernin family's noble titles of freiherr and imperial count were granted by the Holy Roman Emperors in 1607 and 1623, respectively. By her husband, she has five daughters and a son, Peter Czernin, who is heir to the title. The principal estate owned by previous barons – Audley End House at Saffron Walden in Essex – which had been obtained by Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, from his maternal grandfather Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley, was separated from the title when it was left by the 4th Baron Howard de Walden and 1st Baron Braybrooke to his relative Richard Aldworth Neville, 2nd Baron Braybrooke. Due to their substantial Central London landholdings, known as the Howard de Walden Estate, the Howard de Walden family is one of the wealthiest in Britain, with a net worth of about £4 billion in 2016, in which year Baroness Howard de Walden was ranked the fifth richest woman in Britain by the Sunday Times Rich List.
John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden
Hazel Czernin, 10th Baroness Howard de Walden
The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Peter John Joseph Czernin. The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son, Alexander John Peter Czernin.
