PEERAGE
Last updated 12/07/2025
Date Rank Order Name Born Died  Age
BEREHAVEN
22 Jan 1816 V[I] 1 Richard White 6 Aug 1767 2 May 1851 83
Created Viscount Berehaven and Earl
of Bantry 22 Jan 1816
See "Bantry"
BERESFORD
22 Apr 1823 V 1 William Carr Beresford 2 Oct 1768 8 Jan 1854 85
to     Created Baron Beresford 17 May 1814
8 Jan 1854 and Viscount Beresford 22 Apr 1823
MP for Waterford 1811-1814.  PC 1821
Peerages extinct on his death
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22 Jan 1916 B 1 Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford 10 Feb 1846 6 Sep 1919 73
to     Created Baron Beresford 22 Jan 1916
6 Sep 1919 MP for Waterford 1874-1880, Marylebone
East 1885-1889,York 1897-1900,Woolwich
1902-1903 and Portsmouth 1910-1916
Peerage extinct on his death
For further information on this peer, see the
note at the foot of this page.
BERGER
6 Feb 2025 B[I] 1 Luciana Clare Berger 13 May 1981
Created Baroness Berger for life
6 Feb 2025
BERKELEY
24 Jun 1295 B 1 Thomas de Berkeley 1245 23 Jul 1321 76
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Berkeley 24 Jun 1295
23 Jul 1321 2 Maurice de Berkeley 31 May 1326
31 May 1326 3 Thomas de Berkeley 1293 27 Oct 1361 68
27 Oct 1361 4 Maurice de Berkeley 1330 8 Jun 1368 37
8 Jun 1368 5 Thomas de Berkeley 5 Jan 1353 13 Jul 1417 64
to     Peerage extinct on his death
13 Jul 1417
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20 Oct 1421 B 1 James de Berkeley c 1394 Nov 1463
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Berkeley 20 Oct 1421
Nov 1463 2 William de Berkeley 1426 14 Feb 1492 65
28 Jan 1489 M 1 Created Viscount Berkeley 21 Apr 1481,
to     Earl of Nottingham 28 Jun 1483 and Marquess
14 Feb 1492 of Berkeley 28 Jan 1489
For further information on this peer, and the
Battle of Nibley Green in particular, see the
note at the foot of this page.
On his death the Marquessate and
Viscountcy became extinct,but the Barony
passed to -
14 Feb 1492 3 Maurice Berkeley 1436 Sep 1506 70
Sep 1506 4 Maurice Berkeley 1467 12 Sep 1523 56
12 Sep 1523 5 Thomas Berkeley 1472 22 Jan 1533 60
22 Jan 1533 6 Thomas Berkeley 1505 19 Sep 1534 29
26 Nov 1534 7 Henry Berkeley 26 Nov 1534 26 Nov 1613 79
Lord Lieutenant Gloucester 1608-1613
26 Nov 1613 8 George Berkeley 7 Oct 1601 10 Aug 1658 56
10 Aug 1658 9 George Berkeley 1628 14 Oct 1698 70
11 Sep 1679 E 1 Created Viscount Dursley and Earl
of Berkeley 11 Sep 1679
Lord Lieutenant Gloucester 1660-1689
and Surrey 1689-1698. PC 1685
For information on Lady Henrietta Berkeley, the
Earl's daughter,see the note at the foot of the
page containing details of the Earl of Tankerville
11 Jul 1689 10 Charles Berkeley 8 Apr 1649 24 Sep 1710 61
14 Oct 1698 2 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of 
Acceleration as Baron Berkeley 11 Jul 1689
  MP for Gloucester 1679-1681. Lord 
Lieutenant Gloucester 1694-1710 and 
Surrey 1702-1710. PC 1694
24 Sep 1710 11 James Berkeley 1680 17 Aug 1736 56
3 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Berkeley 5 Mar 1705
  Mp for Gloucester 1701-1702. Lord
Lieutenant Gloucester 1710-1712 and
1714-1736. First Lord of the Admiralty
1717-1727. PC 1717 KG 1718
17 Aug 1736 12 Augustus Berkeley 18 Feb 1716 9 Jan 1755 38
4 Lord Lieutenant Gloucester 1737-1755
KT 1739
9 Jan 1755 13 Frederick Augustus Berkeley 24 May 1745 8 Aug 1810 65
5 Lord Lieutenant Gloucester 1766-1810
8 Aug 1810 14 Thomas Moreton Fitzhardinge Berkeley 16 May 1796 27 Aug 1882 86
6 For further information on the subsequent
claims to this peerage, see the note at the
foot of this page.
On his death the Barony devolved to his
niece (see below) and the Earldom
passed to -
27 Aug 1882 7 George Lennox Fitzhardinge Berkeley 25 Feb 1827 27 Aug 1888 61
27 Aug 1888 8 Randal Mowbray Thomas Berkeley 30 Jan 1865 15 Jan 1942 86
to     On his death the peerage became either
15 Jan 1942 extinct or dormant
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27 Aug 1882 B 15 Louisa Mary Milman 28 May 1840 10 Dec 1899 59
10 Dec 1899 16 Eva Mary Foley 4 Mar 1875 4 Dec 1964 89
to     On her death the barony fell into abeyance
4 Dec 1964
1967 17 Mary Lalle Foley-Berkeley 9 Oct 1905 17 Oct 1992 87
Abeyance terminated in her favour 1967
17 Oct 1992 18 Anthony Fitzhardinge Gueterbock 20 Sep 1939
Created Baron Gueterbock for life 18 Apr 2000
BERKELEY OF KNIGHTON
26 Mar 2013 B[I] 1 Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley 29 May 1948
Created Baron Berkeley of Knighton for life
26 Mar 2013
BERKELEY OF RATHDOWNE
14 Jul 1663 B[I] 1 Charles Berkeley before 1636 3 Jun 1665
Created Baron Berkeley of Rathdowne
and Viscouny Fitzhardinge 14 Jul 1663
See "Fitzhardinge"
BERKELEY OF STRATTON
19 May 1658 B 1 John Berkeley 1 Feb 1607 28 Aug 1678 71
Created Baron Berkeley of Stratton
19 May 1658
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1670-1672
28 Aug 1678 2 Charles Berkeley 18 Jun 1662 6 Mar 1682 19
6 Mar 1682 3 John Berkeley c 1663 27 Feb 1697
27 Feb 1697 4 William Berkeley 24 Mar 1741
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1710-1714, First Lord of Trade and
Plantations 1714-1715.  PC [I] 1696  PC 1710
24 Mar 1741 5 John Berkeley 1697 18 Apr 1773 75
to     MP for Stockbridge 1735-1741. Lord
18 Apr 1773 Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets 1762-1770
PC 1752
Peerage extinct on his death
BERKHAMSTED
27 Jul 1726 M 1 H R H William Augustus 15 Apr 1721 31 Oct 1765 44
to     Created Baron of Alderney,Viscount
31 Oct 1765 Trematon,Earl of Kennington,Marquess
of Berkhampstead and Duke of
Cumberland 27 Jul 1726
Second son of George II.  KG 1730  PC 1746
Peerage extinct on his death
 
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18 Jul 1917 E 1 Alexander Albert Mountbatten 23 Nov 1886 23 Feb 1960 73
  Created Viscount Launceston,Earl of
  Berkhamsted and Marquess of 
Carisbrooke 18 Jul 1917
See "Carisbrooke"
BERKSHIRE
28 Jan 1621 E 1 Francis Norris,2nd Baron Norris of Rycote 29 Jan 1624
to     Created Viscount Thame and Earl of 
29 Jan 1624 Berkshire 28 Jan 1621
Peerages extinct on his death
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7 Feb 1626 E 1 Thomas Howard c 1590 16 Jul 1669
Created Baron Howard of Charlton
and Viscount Andover 22 Jan 1622, and
Earl of Berkshire 7 Feb 1626
MP for Lancaster 1605-1611, Wiltshire 1614
and Cricklade 1620-1622
Lord Lieutenant Oxford 1628-1642 and Middlesex
1660-1662.  KG 1625
16 Jul 1669 2 Charles Howard c 1615 Apr 1679
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Howard of Charlton 
18 Nov 1640
Apr 1679 3 Thomas Howard 14 Nov 1619 12 Apr 1706 86
12 Apr 1706 4 Henry Bowes Howard 1686 21 Mar 1757 70
He succeeded to the Earldom of Suffolk in 1745
when the peerages were merged and still remain so
BERMINGHAM
5 Apr 1327 B 1 William Bermingham
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Bermingham 5 Apr 1327
Nothing further is known of this peerage
BERNARD
6 Aug 1800 E[I] 1 Francis Bernard,1st Viscount Bandon 26 Nov 1755 26 Nov 1830 75
Created Viscount Bernard and Earl of
Bandon 6 Aug 1800
See "Bandon"
BERNERS
26 May 1455 B 1 Sir John Bourchier May 1474
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Berners 26 May 1455
KG 1459
May 1474 2 John Bourchier 1467 19 Mar 1533 65
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1517-1527
19 Mar 1533 3 Jane Knyvett 17 Feb 1562
17 Feb 1562 4 Thomas Knyvett c 1539 9 Feb 1618
9 Feb 1618 5 Thomas Knyvett 10 Jun 1596 30 Jun 1658 62
30 Jun 1658 6 John Knyvett 28 Jul 1673
28 Jul 1673 7 Thomas Knyvett 28 Sep 1693
to     On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
28 Sep 1693
1711 8 Katherine Bokenham 13 Aug 1658 29 Nov 1743 85
to     She became sole heiress in 1711. On her
29 Nov 1743 death in 1743 the peerage again fell into
abeyance
7 May 1832 9 Robert Wilson 20 Jan 1761 25 Mar 1838 77
to     Abeyance terminated in his favour 7 May
25 Mar 1838 1832. On his death the Barony fell into
abeyance for the third time,but only for
36 days
30 Apr 1838 10 Henry Wilson 1 Oct 1762 26 Feb 1851 88
Abeyance terminated in his favour 30 Apr
1838
26 Feb 1851 11 Henry William Wilson 23 Feb 1797 27 Jun 1871 74
27 Jun 1871 12 Harriet Tyrwhitt 18 Nov 1835 18 Aug 1917 81
18 Aug 1917 13 Sir Raymond Robert Tyrwhitt-Wilson,4th baronet 22 Jul 1855 5 Sep 1918 63
5 Sep 1918 14 Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson 18 Sep 1883 19 Apr 1950 66
For further information on this peer, see the note
at the foot of this page.
19 Apr 1950 15 Vera Ruby Williams 25 Dec 1901 20 Feb 1992 90
to     On her death the peerage fell into abeyance
20 Feb 1992  
25 Oct 1995 16 Pamela Vivien Kirkham 30 Sep 1929 23 Jan 2023 93
to Abeyance terminated in her favour 1995
23 Jan 2023
23 Jan 2023 17 Rupert William Tyrwhitt Kirkham 18 Feb 1953
BERNSTEIN
3 Jul 1969 B[L] 1 Sidney Lewis Bernstein 30 Jan 1899 5 Feb 1993 94
to     Created Baron Bernstein for life 3 Jul 1969
5 Feb 1993 Peerage extinct on his death
BERNSTEIN OF CRAIGWEIL
15 May 2000 B[L] 1 Alexander Bernstein 15 Mar 1936 12 Apr 2010 74
to     Created Baron Bernstein of Craigweil
12 Apr 2010 for life 15 May 2000
Peerage extinct on his death
BERRIDGE
18 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Elizabeth Rose Berridge
Created Baroness Berridge for life 18 Jan 2011
BERTIE OF THAME
2 Sep 1918 V 1 Sir Francis Leveson Bertie 17 Aug 1844 26 Sep 1919 75
Created Baron Bertie of Thame 28 Jun
1915 and Viscount Bertie of Thame 
2 Sep 1918
PC 1903
26 Sep 1919 2 Vere Frederick Bertie 20 Oct 1878 29 Aug 1954 75
to     Peerages extinct on his death
29 Aug 1954
BERTIN
2 Sep 2016 B[L] 1 Gabrielle Louise Bertin
Created Baroness Bertin for life 2 Sep 2016
BERTRAM
14 Dec 1264 B 1 Roger Bertram after 1264
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Bertram 14 Dec 1264
after 1264 2 Rogert Bertram after 1264
to     On his death the barony fell into abeyance
after 1264
BERWICK
19 May 1784 B 1 Noel Hill Apr 1745 6 Jan 1789 43
Created Baron Berwick 19 May 1784
MP for Shrewsbury 1768-1774 and 
Shropshire 1774-1784
6 Jan 1789 2 Thomas Noel Hill 21 Oct 1770 3 Nov 1832 62
3 Nov 1832 3 William Noel-Hill 21 Oct 1773 4 Aug 1842 68
MP for Shrewsbury 1796-1812 and
Marlborough 1814-18. PC 1824
4 Aug 1842 4 Richard Noel-Hill 7 Nov 1774 28 Sep 1848 73
28 Sep 1848 5 Richard Noel Noel-Hill 21 Nov 1800 12 Apr 1861 60
12 Apr 1861 6 William Noel-Hill 6 Jul 1802 24 Nov 1882 80
24 Nov 1882 7 Richard Henry Noel-Hill 13 May 1847 2 Nov 1897 50
2 Nov 1897 8 Thomas Henry Noel-Hill 2 Apr 1877 12 Jun 1947 70
12 Jun 1947 9 Charles Michael Wentworth Noel-Hill 4 Mar 1897 27 Jan 1953 55
to     Peerage extinct on his death
27 Jan 1953
BERWICK UPON TWEED
19 Mar 1687 D 1 James Fitzjames 21 Aug 1670 12 Jun 1734 63
to     Created Baron of Bosworth,Earl of
c 1696? Tinmouth and Duke of Berwick-upon-
Tweed 19 Mar 1687
Illegitimate son of James II. Lord 
Lieutenant Hampshire 1687-1689. KG 1688
He was presumed to have been attainted and the 
peerages forfeited sometime between 1695 and 
1697,although no Act of Attainder has ever been 
found, as far as I am aware
For further information on the question of an
attainder,see the note at the foot of this page
BESSBOROUGH
11 Sep 1721 B[I] 1 William Ponsonby 1659 17 Nov 1724 65
Created Baron Bessborough 11 Sep
1721 and Viscount Dungannon 28 Feb
1723
PC [I] 1715
17 Nov 1724 2 Brabazon Ponsonby,2nd Viscount Dungannon 1679 4 Jul 1758 79
6 Oct 1739 E[I] 1 Created Earl of Bessborough 6 Oct 
1739 and Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby
12 Jun 1749
PC [I] 1727
4 Jul 1758 2 William Ponsonby by Nov 1704 11 Mar 1793  
MP for Derby 1742-1754, Saltash 1754-1756
and Harwich 1756-1758. Lord Lieutenant
Kilkenny 1758. Postmaster-General 1759-
1762 and 1765-1766. PC [I] 1741  PC 1765
11 Mar 1793 3 Frederick Ponsonby 24 Jan 1758 3 Feb 1844 86
MP for Knaresborough 1780-1793
3 Feb 1844 4 John William Ponsonby 31 Aug 1781 16 May 1847 65
Created Baron Duncannon 19 Jul 1834
MP for Knaresborough 1805-1806,Higham
Ferrers 1810-1812, Malton 1812-1826, 
Kilkenny 1826-1832 and Nottingham 1832-
1834. Lord Lieutenant Carlow 1831-1838
and Kilkenny 1838-1847. First Commissioner
of Woods and Forests 1831-1834 and 1835-
1841. Home Secretary 1834. Lord Privy
Seal 1835-1839. Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland 1846-1847. PC 1831
16 May 1847 5 John George Brabazon Ponsonby 14 Oct 1809 28 Jan 1880 70
MP for Bletchingley 1831, Higham Ferrers
1831-1832 and Derby 1835-1847. Lord
Lieutenant Carlow 1838-1880. PC 1848
28 Jan 1880 6 Frederick George Brabazon Ponsonby 11 Sep 1815 11 Mar 1895 79
11 Mar 1895 7 Walter William Brabazon Ponsonby 13 Aug 1821 24 Feb 1906 84
24 Feb 1906 8 Edward Ponsonby 1 Mar 1851 1 Dec 1920 69
KP 1915
1 Dec 1920 9 Vere Brabazon Ponsonby 27 Oct 1880 10 Mar 1956 75
2 Jun 1937 E 1 Created Earl of Bessborough 
2 Jun 1937
MP for Cheltenham 1910 and Dover 1913-
1920. Governor General of Canada 1931-
1935. PC 1931
10 Mar 1956 10 Frederick Edward Neuflize Ponsonby 29 Mar 1913 5 Dec 1993 80
to     2 On his death the creation of 1937 became
5 Dec 1993 extinct whilst the Irish Earldom 
passed to -
5 Dec 1993 11 Arthur Mountifort Longfield Ponsonby 11 Dec 1912 5 Apr 2002 89
 
