Viscount Saye and Sele was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 July 1624 for William Fiennes, 8th Baron Saye and Sele, who thus became the 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. The title became extinct on the death of Richard Fiennes 6th Viscount on 29 July 1781.
Under James I of England, William Fiennes, the eighth Baron Saye and Sele, was created Viscount Saye and Sele in the Peerage of England, in 1624. On the death of his son, the second Viscount, the two titles separated. The barony fell into abeyance between the second Viscount's daughters Elizabeth, wife of John Twisleton, and Frances, wife of Andrew Ellis. It was later revived and is currently held by the Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family, descendants of Cecil Fiennes, granddaughter of the second Viscount.
The Viscountcy could only be passed on to male heirs and was inherited by the second Viscount's nephew, the son of Nathaniel Fiennes, second son of the first Viscount. When the third Viscount's son, the fourth Viscount, died, he was succeeded by his cousin, the son of John Fiennes, third son of the first Viscount. The fifth Viscount was in his turn succeeded by another cousin. On the death of the sixth Viscount in 1781 there were no more male heirs left of the first Viscount, and the title became extinct.
The family of the first Viscount includes:
The three eldest sons of the first Viscount served as Members of Parliament, James representing Banbury and then Oxfordshire, Nathaniel for Banbury and John for Morpeth. The first Viscount's family including sons-in-law took the side of the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, but the Viscount argued against the execution of the king and this helped his position when the monarchy was restored in 1660.
