PEERAGE
Last updated 11/10/2025
     Date Rank Order Name Born Died  Age
STAMP
28 Jun 1938 B 1 Josiah Charles Stamp 21 Jun 1880 16 Apr 1941 60
Created Baron Stamp 28 Jun 1938
16 Apr 1941 2 Wilfred Carlyle Stamp 28 Oct 1904 16 Apr 1941 36
For further information on the succession of this
peer to the title, see the note at the foot of
this page.
16 Apr 1941 3 Trevor Charles Stamp 13 Feb 1907 16 Nov 1987 80
16 Nov 1987 4 Trevor Charles Bosworth Stamp 18 Sep 1935 20 Oct 2022 87
20 Oct 2022 5 Nicholas Charles Trevor Stamp 27 Feb 1978
STANHOPE
14 Apr 1718 E 1 James Stanhope 1673 5 Feb 1721 47
Created Baron and Viscount Stanhope
3 Jul 1717 and Earl Stanhope
14 Apr 1718
The creations of 1717 contained a special 
remainder,failing heirs male of his body,to those
of his second cousin,"John Stanhope of Elvaston,
deceased."
MP for Newport IOW 1702 and 1717,
Cockermouth 1702-1713 and 1715-1717 and
Wendover 1714-1715. Secretary of State
1714-1717 and 1718-1721.Prime Minister and
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1717-1718. 
PC 1714
5 Feb 1721 2 Philip Stanhope 14 Aug 1714 7 Mar 1786 71
7 Mar 1786 3 Charles Stanhope 3 Aug 1753 15 Dec 1816 63
MP for Wycombe 1780-1786
For further information on this peer,and his
daughter,Lady Hester Stanhope,see the notes
at the foot of this page
15 Dec 1816 4 Philip Henry Stanhope 7 Dec 1781 2 Mar 1855 73
MP for Wendover 1806-1807, Hull 1807-
1812 and Midhurst 1812-1816
2 Mar 1855 5 Philip Henry Stanhope 30 Jan 1805 24 Dec 1875 70
MP for Wootton Basset 1830-1832 and
Hertford 1832-1852
24 Dec 1875 6 Arthur Philip Stanhope 13 Sep 1838 19 Apr 1905 66
MP for Leominster 1868 and Suffolk East
1870-1875. Lord Lieutenant Kent 1890-1905
19 Apr 1905 7 James Richard Stanhope 11 Nov 1880 15 Aug 1967 86
to     First Commissioner of Works 1936-1937.
15 Aug 1967 President of the Board of Education 1937-
1938. First Lord of the Admiralty 1938-1939
Lord President of the Council 1939-1940. 
PC 1929  KG 1934
He succeeded as 13th Earl of Chesterfield in 1952.
On his death the Earldoms (Stanhope and 
Chesterfield) became extinct whilst the Viscountcy
and Barony passed to the 11th Earl of Harrington
STANHOPE OF HARRINGTON
2 May 1605 B 1 Sir John Stanhope 9 Mar 1621
Created Baron Stanhope of Harrington
2 May 1605
9 Mar 1621 2 Charles Stanhope 27 Apr 1595 3 Dec 1675 80
to     Peerage extinct on his death
3 Dec 1675
STANHOPE OF SHELFORD
7 Nov 1616 B 1 Philip Stanhope 1584 12 Sep 1656 72
Created Baron Stanhope of Shelford
7 Nov 1616
He was subsequently created Earl of
Chesterfield (qv) in 1628
STANLEY
15 Jan 1456 B 1 Thomas Stanley c 1405 20 Feb 1459
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Stanley 15 Jan 1456
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1431-1436.
KG 1457
20 Feb 1459 2 Thomas Stanley,later [1485] 1st Earl of Derby c 1435 29 Jul 1504
29 Jul 1504 3 Thomas Stanley,2nd Earl of Derby by 1485 23 May 1521
23 May 1521 4 Edward Stanley,3rd Earl of Derby 10 May 1509 24 Oct 1572 63
24 Oct 1572 5 Henry Stanley,4th Earl of Derby 29 Sep 1593
29 Sep 1593 6 Ferdinando Stanley,5th Earl of Derby 1559 16 Apr 1594 34
to     On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
16 Apr 1594
7 Mar 1921 7 Edith Maud Abney-Hastings,Countess of Loudoun 13 May 1883 24 Feb 1960 76
to     (12th in line)
24 Feb 1960 Abeyance terminated in her favour,but the title
again fell into abeyance upon her death
STANLEY OF ALDERLEY
9 May 1839 B 1 Sir John Thomas Stanley,7th baronet 26 Nov 1766 23 Oct 1850 83
Created Baron Stanley of Alderley
9 May 1839
MP for Wootton Basset 1790-1796
23 Oct 1850 2 Edward John Stanley 13 Nov 1802 16 Jun 1869 66
Created Baron Eddisbury 12 May 1848
MP for Hindon 1831-1832 and Cheshire
North 1832-1841 and 1847-1848. Vice
President of the Board of Trade 1852 and
1853-1855. President of the Board of Trade 
1855-1858. Postmaster General 1860-1866.
PC 1841. 
16 Jun 1869 3 Henry Edward John Stanley  (also 2nd Baron 
Eddisbury) 11 Jul 1827 10 Dec 1903 76
For further information on this peer, see the foot
of this page
10 Dec 1903 4 Edward Lyulph Stanley  (also 3rd Baron Eddisbury) 16 May 1839 18 Mar 1925 85
MP for Oldham 1880-1885.  PC 1910
Succeeded as 4th Baron Sheffield [I] 1909
18 Mar 1925 5 Arthur Lyulph Stanley  (also 4th Baron Eddisbury
and 5th Baron Sheffield [I]) 14 Sep 1875 22 Aug 1931 55
MP for Eddisbury 1906-1910. Governor of
Victoria 1914-1920
22 Aug 1931 6 Edward John Stanley  (also 5th Baron Eddisbury
and 6th Baron Sheffield [I]) 9 Oct 1907 5 Mar 1971 63
5 Mar 1971 7 Lyulph Henry Victor Owen Stanley  (also 6th
Baron Eddisbury and 7th Baron Sheffield [I]) 22 Oct 1915 23 Jun 1971 55
23 Jun 1971 8 Thomas Henry Oliver Stanley  (also 7th Baron
Eddisbury and 8th Baron Sheffield [I]) 28 Sep 1927 19 Nov 2013 86
19 Nov 2013 9 Richard Oliver Stanley  (also 8th Baron Eddisbury
and 9th Baron Sheffield [I]) 24 Apr 1956
STANLEY OF BICKERSTAFFE
22 Dec 1832 B 1 Edward Smith-Stanley,later [1834] 13th Earl of
Derby 21 Apr 1775 30 Jun 1851 76
Created Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe
22 Dec 1832
See "Derby" - with which title this peerage remains
merged
                     ****************
4 Nov 1844 Edward Geoffrey Smith-Stanley 19 Mar 1799 23 Oct 1869 70
He was summoned to Parliament by Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe
4 Nov 1844
He succeeded as 14th Earl of Derby (qv) in 1851
STANLEY OF PRESTON
27 Aug 1886 B 1 Frederick Arthur Stanley 15 Jan 1841 14 Jun 1908 67
Created Baron Stanley of Preston
27 Aug 1886
He succeeded as 16th Earl of Derby (qv) in 1893
with which title this peerage remains merged
STANMORE
21 Aug 1893 B 1 Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon 26 Nov 1829 30 Jan 1912 82
Created Baron Stanmore 21 Aug 1893
MP for Beverley 1854-1857. Governor of
New Brunswick 1861-1866, Trinidad 1866-
1870, Mauritius 1871-1874, Fiji 1875-1880,
New Zealand 1880-1882 and Ceylon 1883-
1890
30 Jan 1912 2 George Arthur Morris Hamilton-Gordon 3 Jan 1871 13 Apr 1957 86
to     PC 1932
13 Apr 1957 Peerage extinct on his death
STANSGATE
12 Jan 1942 V 1 William Wedgwood Benn 10 May 1877 17 Nov 1960 83
Created Viscount Stansgate 12 Jan 1942
MP for St.Georges,Tower Hamlets 1906-
1918, Leith 1918-1927, Aberdeen North
1928-1931 and Gorton 1937-1941. Secretary
of State for India 1929-1931. Secretary of
State for Air 1945-1946.  PC 1929
17 Nov 1960 2 Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn 3 Apr 1925 14 Mar 2014 88
to     MP for Bristol SE 1950-1960 and 1963-1983
31 Jul 1963 and Chesterfield 1984-2001
Postmaster General 1964-1966. Minister
of Technology 1966-1970. Minister of Power
1969-1970. Secretary of State for Industry
1974-1975. Secretary of State for Energy
1975-1979.  PC 1964
He disclaimed the peerage for life 1963
14 Mar 2014   3 Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn 21 Aug 1951
STAPLETON
8 Jan 1313 B 1 Miles Stapleton 24 Jun 1314
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Stapleton 8 Jan 1313
24 Jun 1314 2 Nicholas Stapleton 1342
1342 3 Miles Stapleton c 1318 Dec 1372
Dec 1372 4 Thomas Stapleton c 1350 10 Aug 1373
to     On his death the peerage became dormant
10 Aug 1373
STAVORDALE
12 Jan 1747 B 1 Stephen Fox-Strangways 12 Sep 1704 26 Sep 1776 72
Created Baron Ilchester 11 May 1741,Baron
Ilchester and Stavordale 12 Jan 1747,and 
Earl of Ilchester 17 Jun 1756
See "Ilchester"
STAWELL
15 Jan 1683 B 1 Ralph Stawell c 1640 5 Aug 1689
Created Baron Stawell 15 Jan 1683
MP for Bridgwater Oct 1679
5 Aug 1689 2 John Stawell c 1669 30 Nov 1692
30 Nov 1692 3 William Stawell c 1683 23 Jan 1742  
23 Jan 1742 4 Edward Stawell c 1685 13 Apr 1755
to     Peerage extinct on his death
13 Apr 1755
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
21 May 1760 B 1 Mary Bilson-Legge 12 Feb 1726 29 Jul 1780 54
Created Baroness Stawell 21 May 1760
For details of the special remainder included in the
creation of this peerage,see the note at the 
foot of this page
29 Jul 1780 2 Henry Stawel Bilson-Legge 22 Feb 1757 25 Aug 1820 63
to     Peerage extinct on his death
25 Aug 1820
STEDMAN
25 Jun 1974 B[L] 1 Phyllis Stedman 14 Jul 1916 8 Jun 1996 79
to     Created Baroness Stedman for life
8 Jun 1996 25 Jun 1974
Peerage extinct on her death
STEDMAN-SCOTT
12 Jul 2010 B[L] 1 Deborah Stedman-Scott 23 Nov 1955
Created Baroness Stedman-Scott for life
12 Jul 2010
STEEL OF AIKWOOD
6 Jun 1997 B[L] 1 Sir David Martin Scott Steel 31 Mar 1938
Created Baron Steel of Aikwood for life
6 Jun 1997
MP for Roxburgh,Selkirk and Peebles 1965-
1983 and Tweeddale,Ettrick and Lauderdale
1983-1997.  PC 1977    KT 2004
STEINBERG
23 Jun 2004 B[L] 1 Leonard Steinberg 1 Aug 1936 2 Nov 2009 73
to     Created Baron Steinberg for life 23 Jun 2004
2 Nov 2009 Peerage extinct on his death
STEPHEN
2 Feb 2011 B[L] 1 Nicol Ross Stephen 23 Mar 1960
Created Baron Stephen for life 2 Feb 2011
MP for Kincardine & Deeside 1991-1992
STERLING OF PLAISTOW
17 Jan 1991 B[L] 1 Sir Jeffrey Maurice Sterling 27 Dec 1934
