The title of Earl Fitzwilliam was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1716, and in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1746. The Earls bore the subsidiary titles of Viscount Milton (1746) and Baron Fitzwilliam (1742) in the Peerage of Great Britain, and of Viscount Milton (1716) and Baron Fitzwilliam (1620) in the Peerage of Ireland. The title became extinct upon the death of the 10th Earl (the 8th Earl in the British peerage) in 1979. The courtesy title of the earl's eldest son was Viscount Milton.

Barons Fitzwilliam (1620)

• William Fitzwilliam, 1st Baron Fitzwilliam (d.1644)
• William Fitzwilliam, 2nd Baron Fitzwilliam (c.1609-1658)
• William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Baron Fitzwilliam (1643-1719), created Earl Fitzwilliam in 1716

Earls Fitzwilliam (1716, 1746)

• William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl Fitzwilliam (1643-1719)
• John Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam (1681-1728)
• William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam (1719-1756), created Earl Fitzwilliam in the Peerage of Great Britain 1746
• William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam (1748-1833)
• Charles William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam (1786-1857)
• William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 6th Earl Fitzwilliam (1815-1902)
• William Charles de Meuron Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam (1872-1943)
• William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam (1910-1948)
• Eric Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 9th Earl Fitzwilliam (1883-1952)
• William Thomas George Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 10th Earl Fitzwilliam (1904-1979)