5 Apr 2002 12 Myles Fitzhugh Longfield Ponsonby 16 Feb 1941
BEST
4 Jun 2001 B[L] 1 Richard Stuart Best 22 Jun 1945
Created Baron Best for life 4 Jun 2001
BESWICK
18 Dec 1964 B[L] 1 Frank Beswick 21 Aug 1911 17 Aug 1987 75
to     Created Baron Beswick for life 18 Dec 1964
17 Aug 1987 MP for Uxbridge 1945-1959. Minister of
State for industry 1974-1975.  PC 1968
Peerage extinct on his death
BETHELL
23 Nov 1922 B 1 Sir John Henry Bethell,1st baronet 23 Sep 1861 27 May 1945 83
Created Baron Bethell 23 Nov 1922
MP for Romford 1906-1918 and East Ham
North 1918-1922
27 May 1945 2 John Raymond Bethell 23 Oct 1902 30 Sep 1965 62
30 Sep 1965 3 Guy Anthony John Bethell 17 Mar 1928 2 Dec 1967 39
2 Dec 1967 4 Nicholas William Bethell 19 Jul 1938 8 Sep 2007 69
8 Sep 2007 5 James Nicholas Bethell 1 Oct 1967
BEVERIDGE
25 Jun 1946 B 1 Sir William Henry Beveridge 5 Mar 1879 16 Mar 1963 84
to     Created Baron Beveridge 25 Jun 1946
16 Mar 1963 MP for Berwick upon Tweed 1944-1945
Peerage extinct on his death
BEVERLEY
26 May 1708 M 1 James Douglas,2nd Duke of Queensberry 18 Sep 1662 6 Jul 1711 38
Created Baron of Rippon,Marquess of
Beverley and Duke of Dover 26 May 1708
See "Dover"
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2 Nov 1790 E 1 Algernon Percy,2nd Baron Lovaine 21 Jan 1750 21 Oct 1830 80
Created Earl of Beverley 2 Nov 1790
MP for Northumberland 1774-1786
21 Oct 1830 2 George Percy 22 Jun 1778 21 Aug 1867 89
He succeeded to the Dukedom of Northumberland
in 1865 when the peerages merged and still
remain so
BEW
26 Mar 2007 B[L] 1 Paul Anthony Elliott Bew 22 Jan 1950
Created Baron Bew for life 26 Mar 2007
BEXLEY
1 Mar 1823 B 1 Nicholas Vansittart 29 Apr 1766 8 Feb 1851 84
to     Created Baron Bexley 1 Mar 1823
8 Feb 1851 MP for Hastings 1796-1802, Old Sarum
1802-1812, East Grinstead 1812 and Harwich
1812-1823. Chancellor of the Exchequer 
1812-1823. Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster 1823-1828. PC 1805. PC [I] 1817
Peerage extinct on his death 
BHATIA
5 Jun 2001 B[L] 1 Amirali Alibhai Bhatia 18 Mar 1932 12 Jan 2024 91
to Created Baron Bhatia for life 5 Jun 2001  
12 Jan 2024 Peerage extinct on his death 
BHATTACHARYYA
3 Jun 2004 B[L] 1 Sir Sushantha Kumar Bhattacharyya 6 Jun 1940
Created Baron Bhattacharyya for life
3 Jun 2004
BICESTER
29 Jun 1938 B 1 Vivian Hugh Smith 9 Dec 1867 17 Feb 1956 88
Created Baron Bicester 29 Jun 1938
Lord Lieutenant Oxford 1934-1954
17 Feb 1956 2 Randal Hugh Vivian Smith 9 Jan 1898 15 Jan 1968 70
15 Jan 1968 3 Angus Edward Vivian Smith 20 Feb 1932 11 Dec 2014 82
For further information on this peer, see the
note at the foot of this page
11 Dec 2014 4 Hugh Charles Vivian Smith 8 Nov 1934
BICHARD
24 Mar 2010 B[L] 1 Sir Michael George Bichard 31 Jan 1947
Created Baron Bichard for life 24 Mar 2010
BIDDULPH
1 Aug 1903 B 1 Michael Biddulph 17 Feb 1834 6 Apr 1923 89
Created Baron Biddulph 1 Aug 1903
MP for Herefordshire 1865-1868 and Ross
1885-1900
6 Apr 1923 2 John Michael Gordon Biddulph 19 Nov 1869 17 Dec 1949 80
17 Dec 1949 3 Michael William John Biddulph 6 Mar 1898 21 Jul 1972 74
21 Jul 1972 4 Robert Michael Christian Biddulph 6 Jan 1931 3 Nov 1988 57
3 Nov 1988 5 Anthony Nicholas Colin Maitland Biddulph 8 Apr 1959
BIFFEN
3 Jun 1997 B[L] 1 William John Biffen 3 Nov 1930 14 Aug 2007 76
to     Created Baron Biffen for life 3 Jun 1997
14 Aug 2007 MP for Oswestry 1961-1983 and Shropshire
North 1983-1997. Chief Secretary to the
Treasury 1979-1981. Secretary of State
for Trade 1981-1982. Lord President of 
the Council 1982-1983. Lord Privy Seal
1983-1987.  PC 1979
Peerage extinct on his death
BIGGAR
21 Jan 2025 B[L] 1 Nigel John Biggar 14 Mar 1955
Created Baron Biggar for life 21 Jan 2025
BILIMORIA
16 Jun 2006 B[L] 1 Karan Faridoon Bilimoria 26 Nov 1961
Created Baron Bilimoria for life 16 Jun 2006
BILLINGHAM
2 May 2000 B[L] 1 Angela Theodora Billingham 31 Jul 1939
Created Baroness Billingham for life
2 May 2000
BILSLAND
31 Jan 1950 B 1 Sir Alexander Steven Bilsland,2nd baronet 13 Sep 1892 10 Dec 1970 78
to     Created Baron Bilsland 31 Jan 1950
10 Dec 1970 KT 1955
Peerage extinct on his death
BILSTON
20 Jun 2005 B[L] 1 Dennis Turner 26 Aug 1942 25 Feb 2014 71
to     Created Baron Bilston for life 20 Jun 2005
25 Feb 2014 MP for Wolverhampton SE 1987-2005
Peerage extinct on his death
BINDON
30 Dec 1706 E 1 Henry Howard 1670 19 Sep 1718 48
Created Baron Chesterford and Earl
of Bindon 30 Dec 1706
PC 1708
He succeeded as 6th Earl of Suffolk in 1709
19 Sep 1718 2 Charles William Howard,7th Earl of Suffolk 9 May 1693 9 Feb 1722 28
to     Peerages extinct on his death
9 Feb 1722
BINGHAM
26 Jun 1934 B 1 George Charles Bingham,5th Earl of Lucan 13 Dec 1860 20 Apr 1949 88
Created Baron Bingham 26 Jun 1934
See "Lucan"
BINGHAM OF CORNHILL
4 Jun 1996 B[L] 1 Sir Thomas Henry Bingham 13 Oct 1933 11 Sep 2010 76
to     Created Baron Bingham of Cornhill for life
11 Sep 2010 4 Jun 1996
Lord Justice of Appeal 1986-1992. Master
of the Rolls 1992-1996. Lord Chief
Justice 1996-2000  PC 1986  KG 2005
Peerage extinct on his death
BINGLEY
21 Jul 1713 B 1 Robert Benson 25 Mar 1676 9 Apr 1731 54
to     Created Baron Bingley 21 Jul 1713
9 Apr 1731 MP for Thetford 1702-1705 and York
1705-1713. Chancellor of the Exchequer
1711-1713. PC 1711
Peerage extinct on his death
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13 May 1762 B 1 George Fox-Lane c 1696 22 Feb 1773
to     Created Baron Bingley 13 May 1762
22 Feb 1773 MP for Hindon 1734-1741 and York 1742-
1761
Peerage extinct on his death
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24 Jul 1933 B 1 George Richard Lane-Fox 15 Dec 1870 11 Dec 1947 76
to     Created Baron Bingley 24 Jul 1933
11 Dec 1947 MP for Barkston Ash 1906-1931. Secretary
for Mines 1922-1924 and 1924-1928. PC 1926
Peerage extinct on his death
BINNING
30 Nov 1613 B[S] 1 Thomas Hamilton 1563 29 May 1637 73
Created Lord Binning 30 Nov 1613 and
Earl of Melrose 20 Mar 1619.
See "Haddington"
BIRD
30 Oct 2015 B[L] 1 John Anthony Bird 30 Jan 1946
Created Baron Bird for life 30 Oct 2015
BIRDWOOD
25 Jan 1938 B 1 Sir William Riddell Birdwood,1st baronet 13 Sep 1865 17 May 1951 85
Created Baron Birdwood 25 Jan 1938
Field Marshal 1925
17 May 1951 2 Christopher Bromhead Birdwood 22 May 1899 5 Jan 1962 62
For further information on the first wife of this
peer, see the note at the foot of this page.
5 Jan 1962 3 Mark William Ogilvie Birdwood 22 Nov 1938 11 Jul 2015 76
to     Peerage extinct on his death
11 Jul 2015
BIRK
15 Sep 1967 B[L] 1 Alma Birk 22 Sep 1917 29 Dec 1996 79
to     Created Baroness Birk  for life 15 Sep 1967
29 Dec 1996 Peerage extinct on her death
BIRKENHEAD
28 Nov 1922 E 1 Sir Frederick Edwin Smith,1st baronet 12 Jul 1872 30 Sep 1930 58
Created Baron Birkenhead 3 Feb 1919,
Viscount Birkenhead 15 Jun 1921 and
Viscount Furneaux and Earl of 
Birkenhead 28 Nov 1922
MP for Walton 1906-1918 and West Derby
1918-1919. Solicitor General 1915.
Attorney General 1915 and 1916-1919.
Lord Chancellor 1919-1922. Secretary of
State for India 1924-1928.  PC 1911
For further information on the Earl's daughter,
Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith, see the note at 
the foot of this page.
30 Sep1 930 2 Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith 7 Dec 1907 10 Jun 1975 67
10 Jun 1975 3 Frederick William Robin Smith 17 Apr 1936 16 Feb 1985 48
to     Peerages extinct on his death
16 Feb 1985
BIRKETT
31 Jan 1958 B 1 Sir William Norman Birkett 6 Sep 1883 10 Feb 1962 78
Created Baron Birkett 31 Jan 1958
MP for Nottingham East 1923-1924 and 
1929-1931. Lord Justice of Appeal 1950-
1957. PC 1947
For further information on this peer,see the
note at the foot of this page
10 Feb 1962 2 Michael Birkett 22 Oct 1929 3 Apr 2015 85
3 Apr 2015 3 Thomas Birkett 25 Jul 1982
BIRT
11 Feb 2000 B[L] 1 Sir John Birt 10 Dec 1944
Created Baron Birt for life 11 Feb 2000
BISHOPSTON
21 May 1981 B[L] 1 Edward Stanley Bishop 3 Oct 1920 19 Apr 1984 63
to     Created Baron Bishopston for life
19 Apr 1984 21 May 1981
MP for Newark 1964-1979. Minister of State,
Agriculture Fisheries & Food 1974-1979
PC 1977
Peerage extinct on his death
BLACHFORD
4 Nov 1871 B 1 Sir Frederick Rogers,8th baronet 31 Jan 1811 21 Nov 1889 78
to     Created Baron Blachford 4 Nov 1871
21 Nov 1889 PC 1871
Peerage extinct on his death
BLACK
21 Jun 1968 B[L] 1 William Rushton Black 12 Jan 1893 27 Dec 1984 91
to     Created Baron Black for life 21 Jun 1968
27 Dec 1984 Peerage extinct on his death
BLACK OF BRENTWOOD
9 Jul 2010 B[L] 1 Guy Vaughan Black 6 Aug 1964
Created Baron Black of Brentwood for life
9 Jul 2010
BLACK OF CROSSHARBOUR
30 Oct 2001 B[L] 1 Conrad Moffat Black 25 Aug 1944
Created Baron Black of Crossharbour
for life 30 Oct 2001
BLACK OF STROME
26 Apr 2021 B[L] 1 Susan Margaret Black 7 May 1961
Created Baroness Black of Strome
for life 26 Apr 2021
BLACKBURN
16 Oct 1876 B[L] 1 Sir Colin Blackburn 18 May 1813 8 Jan 1896 82
to     Created Baron Blackburn for life 16 Oct 1876
8 Jan 1896 Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1876-1886  PC 1876
Peerage extinct on his death
BLACKETT
27 Jan 1969 B[L] 1 Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett 18 Nov 1897 13 Jul 1974 76
to     Created Baron Blackett for life 27 Jan 1969
13 Jul 1974 Nobel Prize for Physics 1948  CH 1965  OM 1967
Peerage extinct on his death
BLACKFORD
26 Jun 1935 B 1 Sir William James Peake Mason,1st baronet 11 Nov 1862 21 Jul 1947 84
Created Baron Blackford 26 Jun 1935
21 Jul 1947 2 Glyn Keith Murray Mason 29 May 1887 31 Dec 1972 85
MP for Croydon North 1922-1940
31 Dec 1972 3 Keith Alexander Henry Mason 3 Feb 1923 21 Apr 1977 54
21 Apr 1977 4 William Keith Mason 27 Mar 1962 15 May 1988 26
to     Peerage extinct on his death
15 May 1988 For information on the death of this peer,see
the note at the foot of this page
BLACKSTONE
18 Mar 1987 B[L] 1 Tessa Ann Vosper Blackstone 27 Sep 1942
Created Baroness Blackstone for life
18 Mar 1987
PC 2001
BLACKWELL
2 Oct 1997 B[L] 1 Norman Roy Blackwell 29 Jul 1952
Created Baron Blackwell for life 2 Oct 1997
BLACKWOOD OF NORTH OXFORD 
01 Feb 2019 B[L] 1 Nicola Claire Blackwood 16 Oct 1979 
Created Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford for life
01 Feb 2019
BLAIR OF BOUGHTON
20 Jul 2010 B[L] 1 Sir Ian Warwick Blair 19 Mar 1953 9 Jul 2025 72
to Created Baron Blair of Boughton for life
9 Jul 2025 20 Jul 2010
Peerage extinct on his death
BLAKE
17 May 1971 B[L] 1 Robert Norman William Blake 23 Dec 1916 20 Sep 2003 86
to     Created Baron Blake for life 17 May 1971
20 Sep 2003 Peerage extinct on his death
BLAKE OF LEEDS
4 February 2021 B[L] 1 Judith Blake, CBE Jul 1953
     Created Baroness Blake of Leeds for life 4 Feb 2021
BLAKENEY
18 Dec 1756 B[I] 1 Sir William Blakeney 1670 20 Sep 1761 91
to     Created Baron Blakeney 18 Dec 1756
20 Sep 1761 Peerage extinct on his death
BLAKENHAM
8 Nov 1963 V 1 John Hugh Hare 22 Jan 1911 7 Mar 1982 71
Created Viscount Blakenham 8 Nov 1963
MP for Woodbridge 1945-1950 and Sudbury
and Woodbridge 1950-1963. Minister of
State for Colonial Affairs 1953-1956,
Secretary of State for War 1956-1958,
Minister of Agriculture,Fisheries & Food
1958-1960. Minister of Labour 1960-1963,
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1963-1964. PC 1955
7 Mar 1982 2 Michael John Hare 25 Jan 1938 8 Jan 2018 79
8 Jan 2018   3 Caspar John Hare 8 Apr 1972
BLAKER
10 Oct 1994 B[L] 1 Sir Peter Allan Renshaw Blaker 4 Oct 1922 5 Jul 2009 86
to     Created Baron Blaker for life 10 Oct 1994
5 Jul 2009 MP for Blackpool South 1964-1992
Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth
Office 1979-1981. Minister of State for
the Armed Forces 1981-1983.  PC 1983
Peerage extinct on his death
BLANCH
5 Sep 1983 B[L] 1 Stuart Yarworth Blanch 2 Feb 1918 3 Jun 1994 76
to     Created Baron Blanch for life 5 Sep 1983
3 Jun 1994 Archbishop of York 1975-1983.  PC 1975
Peerage extinct on his death
BLANDFORD
14 Dec 1702 D 1 John Churchill,1st Earl of Marlborough 24 Jun 1650 16 Jun 1722 71
Created Marquess of Blandford and
Duke of Marlborough 14 Dec 1702
See "Marlborough"
 