Created Baron Sterling of Plaistow for life
17 Jan 1991
STERN
13 Jul 1999 B[L] 1 Vivien Helen Stern 25 Sep 1941
Created Baroness Stern for life 13 Jul 1999
STERN OF BRENTFORD
10 Dec 2007 B[L] 1 Sir Nicholas Herbert Stern 22 Apr 1946
CH 2017
Created Baron Stern of Brentford for life
10 Dec 2007
STERNDALE
14 Nov 1918 B 1 Sir William Pickford 1 Oct 1848 7 Aug 1923 74
to     Created Baron Sterndale 14 Nov 1918
7 Aug 1923 Lord Justice of Appeal 1914-1918. Master of the
Rolls 1919-1923.  PC 1914
Peerage extinct on his death
STEVENAGE
24 Dec 1951 V 1 William Allen Jowitt,1st Viscount Jowitt 15 Apr 1885 16 Aug 1957 72
Created Viscount Stevenage and Earl Jowitt
24 Dec 1951
Peerages extinct on his death
STEVENS OF BIRMINGHAM
15 Jul 2021 B[L] 1 Sir Simon Laurence Stevens 4 Aug 1966
Created Baron Stevens of Birmingham
for life 15 Jul 2021
STEVENS OF KIRKWHELPINGTON
6 Apr 2005 B[L] 1 Sir John Arthur Stevens 21 Oct 1942
Created Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
for life 6 Apr 2005
STEVENS OF LUDGATE
27 Mar 1987 B[L] 1 David Robert Stevens 26 May 1936
Created Baron Stevens of Ludgate for life
27 Mar 1987
STEVENSON
7 May 1924 B 1 Sir James Stevenson,1st baronet 2 Apr 1873 10 Jun 1926 53
to     Created Baron Stevenson 7 May 1924
10 Jun 1926 Peerage extinct on his death
STEVENSON OF BALMACARA
13 Jul 2010 B[L] 1 Robert Wilfrid Stevenson 19 Apr 1947
Created Baron Stevenson of Balmacara for
life 13 Jul 2010
STEVENSON OF CODDENHAM
13 Jul 1999 B[L] 1 Sir Henry Dennistoun Stevenson 19 Jul 1945
Created Baron Stevenson of Coddenham
for life 13 Jul 1999
STEWART OF ALVECHURCH
15 Jan 1975 B[L] 1 Mary Elizabeth Henderson Stewart 8 May 1903 28 Dec 1984 81
to     Created Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch
28 Dec 1984 for life 15 Jan 1975
Peerage extinct on her death
STEWART OF DIRLETON
6 Nov 2020 B[L] 1 Keith Douglas Stewart 31 Oct 1965
     Created Baron Stewart of Dirleton
for life 6 Nov 2020
STEWART OF FULHAM
5 Jul 1979 B[L] 1 Robert Michael Maitland Stewart 6 Nov 1906 10 Mar 1990 83
to     Created Baron Stewart of Fulham for life
10 Mar 1990 5 Jul 1979
MP for Fulham East 1945-1955 and Fulham
1955-1979. Secretary of State for
Education and Science 1964-1965. Foreign
Secretary 1965-1966. First Secretary of
State 1966-1968. Foreign Secretary 1968-
1970.  PC 1964  CH 1969
Peerage extinct on his death
STEWART OF GARLIES
6 Jun 1796 B 1 John Stewart,7th Earl of Galloway 13 Mar 1736 13 Nov 1806 70
Created Baron Stewart of Garlies
6 Jun 1796
See "Galloway"
STEWART OF RAMALTON
19 Mar 1683 V[I] 1 William Stewart 24 Aug 1692
Created Baron Stewart of Ramalton
and Viscount Mountjoy 19 Mar 1683
See "Mountjoy" - extinct 1769
STEWART OF STEWART'S COURT
1 Jul 1814 B 1 Charles William Vane 18 May 1778 6 Mar 1854 75
Created Baron Stewart of Stewart's
Court 1 Jul 1814
He subsequently [1822] succeeded as 3rd
Marquess of Londonderry,with which title this
peerage remains merged
STEWART OF TRAQUAIR
23 Jun 1633 B[S] 1 Sir John Stewart,1st baronet c 1600 27 Mar 1659
Created Lord Stewart of Traquair
19 Apr 1628 and Lord Linton and
Caberston and Earl of Traquair
23 Jun 1633
See "Traquair"
STEWARTBY
20 Jul 1992 B[L] 1 Sir Bernard Harold Ian Halley Stewart 10 Aug 1935 3 Mar 2018 82
to     Created Baron Stewartby for life 20 Jul 1992
3 Mar 2018 MP for Hitchin 1974-1983 and Hertfordshire
North 1983-1992. Economic Secretary to
the Treasury 1983-1987. Minister of State,
Armed Forces 1987-1988. Minister of State,
Northern Ireland 1988-1989.  PC 1989
Peerage extinct on his death
STEYN
11 Jan 1995 B[L] 1 Sir Johan van Zyl Steyn 15 Aug 1932 28 Nov 2017 85
to     Created Baron Steyn for life 11 Jan 1995
28 Nov 2017 Lord Justice of Appeal 1992-1995. Lord of 
Appeal in Ordinary 1995-2005   PC 1992
Peerage extinct on his death
STIRLING
14 Jun 1633 E[S] 1 Sir William Alexander,1st baronet c 1576 12 Feb 1640
Created Lord Alexander of Tullibody
and Viscount of Stirling 4 Sep 1630, 
and Lord Alexander of Tullibody,
Viscount Canada and Earl of Stirling
14 Jun 1633
Secretary of State [S] 1636-1640
12 Feb 1640 2 William Alexander May 1640
May 1640 3 Henry Alexander Aug 1644
Aug 1644 4 Henry Alexander 11 Feb 1691
MP for Berkshire 1678
11 Feb 1691 5 Henry Alexander 7 Nov 1664 4 Dec 1739 75
to     On his death the peerages became dormant
4 Dec 1739 For an account of the claim made to this peerage
in the 1830s, see the note at the foot of this page
STIRRUP
28 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Sir Graham Eric (Jock) Stirrup 4 Dec 1949
Created Baron Stirrup for life 28 Jan 2011
Chief of Defence Staff 2006-2010  KG 2013
STOCKS
17 Jan 1966 B[L] 1 Mary Danvers Stocks 25 Jul 1891 6 Jul 1975 83
to     Created Baroness Stocks for life 17 Jan 1966
6 Jul 1975 Peerage extinct on her death
STOCKWOOD
9 Oct 2025 B[L] 1 Jason Stockwood 6 Jul 1970
     Created Baron Stockwood for life 9 Oct 2025
STOCKTON
24 Feb 1984 E 1 Maurice Harold Macmillan 10 Feb 1894 29 Dec 1986 92
Created Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden
and Earl of Stockton 24 Feb 1984
MP for Stockton 1924-1929 and 1931-1945
and Bromley 1945-1964. Secretary of State
for Air 1945. Minister of Housing and Local
Government 1951-1954. Minister of
Defence 1954-1955. Foreign Secretary 1955
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1955-1957.
Prime Minister 1957-1963.  PC 1942
OM 1975
29 Dec 1986 2 Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan 10 Oct 1943
STODART OF LEASTON
1 Jun 1981 B[L] 1 James Anthony Stodart 6 Jun 1916 31 May 2003 86
to     Created Baron Stodart of Leaston for life
31 May 2003 1 Jun 1981
MP for Edinburgh West 1959-1974. Minister
of State Agriculture & Fisheries 1972-1974.
PC 1974
Peerage extinct on his death
STODDART OF SWINDON
14 Sep 1983 B[L] 1 David Leonard Stoddart 4 May 1926 18 Nov 2020 94
to Created Baron Stoddart of Swindon for life
18 Nov 2020 14 Sep 1983
MP for Swindon 1970-1983
Peerage extinct on his death
STOKE
19 Jul 1619 B 1 John Villiers c 1590 18 Feb 1657
to     Created Baron Stoke and Viscount
18 Feb 1657 Purbeck 19 Jul 1619
Peerages extinct on his death
STOKES
9 Jan 1969 B[L] 1 Sir Donald Gresham Stokes 22 Mar 1914 21 Jul 2008 94
to     Created Baron Stokes for life 9 Jan 1969
21 Jul 2008 Peerage extinct on his death
STONE
24 Jun 1976 B[L] 1 Sir Joseph Ellis Stone 27 May 1903 17 Jul 1986 83
to     Created Baron Stone for life 24 Jun 1976
17 Jul 1986 Peerage extinct on his death
STONE OF BLACKHEATH
29 Oct 1997 B[L] 1 Andrew Zelig Stone 7 Sep 1942
Created Baron Stone of Blackheath for life
29 Oct 1997
STONEHAM OF DROXFORD
17 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Benjamin Stoneham
Created Baron Stoneham of Droxford for life
17 Jan 2011
STONEHAVEN
27 Jun 1938 V 1 Sir John Lawrence Baird,2nd baronet 27 Apr 1874 20 Aug 1941 67
Created Baron Stonehaven 12 Jun 1925
and Viscount Stonehaven 27 Jun 1938
MP for Rugby 1910-1922 and Ayr Burghs
1922-1925. Minister of Transport and
First Commissioner of Works 1922-1924.
Governor General of Australia 1925-1930
PC 1922
20 Aug 1941 2 James Ian Baird 25 Jul 1908 1 Oct 1989 81
He succeeded to the Earldom of Kintore (qv)
in 1974 with which title the Viscountcy
remains merged
STONHAM
2 Aug 1958 B[L] 1 Victor John Collins 1 Jul 1903 22 Dec 1971 68
to     Created Baron Stonham for life 2 Aug 1958
22 Dec 1971 MP for Taunton 1945-1950 and Shoreditch
and Finsbury 1954-1958. Minister of State,
Home Office 1967-1969.  PC 1969
Peerage extinct on his death
STOPFORD
12 Apr 1762 V[I] 1 James Stopford,1st Baron Courtown c 1700 12 Jan 1770
Created Viscount Stopford and Earl of
Courtown 12 Apr 1762
See "Courtown"
STOPFORD OF FALLOWFIELD
5 Aug 1958 B[L] 1 Sir John Sebastian Bach Stopford 25 Jun 1888 6 Mar 1961 72
to     Created Baron Stopford of Fallowfield
6 Mar 1961 for life 5 Aug 1958
Peerage extinct on his death
STOREY
2 Feb 2011 B[L] 1 Mike Storey 25 May 1949
Created Baron Storey for life 2 Feb 2011
STORMONT
16 Aug 1621 V[S] 1 Sir David Murray 27 Aug 1631
Created Lord Scone 7 Apr 1605 and
Viscount of Stormont 16 Aug 1621
27 Aug 1631 2 Mungo Murray Mar 1642
Mar 1642 3 James Murray,2nd Earl of Annandale 28 Dec 1658
28 Dec 1658 4 David Murray,2nd Lord Balvaird 24 Jul 1668
24 Jul 1668 5 David Murray 19 Nov 1731
19 Nov 1731 6 David Murray c 1689 23 Jul 1748
23 Jul 1748 7 David Murray 9 Oct 1727 1 Sep 1796 68
He succeeded to the Earldom of Mansfield
(qv) in 1793 with which title this peerage
then merged and still remains so
STOURTON
13 May 1448 B 1 Sir John Stourton 19 May 1400 25 Nov 1462 62
Created Baron Stourton 13 May 1448
25 Nov 1462 2 William Stourton c 1430 18 Feb 1479
18 Feb 1479 3 John Stourton c 1454 6 Oct 1485
6 Oct 1485 4 Francis Stourton 1485 18 Feb 1487 1
18 Feb 1487 5 William Stourton c 1457 17 Feb 1523
17 Feb 1523 6 Edward Stourton c 1463 13 Dec 1535
13 Dec 1535 7 William Stourton c 1505 16 Sep 1548
16 Sep 1548 8 Charles Stourton c 1520 6 Mar 1557
For further information on this peer, see the
note at the foot of this page.
