An English title held successively by the families of Vere and Harley. The three most important earls of the Vere line (see Vere) are noticed separately below. The Veres held the earldom from 1142 until March 1703, when it became extinct on the death of Aubrey de Vere, the 20th earl. In 1711 the English statesman Robert Harley (see below) was created earl of Oxford; but the title became extinct in this family on the death of the 6th earl in 1853.