BLANESBURGH
12 Oct 1923 B[L] 1 Sir Robert Younger 12 Sep 1861 17 Aug 1946 84
to     Created Baron Blanesburgh for life
17 Aug 1946 12 Oct 1923
Lord Justice of Appeal 1919-1923. Lord of
Appeal in Ordinary 1923-1937. PC 1919
Peerage extinct on his death
BLANTYRE
10 Jul 1606 B[S] 1 William Stewart 8 Mar 1617
Created Lord of Blantyre 10 Jul 1606
8 Mar 1617 2 William Stewart 29 Nov 1638
29 Nov 1638 3 Walter Stewart Oct 1641
Oct 1641 4 Alexander Stewart c 1670
c 1670 5 Alexander Stuart 20 Jun 1704
20 Jun 1704 6 Walter Stuart 1 Feb 1683 23 Jun 1713 30
23 Jun 1713 7 Robert Stuart 17 Nov 1743
17 Nov 1743 8 Walter Stuart 21 May 1751
21 May 1751 9 William Stuart 16 Jan 1776
16 Jan 1776 10 Alexander Stuart 5 Nov 1783
5 Nov 1783 11 Robert Walter Stuart 10 Jun 1777 22 Sep 1830 53
Lord Lieutenant Renfrew 1820-1822
22 Sep 1830 12 Charles Stuart 21 Dec 1818 15 Dec 1900 81
to     Peerage extinct on his death
15 Dec 1900
BLARNEY
15 Nov 1628 B[I] 1 Charles Maccarty 27 May 1640
Created Baron Blarney and Viscount
Muskerry 15 Nov 1628
See "Muskerry"
BLASONBERRIE
23 May 1697 V[S] 1 Patrick Hume 13 Jan 1641 2 Aug 1724 83
Created Lord Polwarth,Viscount of
Blasonberrie and Earl of Marchmont
23 May 1697
See "Marchmont"
BLATCH
7 Apr 1987 B[L] 1 Emily May Blatch 24 Jul 1937 31 May 2005 67
to     Created Baroness Blatch for life 7 Apr 1987
31 May 2005 PC 1993
Peerage extinct on her death
BLAYNEY
29 Jul 1621 B[I] 1 Edward Blayney 11 Feb 1629
Created Baron Blayney 29 Jul 1621
11 Feb 1629 2 Henry Blayney 5 Jun 1646
5 Jun 1646 3 Edward Blayney 1669
1669 4 Richard Blayney 5 Nov 1670
5 Nov 1670 5 Henry Vincent Blayney Aug 1689
Aug 1689 6 William Blayney 3 Jan 1705
3 Jan 1705 7 Cadwallader Blayney 21 Apr 1693 19 Mar 1732 38
19 Mar 1732 8 Charles Talbot Blayney 27 Jan 1714 15 Sep 1761 47
15 Sep 1761 9 Cadwallader Blayney 2 May 1720 21 Nov 1775 55
21 Nov 1775 10 Cadwallader Davis Blayney 1769 2 Apr 1784 14
2 Apr 1784 11 Andrew Thomas Blayney 30 Nov 1770 8 Apr 1834 63
MP for Old Sarum 1806-1807
8 Apr 1834 12 Cadwallader Davis Blayney 19 Dec 1802 18 Jan 1874 71
to     MP for Monaghan 1830-1834
18 Jan 1874 Peerage extinct on his death
BLEASE
21 Jul 1978 B[L] 1 William John Blease 28 May 1914 16 May 2008 93
to     Created Baron Blease for life 21 Jul 1978
16 May 2008 Peerage extinct on his death
BLEDISLOE
24 Jun 1935 V 1 Sir Charles Bathurst 21 Sep 1867 3 Jul 1958 90
Created Baron Bledisloe 15 Oct 1918
and Viscount Bledisloe 24 Jun 1935
MP for Wilton 1910-1918. Governor
General of New Zealand 1930-1935. PC 1926
3 Jul 1958 2 Benjamin Ludlow Bathurst 2 Oct 1899 17 Sep 1979 79
17 Sep 1979 3 Christopher Hiley Ludlow Bathurst  [Elected 24 Jun 1934 12 May 2009 74
hereditary peer 1999-2009]
12 May 2009 4 Rupert Edward Ludlow Bathurst 13 Mar 1964
BLENCATHRA
28 Feb 2011 B[L] 1 David John Maclean 16 May 1953
Created Baron Blencathra for life 28 Feb 2011
MP for Penrith and the Border 1983-2010. PC 1995
BLESSINGTON
23 Aug 1673 V[I] 1 Murrough Boyle 1648 26 Apr 1718 69
Created Baron Boyle and Viscount 
Blessington 23 Aug 1673
PC [I] 1675
26 Apr 1718 2 Charles Boyle after 1673 2 Jun 1732
to     Peerage extinct on his death
2 Jun 1732
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
7 Dec 1745 E[I] 1 William Stewart,3rd Viscount Mountjoy 7 Apr 1709 14 Aug 1769 60
to     Created Earl of Blessington 7 Dec 1745
14 Aug 1769 PC [I] 1748
Peerages extinct on his death
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 
22 Jan 1816 E[I] 1 Charles John Gardiner,2nd Viscount Mountjoy 19 Jul 1782 25 May 1829 46
to     Created Earl of Blessington 22 Jan 1816
25 May 1829 Peerages extinct on his death
For information on his wife see the note at
the foot of this page
BLOOD
31 Jul 1999 B[L] 1 May Blood, MBE 26 May 1938 21 Oct 2022 84
to Created Baroness Blood for life 31 Jul 1999
21 Oct 2022 Peerage extinct on her death
BLOOMFIELD
14 May 1825 B[I] 1 Benjamin Bloomfield 13 Apr 1762 15 Aug 1846 84
Created Baron Bloomfield 14 May 1825
MP for Plymouth 1812-1818.  PC 1817
15 Aug 1846 2 John Arthur Douglas Bloomfield 12 Nov 1802 17 Aug 1879 76
7 Aug 1871 B 1 Created Baron Bloomfield 7 Aug 1871
to     PC 1860
17 Aug 1879 Peerages extinct on his death
BLOOMFIELD OF HINTON WALDRIST
5 Sep 2016 B[L] 1 Olivia Caroline Bloomfield
Created Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
for life 5 Sep 2016
BLOUNT
3 Dec 1326 B 1 Sir Thomas le Blount 1330
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Blount 3 Dec 1326
1330 2 William le Blount after 1366
   
after 1366 3 John le Blount by 1385
by 1385 4 Thomas le Blount Jan 1400
to     He was attainted and executed,when the 
Jan 1400 peerage was forfeited
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
25 Jan 1330 1 Sir William le Blount by Oct 1337
to     Summoned to Parliament as Lord
by Oct 1337 Blount 25 Jan 1330
Peerage extinct on his death
BLOWER
15 Oct 2019 B[L] 1 Christine Blower 20 April 1951
Created Baron Blower for life 15 Oct 2019
 