6 Mar 1557 9 John Stourton Jan 1553 13 Oct 1588 35
13 Oct 1588 10 Edward Stourton c 1555 7 May 1633
7 May 1633 11 William Stourton c 1594 25 Apr 1672
25 Apr 1672 12 William Stourton 7 Aug 1685
7 Aug 1685 13 Edward Stourton 24 Jun 1665 6 Oct 1720 55
6 Oct 1720 14 Thomas Stourton 14 Jun 1667 24 Mar 1744 76
24 Mar 1744 15 Charles Stourton 2 Mar 1702 11 Mar 1753 51
11 Mar 1753 16 William Stourton Aug 1704 3 Oct 1781 77
3 Oct 1781 17 Charles Philip Stourton 22 Aug 1752 29 Apr 1816 63
29 Apr 1816 18 William Stourton 6 Jun 1776 4 Dec 1846 70
4 Dec 1846 19 Charles Stourton 13 Jul 1802 23 Dec 1872 70
23 Dec 1872 20 Alfred Joseph Stourton 28 Feb 1829 18 Apr 1893 64
The abeyance of the Baronies of Mowbray
and Segrave (qqv) were terminated in his
favour on 3 Jan 1878 and 18 Jan 1878
respectively when this peerage merged with
the other two and so remains - see "Mowbray"
STOWELL
17 Jul 1821 B 1 William Scott 28 Oct 1745 28 Jan 1836 90
to     Created Baron Stowell 17 Jul 1821
28 Jan 1836 MP for Downton 1790-1801 and Oxford
University 1801-1821  PC 1798
Peerage extinct on his death
STOWELL OF BEESTON
10 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Tina Wendy Stowell 2 Jul 1967
Created Baroness Stowell of Beeston for life
10 Jan 2011
Lord Privy Seal 2014-      PC 2014
STOW HILL
7 Jun 1966 B[L] 1 Sir Frank Soskice 23 Jul 1902 1 Jan 1979 76
to     Created Baron Stow Hill for life 7 Jun 1966
1 Jan 1979 MP for Birkenhead East 1945-1950, Neepsend
1950-1955 and Newport (Monmouth) 1956-1966. 
Solicitor General 1945-1951. Attorney
General 1951. Home Secretary 1964-1965.
Lord Privy Seal 1966.  PC 1948
Peerage extinct on his death
STRABANE
8 May 1617 B[I] 1 James Hamilton
Created Lord Hamilton,Baron of
Strabane 8 May 1617
He resigned the peerage in 1633 in
favour of -
1633 2 Claud Hamilton 14 Jun 1638
14 Jun 1638 3 James Hamilton 16 Jun 1655
16 Jun 1655 4 George Hamilton 14 Apr 1668
14 Apr 1668 5 Claud Hamilton,later [by 1683] 4th Earl of Abercorn 13 Sep 1659 1690 30
He was outlawed after his death, and the
Barony of Hamilton of Strabane [I] was
forfeited 11 May 1691
24 May 1692 6 Charles Hamilton,5th Earl of Abercorn Jun 1701
He obtained a reversal of the attainder in 1692
Jun 1701 7 James Hamilton,6th Earl of Abercorn 1661 28 Nov 1734 73
2 Sep 1701 V[I] 1 Created Viscount Strabane [I] and
Baron Mountcastle [I] 2 Sep 1701
He had previously succeeded to the Earldom of 
Abercorn (qv) with which title this peerage
then merged
STRABOLGI
20 Oct 1318 B 1 David de Strabolgi,formerly Earl of Atholl (qv) 28 Dec 1327
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Strabolgi 20 Oct 1318
28 Dec 1327 2 David de Strabolgi 1 Feb 1309 30 Nov 1335 26
30 Nov 1335 3 David de Strabolgi 1332 10 Oct 1369 37
to     On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
10 Oct 1369
8 Apr 1496 4 Edward Burgh 20 Aug 1528
Abeyance terminated in his favour
20 Aug 1528 5 Thomas Burgh 28 Feb 1550
28 Feb 1550 6 William Burgh 10 Sep 1584
10 Sep 1584 7 Thomas Burgh 14 Oct 1597
14 Oct 1597 8 Robert Burgh 26 Feb 1602
to     On his death the peerage again fell into 
26 Feb 1602 abeyance
9 May 1916 9 Cuthbert Matthias Kenworthy 24 Feb 1853 12 Feb 1934 80
Abeyance terminated in his favour
12 Feb 1934 10 Joseph Montague Kenworthy 7 Mar 1886 8 Oct 1953 67
MP for Hull Central 1919-1931
8 Oct 1953 11 David Montague de Burgh Kenworthy 1 Nov 1914 24 Dec 2010 96
[Elected hereditary peer 1999-2010]
24 Dec 2010 12 Andrew David Whitley Kenworthy 25 Jan 1967
STRACHIE
3 Nov 1911 B 1 Sir Edward Strachey,4th baronet 30 Oct 1858 25 Jul 1936 77
Created Baron Strachie 3 Nov 1911
MP for Somerset South 1892-1911. 
Paymaster General 1912-1915. PC 1912
25 Jul 1936 2 Edward Strachey 13 Jan 1882 17 May 1973 91
to     Peerage extinct on his death
17 May 1973
STRADBROKE
18 Jul 1821 E 1 Sir John Rous,6th baronet 30 May 1750 27 Aug 1827 77
Created Baron Rous 14 Jun 1796, and
Viscount Dunwich and Earl of
Stradbroke 18 Jul 1821
MP for Suffolk 1780-1796
27 Aug 1827 2 John Edward Cornwallis Rous 13 Feb 1794 27 Jan 1886 91
Lord Lieutenant Suffolk 1844-1886
27 Jan 1886 3 George Edward John Mowbray Rous 19 Nov 1862 30 Dec 1947 85
Governor of Victoria 1920-1926. Lord
Lieutenant Suffolk 1935-1947
30 Dec 1947 4 John Anthony Alexander Rous 1 Apr 1903 14 Jul 1983 80
Lord Lieutenanr Suffolk 1948-1978
14 Jul 1983 5 William Keith Rous 10 Mar 1907 18 Jul 1983 76
18 Jul 1983 6 Robert Keith Rous 25 Mar 1937
STRAFFORD
12 Jan 1640 E 1 Sir Thomas Wentworth,2nd baronet 13 Apr 1593 12 May 1641 48
to     Created Baron Wentworth and Baron 
12 May 1641 of Newmarch and Oversley 
22 Jul 1628,Viscount Wentworth 
13 Dec 1628 and Baron Raby and Earl
of Strafford 12 Jan 1640
MP for Yorkshire 1621-1622, 1625 and 1628
and Pontefract 1624. Lord Lieutenant
Yorkshire 1628. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1633-1641. KG 1640
He was attainted and the peerage
forfeited
1 Dec 1641 1 William Wentworth  8 Jun 1626 16 Oct 1695 69
19 May 1662 2 Created Baron Wentworth,Baron 
to     of Newmarch and Oversley,Baron of
16 Oct 1695 Raby,Viscount Wentworth and
Earl of Strafford 1 Dec 1641
He obtained a reversal of the attainder in
1662.
KG 1661
All peerages except the Barony of Raby
extinct on his death
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
29 Jun 1711 E 1 Thomas Wentworth,3rd Baron Raby 17 Sep 1672 15 Nov 1739 67
Created Viscount Wentworth and Earl
of Strafford 29 Jun 1711
These creations contained a special remainder,
failing heirs male of his body,to his brother Peter
Wentworth
First Lord of the Admiralty 1712-1714.
PC 1711  KG 1712
15 Nov 1739 2 William Wentworth Mar 1722 10 Mar 1791 69
10 Mar 1791 3 Frederick Thomas Wentworth 25 Feb 1742 6 Aug 1799 57
to     Peerages extinct on his death
6 Aug 1799
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18 Sep 1847 E 1 Sir John Byng 1772 3 Jun 1860 87
Created Baron Strafford 12 May 1835
and Viscount Enfield and Earl of
Strafford 18 Sep 1847
MP for Poole 1832-1835. Field Marshal 1855
PC [I] 1828
3 Jun 1860 2 George Stevens Byng 8 Jun 1806 29 Oct 1886 80
MP for Milborne Port 1830-1831 and 1831-1832,
Chatham 1834-1835 and 1837-1853 and Poole 
1835-1837.  PC 1835
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Strafford 8 Apr 1853
29 Oct 1886 3 George Henry Charles Byng 22 Feb 1830 28 Mar 1898 68
MP for Tavistock 1852-1857 and Middlesex
1857-1874. Lord Lieutenant Middlesex 1884-1898
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Strafford 26 Feb 1874
28 Mar 1898 4 Henry William John Byng 21 Aug 1831 16 May 1899 67
For further information on the death of this peer,
see the note at the foot of this page.
