This family descends from John Hervey (born about 1290) of Bedfordshire. His descendant Thomas Hervey (died 1467) was the first Hervey to live at Ickworth, Suffolk, and was ancestor of Sir Thomas Hervey of Ickworth, landowner and Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds from 1679 to 1690. Many other members of the family have represented this constituency in the House of Commons, including Sir Thomas Hervey’s son John Hervey. On 27 March 1702/3, he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the County of Suffolk, and on 19 October 1714 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Bristol in the Peerage of Great Britain. The 1st Earl of Bristol died in 1751. His two eldest sons (Carr and John) having died before him, he was succeeded in turn by three of his grandsons – all brothers and sons of the 1st Earl's younger son John.