BLUNDELL
22 Nov 1720 V[I] 1 Sir Montague Blundell,4th baronet 19 Jun 1689 19 Aug 1756 67
to     Created Baron Blundell and Viscount
19 Aug 1756 Blundell 22 Nov 1720
MP for Haslemere 1715-1722
Peerage extinct on his death
BLUNKETT
28 Sep 2015 B[L] 1 David Blunkett 6 Jun 1947
Created Baron Blunkett for life 28 Sep 2015
MP for Sheffield Brightside 1987-2010 and Brightside
and Hillsborough 2010-2015. Secretary of State
for Education and Employment 1997-2001. Home
Secretary 2001-2004. Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions 2005. PC 1997
BLYTH
19 Jul 1907 B 1 Sir James Blyth,1st baronet 10 Sep 1841 8 Feb 1925 83
Created Baron Blyth 19 Jul 1907
8 Feb 1925 2 Herbert William Blyth 1 Mar 1868 27 Feb 1943 74
27 Feb 1943 3 Ian Audley James Blyth 28 Oct 1905 29 Oct 1977 72
29 Oct 1977 4 Anthony Audley Rupert Blyth 3 Jun 1931 20 Jan 2009 77
20 Jan 2009 5 James Audley Ian Blyth 13 Nov 1970
BLYTH OF ROWINGTON
24 Jul 1995 B[L] 1 Sir James Blyth 8 May 1940
Created Baron Blyth of Rowington for life
24 Jul 1995
BLYTHSWOOD
24 Aug 1892 B 1 Sir Archibald Campbell,1st baronet 22 Feb 1835 8 Jul 1908 73
Created Baron Blythswood 24 Aug 1892
For details of the special remainder included in the
creation of this peerage,see the note at the 
foot of this page
MP for Renfrew 1873-1874 and Renfrewshire
West 1885-1892  Lord Lieutenant Renfrew 
1904-1908
8 Jul 1908 2 Sholto Campbell 28 Jun 1839 30 Sep 1916 77
30 Sep 1916 3 Barrington Bulkeley Douglas Campbell 18 Feb 1845 11 Mar 1918 73
11 Mar 1918 4 Archibald Douglas Campbell 25 Apr 1870 14 Nov 1929 59
14 Nov 1929 5 Barrington Sholto Douglas Campbell 15 Jul 1877 3 Mar 1937 59
3 Mar 1937 6 Leopold Colin Henry Douglas Campbell 5 Mar 1881 8 Feb 1940 58
8 Feb 1940 7 Philip Archibald Douglas Campbell 19 Feb 1919 14 Sep 1940 21
to     Peerage extinct on his death
14 Sep 1940
BLYTON
16 Dec 1964 B[L] 1 William Reid Blyton 2 May 1899 25 Oct 1987 88
to     Created Baron Blyton for life 16 Dec 1964
25 Oct 1987 MP for Houghton le Spring 1945-1964
Peerage extinct on his death
BOARDMAN
10 Jul 1980 B[L] 1 Thomas Gray Boardman 12 Jan 1919 10 Mar 2003 84
to     Created Baron Boardman for life 10 Jul 1980
10 Mar 2003 MP for Leicester SW 1967-1974 and
Leicester South 1974. Minister for
Industry 1972-1974, Chief Secretary to the
Treasury 1974
Peerage extinct on his death
BOATENG
27 Jun 2010 B[L] 1 Paul Yaw Boateng 14 Jun 1951
Created Baron Boateng for life 27 Jun 2010
MP for Brent South 1987-2005. Chief Secretary
to the Treasury 2002-2005.  PC 1999
Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Baron Beresford
Along the south side of Hyde Park in London, there is a broad track named Rotten Row, the
name of which is probably a corruption of the French, Route de Roi (The King's Road). While
the track was formerly very popular with upper-class horse riders, it has long been the case
that, apart from two exceptions, no carriages were ever allowed to be driven along this route.
These exceptions relate to the ruling monarch and to the Duchess of St. Albans, who have 
enjoyed this prerogative since the days when it was granted by Charles II to the notorious
Nell Gwynne, from whom the Dukes of St. Alban are descended.
The story goes that, on one occasion, Lord Charles Beresford made a bet at the Marlborough
Club that he would drive down Rotten Row in broad daylight - in other words, at the time
when Rotten Row was most crowded with riders. As his fellow club-members were aware of the
strictness exercised by the police in preventing carriages entering Rotten Row, his bet was 
soon taken up. At the appointed hour a number of men, including those who had accepted the
wager, took their places along the railing which lines the Row to see if Lord Charles would
attempt the feat. While they waited, a water cart came along, sprinkling some of the party
with dirty water. When the victims protested in angry tones, the man on the water-cart pushed
back his oilskins to reveal Lord Charles, who had bribed the usual driver of the water-cart and
had thus won his bet.
William de Berkeley, 2nd Lord Berkeley [creation of 1421] and later Marquess of Berkeley
In the early 1460s, a long-standing dispute between William de Berkeley, 2nd Lord Berkeley and
Margaret Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and later wife of John
Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, flared up anew. At issue was the ownership of Berkeley Castle,
together with a number of manors. Berkeley accused the Countess of plotting to gain possession
of Berkeley Castle and of hiring an assassin to kill him. The Countess denied the charge of 
plotting to kill Berkeley, but was adamant in her claim to Berkeley Castle.
The feud had started in 1417, on the death of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Lord Berkeley of the
creation of 1295 and great-uncle to William de Berkeley. Thomas had married Margaret, heiress
of Lord Lisle and had a daughter who married Richard, Earl of Warwick. Their eldest daughter,
in turn, married the Earl of Shrewsbury. Because Thomas left only daughters, the castle was
inherited by James de Berkeley, younger brother of Thomas, but the Countess of Shrewsbury
insisted that the castle should have been inherited by her.
When the Countess died in 1468, all of her property was left to her grandson, Thomas Talbot,
2nd Viscount Lisle [creation of 1451]. He also inherited his grandmother's dispute with Lord
Berkeley. Lisle took up the claims with the impetuousness of youth (he was aged around 25 at
the time). He attempted to gain Berkeley Castle by bribery, corrupting the Keeper of the Castle,
one Thomas Holt, and the Castle's Porter, Maurice King, into agreeing to deliver up the Castle
to Lisle. At the last moment, King got cold feet about the planned betrayal and disclosed the
scheme to his master, Lord Berkeley.
In the meantime, Holt had fled to Lisle's house. Lisle was so enraged and disappointed that he
challenged Berkeley to a trial of arms (i.e. a duel), but Berkeley replied that such a duel would
not resolve the ownership dispute. Instead, he proposed a battle to be fought at Nibley Green
(in the Cotswolds, north-east of Bristol) the next morning, 20 March 1470.
Unfortunately for Lisle, Berkeley had his brothers and their retainers staying him at Berkeley 
Castle. He had also despatched a message for help to Bristol, and reinforcements arrived during
the night, so that he had around 1000 men to fight on his behalf. On the other hand, Lisle had
only his tenants, around 300 men, poorly armed and without suits of armour.
Berkeley concealed his men in a nearby wood and when Lisle appeared the following morning,
Berkeley's archers commenced firing at them. Lisle had not yet lowered his visor and an arrow
pierced his left temple and toppled him off his horse to the ground, where he was despatched
by daggers through the side joints of his armour. His fall caused his retainers to flee and many
were killed as they fled uphill to the local church, seeking sanctuary.
The Battle of Nibley Green is remembered as being the last battle on English soil that was fought
between two private armies.
The Berkeley Peerage Case
The following account of the Berkeley Peerage case was written by Dalrymple Belgrave and
published in "The Manchester Times" on 18 November 1898.
'Frederick Augustus, born in 1745, was the fifth Earl of Berkeley. This nobleman was a great
county magnate and a man of fashion and pleasure. Though some years his senior he was a 
great friend of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. In his day he was a well-known man 
enough, but nowadays what he will always be remembered for will be the story of his marriage,
which caused the peerage to be practically in abeyance for more than seventy years after his 
death. When he died in 1810 there was no question that he had left three legitimate sons, for in 
the year 1796 he had been married to their mother in Marylebone Church, and after that date 
they were born. But there were other sons born before that date. Soon after 1796 Lord and 
Lady Berkeley were doing their best to prove that when they were married in 1796 they had 
been for eleven years man and wife. With this end Lord Berkeley obtained in 1799 a Committee
of Privilege of the House of Lords to hear and perpetuate evidence.
'A witness then called was the Rev. Caleb Carrington, vicar of Berkeley and tutor to Lord
Berkeley's sons. He said he had heard of the earlier marriage; and that he had been informed 
that the difficulty was that the late vicar of Berkeley, Mr Hupsman, who had officiated at the
marriage - who had been told to keep the marriage secret -  had destroyed the page in the
register in which it had been entered. It was thought, however, that a careful search might lead
to the discovery of the missing entry. With this purpose Mr. Carrington, who was then staying in
London with Lord and Lady Berkeley, on March 7th, 1799, journeyed down to his parish,
Berkeley, accompanied by a Mr. Scriven, a conveyancer, who was to assist him in his search. 
The parish registers were kept by the curate, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Carrington, who went to 
Berkeley Castle, sent to that gentleman for the book which contained the marriages between
1780 and 1790. From Lord and Lady Berkeley, he said, he had heard the date of the first 
marriage, and he also heard that they had been married by banns which had been published in
Berkeley Parish Church.
'In the book, in which the banns were entered, he could find no entry where he could have
expected it, nor could he find an entry of the marriage on or about the date he had been told 
of. The marriages were numbered consecutively, and the numbers ran on without a break for
years after the date of the alleged marriage. As, however, he turned carefully over the pages
of the banns book something attracted his attention. Two pages were pasted together. With
a penknife he divided them and then, to his delight, he discovered an entry of the publication
of the banns. Then he discovered something he had not noticed before. On the last page of
the register the bottom part of a page had been folded down, and then the whole page had
been pasted to the back of the book, so that it looked as if it was part of the cover. Again
Mr. Carrington set to work with his penknife, and on the piece folded down to his great 
delight he found the very entry he was in search of. There was the entry of the marriage of
Frederick Augustus, Earl of Berkeley to Mary Cole, on March 30th, 1785. It was signed by
them, by Frederick Hupsman, the vicar, by William Tudor, and by Richard Barnes, who made
his mark.
'Mr. Hupsman was dead, but William Tudor, who was Lady Berkeley's brother, gave his evidence,
and swore to having witnessed the marriage and signed the register. That he had done the
latter there was no doubt, but from the first there was much doubt as to when and under what
circumstances he had done it. Mr. Tudor was the son of a Mr. Cole, who carried on the business
of butcher and publican at a village near Gloucester. He was asked how he came to use the 
name of Tudor as a witness to the marriage. It was well known that after she had begun to live
with Lord Berkeley, and before the marriage in 1796, Lady Berkeley had been known as Miss
Tudor. It was suggested that her brother had taken the same name that she was called by, but
that in 1785 she had never called herself Tudor, and he never had thought of calling himself by
any such name. At first he said that he had been christened Tudor as his second name, that he
had never called himself or signed any other, and that his sister had taken the name from him.
It was proved, however, that by his baptismal certificate he was not christened Tudor, and that
none of his schoolfellows had ever heard of his going by the name.
'The committee, in 1799, was only for hearing of evidence. In 1810 Lord Berkeley died, and the
eldest son, who since 1799 had always been called Lord Dursley, and treated as the heir to
the title, claimed the Earldom of Berkeley. The claim was resisted by the Attorney-General, and
by members of the Berkeley family, though as three sons had been born since the marriage of
1796, there did not seem to be much prospect of the title ever going to anyone else. The
estates had been left to the eldest son, who was recognised by his father as having been born
in wedlock. The witnesses who had given their evidence before repeated it. The most important
witness for the claimant was Lady Berkeley. She said that when she was a girl at a school at
Gloucester, Lord Berkeley, who was commanding the militia there, used to follow her about and
pay her attentions. After she went into service, first into the service of Lady Talbot, and after-
wards that of a Mrs Foote, the wife of a clergyman in Kent, Lord Berkeley wrote letters to her
and on one occasion she met him at a village in Kent, near where she was in service. He then
offered to marry her and it was agreed that she should marry him.
'Their banns were put up at Berkeley Church. The day before they were married she came down
from London and stayed near Berkeley. The next morning she went to Berkeley Church, and was
married to Lord Berkeley by Mr. Hupsman, the vicar of Berkeley. There were present her brother,
Mr. Hupsman, and a man of the name of Barnes, who made his mark in the register. Mr. Hupsman
brought him to act as clerk and as a witness. She believed that he was a stranger to the place,
and knew that the claimant had failed in finding out anything about [him] or anyone who knew 
him. She said that on account of the circumstances of the life of one of her sisters, who was
living with a gentleman to whom she was not married, it was agreed that the marriage should be
kept secret. Afterwards her sister married, but Lord Berkeley, when she pressed him to
acknowledge the marriage, said it could not be done, as Mr. Hupsman, to keep the marriage
secret, had destroyed the register. On his death-bed Lord Berkeley confessed to her that when
he married her he never intended to own [up to] the marriage. There were several witnesses
called to swear to the handwriting in the register of the marriage, which they said was that of
Mr. Hupsman. There were one or two witnesses who said that they had always heard that Lord
and Lady Berkeley were married before 1796. It really was common ground that though she lived
at Cranfield, Lord Berkeley's place near Uxbridge, and afterwards at Berkeley Castle, she was 
never visited by any ladies of position, or treated as his wife.
'One witness, who gave rather striking evidence, was a Captain West, a man of fashion and a
friend of the Prince of Wales, and also of Lord Berkeley. He said that in 1796 he was staying 
with Lord Berkeley, Miss Tudor, as she was called, being with him, and Lord Berkeley said:
"Shall we tell him a secret?" He said "What is the secret?" and Lord Berkeley answered: "We
have been married for more than ten years." He asked if they had been married before their
eldest son was born, and Lord Berkeley said they had. He said he would tell the Prince of Wales,
and Lord Berkeley agreed to this. When he afterwards heard of the second marriage and
expressed his surprise, Lord Berkeley said that there was no law that prevented a man marrying
the same woman as often as he pleased.
'On the other side an attorney, a Mr. Pitt, said that after the day when Mr. Carrington had
professed to have found the entry of the marriage, he had searched the register for it, but had
failed to find it. Mr. Carrington had left the register at Berkeley Castle. A few weeks afterwards
Mr. Pitt again searched the register and he found the page at once. There were the certificates
of baptism of the three eldest children, who were described as the sons of Lord Berkeley and
Mary Cole, as if they were not born in wedlock, while the first son after the marriage was
described in the register of baptisms as Lord Dursley. Then there was evidence to show that
Lord Berkeley was not at Berkeley on the day of the alleged marriage. A Mrs. Hicks, who was a
daughter of Mr. Hupsman, said that her father was on very friendly terms with Lord Berkeley. In
February, 1785, she and her father had gone to London with Lord Berkeley and his friend, 
Admiral Prescott. She had gone on a visit of eight weeks to Lord Craven's house and on April
3rd she had returned to Berkeley with Lord Berkeley and Admiral Prescott in his lordship's
travelling carriage. For some days before they went down to Berkeley Lord Berkeley was in
London. The banns were supposed to have been published in the autumn before the marriage,
and she said she must have been in church every Sunday that autumn, but she had never heard
the banns of Lord Berkeley being published. As to this point, and the visit to London, her mother
corroborated her. Many witnesses, who were every Sunday at church, swore that the banns
were never published, and for the claimant all the evidence on this point was that Mr. Hupsman
used to read the banns out very quickly after the second lesson, when the congregation were
making a noise by getting up on their feet. One witness said that he had heard more than 
twenty years before that Lord Berkeley's banns were read out in Berkeley Church, but he could
not say he had heard them.
'An important witness was an old clergyman of seventy-five, a Mr. Chapeau, who had evidently
been on very friendly terms with Lord Berkeley. He used to live near Cranfield. He would shoot
and ride with Lord Berkeley, and dine at the house day after day. Some of the witnesses for the 
claimant tried to make out that that he was not really a friend of Lord Berkeley. "I considered
him rather," said Captain West, "a person permitted to dine when there was no company,"
while another witness described him as a person with whom Lord Berkeley would joke, calling him
Mr. Crapaud, and would come into the drawing-room after dinner and say: "Here comes old 
Scrapo," but he really would not be seriously friendly with him. None the less, however, it was
clear that he was very intimate with his lordship, and his evidence was most important. He had
dined at Cranfield when Miss Tudor, as she was then called, was there, and he was well aware
that she was not treated as his lordship's wife. He remembered that one occasion he was 
present when Miss Tudor was discharging a maid-servant and persuading the girl to go to her
friends in the country, telling her that she would pay her coach-fare if she would go. The girl
said she liked to stay in London better. Miss Tudor said to Mr. Chapeau that the girl would be
sure to fall a prey to some man, and then she added: "In this situation I was once myself."
'Once, she said, she had to leave her place and she went to the house of her married sister.
She found her sister ill and very poor and her children ill and dirty, and the house uncomfortable,
and she had hard work to help her sister, and hard living. She did not like this, so she went to
the house where her other sister Susan lived. When she got to the house, as she held the 
knocker in her hand, she remembered that their mother had told them not to speak to her sister
Susan again. She laid the knocker down quietly and walked back. Then she thought of how
wretched the place was where she was going, her sister ill, and her sister's children famished
with hunger. Then she went back and took up the knocker and gave it a loud rap. Her sister
Susan came to the door dressed in all the paraphernalia of a fine lady going to the opera. She
took her in her arms, carried her into parlour, and gave her refreshment. Then she dressed her
in fine clothes and took her to the opera. That evening Lord Berkeley and several gentlemen
came to supper at her sister's, and some evenings afterwards while they were at supper the
bailiffs suddenly came in and seized her sister for a hundred pounds debt. Just then Lord
Berkeley came into the room. She and her sister both begged Lord Berkeley to pay the debt. He
would only do so on one condition, and it ended by his agreeing to pay it on her consenting to
become his mistress. "I was as much sold," she said, "as any lamb that goes to the shambles."
He [Chapeau] had another story to tell which seemed to throw a good deal of light on the
case. Once, when he and Lord Berkeley were out riding together, Lord Berkeley seemed very
low-spirited, and said: "Oh. dear Chapeau, I am very unhappy. I knew an old friend of mine by
the name of Smith, who was a son of the Duke of Dorset, born out of wedlock. That man was
my school-fellow, and a man I loved exceedingly. Whenever I think of him I am always unhappy.
I attended him all through his illness. He drank himself to death because he was disappointed
about his title. Believe me, my children shall never experience such villainy through my means."
'He could not remember the date of this conversation, but he remembered it was when they 
were riding out together through the pleasure-grounds where the children were playing with 
their little barrows and toys. Once he saw Lady Berkeley punishing one of the children, and 
heard her say: "You little dog, though I am not your father's wife, I will let you know through life
that I am your mother." Another witness was a Mr. Fendale, a barrister of the Oxford circuit. He 
remembered being at Gloucester for the July Quarter Sessions in the year 1785. One day after 
court he went out for a walk, and he saw two young women looking out of a window. He looked 
up at them, and he kissed his hand, for one of them was a very pretty woman. They gave him 
no encouragement, but he seems to have been possessed of an assurance that must have 
stood him in good stead in his profession for he coolly opened the door of their house and walked
up to the room where they were. One of them, he said, was a Mrs. Farren, the wife of a man 
who had been a lawyer's clerk, and afterwards became a butcher.
'The very pretty woman was her sister, Mary Cole, who afterwards became Lady Berkeley. He
managed to make himself agreeable to the two sisters, and expressed his admiration of the 
pretty one with great freedom, and took tea with them. The next day he called again and had 
tea, and he called a third time, on the following day. On two occasions he saw Mary Cole by 
herself, and then expressed his admiration very warmly, and on his third visit he was trying to
kiss her - which he admitted in evidence that she did not consent to - when the door opened,
and Mr. Farren came in. The next day he had to go to Worcester to the assizes, and from
Worcester he wrote the lady a letter which she answered. His own letter was a love letter,
asking her to meet him by herself somewhere. She answered it, but he had not [kept] the
answer. He could remember how it began. "Maria, with an equal mind, sits down to answer the
letter she has received," and it went on to ask why, if, as he declared, his intentions were
honourable, he had any objection to her being accompanied by her sister when she went to 
meet him. 'He said there was no impropriety in her conduct, but that there was nothing in it that
suggested that she was a married woman. 
'Another witness was a Miss Price, who had been governess to the children. She said that she
had several times overheard Lady Berkeley trying to persuade Lord Berkeley to marry her. Then
she said that she remembered that one day before the second marriage Lady Berkeley telling
her that she gained her point. She did not know at the time the day the marriage was 
celebrated, but she remembered noticing Lady Berkeley's servant picking out the letter "T"
which had been embroidered on her ladyship's clothes, and putting a "B" and a coronet upon
them. Then Miss Price said she had often seen Mr. Tudor, Lady Berkeley's brother, and that she
remembered him when the news came to Lady Berkeley that he had married someone in a very
humble position of life, Lady Berkeley was very angry and excited, and she showed her the
letter she had received from him. She remembered that Tudor wrote that he "had done what
your Rogue of Quality dare not do, married to protect innocence and virtue." Miss Price also
said that she remembered Tudor telling her he had never been to Berkeley. She also said that
in January, 1799, she remembered Tudor coming to stay at Berkeley Castle, and saying that he
had never been there before and that when he went into the church he said that he had never
been into it before. She also said that one day, during Tudor's visit, he and Lord and Lady
Berkeley were shut up all day in one of the upstairs rooms engaged in planning and doing some-
thing, and that a blind had been put up in the room in which they were, so that no one could
see across into the room from another part of the castle which faced it. Altogether, Miss Price
seemed to have had a suspiciously happy knack of overhearing secrets. In her cross-examination
she had to admit to having written a letter to Lady Berkeley complaining of some treatment she
had received from her, and reminding her that "she had it in her power to be her ladyship's
greatest enemy."
'A much more important witness against the claimant was the Marquis of Buckingham. Lord
Berkeley had several times talked to him about his children as not being legitimate, and of the
peerage going after his death to Admiral Berkeley. He had also talked about the property, as if
he would like to leave Berkeley Castle to one of his sons. Lord Buckingham said that he urged
that Berkeley Castle ought to go with the peerage, and he had advised him to let the estates
go with the peerage, but to provide for his children out of them. Lord Berkeley replied that he
had a plan, and that he told him that besides the boys, there was another child, a girl. He
suggested that this child might marry Admiral Berkeley's eldest son. Lord Buckingham pointed
out that, under the circumstances of her birth, Admiral Berkeley might not approve of the way
that she would be brought up. He had then said that she might be brought up in Admiral