16 May 1899 5 Francis Edmund Cecil Byng 15 Jan 1835 18 Jan 1918 83
18 Jan 1918 6 Edmund Henry Byng 27 Jan 1862 24 Dec 1951 89
24 Dec 1951 7 Robert Cecil Byng 29 Jul 1904 4 Mar 1984 79
4 Mar 1984 8 Thomas Edmund Byng 26 Sep 1936 12 Nov 2016 80
12 Nov 2016 9 William Robert Byng 10 May 1964
STRANG
16 Jan 1954 B 1 Sir William Strang 2 Jan 1893 27 May 1978 85
Created Baron Strang 16 Jan 1954
27 May 1978 2 Colin Strang 12 Jun 1922 19 Dec 2014 92
to     Peerage extinct on his death
19 Dec 2014
STRANGE
24 Jun 1295 B 1 Roger le Strange 31 Jul 1311
to     Summoned to Parliament as Lord
31 Jul 1311 Strange 24 Jun 1295
Peerage extinct on his death
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
3 Dec 1326 B 1 Sir Eubulus le Strange 8 Sep 1335
to     Summoned to Parliament as Lord
8 Sep 1335 Strange 3 Dec 1326
Peerage extinct on his death
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
7 Mar 1628 B 1 James Stanley 3 Sep 1651
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Strange 7 Mar 1628
Succeeded as 7th Earl of Derby (qv) 1642
For further information on this peerage, which was
created in error, see the note at the foot of this
page
3 Sep 1651 2 Charles Stanley,8th Earl of Derby 19 Jan 1628 21 Dec 1672 44
21 Dec 1672 3 William George Richard Stanley,
to     9th Earl of Derby c 1655 5 Nov 1702
5 Nov 1702 On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
23 Apr 1714 4 Henrietta Ashburnham 26 Jun 1718
She became sole heir in 1714
26 Jun 1718 5 Henrietta Bridget Ashburnham 8 Aug 1732
8 Aug 1732 6 James Stanley,10th Earl of Derby 3 Jul 1664 1 Feb 1736 71
1 Feb 1736 7 James Murray,2nd Duke of Atholl 28 Sep 1690 8 Jan 1764 73
8 Jan 1764 8 Charlotte Murray c 1731 13 Oct 1805
13 Oct 1805 9 John Murray,4th Duke of Atholl 30 Jun 1755 29 Sep 1830 75
18 Aug 1786 E 1 He had previously been created Baron Murray
of Stanley and Earl Strange 18 Aug 1786
29 Sep 1830 10 John Murray,5th Duke of Atholl 26 Jun 1778 14 Sep 1846 68
2
14 Sep 1846 11 George Murray,6th Duke of Atholl 20 Sep 1814 16 Jan 1864 49
3
16 Jan 1864 12 John James Stewart-Murray,7th Duke of Atholl  6 Aug 1840 20 Jan 1917 76
4
20 Jan 1917 13 John George Stewart-Murray,8th Duke of
5 Atholl 15 Dec 1871 16 Mar 1942 70
16 Mar 1942 14 James Thomas Murray,9th Duke of Atholl 18 Aug 1879  8 May 1957 77
to     6 On his death the Earldom became extinct
8 May 1957 whilst the Barony fell into abeyance
1965 15 John Drummond 6 May 1900 13 Apr 1982 81
to     Abeyance terminated in his favour. On
13 Apr 1982 his death the peerage again fell into
abeyance
1986 16 Jean Cherry Drummond 17 Dec 1928 11 Mar 2005 76
Abeyance terminated in her favour
[Elected hereditary peer 1999-2005]
11 Mar 2005 17 Adam Humphrey Drummond 20 Apr 1953
STRANGE DE BLACKMERE
13 Jan 1309 B 1 Fulk le Strange 1267 23 Jan 1324 56
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Strange 13 Jan 1309
23 Jan 1324 2 John le Strange 1305 21 Jul 1349 44
21 Jul 1349 3 Fulk le Strange 1320 30 Sep 1349 29
30 Sep 1349 4 John le Strange 1332 12 May 1361 28
12 May 1361 5 John le Strange 1353 3 Aug 1375 22
3 Aug 1375 6 Elizabeth Mowbray 6 Dec 1373 23 Aug 1383 9
23 Aug 1383 7 Ankaret Talbot 1361 1 Jun 1413 51
1 Jun 1413 8 Gilbert Talbot,5th Lord Talbot 19 Oct 1419
19 Oct 1419 9 Ankaret Talbot,6th Lord Talbot 13 Dec 1421
13 Dec 1421 10 John Talbot 1390 17 Jul 1453 63
He was created Earl of Shrewsbury (qv) in
1442 with which title this peerage then
merged until it fell into abeyance in 1616
STRANGE DE KNOKIN
29 Dec 1299 B 1 John le Strange c 1254 8 Aug 1309
Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Strange de Knokin 29 Dec 1299
8 Aug 1309 2 John le Strange c 1282 1311
1311 3 John le Strange c 1297 1323
1323 4 Roger le Strange 15 Aug 1301 29 Jul 1349 47
29 Jul 1349 5 Roger le Strange c 1326 26 Aug 1392
26 Aug 1392 6 John le Strange c 1350 28 Jul 1397
28 Jul 1397 7 Richard le Strange 1 Aug 1381 9 Aug 1449 68
9 Aug 1449 8 John le Strange c 1440 15 Oct 1477
15 Oct 1477 9 Joan le Strange c 1460 20 Mar 1514
She married George Stanley who was
summoned to parliament in her right in 1482
He died 5 Dec 1497. KG 1487
20 Mar 1514 10 Thomas Stanley,2nd Earl of Derby by 1485 23 May 1521
23 May 1521 11 Edward Stanley,3rd Earl of Derby 10 May 1509 24 Oct 1572 63
24 Oct 1572 12 Henry Stanley,4th Earl of Derby 25 Sep 1593
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Strange 23 Jan 1559
25 Sep 1593 13 Ferdinando Stanley,5th Earl of Derby 16 Apr 1594
to     He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
16 Apr 1594 Acceleration as Baron Strange 28 Jan 1589
On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
23 Feb 1921 14 Elizabeth Frances Philipps 19 Jun 1884 12 Dec 1974 90
Abeyance terminated in her favour 1921
12 Dec 1974 15 Jestyn Reginald Austen Plantagenet 
Philipps,2nd Viscount St.Davids 19 Feb 1917 10 Jun 1991 74
10 Jun 1991 16 Colwyn Jestyn John Philipps,3rd Viscount
St.Davids 20 Jan 1939 26 Apr 2009 70
26 Apr 2009 17 Rhodri Colwyn Philipps,4th Viscount St.Davids 16 Sep 1966
STRANGFORD
17 Jul 1628 V[I] 1 Sir Thomas Smythe c 1599 30 Jun 1635
Created Viscount Strangford 
17 Jul 1628
30 Jun 1635 2 Philip Smythe 23 Mar 1634 8 Aug 1708 74
MP for Hythe 1660-1661
8 Aug 1708 3 Endymion Smythe 9 Nov 1724
9 Nov 1724 4 Philip Smythe 14 Mar 1715 29 Apr 1787 72
29 Apr 1787 5 Lionel Smythe 19 May 1753 1 Oct 1801 48
1 Oct 1801 6 Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe 31 Aug 1780 29 May 1855 74
Created Baron Penshurst 26 Jan 1825
PC 1808
29 May 1855 7 George Augustus Frederick Percy
Sydney Smythe 16 Apr 1818 23 Nov 1857 39
MP for Canterbury 1840-1852
23 Nov 1857 8 Percy Ellen Algernon Frederick William
to     Sydney Smythe 26 Nov 1825 9 Jan 1869 43
9 Jan 1869 Peerages extinct on his death
STRASBURGER
10 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Paul Cline Strasburger
Created Baron Strasburger for life 10 Jan 2011
STRATFORD
23 Jun 2005 B[L] 1 Anthony Louis Banks 8 Apr 1943 8 Jan 2006 62
to     Created Baron Stratford for life 23 Jun 2005
8 Jan 2006 MP for Newham NW 1983-1997 and West Ham
1997-2005. 
Peerage extinct on his death
STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE
1 May 1852 V 1 Sir Stratford Canning 4 Nov 1786 14 Aug 1880 93
to     Created Viscount Stratford de
14 Aug 1880 Redcliffe 1 May 1852
MP for Old Sarum 1828-1830, Stockbridge
1831-1832 and Kings Lynn 1835-1842. PC 1820
KG 1869
Peerage extinct on his death
STRATHALLAN
16 Aug 1686 V[S] 1 William Drummond c 1617 23 Mar 1688
Created Lord Drummond of Cromlix
and Viscount Strathallan 16 Aug 1686
23 Mar 1688 2 William Drummond 8 Aug 1670 7 Jul 1702 31
He succeeded as 4th Lord Maderty in 1692
7 Jul 1702 3 William Drummond 1694 26 May 1711 16
26 May 1711 4 William Drummond 14 Apr 1746
14 Apr 1746 5 James Drummond 10 Jun 1722 22 Jun 1765 43
to     He was attainted and the peerage forfeited
18 Apr 1746
[22 Jun 1765] [James Drummond] 10 Dec 1775
[10 Dec 1775] [Andrew John Drummond] 1758 20 Jan 1817 58
[20 Jan 1817] James Andrew John Laurence Charles
17 Jun 1824 6 Drummond 24 Mar 1767 14 May 1851 84
He obtained a reversal of the attainder in
1824.
MP for Perthshire 1812-1824
14 May 1851 7 William Henry Drummond 5 Mar 1810 23 Jan 1886 75
23 Jan 1886 8 James David Drummond 23 Oct 1839 5 Dec 1893 54
5 Dec 1893 9 William Huntley Drummond 5 Aug 1871 20 Aug 1937 66
He succeeded to the Earldom of Perth (qv) 
in 1902 with which title this peerage then
merged and so remains
STRATHALMOND
18 Feb 1955 B 1 William Fraser 3 Nov 1888 1 Apr 1970 81
Created Baron Strathalmond 
18 Feb 1955
1 Apr 1970 2 William Fraser 8 May 1916 27 Oct 1976 60
27 Oct 1976 3 William Robertson Fraser 22 Jul 1947
STRATHAVON
3 Nov 1684 B[S] 1 George Gordon,4th Marquess of Huntly c 1643 7 Dec 1716
Created Lord Badenoch,Lochaber,
Strathavon,Balmore,Auchindoun,
Garthie and Kincardine,Viscount of
Inverness,Earl of Huntly and Enzie,
Marquess of Huntly and Duke of
Gordon 3 Nov 1684
See "Gordon" - extinct 1836
STRATHCARRON
11 Jan 1936 B 1 Sir James Ian Macpherson,1st baronet 14 May 1880 14 Aug 1937 57
Created Baron Strathcarron 
11 Jan 1936
MP for Ross and Cromarty 1911-1935. Chief
Secretary for Ireland 1919-1920. Minister
of Pensions 1920-1922.  PC 1918  PC [I] 1918
14 Aug 1937 2 David William Anthony Blyth Macpherson 22 Jan 1924 31 Aug 2006 82
31 Aug 2006 3 Ian David Patrick Macpherson 31 Mar 1949
STRATHCLYDE
15 Jan 1914 B 1 Alexander Ure 22 Feb 1853 2 Oct 1928 75
to     Created Baron Strathclyde 15 Jan 1914
2 Oct 1928 MP for Linlithgowshire 1895-1913. Solicitor
General [S] 1905-1909. Lord Advocate 1909
Lord Justice General [S] 1913-1920. 
PC 1909
Peerage extinct on his death
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
4 May 1955 B 1 Thomas Dunlop Galbraith 20 Mar 1891 12 Jul 1985 94
Created Baron Strathclyde 4 May 1955
MP for Pollok 1940-1955. Minister of
State for Scotland 1955-1958.  PC 1953
12 Jul 1985 2 Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de
Blicquy Galbraith 22 Feb 1960
PC 1995  CH 2013  [Elected hereditary peer 1999-]
STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL
23 Aug 1897 B 1 Donald Alexander Smith 6 Aug 1820 21 Jan 1914 93
to     Created Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal
21 Jan 1914 23 Aug 1897 and 26 Jun 1900
26 Jun 1900 B 1 For details of the special remainder included in the
creation of the Barony of 1900,see the note at the 
foot of this page
On his death the Barony of 1897 became
extinct whilst the Barony of 1900 
passed to -
21 Jan 1914 2 Margaret Charlotte Howard 17 Jan 1854 18 Aug 1926 72
18 Aug 1926 3 Donald Stirling Palmer Howard 14 Jun 1891 22 Feb 1959 67
MP for Cumberland North 1922-1926
22 Feb 1959 4 Donald Euan Palmer Howard 26 Nov 1923 16 Jun 2018 94
16 Jun 2018 5 Donald Alexander Smith Howard 24 Jun 1961
Wilfred Carlyle Stamp, 2nd Baron Stamp
On 16 April 1941, Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, together with his wife and eldest son,
Wilfred Carlyle Stamp, were killed when a German bomb hit their London house.
