The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos were the fourth creation of the Buckingham Dukedom. 

• Duke of Buckingham, 1st Creation: Stafford: 
  • Humphrey Stafford: 1402–60
  • Henry Stafford: 1455–1483
  • Edward Stafford: 1478–1521
• Duke of Buckingham, 2nd Creation: Villiers: 
  • George Villiers: 1592–1628
  • George Villiers: 1628–1687
• Duke of Buckingham and Normanby: Sheffield: 
  • John Sheffield: 1647–1721
  • Edmund Sheffield: 1716–1735

1st Duke of Buckingham, Humphrey Stafford (1402–1460)

• Lancastrian prominent in the Hundred Years' War in France and the Wars of the Roses in England
• Created 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1444  for his military services in France
• Killed at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460

2nd Duke of Buckingham, Henry Stafford (1455–83). 

• From a staunchly Lancastrian family
• Father was killed at the first battle of St Albans, just before he was born
• Inherited the title from his grandfather when he was 6
• After Edward IV’s death, he allied himself with Richard of Gloucester, the two dukes swept to power in the summer of 1483, and Gloucester was crowned as Richard III
• Within four months Stafford joined dissident southern gentry in rebellion and was summarily executed at Salisbury on 2 November. 
• More on the second duke

3rd Duke of Buckingham, Edward Stafford (1478–1521)

• Father, a prominent supporter of Richard III, was seized and executed at Salisbury in 1483, when Stafford was 6. 
• Restored to his title by Henry VIII and given the Garter when he was 21. 
• In 1509, he claimed the right to act as lord high chamberlain at the coronation of Henry VIII
• His life-style was lavish and his behaviour grand. 
• In 1520, an anonymous letter to Wolsey accused the duke of treasonable words; he was summoned from Thornbury, imprisoned in the Tower, and executed on 17 May 1521.

1st Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers (1592–1628). 

• Born at Brooksby, Leicestershire in August 1592
• Younger son of Sir George Villiers of Brooksby, and Mary, daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire
• Lover of James I from c. 1614, succeeding Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset. In 1623, while in Spain; exchanged homoerotic letters with James (King James & Letters of Homoerotic Desire, David M. Bergeron, University of Iowa Press, 1999)
• 1616: Appointed Viscount Villiers 
• 1616: Appointed Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
• 1617: Earl of Buckingham
• 1618: Marquis of Buckingham
• One of the most wealthy men in England 
• Appointed him lord admiral by James, carrying through a major programme of naval reform
• Blamed for unpopular policies such as the unsuccessful Spanish match’ for Prince Charles (Charles I); later arranged marriage of Charles to Henrietta Maria of France
• 1623: Duke of Buckingham
• His involvement in dubious practices such as the sale of titles and offices had brought him an unsavoury reputation
• His catholic connections (his mother was a catholic convert and his wife abandoned catholicism only to marry him) undermined parliamentary trust
• Sent out expeditions against Cadiz in 1625 and in support of La Rochelle in 1627; both ended in humiliating defeat
• The House of Commons attempted to impeach him in 1626, and two years later denounced him as the cause of all England’s evils. 
• This inspired an army officer, John Felton, to assassinate him at Portsmouth in August 1628. 

2nd Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers (1628–1687)

• Brought up with the royal children and Charles II always felt a fraternal bond with Buckingham
• A Royalist in the Civil War
• 1628: Inherited title Duke of Buckingham
• Involved in the Scottish invasion on Charles II’s behalf in 1651
• Returned secretly to England from exile in 1657
• Married daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentarian to whom Villiers' estates had been assigned
• At the Restoration he recovered his estates
• He was the least weighty of the members of Charles II's cabal. The cabal was a group of counsellors, whose initials were: 
  • Clifford, Thomas 
  • Ashley Cooper, Anthony , 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
  • Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
  • Arlington, Henry Bennett, 1st Earl of Arlington
  • Lauderdale, John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale
• Reputation for debauchery and wit
• Dismissed from Government for catholic sympathies in 1674
• Author of comedies. 

1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, John Sheffield (1647–1721)

• Served in the army and navy
• A poet 
• Gentleman of the bedchamber to Charles II. 
• Succeeded as 3rd Earl of Mulgrave aged 10
• Favourite of James II, who appointed him lord chamberlain
• Created Marquis of Normanby in 1694 by  William and Mary  
• Queen Anne, whom he had courted in 1682, made him lord privy seal and promoted him in 1703 to the dukedom made available by the death of the second Villiers duke. 
• An influential high Tory, served on the commission to negotiate union with Scotland, as lord steward 1710–11 and lord president of the council 1711–14. 
• After 1714 his political career was over. 
• His house at the end of the Mall, built in 1703, was sold to George III in 1761.

2nd Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, Edmund Sheffield (1716–1735)

• Inherited title in 1721
• Died at Rome 1735