Berkeley's family. He said he would mention the suggestion to Admiral Berkeley, but shortly
after that Lord Berkeley informed him that the little girl had died, so that there was an end of
the plan. The Marquis of Buckingham also said that Lord Berkeley had asked him to be guardian
to his children, but he had refused because of their being natural children. The Marquis also said
that he was well acquainted with Lord Berkeley's handwriting, and then he was shown the
register of Berkeley, and in reply to questions he answered that "he was sorry to say he believed
that the whole of the register of the marriage, with the exception of the signature William
Tudor, was in Lord Berkeley's handwriting." The Marquis of Buckingham was the last important
witness called.
'After hearing all the evidence, Lord Eldon, who was then Lord Chancellor, gave judgement
on behalf of the committee that the claim had not been made out. But though the lords
would not admit the claim to have been made, Lord Berkeley's sons were always loyal to the
theory that the story told by their mother was the truth. When [Thomas] Moreton [Fitzhardinge]
Berkeley, the eldest of the sons, who was born after the second marriage, grew up, he refused
to take the title which the decision of the Committee of Privilege had given to him, or to take his
seat in the House of Lords. His next brother, the Honourable [George Charles] Grantly 
[Fitzhardinge] Berkeley, who was well known as a sportsman, and was for years a familiar figure
in the House of Commons [he was MP for Gloucestershire West from 1832 to 1852], for most of 
his life refused to acknowledge there was any doubt about the legitimacy of his elder brother's
birth, though towards the end of his life, having quarrelled with him, he seemed to find a
satisfaction in attacking his brother's legitimacy at the expense of his parents' honour. The
youngest brother, Craven [Fitzhardinge] Berkeley, who was also for a great many years a 
member of Parliament [Cheltenham 1832-1847, 1848 and 1852-1855] also always supported the
claims of his eldest brother. The latter was for some years a member of Parliament [he was
actually a member for less than three months in 1810 for Gloucestershire] and he was then
given a peerage as Lord Seagrave [in reality Segrave of Berkeley Castle], afterwards being 
created Earl of Fitzharding [in reality Earl Fitzhardinge, without the 'of']. When he died without
children the matter was raised again by the second son, who, on his brother's death, came into
the property. This brother, who had gone into the navy and had become an admiral, claimed a
barony of Berkeley, which went not by descent, but by tenure of Berkeley Castle. For this claim
there was some ancient evidence, but against it there was a resolution of the House of Lords,
at the end of the seventeenth century, refusing to admit the existence of such a thing as a
peerage by tenure [see 'The Tenures Abolition Act' of 1660]. The House of Lords decided 
against the peerage by tenure, but he was afterwards created the Earl of Fitzharding [sic]. He
died, leaving a son and heir, who was the father of the present Earl Fitzharding. Of the three
sons born after the marriage of 1796, Craven Berkeley died first [in 1855]. He had married
twice, but had only left one daughter. Grantly Berkeley had two sons who, however, died
before he did [in 1881] in the lifetime of his brother, Moreton Berkeley. The latter never
married, so when he died in 1882 there was no male issue left of the marriage of 1796.
'Under these circumstances the earldom went to George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley, a grandson
of the Admiral Rawdon Berkeley, who would have inherited the peerage if the Lord Berkeley,
who afterwards married Mary Cole, had died without lawful issue, though the barony of 
Berkeley descended to the daughter of Mr. Craven Berkeley. No question was raised at the time,
and the next Earl of Berkeley enjoyed the peerage for his life.
'On his death, in 1888, however, Lord Fitzharding[e] claimed against the son of the late Earl, and
again alleged the marriage, in 1785, between Lord Berkeley and Mary Cole. Again the question
came before a Committee of Privilege. There was not much new evidence, but the expert in
handwriting, a personage who had developed since 1811, was put forward to show that the 
entry in the register was in Mr. Hupsman's handwriting. That was all the evidence on which the
second Committee, which sat in 1892, was asked to reverse the decision of Lord Eldon, and the
Committee of 1811, who had the advantage of hearing the evidence and inquiring into the 
matter only a comparatively few years after the circumstances had occurred. There could not 
have been much hope of success, and when the matter had been argued upon , and the 
evidence heard, two Law Lords of the Committee, Lord Halsbury and Lord Bramwell, discussed
the old evidence at length, and gave the reasons which satisfied them that the decision of the
Committee of Privilege, which sat in 1811, was a correct one.'
For further information on Thomas Moreton Fitzhardinge Berkeley, see the note at the foot of
the page containing details of the members of the House of Commons for Gloucestershire.
After the death of the 8th Earl in 1942, the following article appeared in "The Daily Mail" on 20
March 1947:-
'To the London office of Debrett's Peerage yesterday came a letter from a traveller in India. It
contained a clue to a mystery which has puzzled genealogists for years - and may support the
belief that an American journalist is the ninth Earl of Berkeley, an earldom considered extinct
since the eighth earl died in 1942.
'The mystery goes back to the early 19th century, when a branch of the second earl's family
sailed for India to work in the East India Company. News from them was scarce, communications
were bad. Their relatives in England lost track of them. It was known that most of their 
possessions were lost in the Indian Mutiny. No one ever really knew quite what became of them.
'And then yesterday's letter. It reported the discovery at Chunar, on the Ganges, of a tomb
dedicated to "Henry Nicholas Lionel Berkeley, died 1809." The man in the tomb is believed to be
the third son of the second earl [but this is hardly likely, given that the second earl died in 1710].
'Yesterday's news set Debrett's thinking back to another letter they received in 1936. It came 
from San Francisco. The writer, a journalist named R.F. Berkeley, asked for news of his family.
He thought he might be connected with the Earl of Berkeley. He said he had been born in India
and had gone to America as a child.
'Little attention was paid to the letter at the time. But now, with other facts in their possession,
Debrett's believe that R.F. Berkeley may be a direct descendant of the man in the Indian tomb. It
is known that some Berkeleys did go to America from India.
'Should R.F. Berkeley prove his claim to the Earldom, he would not succeed to the ownership of 
historic Berkeley Castle, where many Kings and Queens of England have dined, and where King
Edward II was murdered in 1327. It was left to a relative of the eighth earl - Capt. R.G.W.
Berkeley, who lives at Spetchley Park, Worcester. In 1925 Lord Berkeley sold all his estates in
Berkeley Square - at one time the family owned almost all of it - for nearly £3,000,000.'
Upon the very next day, 21 March 1947, and probably to its chagrin, the "Daily Mail" printed this
retraction:-
'New York, Thursday - A man whom Debrett's Peerage yesterday thought might prove his claim
to be the ninth Earl of Berkeley actually died in 1939, it is revealed here today. The eighth earl
died in 1942. 
'The man who died in 1939 was Reginald Berkeley, advertising executive, of San Francisco. He
was 79, [and] left two daughters.
'Debrett's last heard of him when he wrote in 1936 asking for news of his family. They tried to
trace him yesterday after receiving fresh information from India.'
                                      **************************
The following anecdote concerning the 5th Earl of Berkeley is taken from "Collections and
Recollections, by One Who has Kept a Diary" published anonymously (but whose author was 
George William Erskine Russell, MP) in 1898. 
'Another story of highway robbery which excited me when I was a boy was that of the fifth
Earl of Berkeley, who died in 1810. He had always declared that anyone without disgrace 
might be overcome by superior numbers, but that he would never surrender to a single 
highwayman. As he was crossing Hounslow Heath one night, on his way from Berkeley Castle to
London, his travelling carriage was stopped by a man on horseback, who put his head in the 
window and said, "I believe you are Lord Berkeley?"  "I am."  "I believe you have always boasted 
that you would never surrender to a single highwayman?"  "I have."  "Well," presenting a pistol, 
"I am a single highwayman, and I say 'Your money or your life' "  "You cowardly dog," said
Lord Berkeley, "do you think that I can't see your confederate skulking behind you?" The
highwayman, who was really alone, looked hurriedly around, and Lord Berkeley shot him 
through the head.'
Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners
The following is extracted from "The Emperor of the United States of America and Other
Magnificent British Eccentrics" by Catherine Caufield (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1981)
Posted at intervals on the fence surrounding an estate near Farringdon, Berkshire, were signs
reading "DOGS WILL BE SHOT: CATS WILL BE WHIPPED." Inside was Farringdon House, home
of Lord Berners, a gifted composer, artist, writer and devisor of practical jokes. Visitors to
Berners' home saw whippets wearing diamond collars, doves dyed all colours of the rainbow,
and an impressive collection of cars, including an antique Rolls Royce with a clavichord built
into the rear seat.
From his house Berners could look across to the 140-feet high Farringdon Folly which he built
in 1935. There was some public objection to the scheme when planning permission was sought.
Asked to justify his request, Berners replied "The great point of the tower is that it will be 
entirely useless." Somehow this reasoning convinced the authorities and the project was 
approved. The completed folly had a sign stating "Members of the public committing suicide
from this tower do so at their own risk."
Ten years in the diplomatic service did not impair Berners' sense of humour. He took a dislike 
to a pompous senior member of chancery in one embassy who ended every statement by
solemnly putting on his spectacles. With a piece of thread, Berners one day attached the 
spectacles to the ink bottle, blotter, letter-opener and several pens. Next time the spectacles
were ritually raised to signal the end of a speech, most of the desk paraphernalia went with 
them.
Berners had a collection of other people's calling cards, of which he made judicious use. Having
lent his house in Rome to a honeymooning couple, he sent the cards of London's most
notorious bores on ahead to the butler with instructions to deliver one or two to the couple 
each day. The terrified honeymooners spent most of their stay taking elaborate precautions to 
avoid meeting the originals.
Berners himself had what he claimed was a foolproof technique for avoiding people, or at least
getting people to avoid him when travelling by railway. According to his friend, the painter 
Michael Ayrton, Berners, wearing a black skull-cap and black spectacles, would lean out of the 
window of his compartment at every stop and beckon passengers inside. This performance was 
usually enough to secure a private carriage, but if someone did dare to join him, they seldom
stayed for long. In order to drive the intruder off, Berners pulled out a large clinical thermometer
he travelled with and, with a worried expression on his face, began taking his temperature anally 
every five minutes. "It was extraordinary," Ayrton remarked, "the way he could clear carriages 
by these simple means."
As a composer of ballet and opera music, a landscape painter and a writer, Lord Berners was a 
serious, though never a solemn, artist. He had a reputation as a skilful parodist, even in his
music and his painting. This trait is perhaps most evident in his satirical novels, one of which 
opens with this plea to the readers: "The author will be obliged if his friends will not attempt to
recognise each other in these pages."
James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick upon Tweed
It has always been assumed that James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick upon Tweed and illegitimate
son of King James II, was attainted and his peerages forfeited in 1695. However, no documents
relating to such an attainder have ever been found.
The following article, which discusses this question, appeared in 'The Times' on 15 February 
1954:-
'Readers of Sir Charles Petrie's recent Life of the Marshal Duke of Berwick will recall that James
Fitzjames, the elder of the two illegitimate sons of King James the Second by Arabella Churchill,
sister of the first Duke of Marlborough, was created by his father Duke of Berwick upon Tweed
in the peerage of England in 1687. Not long after the King's flight, he too fled to France and
later commanded his father's forces in Ireland, but in 1691 entered the service of the King of 
France and so continued for the rest of his life.
'The Complete Peerage, following other Peerage books, states that he was attainted in 1695,
whereby his honours became forfeited. Sir Charles Petrie accepts this and attributes to the
fact some historical significance. If the duke was in fact attainted, his heirs could not claim the
dukedom unless the attainder should first be reversed by Act of Parliament. It was with the
possibility of such reversal in mind that the late Duke of Alba, the Duke of Berwick's heir male,
asked the late Windsor Herald, Mr. A.T. Butler, before the war, to investigate his possible claim.
However, the researches then undertaken led to an unexpected result, and made it appear
doubtful whether the first Duke of Berwick ever, in fact, suffered a legally valid attainder at all.
'Stebbing's edition of Sandford's Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England, 
published in 1707, says that the duke "continuing in Arms…..In the service of the French King
against the Crown of England, he was in the year 1695 outlawed for high treason." In fact,
however, no steps seem to have been taken against him until the plot to kidnap or assassinate
William III was brought to light in February 1695-6, whereupon, on the 23rd of that month, the
King, by the advice of the Privy Council, issued a proclamation requiring all his loving subjects 
to discover, take, and apprehend 29 persons named, who, according to information given upon
oath, had entered into a horrid and detestable conspiracy to assassinate and murder his 
Majesty's sacred person. The first in the list was James, Duke of Berwick, and the fact that he
was so described in a royal proclamation seems a clear indication that he had not at that date
suffered attainder. Berwick's own memoirs show that he had in fact arrived secretly in England
in February, 1695-6, on a mission from his father and Louis XIV, to explore the feeling among
the English Jacobites and the possibility of exploiting the weakened position of William, after
Mary's death, by an insurrection in favour of James. Three days after his arrival, however, 
Sir George Barclay told him of the plot to capture William in a narrow lane between Brentford
and Turnham Green where his coach could not turn. The plan was betrayed to William by
Thomas Prendergas or Prendergast, one of the conspirators, and the proclamation for their
apprehension already mentioned took for granted that their plan was to murder, not merely
kidnap, the King.
'Berwick had in fact stayed in England only a few days, one of his reasons for swift departure
being "that I might not be confounded with the conspirators, whose design appeared to me
difficult to execute." Sir Charles Petrie rightly points out that there is no proof that the
conspirators intended William's death or that, if they did, they communicated this part of their
design to Berwick. Within a short time after the proclamation, six of the 29 were apprehended,
tried, and executed, while five more, having given evidence for the Crown, were pardoned.
Of the rest, a number were named in an Act of Attainder, passed in the Parliament of the 
eighth and ninth year of William III (1696-97), but the name of the Duke of Berwick was not
amongst these. However, on November 11, 1697, a fresh proclamation was made of a reward
of £1,000 for the apprehension of James, late Duke of Berwick and others "all outlawed or
attainted of high treason for conspiring to murder the king and reported to have returned
secretly to England." With the exception of the Duke of Berwick and two others, all those
named in this proclamation were also named in the Act of Attainder.
'The position is thus seen to be decidedly obscure and the forfeiture of the dukedom at least
doubtful. It seems unlikely that an attainder by Act of Parliament has been overlooked, but
some judgment of outlawry or the like with the same effect may yet be traced. However, if
further research should establish that there was in fact no forfeiture of the dukedom, an
interesting field of inquiry opens into the possible reasons for so ambiguous a policy. If there
were no forfeiture, then it would seem that the late Duke of Alba was in fact also Duke of
Berwick upon Tweed in the peerage of England, and the dignity is now invested in his heir
male, the Duke of Penaranda. Unhappily, Mr. Butler's researches were interrupted by the war
and never afterwards resumed, but it seemed desirable that their upshot should be placed
on record and for this the consent of the heirs of the Duke of Alba were sought and
willingly given.'
Angus Edward Vivian Smith, 3rd Baron Bicester
Lord Bicester spent 32 years (1965-1997) in psychiatric hospitals before being finally allowed
to take his seat in the House of Lords. For further information the reader should cut and paste
the following into his or her web browser -
http://www-student.cs.york.ac.uk/uni_history/bicester.html
Vere, Dowager Lady Birdwood (first wife of the 2nd Baron Birdwood) (1901-1987)
Vere Drummond married Christopher Bromhead Birdwood in March 1931 and was divorced from
him in 1954. Christopher succeeded his father as Baron Birdwood in 1951. 
As well as issuing a steady stream of political pamphlets, Lady Birdwood assumed the role of
moral watchdog and launched numerous actions against what she perceived to be moral
breaches. In 1970, Oscar Panniza's irreligious satire Council of Love was playing at the Criterion
Theatre in London. Lady Birdwood launched a private prosecution against the play under the 
Blasphemy Act of 1376. Her objections centred on the fact that God, Christ and the Virgin Mary
were impersonated on stage. Furthermore, Pope Alexander VI (Pope between 1492 and 1503)
and his cardinals were shown participating in orgies with naked women and oiled wrestlers 
during a celebration of Mass. 
By the time the trial began, the producers had fled the country and so Lady Birdwood named
the play's director, Eleanor Fazan, as defendant, in spite of the fact that she wasn't the 
director, merely the choreographer. If found guilty, Miss Fazan could, under the 1376 Blasphemy
Act, have been burned as a witch, but John Mortimer, for the defence, argued that since Miss 
Fazan had not been in the theatre on the night of Lady Birdwood's visit, Miss Fazan could not
be held responsible for what might have happened on stage. The magistrate agreed with 
Mortimer and dismissed the case, awarding Miss Fazan her costs.
Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith, daughter of the 1st Earl of Birkenhead
(1902-20 October 1945)
Eleanor was the daughter of F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead. A best-selling novelist, her
lifelong search for excitement scandalised the staider high society in which she and her father
moved. Though packed with adventure, Lady Eleanor's life was more of a tragedy - she was an
eccentric tomboy who never grew up.
Lady Eleanor always maintained that she was born dead. The two doctors who attended her
birth could not get her to breathe and gave up. An old family servant, skilled at midwifery, would
not believe the doctors and by vigorous slapping and massaging with brandy, she set the 'dead'
baby bawling. As she grew up, she soon began to exhibit her peculiar qualities. At the age of 
four, a gardener tried to stop her from wrecking a flower-bed. She responded by kicking him in 
the belly. A few years later, she attacked her younger brother, later the 2nd Earl, with a
hatchet. She also liked to appropriate one of her father's guns, lock herself in the stables and 
threaten to kill anyone who tried to get her out.
Her father had much to do with forging Eleanor's unusual personality. He regaled the child
nightly with macabre ghost stories; he took her to prize fights and encouraged her 'to be
cheeky before over-solemn statesmen.' When her father became Lord Chancellor, he let her
bounce up and down on the Woolsack, much to the horror of the staid members of the House
of Lords. Another of her father's ideas of fun was to take her to Willie Clarkson, the famous
theatrical costumier, who would deck her out in an outrageously blonde wig and have her face
grotesquely made-up. Eleanor and her father would then pay a series of afternoon calls on more
conventional legal and social acquaintances.
Eleanor's childhood was only half real. The rest was spent in a fanciful world of imagination.
Thus she imagined she had a dog named Gyp, whom she took with her wherever she went and
put food out for him every night. This eventually changed into the belief that she was a dog 
herself. She would walk at a companion's heels, bark and imitate other canine qualities 'with an
embarrassing fidelity.' After she tired of being a dog, she became a bird. She built nests, 
furnished them with eggs and sat upon them 'in morose sterility for many hours at a stretch.'
Later, she invented an imaginary playmate named Heyon, a girl who was supposed to live in the
woods, surviving on nuts and fruit. Eleanor went daily to play with her.
She also wrote letters to famous schools asking if they would take her unruly young daughter,
Pamela. She signed them 'Miss Smith.' The replies, though tactful, rarely offered to accept
Pamela as a pupil. Another prank was to answer advertisements for governesses under the alias
of 'Lydia Languish'. With each application she enclosed a photograph of some scantily-clad
chorus girl she bought from the local grocer's boy in dozen lots. 
Schooling was a problem. She was expelled or ran away from so many that her father could find
none suitable in England. She got her marching orders from one school for knocking a prefect
senseless with a cricket bat. She left another after taking a party of girls to Limehouse to 
sample, she said, the delights of opium. Eleanor cared nothing for schooling; she hated the
institutional boarding-school life and her letters to home were full of threats of suicide unless 
she was removed. Once she decided that one of her school mistresses was a vampire. 'I have 
to sleep with a dagger for fear of her,' she informed her mother.
At the age of nine, she discovered in her father's library a copy of George Borrow's classic gypsy
romance "Lavengro." She thereupon decided that she, too, had gypsy blood. To bolster this
fiction, she decided that her paternal great-grandmother had been a Romany princess, based
solely upon the fact that the great-grandmother's name had been Bathsheba. Gypsies and her 
own imaginary Romany connections became Eleanor's lifelong passion and she became one of
England's foremost authorities on the subject.
At 17, she was packed off to an exclusive French finishing school, but her stay there was short.
Before long she was climbing out of her room each night to meet the local barber boy to
'indulge in orgies of vin ordinaire at village cafes.' When they returned one night, a tipsy Lady
Eleanor was unable to climb in her window. Her companion had to enter first and pull her up, but
in doing so, he knocked over an ornament and the resultant crash brought a mistress to
investigate.
After that, Lord Birkenhead would try no more schools. Instead, he packed his daughter off as a
paying guest and pupil to an accomplished but impoverished Belgian baron. She was happy in 
the easy-going Belgian household until she disgraced herself and had to be sent home after 
causing a riot at a Brussels ball given by the British Ambassador when she released eight savage
wolfhounds to start a dog fight on the dance floor.
Back in England, she became a gossip columnist on a London paper, but since she refused to
attend functions, she wrote her paragraphs from imagination. For a while, she decided she 
wanted to be a ballet dancer and practised until her feet bled. She then switched to novel
writing, but her early efforts were rejected by publishers. She then joined Carmo's Circus as
publicity officer. The lure was not so much the romance of circus life, but the circus's star
attraction - a tall, swarthy, turbaned lion-tamer named Togare, with whom Lady Eleanor was
madly in love.
In 1929, she released her novel 'The Red Wagon' which combined the romance and colour of
gypsy life with that of the circus. The book quickly became a bestseller and was filmed in 1933.
Over the next 15 years, she made a fortune from a dozen or so distinctive novels. The most
popular of these, 'The Man in Grey', was filmed in 1943 and starred Margaret Lockwood, James
Mason and Stewart Granger. At the time of her death from an abdominal complaint in
October 1945, Lady Eleanor was a world-known celebrity.
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
 