The question arose as to whether Lord Stamp or his son died first. If Lord Stamp died first, then
Wilfred succeeded as the 2nd Baron Stamp, even if only for a split second. If Wilfred died first, 
then he never succeeded to the peerage. In either event, the peerage passed to the next 
eldest son, Trevor Charles Stamp, so that, either way, the descent of the peerage was not 
affected by the order of the deaths. However, the order of death would determine whether
Wilfred's surviving family would enjoy the rights and style of a peer's widow and daughters.
Questions of the order of death had often, over previous centuries, exercised the minds of the 
Courts, and in particular the Probate Court, since, in default of evidence, there was no 
presumption that one of several persons involved in the same event outlived the others. Many
early cases were more concerned with presumption of death. It was not uncommon 200 years 
ago, at a time when passage from say, England to Australia, took many months, both for
people and for the mails, for people to leave England, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to be
never heard from again. Such events raised a number of questions - who was entitled to any
property left behind by the missing person?; at what point could a deserted spouse re-marry?
Over time, it became generally accepted that a period of 7 years was sufficient to presume
death.
The issue of presumption of death arises when there is no evidence of death, but what happens
when one person, and another who would benefit in some way by the death of the first person,
die in circumstances which render the order of their deaths uncertain? In most early cases, the
Courts looked at the nature of the disaster and the comparative robustness of the parties in
order to decide who had the best chance of surviving the other(s), even if only by a few 
seconds. Consequently, if, for example, a husband and wife both died in the same event, the
Courts presumed that the husband, as the stronger party, survived his wife.
To settle this matter once and for all, the (British) Property Law Act of 1925 provided that 'in
all cases where, after the commencement of this Act, two or more persons have died in 
circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other or others, such deaths
shall (subject to the order of the court), for all purposes affecting the title to property, be
presumed to have occurred in order of seniority, and accordingly the younger shall be deemed
to have survived the elder.' [It seems to me that this provision is, in some circumstances,
highly doubtful - if a 30 year old man and his 6 month old son are shipwrecked in freezing
waters, my money would be on the father surviving longer, but the law assumes the father dies
first.]
On 30 September 1941, based on the provision in the Property Law Act, the House of Lords
approved the issuing of a writ to Trevor Stamp as the 3rd Baron Stamp, thereby assuming that
Wilfred had succeeded as the 2nd Baron Stamp.
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
The following sketch of the 3rd Earl's life appeared in the Australian monthly magazine, "Parade'"
in its issue for April 1955:-
'Crackpot or genius? That is the question that seems to have baffled most of the biographers of
Charles Stanhope, 18th century statesman and scientist. Throughout his lifetime the eccentric
earl had his contemporary Englishmen alternately agog with admiration, roaring with laughter, or
white with fury; for his several outstanding achievements were so mixed with acts of what
appeared to be sheer lunacy, and his disposition was so "wayward and excitable," that even his 
own family could not understand him.
'One of his three daughters, Lady Hester Stanhope, eventually went off to Arabia to live in the 
desert like an Arab sheik; another eloped with the family apothecary. [For a biography of Lady
Hester, see the next note after this].
'There was the time, for instance, when he invented a method of fire-proofing. At enormous
cost, the earl caused to be erected an elaborate building for the sole purpose of burning it 
down. While the flames roared up from the basement, Stanhope sat in a room on the first floor
that he had fire-proofed, emerging slightly singed but otherwise unhurt, thereby proving the
merit of his invention. But it was a long time before people round about could be convinced that
he wasn't a dangerous lunatic.
'A scion of one of England's noblest and richest families, he was born in London in 1753. Even as
a child he showed interest in scientific research, but he did not receive much encouragement
from his parents; in fact, they forbade all mathematical studies to a boy who was one day to be
considered one of the foremost mathematicians of his age, as being quite useless to his position
as heir to a peerage. Nevertheless, Charles managed to cram his beloved figures secretly during
his studies in Geneva while his parents thought he was engaged in literary pursuits.
When he returned to England from Switzerland he had absorbed enough of Genevan puritanism 
to be shocked and disgusted at the "goings-on" in fashionable London, where princes of the 
blood trifled with chambermaids, peers were found drunk in the gutters of Piccadilly, and more
than one of the country's most influential statesmen lost fortunes at the gaming tables.
'He at once attracted attention by refusing to wear powder or wig, and by "sleeping with no
nightcap and the window open" in that stuffy age when fresh air by night was counted 
unhealthy. 
'Stanhope began his similarly independent career as a statesman as representative of High 
Wycombe, a post he held until his accession to the peerage in 1786 and his elevation to the
Lords. From the moment he entered parliament, he was engaged in the most hectic series of
political battles the House of Commons had seen staged in many a year. One of the firm friends
of his youth was William Pitt, later Prime Minister, to whose star Stanhope at first hitched his 
wagon. Pitt was at that time an ardent reformer, and the friendship endured until 1789, when
events made bitter enemies of the two. Meanwhile, in 1774, Stanhope had married Lady Hester
Pitt, William Pitt's sister. Though he was fond of his wife, his main passion was already scientific
research. The first year of the marriage was barren of issue - possibly because Stanhope was
then engrossed in perfecting his fire-proofing invention. That done, however, he found more 
time for domestic matters; and towards the end of the second year, the more famous of his two
daughters was born, the future Lady Hester Stanhope. The marriage was also blessed by the
issue of a second daughter, the future Lady Lucy Rachel Stanhope, and four sons.
'Coincident with the birth of his daughters he invented two remarkable calculating machines. The
first, by means of cleverly constructed cogs and dial-plates, movable with a steel pin, performed
formidable sums of addition and subtraction with speed and accuracy. The second solved 
division and multiplication problems.
'His scientific interests and attainments brought Stanhope into contact with the American 
statesman-scientist Benjamin Franklin, who at that time was in England as ambassador for the 
newly-established republic of the United States. From him, Stanhope absorbed ultra-democratic
principles that were later to make him an outcast among his fellow aristocrats, as "a 
revolutionary socialist pariah." With typical enthusiasm and fearlessness of consequences, he 
began to voice his democratic beliefs in parliament, and soon established a reputation as a man 
"of great verbal violence." In debates he was in the habit of wildly waving his arms, upsetting 
inkwells and generally turning even a mild discussion into bedlam.
'In 1787 Stanhope joined an association in Parliament to work for the abolition of the slave 
trade. He had a number of savage encounters with the chief enemy of the abolitionists, Lord
Thurlow, in which both sides used language that rocked even the fairly shock-proof Georgian
Parliament. 
'After the question of slavery had been postponed because of war, Stanhope launched into the
struggle for freedom of religious worship for Roman Catholics in Britain. While he was blasting
the opposition with fierce debates on the subject, the bombshell of the French Revolution
exploded. Stanhope, Pitt and Fox hailed the "rising of the masses in Paris" as the dawn of a new 
era, but Pitt and Fox later became opponents of the Revolution. Stanhope clung to his 
admiration of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" for the rest of his life, and so became a "minority of 
one" among his fellow peers and parliamentarians.
'He formed a society, "Friends of the French Revolution," of which he was chairman, and 
engaged in cordial correspondence with various members of the National Assembly in Paris. In a 
series of letters he advised the new French government to establish a system of banking he had
worked out to "abolish inequality of wealth once and for all." He also advised the rigid separation 
of Church and State in the new France, and recommended that no mercy should be shown to
"counter-revolutionary aristocratic movements" - all of which was scarcely calculated to make
him a popular figure in England, where despotism ruled in quaking fear of the Revolution's 
spreading. But, unmoved by anything but the dictates of his own conscience, Stanhope refused
to be intimidated by public criticism. With much "verbal violence" and wild waving of arms, he
vigorously argued and voted "as a minority of one" against Britain's interference in France's 
affairs, and against the Tories' endeavours to plunge the nation into war against the 
revolutionaries.
'When the execution of King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette swung public opinion on the side 
of the Tories and England joined Austria in war against France, he continued to exhort the 
nation against it. His was the only vote in the House opposing "interference in French internal 
affairs," and he was much abused at the time because of it. Later, a medal was struck in his 
honour, inscribed to "The Majority of One."
'By now, the revolutionary Earl had become centre of a fierce controversy raging all over 
England. The Tory Party flooded the country with bitter caricatures of his lean and awkward
figure, and his very appearance in parliament was signalled by a barrage of hisses, catcalls, and
shouts of "Jacobine." The public in whose interests he fought had also turned against him. 
Abroad he was hailed as a courageous champion of liberty, but at home he was depicted in
cartoons as a traitor assisting a French army of invasion. 
'With redoubled zeal, the Earl returned to scientific pursuits and experimental mechanics. He
began to dabble with the idea of steam as a means of naval propulsion, and long before Fulton
designed his first steam-powered boat, constructed a series of steam-driven models using 
various forms of paddles. 
'He also invented the first hand-operated printing machine entirely made of iron. Known as the
Stanhope Press, it proved a considerable aid to the printing industry and long remained in use.
Realising "what a material thing it is to prevents nuts from unscrewing," he invented the 
ingenious little contrivance used to this day in almost every form of machinery, the split pin.
'His attempts to develop steam navigation were frustrated by the conservatism of the Admiralty
Board. Turning to the study of waterways, Stanhope drew up plans and surveyed the course for
a ship-carrying canal across Devonshire. Apathy greeted this idea, too, though, later, it was 
proved to be eminently sound.
'While engaged on these inventions and in scientific researches that produced a lens bearing his
name an a monochord for tuning musical instruments, he tried his hand at authorship, penning
"Reflections on the French Revolution" [1790] and an "Essay on the Rights of Juries" [1792], 
that enhanced his reputation as a liberal-minded free-thinker.
'He had a brief moment of triumph upon the abolition of slavery in 1804, but the rest of his 
second political period, which lasted until 1811, was spent in hectic but fruitless debates on
corn-law reform and broader religious liberties that had their fruition after his death.
'Frustrated in politics, Stanhope vented his spleen on his family, with the result that his home
life at Chevening Manor became unbearable.  His first wife had died in 1780 [aged only 24], and 
a year later he married Louisa Grenville, daughter and heiress of Lord Grenville. He soon found he 
had nothing in common with his second wife, a conservative and rather petty woman who was 
completely baffled by the "revolutionary" activities of her husband. He had never felt ant deep 
affection for his children, and as his unpopular political ideals divested him of friends, he came
to depend less and less on human sympathy, and his character became hard and unyielding.
'Lucy, his youngest daughter, led the way by falling in love with [Thomas] Taylor, the family
doctor. Stanhope's democratic principles did not cover a case like that, and when Lucy married
the medico against his wishes Stanhope ceased to regard her as his daughter. Another daughter,
Griselda, left home suddenly and later married an obscure army officer. Stanhope's eldest son,
[Viscount] Mahon, was guarded like a prisoner and treated in such a manner that he was finally
forced to flee with the aid of his elder sister, Hester. After that, Stanhope's behaviour towards
his other sons grew outrageous and flogging was an almost daily occurrence.