The following biography of Lord Birkett appeared in the Australian monthly magazine "Parade"
in its issue for November 1973:-
'During the late 1890s a skinny, red-haired Lancashire schoolboy used to commute by train from
his home in the town of Ulverston to nearby Barrow where he attended grammar school. Glorying
in his nickname of "Carrots", he headed a gang of high-spirited youngsters who filled in time on
the journey fighting with other boys and skylarking with water-pistols, flour bombs and booby 
traps. Once, Carrots narrowly escaped police action when he and his school mates manhandled
an adult passenger by mistake as the unlit train went through a tunnel. Irate regular travellers
on the train used to abuse Carrots and predict that he was headed for a life of crime. In fact,
crime did playa large part in his later life - but not in the way those travellers expected. Carrots'
name was Norman Birkett and he was destined to become one of the most renowned criminal
lawyers in England.
 
'When he achieved fame as one of the greatest figures at the English bar, Birkett was called "the
man born with a silver tongue" and the "1000 Guinea King's Counsel." Through the 1920s and '30s
Norman Birkett (subsequently knighted and ultimately raised to the peerage as Lord Birkett) 
starred in one cause celebre after another. Birkett succeeded the great Sir Edward Marshall Hall 
as the dominant figure in Britain's most sensational murder trials. His performances in obtaining
acquittals in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds rivalled those of the most successful
criminal advocates of fiction. So much so that a contemporary English judge once jokingly
described Norman Birkett as "a positive menace to the administration of justice."
 
'Born in Ulverston in 1883, Birkett was the son of a middle-class Methodist draper. After finishing
grammar school the youth became an apprentice in his father's shop. His youthful misdemeanours
behind him, he developed a flair for oratory as a lay preacher and finally at the age of 24 won a
scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, with the intention of entering the ministry. But in
debates at the University Union listeners were hypnotised by Birkett's developing eloquence and
before long he decided to switch from religion to the law. However, immediately after graduation
he married and with a wife to support, he chose security for several years as secretary to 
George Cadbury, millionaire philanthropist and chocolate maker.
 
'The result was that Norman Birkett was 30 before he took the plunge and began practice as a
barrister in Birmingham. Years of struggle followed, although Birkett got more than his share of 
dock briefs because sitting among the available barristers his flaming red hair frequently 
persuaded an undecided prisoner to choose him.
'By the early 1920s Birkett was practising in London. In time he attracted Sir Edward Marshall
Hall's attention and appeared as his junior in a number of cases. In fact, Birkett first made his
name when Marshall Hall became ill during a case and Birkett had to take over the defence at
short notice. It meant sitting up all night to study the facts of a case that had already taken 12
days and then next morning to deliver a vital four-hour closing speech that turned the scales and
won the verdict. 
 
'In November 1925 the well-known dramatic critic James Agate brought a libel action against a
reviewer who slated a book of essays Agate had published. Engaged for the defence, Birkett
suavely tore to shreds the redoubtable Agate who had made his reputation as a critic with a pen
dipped freely in vitriol. "Why should Mr. Agate who relishes flaying actors and playwrights squeal
for damages when anyone gives him a taste of his own medicine?" he demanded. The jury saw 
the point and awarded Agate one farthing damages.
 
'In 1926 Birkett scored his first big success in a murder trial when he defended 59-year-old Mrs.
Harriet Crouch who had shot and killed her younger husband on the small farm she had bought 
him when they married. The dead man ill-treated his wife, was having an affair with a servant
girl and threatened to sell the farm and run off with the girl to South Africa. Mrs. Crouch claimed
she bought a revolver with the idea of suicide but when her husband knocked her down and
began punching her, she pulled it from her coat pocket to frighten him. A struggle ensued and a
shot was fired which killed her husband. "But it never entered my head either to wound or kill 
him," said Mrs. Crouch. In court, Birkett concentrated on the servant girl and by friendly but
persistent questioning got her to admit Mrs. Crouch had been "grief-stricken" over her affair with
the husband and had spoken of suicide. Then, in his final speech for the defence, he insisted 
that the shooting had been an accident and hammered away at the theme that with a bullying
and faithless husband the woman's life had become a misery. The purchase of a revolver had
been a natural thing to do as Mrs. Crouch intended suicide "for the sanctity of her married life
had been invaded and everything beautiful had become ugly." In his summing up, the judge
stressed two alternative charges against the prisoner - murder or manslaughter. But the jury
needed only 15 minutes to give one answer to both charges and as the foreman uttered the
words "not guilty" the court rang with cheers. 
'Two years after Birkett won Mrs. Crouch her freedom another wife, Mrs. Beatrice Pace, engaged
him to defend her on a charge of poisoning her farmer husband with arsenic. Again Birkett argued
that the death had been an accident. He suggested that the husband had been poisoned slowly
from working with sheep dip containing arsenic. From two of the prosecution's own expert
witnesses he secured admissions that a man could be poisoned by dipping sheep and then eating
with unwashed hands or biting his nails or even wiping his wrist across his moustache. This time
Birkett was so confident that immediately after the prosecution evidence was finished he 
submitted that there was no case to go to the jury and the judge should stop the trial. The 
judge agreed and directed the jury: "I ask you to return a verdict of not guilty." Again cheers
broke out in court and there was no doubt about Birkett's own feelings in the case. Leaving his
place on the front bench he went over the dock and warmly shook the hand of the still dazed
woman. "I'm so glad, Mrs. Pace," he said.
'By the early 1930s Norman Birkett was one of the highest-paid KCs in England with an annual
income of £30,000. Yet he frequently refused lucrative briefs to defend someone who could not
afford to pay for his services but whose case had aroused his sympathy. He once appeared
without fee for a Cambridge undergraduate from a poor home who pleaded guilty to stealing
books. Birkett won the youth a bond and then persuaded his college to let him continue his
studies. On another occasion, and for a nominal fee, Birkett agreed to defend a youth charged
with the murder of his father. The home of this family, he told the jury, "was one where misery
reigned day in and day out and the dead man was the author of that misery. Here is this boy,
not yet 18, whose only fault was this overmastering love for his mother whom he believed to be
in danger." Birkett's impassioned sincerity reduced many people in the court to tears and the
prisoner escaped with a few months' imprisonment for manslaughter.
'Undoubtedly Birkett's engaging manner, friendliness and golden-tongued oratory swayed jurors.
Lord Chief Justice Hewitt once felt it necessary to state in court: "Sometimes the merits and
charm of an advocate are unconsciously imputed to his client. You must realise, members of the
jury, that you are not trying Mr. Norman Birkett."
 