'In 1808, Stanhope's son Mahon charged his father with felling and selling timber rightfully
belonging to himself. The court gave a decision in Mahon's favour. It was the bitterest
humiliation in Stanhope's life. Stricken with dropsy and depending solely on his wife for company,
Stanhope's last years were the unhappiest of an unhappy life. He died at Chevening in 1816, an
embittered terribly lonely old man, who, as one of his biographers puts it, "had just missed 
greatness by an inch."
Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (12 March 1776-23 June 1839), daughter of the
3rd Earl Stanhope
The following biography of Lady Hester Stanhope appeared in the April 1949 issue of the
Australian monthly magazine "Parade":-
 
'Women, according to man-made tradition, are notoriously apt to do the queerest things at the
oddest times. Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope was one woman who justified the tradition in no
uncertain manner. At the height of her fame and popularity in London society as the beautiful
and brainy niece of England's famous William Pitt the elder, at the beginning of the last [i.e.19th]
century she chose to run off and install herself as a kind of woman sheikh in a grim and grimy
"castle" on the lonely summit of Mount Lebanon in Syria.
 
'Born in the great halls of Chevening Manor, Kent, reared in the atmosphere of high society, 
scion of three noble houses, the Pitts, the Grenvilles and the Stanhopes, the darling of Mayfair
drawing rooms, and the mistress of Downing Street, she ended her life alone and forlorn on a
wind-swept mountain top, walled up in a fortress tomb of her own making, a senile old woman
on a bed of rags. By "ordinary" standards it was an insane thing to do; but Lady Hester, though
she was anything but an ordinary kind of woman, was by no means insane. A regal type nearly
six feet tall, she had a shrewd mind and brilliant intelligence besides an impressive beauty of
face and figure. That she was not just a crank is proven by the fact that for twenty-five years
she maintained herself as the acknowledged leader of an extensive Arab domain, and grew to be
respected by the British Government as the female Lawrence of Arabia of her time.
 
'The year of the American Declaration of Independence, 1776, witnessed her birth, and from her
father, Charles, Viscount Mahon, later third Earl Stanhope, she, too, inherited an unquenchable
independence. From her mother, Lady Hester Pitt, sister of England's great Prime Minister, came
some of the other qualities which were to make her an extraordinary figure - a keen and inquiring
mind, a flair for argument, and a certain imperiousness which won respect even when it inspired
resentment. As a child, Hester laid down the law to her sisters and dominated the household
generally - that is, all the members of it except her father, who alone had a temperament to
match that of his wayward and headstrong daughter.
 
'As a blossoming young woman, flattered and courted by male society, she was continually at
loggerheads with her erratic, tyrannical father who brooked few contradictions outside his home
and none at all inside it. No one house could hold two such personalities together for long. 
Although many suitors came none had what it takes to embark upon the sea of matrimony with
such a bouncing mate, at the helm as the beautiful Hester. There were many flirtations, and
scandal attached to the wayward Hester's name from her associations with the mad and murd-
erous Lord Camelford [qv], her cousin, who shot his superior officer in the Navy during a fit of
insane fury. But no proposal came and in 1804 Camelford was himself shot dead in a duel in the
fields of Kensington.
'Hester travelled abroad seeking diversion in the rowdy society of her uncle's, Lord Chatham, 
military camps on the Continent. For peace and harmony's sake she packed her bags at the
age of 27 and departed from home to serve her cousin, William Pitt, the younger, then battling
to save England from Napoleon. She had had very little education, but fulfilled the duties of a
secretary to Prime Minister Pitt and mistress of Downing Street with talent becoming the states-
man like qualities of her famous uncle, winning the approval and friendship of the erratic 
sovereign George III himself. Stately, imperious and autocratic, she ruled the Pitt ménage with
the lash of a biting tongue that spared neither prince nor peer, ever watchful of her adored
cousin's interests. The association lasted three years. In 1806 Pitt succumbed at last to 32
years of over-indulgence in port on which he had been weaned as a child to cure him of 
anaemia. 
 
'During this period Hester had more stormy and scandalous love affairs, but still no proposals of
marriage. Her love-making was too violent and demanding for her suitors whom she dropped by 
the wayside to be wooed and captured by lesser women. The death of Pitt left Hester
impoverished and in poor health, but beforehand he had asked Parliament if it wished to honour
him to provide for her. This it did with a pension of £1200 a year. After a period of bitter grief
Hester was once more embroiled in scandal, her name being coupled with many men, among 
them Foreign Secretary George Canning, soldier Sir John Moore, hero of Corunna, and Lord
Granville Leveson-Gower. 
'Four years after Pitt's death Hester decided to quit her homeland for ever. Her health still poor,
she engaged a young impecunious doctor, Charles Meryon, to accompany her, and set out on
the travels that were to land her in the lonely heights of Lebanon. On February 10, 1810, she
embarked for Sicily on the frigate Jason, one of the guardians of a merchant convoy bound for
Gibraltar. Ill winds and violent storms dogged the ship which narrowly escaped being smashed to
pieces on the shoals of Trafalgar. Nearly a month passed before Lady Hester stepped ashore to
be greeted by the company she liked, the rough and hearty garrison officers of Gibraltar. Though
rising 35 she laid siege to and conquered the heart of a 22-year-old wealthy socialite, Michael
Bruce. With Dr. Meryon tagging along, nursing an unrequited passion, the trio sailed on to Malta.
 
'Four months later the capricious lady set sail down the coast of Greece-then a Turkish domain -
for Corinth, where she was entertained in regal splendour by the Turkish Bey. For a time she and
her consort, Bruce, and the ubiquitous doctor set up house in Constantinople, where her daring
in riding unveiled through the streets attracted the interest of His August Majesty the Sultan
Mahmoud, Commander of the Faithful, debauched and insensate monarch of the crumbling 
Ottoman Empire. 
Here Lady Hester gained the acquaintance and friendship of several powerful Turkish pashas,
while she maintained court for all the English residents and travellers who chose to visit her. She
shocked the Turks by patronising bathing houses as a Turkish lady, by inspecting the Turkish
fleet dressed as a man and by other defiances of the conventions. But her wit and hospitality
won their esteem. 
'Soon Constantinople began to chafe her restless spirit and her entourage set sail on a ricketty
Greek sailing vessel for Egypt. The boat was wrecked off Rhodes by a storm. Hester, Bruce and
the doctor were washed up on a nearby rocky island, all their possessions, except a pocketful
of sovereigns and a pair of pistols, sunk to the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Picked up by a
passing ship after a miserable day-and-night fight against hordes of ravenous rats, the fantastic
trio were given shelter on the island of Rhodes, where for months Hester lived and dressed like
a Turk.
 
'When she did reach Egypt and was entertained by the Turkish Pasha Mehamet Ali, then
conspiring to break away from the domination of the Sultan, Lady Hester stuck to the garb of a
glorified Barbary pirate - pantaloons of purple and gold, girdle and sash of brocaded velvet,
jewelled dagger and all. The swashbuckling Albanian adventurer, Mehamet Ali, founder of the
present Royal House of Egypt, and the convention-defying Lady Hester had much in common 
and spent a lot of time in each other's company. Mehamet paid her the unusual compliment,
for a Turk, of receiving her standing. 
'From Egypt, Hester journeyed into Palestine. Legends of her popularity with Mehamet Ali Pasha
and of her beauty, courage and generosity everywhere preceded her. After many adventures
she was invited by the Emir Bechir, leader of the Druses, to visit him in his palace, at the Druse
capital of Deir El Kammar in the Lebanon. The Druses were and are a mysterious race, speaking
Arabic, but of Aryan descent, with a religion neither Mohammedan, Christian nor Jewish, but 
having some qualities from each. Savage, fearless fighters, they have fought all-comers for
centuries to preserve intact their strange religion and semi-feudalistic form of society. Bruce
soon tired of life among these people and left for Aleppo. But Hester stayed on, entranced by
by the homage paid her by the Druses.
'Returning after a while to Damascus, she set up court as a kind of Anglo-Turkish potentate,
living the life of a man in the Moslem quarter, and journeying into the desert dressed as an Arab
sheik. In these journeys she gained an extensive knowledge of the mixed politics and ways of life
of the peoples of Asia Minor, living among the Bedouin sheiks as an equal. Her popularity with 
the native peoples rose to its zenith in 1813, when, after a dangerous crossing of hundreds of
miles of mountain and desert, the battlegrounds of a dozen warring tribes, she entered the 
ancient town of Palmyra to be crowned Melika (Queen) of the Arabs.
'If the Lady Hester, now deserted by her lover, but still followed by her faithful medico, had any
intention of ever returning to England the decision was taken from her by the great plague which 
just then swept through Asia Minor in the wake of war. Stricken by the plague and her health
irreparably weakened, she established herself in the tumble-down buildings of a former Greek
convent, Mar Elias, on a lonely mountainside near Sidon on the way to Deir El Kammar. Here she
became the chatelaine of a considerable retinue of native servants and a kind of feudal baroness
of the villagers round about. Her household was presided over by a huge Arab dragoman and the
diminutive but ever loyal Dr. Meryon. An English maidservant, Anne Fry, was the sole companion
of her own sex.
 
'She lived thus for seven years, making many journeys into the remote interior of Asia Minor and
Arabia. By order of the Sultan, every door was open to her. Soliman Pasha accorded her the 
dignity of royalty. She became the intermediary for Continental governments to the court of
Constantinople. Her influence with the King of France on one occasion saved her erstwhile lover,
Bruce, from gaol. At another time dire revenge was wreaked by her orders against the native
Ansarys for their murder of a French government agent. Fifty-two villages were razed to the
ground. Her word was virtually law throughout Syria. Her audacity won for her the reputation of
a supernatural being. She herself believed that she was destined to become Queen of Jerusalem.
Her vengeance on the Ansary tribes gained her the title "Defender of the Oppressed." Arab 
sheiks as well as Europeans sought audience with her in her remote mountain home. She was 
the acknowledged mistress of the Lebanon.
'When Lady Hester was 44 she had another bizarre love affair with a young ex-officer of 
Napoleon's Imperial Guard, who came to Syria looking for his father who had been shipwrecked
off the coast some years before. The young officer died at Mar Elias. The saddened Hester 
moved to a ruined monastery in an even more remote part of the Lebanon, on a bare mountain 
top above the Druse village of Djoun, taking the bones of her lover with her. Here she lived the
life of a female prophetess, sleeping most of the day and coming out to study the stars at
night. She remodelled her monastery as an impregnable fortress. Outside the walls there was
nothing but barren mountain and empty valley; inside was a kind of feudal Eden.
 
'For 18 years Lady Hester lived at Djoun attended by one lone Englishwoman. Dr. Meryon she
sent back to England, where he married. Ill-health and debt began to overwhelm the ageing
Hester as the years passed. Her influential friends died one by one and only the veneration of
the Druses and the desert sheiks prevented her being driven out of the country by an unfriendly
Emir. Gradually her mind began to fail; she began to dabble in magic and necromancy. Many
distinguished travellers from Europe came to see her, but went away convinced that she was
mad. Her superstitious native servants began to flee from her in terror.