'Still Birkett went on winning acquittals in cases where other barristers considered he had little
chance of success. In 1931 he defended Mrs. Sarah Hearne who was charged with having killed
her sister and the wife of a neighbour by putting arsenic in salmon sandwiches. Mrs. Hearne was
known to have bought a weed-killer containing arsenic, but Birkett was able to prove that if this
preparation had been put in the sandwiches the bread would have been stained blue. So Mrs.
Hearne was found not guilty - as was another Birkett client, Tony Mancini, who in 1934 went on
trial for the so-called Brighton Trunk Murder. The Mancini defence marked the peak of Birkett's
career, for the Crown case was so overwhelming that it seemed impossible for any jury to free
the accused. The body of Mancini's mistress, a prostitute named Violette Kaye, had been found
been found in a trunk in his Brighton lodgings with a fractured skull. Evidence was also given that
Mancini had admitted quarrelling with her and there was blood on his clothes. He had also said to
someone: "What's the good of knocking a woman about with your fists? You should hit her with a
hammer the same as I did." Nevertheless, Birkett won Tony Mancini an acquittal after he had got
the famous pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury to admit that the fracture of the dead woman's skull
could just as easily have resulted from a drunken fall. 
 
'The trial was a triumph for Birkett but physically exhausting. Afterwards he collapsed in a chair
in his chambers, and sighed: "This sort of thing takes years off my life." To which his junior 
replied: "Maybe. But it adds years to your clients."
 
'In 1941 Birkett was raised to the Bench and knighted. Later as a Court of Appeals judge he
became Lord Birkett. But all through his years as a judge he regretted leaving the bar and longed
to be back in the fray as a barrister. So when he died in 1962 he would probably have most
appreciated the eulogy of a leading QC who said that if he had ever committed murder he would
have unhesitatingly put his future in Birkett's hands.'
William Keith Mason, 4th and last Baron Blackford
Lord Blackford died from a heroin overdose in May 1988. The following report of the subsequent
inquest appeared in "The Times" on 30 June 1988:-
'Lord Blackford lost his 18-moth battle against heroin when he was tempted to use the drug
again, an inquest was told yesterday. Lord Blackford, aged 26, a stockbroker, of Redcliffe
Square, Chelsea, died after injecting heroin because his tolerance of the drug had decreased.
Dr. Paul Knapman, the Westminster coroner, recorded a verdict of death through dependence on
drugs.
'Lord Blackford had been "clean" for some months before his death, but went out and bought the
drug after a party in Clapham, south-west London, the hearing was told. Miss Nicky Barthorp,
aged 24, Lord Blackford's girl friend, told the inquest that he had been addicted to heroin and she
was helping him as he tried to give it up. She said that Lord Blackford had not drunk much at the
party, a barbecue, but at about midnight said he wanted to get some drugs. "I knew he meant
heroin because he didn't take any other drugs. I tried to dissuade him but he went anyway,"
she said.
'Lord Blackford was found lying on his bed fully clothed and with a syringe beside him on June 16
[sic - should be May 16], the day after he took the fatal dose. Miss Lizza Mason, aged 23, Lord 
Blackford's sister, said she had gone to his flat with Miss Barthorp after he failed to appear at
work on the Monday morning.
'Lord Blackford's GP, Dr. Christian Carritt, of Gloucester Road, South Kensington, said he was 
under the impression his patient was not abusing drugs before his death.'
Marguerite Power, wife of Charles John Gardiner,1st Earl of Blessington (creation of 1816)
Visitors to Captain Thomas Jenkins's home in Hampshire in 1809 were surprised to find that the 
bluff, good-natured officer had not returned empty-handed from a recent visit to Ireland. With 
him was a dazzling 20-year-old Tipperary mistress known as Sally. Tall, black-haired, blue-eyed,
classically curved, full of intelligence and vivacity, she entranced the gay captain's bachelor 
guests, and he often had to use his sword to emphasise to the more forward that the lady 
belonged to him. One guest, however, was not accustomed to being baulked of anything he
fancied. He paid Jenkins £10,000 for the girl. 
   
The buyer was the enormously wealthy Earl of Blessington. Four years later he married the
bartered beauty and took her on a seven-year European tour with a retinue fit for royalty.
Secretly, she succumbed to the charms of his young, dandified son-in-law, Count D'Orsay, and
when Blessington died she returned to England and defied convention as the mistress of her
step-daughter's husband. 
Lady Blessington was born Marguerite Power in 1789. Her father, Edmund Power, was a hard-
drinking impoverished, small-time squire of Clonmel, Tipperary. Power was a magistrate and
proprietor of the Clonmel Gazette. Wild speculation and gambling kept him constantly short of
funds. When his pretty eldest daughter, generally known as Sally, was 16 he saw the chance
of quick profit. Unknown to the girl he hawked her hand around local landowners and army
officers. The highest bidder was Captain Maurice Farmer, of Poplar Hall, County Kildare. Sally
became Mrs. Farmer. For three years she was the victim of a loutish drunken brute. From the
honeymoon she was insulted, beaten, locked up and starved. Despite this, her spirit was not
broken. At 18, a radiant, strong-willed woman, she marched back to her family.
She was not welcome. Her younger sisters rebelled when suitors deserted them to woo the 
gay, provocative young grass widow.
Sally was making no more mistakes. She looked the field over for a year or so before she 
"accepted the protection" of the rich, easy-going Captain Tom Jenkins. Jenkins took her to
England in 1809 and installed her as mistress of his Hampshire mansion. He not only exhibited her
in the nude before his guests, but also introduced her to literature, art and public affairs. The
quick mind of illiterate Mrs. Sally Farmer began to bloom.
 
For five years she remained Jenkins's mistress, until in 1814 he played host to the free-spending
Earl of Blessington. Owner of Irish estates worth £30,000 a year, Blessington was notorious for
his extravagant living. He surrounded himself with opulence and beauty. Anything he liked, he
bought, regardless of price. He had a business discussion with Jenkins about Sally and £10,000 
changed hands. Sally moved into the London house of the smitten earl. Within four years
Blessington's wife died and meanwhile Captain Farmer had performed his only act of kindness to
to Sally by jumping from a window and breaking his neck while drunk [another source states that
he died while in a debtors' prison].
 
Following a marriage ceremony at a fashionable London church [16 February 1818], Sally became
Marguerite, Countess of Blessington. To her dinner table in the Blessington mansion came 
diplomats, politicians, soldiers, writers and painters. Their wives and other leaders of the London
social whirl, however, preferred to stay away. This unwavering hostility sent Blessington and his
bride on a tour of Europe that was to last seven years. Their entourage was so large that France
and Italy called it the Blessington Circus. Dozens of coaches, baggage wagons and carts were
needed to carry the earl, his wife and their many possessions. They took their own chef with all
his gear in a specially-fitted caravan-kitchen. In towns that caught his fancy Blessington rented
a mansion, hired more servants, bought horses, furniture, paintings, further to encumber the 
circus. 
At Avignon, France, they were joined by Count D'Orsay, a tall French dandy who was an athlete,
swordsman, painter and sculptor. He threw up the army to accompany the Blessingtons to Italy.
The earl, who had known his father, invited D'Orsay along, unaware that he sparking a notorious
love affair.
 
From the moment the count met Lady Blessington, no one else in the world mattered to either of
them. The earl was blind to the affair. He regarding the dashing French noble as a son and
arranged an engagement between him and his own 15-year-old daughter, Harriet, by his previous
marriage. Shy, plain Lady Harriet was brought from Ireland. Blessington made a will leaving 
D'Orsay most of his estate. Soon the girl married her step-mother's secret lover.
 
In 1823 the strange ménage reached Genoa, Italy, where Lord Byron was staying before his final
ill-fated adventure in the cause of Greek freedom. Lady Blessington made another conquest.
Historians still debate whether she joined the long list of the pale-faced club-footed poet's
mistresses. When the Blessington Circus moved on after three months, Byron was reported to
have given way to a "passionate fit of weeping."
 
Moving to Naples, the Blessingtons rented the elaborate Palazzo Belvidere, famed for its gardens,
fountains, marble pavements and picture galleries. In Paris they settled into the mansion formerly
owned by Marshal Ney. There Blessington built his unfaithful wife a fantastic love bower. The bed 
rested on silver swans. A silver sofa stood nearby. The walls here hung with silk and lace. A 
sunken bath was surrounded by full-length mirrors. There, amid the gaudy splendour his money 
could buy, but which could not hold the love of his wife, Lord Blessington died of apoplexy in 
May 1829. 
Lady Blessington, d'Orsay and his young wife returned to London to set up a queer household in
Seymour Place, Park Lane. The earl's estate was heavily mortgaged. His wild spending had eaten
into his assets, and there was little income for D'Orsay, the principal heir, to collect. Lady
Blessington had a separate income - part of a marriage settlement - of £2000 a year. She 
assumed support of her stepdaughter and lover. Her income, however, could not keep pace with 
her own expensive tastes or with Count D'Orsay's incessant demands for cash. She sat down to 
make money with her pen. For the rest of her life she poured out a stream of books that earned
her a considerable sum. 
 
Her stepdaughter, Lady Harriet, was not as blind as her father to the liaison between Lady
Blessington and Count D'Orsay. She sought refuge with relatives in Ireland. The lovers continued
to live together at Seymour Place - though subject to increasing attacks from Press and stage
on their scandalous association. Lady Blessington fought back with an all-out attempt to create
the most brilliant and discussed salon in London. Society ladies still shunned her. Their men found
her irresistible. 
 
Though the beauty could have married any eligible man in England, she had no eyes for anyone 
but the worthless d'Orsay. Once her guests had departed she worked long into the night on her
books. Her lover squandered the money on tailors, shirtmakers, hatters, bootmakers, glove-
makers, florists, jewellers, hairdressers and perfumers. He gambled wildly on horses, prize-fights
and cards. He had little money of his own.
 
Blessington's estate was almost entirely eaten up by debt, other legacies, and litigation by Lady
Harriet against her husband. Discovering a flair for portraiture, D'Orsay set up as a fashionable
painter. It was a standing joke about town that he must have made at least enough to keep
himself in gloves. To save money, in 1836 Lady Blessington moved from Seymour House into the
then country district of Kensington. She took a smaller residence, Gore House, once owned by
William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery champion. 
 
Life for the lovers continued on a grand scale - but to them it seemed cramping poverty. D'Orsay
grumbled because his mistress could afford no more than £1000 for repairs and alterations and
another £1000 for furniture for Gore House. Creditors began to harass them despite her large
income, A crisis developed in the 1840s when income from her marriage settlement slumped with
the Irish potato famine. To make matters worse, the publisher of her profitable annuals died,
owing her large sums for royalties. His executors denied the liability. Costly legal proceedings 
were her only hope of collecting. 
D'Orsay owed about £100,000 round London. Lady Blessington could not give him enough to keep
his creditors quiet. Process servers haunted Gore House. By law they could not serve a writ after
dark, or when the creditor was on property not his own. D'Orsay was safe if he stayed in Gore
House, tenanted by Lady Blessington, and ventured out only after sunset. By day the mansion 
was in a state of siege, At night it was reopened and illuminated for the inevitable guests. 
 
The situation worsened, D'Orsay fled to France. His mistress promised to follow when she had
settled her own debts. In May 1849 she auctioned all her furniture and treasures in Gore House.
Women who had refused to enter now arrived in crowds to gloat and humiliate her. The sale
realised £12,000, enough to pay her debts and distribute presents to her faithful servants. 
There was still £1500 over. This she took with her to France to begin life anew with her lover of 
more than 25 years. They had a fond reunion in Paris. "I am so vert tired, Alfred." she told him
as he showed her the modest apartment he had ready. She complained that her friends in London
had not rallied in greater force to her aid when she needed them. "What does it matter?" D'Orsay
said. "We have no need of outsiders. We have each other - we will always have each other."
 
But it was not for long. Within a month, in June 1849, the Countess of Blessington died of a heart
attack [a post-mortem revealed that her heart was three times normal size]. She was buried in 
French churchyard of Chambourcy. For two years D'Orsay toiled with his own hands to erect an
elaborate mausoleum over her tomb. Then he died [4 August 1852] and was buried with her.
 
The special remainder to the Barony of Blythswood
From the "London Gazette" of 23 September 1892 (issue 26328, page 5383):-
 
"The Queen has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, dated the 24th August, 1892, to grant the dignity of a Baron of the
said United Kingdom unto Sir Archibald Campbell Campbell, of Blythswood, in the county of
Renfrew, Bart., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title
of Baron Blythswood, of Blythswood, in the county of Renfrew, with remainder, in default of
such issue male, to the brothers of the said Sir Archibald Campbell Campbell, in the following
order:—
 
Sholto Douglas Campbell Douglas, of Douglas Support, in the county of Lanark, Clerk, and the
the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten ;
Barrington Bulkley Douglas Campbell, Esq., Colonel in Her Majesty's Scots Guards, and the heirs
male of his body lawfully begotten ;
Walter James Douglas Campbell, of Innis Chonain, in the county of Argyll, Esq., and the heirs
male of his body lawfully begotten ;
Montagu Douglas Campbell, Esq., Captain and Honourary Major 4th Battalion Argyll and 
Sutherland Highlanders, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten ; and
Robert Douglas Campbell, Esq., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten."
 
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