'At last one morning Hester awoke to find herself alone. Her Englishwoman companion had died
during the night and the last of the native servants had fled. She was found days later lying in
her bed, stiff and cold and on the verge of death from starvation, by a little Metoulay girl. The
the loyal Dr. Meryon returned with his wife to look after her. He was shocked at the change. 
Her sole attendant was a Nubian slave who slept in the doorway of the only room that was
habitable in the many crumbling buildings of Djoun. The walls were tottering and the courtyards
knee-high in weeds. Filth and squalor were everywhere. Meryon restored some semblances of
order to this strange ménage and Hester recovered sufficient of her old strength and courage
to hurl verbal shafts at the invading Mehamet Ali of Egypt, then in the process of conquering
the Asiatic provinces of the Turkish Sultan. 
'Djoun again became crowded with refugees from the Egyptian invaders. The Druses were over-
come, but Mehamet Ali hesitated to violate the domains of the queer Englishwoman though she
repeatedly defied him. But poverty was pressing her hard. She appealed to England for aid and
was refused. The refusal affected her deeply. She had the entrance to Djoun bricked up and
swore never to communicate with the outside world again. On an afternoon in June, 1839, she 
died with only Dr. Meryon at her bedside. The next afternoon she was buried in one of the
weedy courtyards of Djoun. One of the strangest woman adventurers in history had at last
found peace.'
Henry Edward John Stanley, third Baron Stanley of Alderley and second
Baron Eddisbury
Stanley was the first Muslim peer, having converted to Islam in 1862. This conversion did
not however, prevent him restoring the Llanbadrig Church (Welsh for the "Church of St. 
Patrick") on Anglesey. 
Since alcohol is forbidden in Islam, he did, however, order the closure of all public houses
and inns in Nether Alderley.
Stanley "married" three times - in 1862, 1869 and 1874 - to the same woman, Fabia, 
daughter of Santiago Federico San Roman, of Seville in Spain. The 1869 "marriage" was 
performed in the St. George, Hanover Square Registry Office and the 1874 "marriage" at the 
the Roman Catholic Church of St. Alban in Macclesfield. It was later discovered that Fabia 
was identical with Serafina Fernandez y Funes of Alcandete, Jaen in Spain who had
previously married a Ramon Peres y Abril in 1851. He died in 1870. As a result, the
"marriages" of 1862 and 1869 were bigamous. As no children were born of these "marriages",
the succession of the titles upon his death did not become an issue.
At Stanley's funeral in 1903, as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, Stanley's 
nephew removed his hat out of respect, whereupon Stanley's brother Algernon, who was a 
Roman Catholic bishop, said "Not your hat, you fool, your boots!"
The claim that the second Earl of Landaff was the first Muslim peer, as stated by Dr. Yaqub
Zaki in a letter to Times Online in December 2007, appears to me to be highly doubtful.
The special remainder to the Barony of Stawell created in 1760
From the "London Gazette" of 17 May 1760 (issue 10001, page 1):-
'The King has been pleased to grant unto the Honourable Mary Legge, Wife of the Right 
Honourable Henry Bilosn Legge, the Dignity of a Baroness of the Kingdom of Great Britain, by
the Name, Stile and Title of Baroness Stawell, of Somerton, in the County of Somerset, and
the Dignity of Baron Stawell, of Somerton, in the said County of Somerset, to her Heirs Male,
by the said Henry Bilson Legge, her present Husband.'
The Stirling Peerage claim of 1834-1839
The following article, written by Dalrymple Belgrave, is taken from a series entitled "Romances
of High Life" published in the 'Manchester Times' in 1898:-
'History tells us that James I granted a charter to his favourite, Sir William Alexander - courtier,
poet, and Secretary of State for Scotland - giving him the whole of Nova Scotia, so that he 
could found a colony, with the right of making knights baronet of Nova Scotia, in order to raise
money for colonisation. James afterwards, by another charter, granted him the whole of Canada,
and Charles I confirmed these charters. They were, indeed, stupendous gifts, but it happened
that French claims to Canada and Nova Scotia, and French ability in the Stuart reigns to 
enforce these claims, prevented their being of much effect. France always asserted her right
to Canada. In Nova Scotia Alexander attempted to found colonies, but they were failures, and
there was no successful colonisation there before 1667, when the French claims to the country
were allowed.
'In 1628 [actually 1630] Charles I created Alexander Viscount Stirling. Two years afterwards 
[but actually in 1633] he created him Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada, the peerage being 
granted to him and his heirs male. The first Earl died in 1640, and then there were four more
Earls, his descendants. The fifth Earl died in 1739 and then the peerage became extinct or 
dormant, as there were no more male descendants of the first Earl. It was not allowed to sleep 
in peace. In 1760 an American Alexander - who afterwards fought against England in the War of 
Independence, and became a general - claimed the peerage, as the male heir of the first Earl's
brother. He failed, however, to prove his claim. Early in this [the 19th] century there was a more
remarkable claim. The claimant was a Mr. Alexander Humphreys. He was born in 1784, the son of
a respectable and fairly affluent Birmingham merchant. His mother was the daughter of the Rev.
John Alexander, a Presbyterian minister at Stratford-on-Avon. The Humphreys, father and son.
were unfortunate enough to visit France in 1802, and to become victims to Napoleon's spite, as
on war breaking out again he made prisoners of all the English tourists. The imprisonment ruined
the family business, and in 1807 Mr. Humphreys the elder died in exile. The son's imprisonment,
which lasted until 1814, was probably made less irksome by the fact that he met with a 
Neapolitan lady, Fortunata Barolloti, whom he married in 1812.
'This lady had a rather remarkable friend, a Madame Le Norman, who, under the sympathetic
surroundings of the First Empire, had made a reputation in the curious calling of a fortune-teller
who told fortunes by cutting the cards and other methods. She told the fortune of her friend's
husband, charging him one hundred francs for it. "He will encounter many toils and distresses,
but will arrive at great honours." The toils and distresses came soon enough on his return to his
native land, in the shape of an unsuccessful attempt to start a school, combined with the trade
of a wine merchant. A few years after his return he attempted to arrive at greater honours by
claiming the Earldom of Stirling. There seemed to be a difficulty in his way, for the original grant
was to the first Earl and his heirs male, while Mr. Alexander Humphreys, or Alexander, as he
then called himself, claimed through his mother. This difficulty, however, the claimant got over.
Near the end of the first Earl's life, he said two of his sons had died, and being afraid that he
would be left without sons he had resigned all his gifts to the Crown, and had received a new
charter or Novodamus from the King, granting them all again to him and to the heirs male of his
body, and to the eldest heir female of the last of his heirs male, and to her heir male. Where was
that charter? Well, the claimant said, it had been stolen from his grandmother by the American
claimant. It had been registered in the register of the Great Seal, but that part of the register
was missing; and as a matter of fact there were some missing pages in the register. The 
claimant's evidence at first consisted of family papers. In 1723, his grandfather, the Rev. John,
who was the son of John Alexander, of Antrim - the son of another John, who was the fourth
son of the first Earl - made inquiries into the peerage. There was a letter to him from a Mr.
Gordon, whom he had employed to look into matters, and who read the Novodamus, which was
then, for some unexplained reason, in the possession of T. Conyers, Esq., of Castleclaigh, 
Ireland, and he gave an account of the limitations of the grant, which was of the title and the
Nova Scotian and Canadian rights.
'The letter said that Mr. Conyers would give up the charter, and on the letter the Rev. John 
had made a note that he had obtained the charter, and that the writer of the letter gave an
exact description of the limitations.
'On the strength of this evidence he took the title of the Earl of Stirling, but his enjoyment
of it was limited by pecuniary embarrassment, and he was unsuccessful in attempting to raise
money. In about 1824 he employed a Mr. Thomas Christopher Banks. A gentleman who had 
written a book on dormant peerages, and had great faith in the possibilities of a peerage claim.
When he was in Ireland this gentleman made the first of a series of wonderful finds which were
characteristic of the story. Someone sent to his hotel at Carlow a packet which contained an
ancient document, which turned out to be an excerpt or copy of the deed of Novodamus. It
was initialled by Mr. Conyers, who endorsed upon it that the original document was in his
keeping. Encouraged by this, the claimant began to prosecute his claim vigorously. 
'In attempting to prove the tenour of the lost charter on the strength of the "excerpt" he was
unsuccessful. The courts held he had not sufficient evidence. Probably he was confident that 
more evidence would turn up. Then he set to work to prove his pedigree. The Scotch law
helped him in doing this, for it appeared that a person who wished to prove a question of
pedigree could have the matter inquired into by a sheriff and a jury. In such an inquiry there
would be no opposition, and any verdict obtained could not be set aside or challenged for 20
years. In this way he obtained a decree that he was the great-great-great grandson of the
first Earl of Stirling, and heir to all his ancestors' property in Scotland, Canada, and Nova 
Scotia. Such a decree was of great importance to him, as it enabled him to raise £50,000. He
also opened an office in Parliament-street for the sale of grants of land in Canada. As Hereditary
Lieutenant of Nova Scotia he exercised his privilege of granting the dignity of a baronetcy of
Nova Scotia to his friends and supporters. To this dignity, he raised Sir Thomas Christopher
Banks, also rewarding him with a large grant of land. He claimed all the dignities of his Scotch
peerage, while to the inhabitants of Canada he published an almost regal proclamation. He
claimed the privilege to do homage at the coronation of William IV [in September 1831] as
Lieutenant of Canada, and protested against the appointment of a Governor-General of that
Colony. 
'By this time he had taken a house in a fashionable quarter, and was beginning to live in great
style and splendour. For some years, the Earl enjoyed his title, raising money on his prospects,
and congratulating himself and his creditors on the progress of his cause. Needless to say, he
managed to interest a large portion of the press in his favour, and paragraphs about Lord Stirling
were constantly appearing. His daughter married a gentleman whose position and prospects in
life seem to have been a good deal better that her own, but it was announced in the papers as
an elopement in high life. Lord Stirling granted one of his supporters a right to be buried in the
ancient burying-place of the Earls of Stirling, and this found its way into the papers. Somewhat
tardily, the Crown lawyers determined to put a check on the Earl's career. In 1834 they began
proceedings under the Scotch law to obtain a decree that everything the claimant had hitherto
done to establish his claim was null and void, that he was not the great-great-great grandson
of the first Earl of Stirling, and that the documents which he had produced were forgeries.
'About this time rather an ominous thing happened. Sir Thomas Christopher Banks, the newly-
created baronet of Nova Scotia, found it prudent to quarrel with and separate himself from his
friend and patron the Earl, and he even went so far as to renounce his grant of land and
baronetcy. In the year 1836 the matter was tried before the Lord Ordinary, Lord Cockburn. The
claimant's pedigree was a simple one enough. John, the fourth son of the first Earl of Stirling, 
had married a Miss Agnes Graham, the heiress of Gartmoor. He had by this marriage one son,
John, who lived at Antrim, married, and had son, the Rev. John, who was the claimant's grand-
father. The first John died in 1666, the second John died in 1712, and the third John died in 
1743. So the Rev. John had been 'de jure' Earl of Stirling for five [sic] years without taking any
steps to assert his rights, although, according to the claimant's story, some years before he had
greatly interested himself in the matter.
'The evidence tendered by the claimant on that occasion may be divided into two heads - the
family papers, which had been collected by the Rev. John in 1723, when he inquired into his 
pedigree; and an inscription on the tomb of John the second, which undoubtedly proved the 
case, if it were believed, as neatly as if it had been made for the purpose. Under the first 
heading there were two affidavits that had been sworn in 1723. One was by Mr. Hovenden,
who had been employed to examine the Charter of Novodamus. To the Novodamus most of his
declaration related, but it began by saying he was well acquainted with the Rev. John Alexander,
who was the grandson and only male representative of the Hon. John Alexander, of Gartmoor. 
Then there was an affidavit of a Sarah Lyners, who had been nurse to John of Antrim (John the
second) when the Rev. John was born, that while she, when a girl, was in the service of Lady
Montgomery, who had been an Alexander, she had seen John the first and John the second at
her mistress's house, and knew they were father and son. The inscription was to the memory
of John Alexander of Antrim. It spoke of him in the highest terms, as such inscriptions do, and,
what was more to the point, said that he was the only son of the Hon. John Alexander, the
fourth son of the first Earl of Stirling, and father of the Rev. John Alexander, Presbyterian
minister, of Stratford-on-Avon. Now all the proof there was of this was a copy of it on what 
seemed to have been a page torn out of a book. There was a note on it: "Inscription on my
grandfather's tomb at Newton, copied by Mr. Lyttelton." There was another note: "This leaf
taken out of poor John's Bible, and put up with other family papers for my son Benjamin."
This note was dated 1766, and signed by the widow of the Rev. John and three other persons.
On the other hand, it was admitted that the tombstone no longer existed, but there were
affidavits of two very old persons at Newton that they remembered having heard that there
was such a tombstone.
'Such was the claimant's case. That he was the grandson of the Rev. John there was no
question. That there was an Hon. John, fourth son of the first Earl of Stirling, who married 
Agnes Graham, of Gartmoor, there was no question. But the Crown lawyers showed that the
Hon. John and Agnes Graham had only one child, a daughter, for she inherited some Graham
property as her mother's heir-at-law. Then, argued the plaintiff, there must have been a
second marriage, the proof of which was that there was John of Antrim, the lawful son of
the Hon. John. But John of Antrim's existence was just what the Crown lawyers denied. Lord
Cockburn's judgment was that the claimant had failed to prove that the Rev. John Alexander
was the son of John Alexander, of Antrim, and that he had also failed to prove that John of
Antrim was the son of the Hon. John Alexander. This practically wiped out everything the
plaintiff had done. It is not surprising that under these circumstances the claimant should
find London, where he had raised large sums of money upon his prospects, and where he had
opened the office in Parliament-street for the sale of grants of land in Canada and Nova Scotia,
a somewhat troublesome place of residence. He made a hurried start for the Continent, without
leaving an address for his supporters and creditors. In Paris he lived in considerable seclusion,
spending a good deal of time at the house of Madame Le Norman. The latter was then seventy-
five years old, but for her trade old age is an advantage, and she was daily gaining in reputation.
She still appears to have believed in the destiny of the Earl of Stirling to triumph over all his
misfortunes. His circumstances seemed dark enough; but suddenly there came a brilliant burst
of light.
'First one and then another wonderful thing happened. The claimant, of course, had published a
statement of his rights and wrongs, and this had been published in London by Messrs De 
Porquet, booksellers. In April, 1837, Messrs De Porquet received a letter and a parcel. The 
former purported to be from a Mr. Innes Smith, who begged the publishers that they would send 
the packet to the Earl of Stirling, or any member of his lordship's family. The letter was sent to 
one of the claimant's sons, Mr. Eugene Alexander. Though the packet was directed to the Earl 
of Stirling, the young man determined that the best thing he could do was to open it himself. It 
was right, he thought, to have official witnesses of this act. He went to a public notary. 
Before the notary he opened the packet. Inside it were a parchment packet and a letter to the
Earl of Stirling. On the packet was written: "Some of my wife's family papers." The letter, which
was unsigned, was to the effect that the parchment packet was part of the contents of a cash-
box, containing a good deal of money, that had been stolen from Mr. Humphreys 40 years
before. The thief, who had been in a respectable position, had never been suspected. The thief
had lately died, and his widow, having read Lord Stirling's case, had determined to send him the 
packet, which the thief had never dared to open. The letter concluded by saying that the 
writer, though willing to help Lord Stirling, would not make any disclosures which would bring
disgrace on the family of the thief. Young Alexander then went with the parchment packet to
a proctor of Doctors' Commons, where it was opened.
'The packet contained two most important documents. One was a letter from one of the sons
of the Rev. John Alexander, who had gone to Newton to inquire about the tombstone, to his
brother. The letter said that the stone had been taken, but it went on: "You need not mind this,
as you have Mr. Lyttelton's copy, which can be proved." It referred also to a memorandum on
the back of a portrait of John of Antrim, which said that he had been educated under the eye of
his maternal grandfather, Mr. Maxwell, and that he attained high distinction as a scholar. There
was also a letter of about the same date, 1765, from a Mr. Bailie, who said that he was at John
of Antrim's funeral when he was 21 years old, expressed his regret for a lawless act at Newton,
the destruction of the tombstone by the American claimant, and went on to say: - "Your great-
grandfather, the Hon. John Alexander, who was known as Mr. Alexander, of Gartmoor, died at 
Derry, but the parish registers were destroyed in 1689." This find, however, was nothing 
compared with one made by the famous Madame Le Norman. This windfall turned up also
anonymously. Someone, who said he had been greatly served by Madame Le Norman, and 
wished to show her that she had not obliged an ungrateful man, sent her a document which he 
said would prove the case of Lord Stirling, in whom she was interested. He had kept it because
of the interest of the autographs on it. He could not come forward personally, as he was in an
official position. The foundation of this document was a map of Nova Scotia and Canada by the 
celebrated Guillaume Delisle, Premier Geographe du Roi, and it was dated 1703. On the back of 
this map there had been various notes written by various celebrated people, while some letters
had also been pasted upon the back. Now, all these letters and notes referred to the rights
which the Earls of Stirling had been granted by James and Charles. It appeared that for some
reason a Monsieur Mallet wished to obtain information about the descendants of William, Earl of
Stirling, as he had resided in Arcadie (Nova Scotia), and seen in the archives of that province an
ancient document, the wonderful charter of grant of Novodamus to William, Earl of Stirling. Of
this and of the terms of the grant he made a note, dated August 4th, 1706, on the back of the
map, together with the curious note that if Canada was ever conquered by England the Earls of
Stirling would own the whole of the country. This appeared to be the reason why various 
Frenchmen took an interest in the charter. Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, it appears, saw the map,
and read over Mallet's note, and on June 3rd, 1707, wrote an endorsement to it that he had 
read a copy of the famous charter, and considered that M. Mallet's abstract was wonderfully 
accurate. That year Mallet died, but someone applied for more information to Fenelon, 
Archbishop of Cambray. That famous man appeared to know that the Marchioness de Lambert
was very intimate with John Alexander, of Antrim. She obtained from him a letter giving a full
account of his family, and referring to the famous charter, which he said had been registered
in Scotland, but the book containing its registration had been lost. Then on this wonderful map
there was a note by no less a person than Louis XIV, who said: "Let the original charter be
obtained." Then there was the inscription from the tombstone as the claimant had it, with a
statement that it was from his father's tomb, signed in 1723 by the Rev. John.
'These two finds were undoubtedly very wonderful, so wonderful that when the claimant
attempted to put them in evidence in the Scotch courts he was subjected to very severe
interrogation by the court. His explanations were thought so very unsatisfactory that it
resulted in his being charged with perjury.
'His trial came on at Edinburgh early in the year 1839. The judge who tried the case was Lord
Meadowbank. There were three charges against the prisoner. He was charged with having 
forged and uttered, knowing it was forged, the excerpt of the charter. Then he was charged
with having forged the documents on the map; and he was charged with having forged and
uttered the documents which had been received by the publishers. Though the prisoner's
position now looked very black, he still had many friends. His cause had been popular with the
poor people, while several gentlemen of character and position, who had been at school with
him, retained a high regard for him, and believed that he was a man who would never be guilty
of fraud or falsehood. One of these was a Colonel D'Aguilar, a distinguished officer who was
Deputy Adjutant-General of the Forces in Ireland. He showed the regard he had for the prisoner
by sitting beside him in the dock all through the trial. As to the "excerpt," the evidence for the
prosecution to show that it was a forgery might be divided into two heads - internal evidence,
derived from the document itself; and external evidence, which showed that the document of
which it supposed to be a copy could never have been in existence.
'It was shown that in the supposed copy there were certain terms which were never in a Royal
charter. Then, on it, there was a reference to the Reg. Mag. Sig. Lib. LVII. This was obviously
abbreviated Latin for Register of the Great Seal Book 57, but it was proved for the prosecution
that it was not until the year 1800 that the register had been divided into books, and, therefore,
such a reference on a document supposed to have been written in 1723 must be a forgery. An
even more conclusive piece of evidence to prove a forgery was that the date on the supposed
charter was December 7th, 1639. The first charter was witnessed on that day by John, 
Archbishop of St. Andrews - our Chancellor, and to it there was the signature of this Archbishop,
John Spottiswoode. But Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St. Andrews, who had been Chancellor,
had ceased to be Chancellor a year before, while it was shown by his tombstone in Westminster
Abbey that he died in London on November 25th, 1639. So the charter had been witnesses by a
dead man. The prosecution were also able to suggest how the mistake arose by putting in a
well-known book, "Crawford's Lives." in which there was a mistake made as to the year of the
Archbishop's death, while he was stated to have been Chancellor from 1635 to 1641. As to the
external evidence, it was admitted that there were some leaves missing from the 57th volume
of the register  of the Great Seal, but there was an index, which showed what charter would
have been on those [missing] pages. It was proved also that if there had been any such charter
it would not only have been registered in the book of the Great Seal, but in three other different
registers, which were quite complete, and in none of them was there any mention of it. It was
the boast of Scotland, so said Lord Meadowbank, that in no other country were the registers so
well kept.
'The French documents were rather cleverly done, and there was expert evidence in favour of
the signatures, but the forger had made one great mistake, which was absolutely fatal. On the 
map which was the ground work of the forgeries was the date 1703. But the prosecution was
able to show that particular copy could not have been published until 1718. The date 1703 was
when the map had been first published, and copyright for it had been obtained, but it was not
until 1718 that Delisle had been appointed Premier Geographe du Roi. Before that date Fenelon
and Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, were both dead. So they had written on a document which was
not in existence until after their death.
'As to the map, a very curious incident happened during the trial. The copy of the inscription on
the tombstone had been pasted on to the back of the map. No one had thought of removing it,
but during the trial, owing either to the heat of the court or handling it, one corner began to 
turn up. It was clear there was writing underneath. The document was removed, and then it 
was found that it was pasted over what was evidently a bad attempt at a forgery of Fenelon,
Archbishop of Cambray's, signature to some notes about the Alexanders.
'The proof that the documents sent to the publishers were forgeries was not so strong, though,
of course, no one would believe that, if the other documents were forgeries, they were genuine.
The point of the case on which the main stress came was whether it was proved that the
prisoner forged these documents, or knew that they were forged. Of course, there was the fact
for the prosecution that they were mainly of use to him. Then they proved that about the time
Madame Le Norman found the wonderful map the prisoner was in daily communication with her.
It was proved that he had given that celebrated lady a bond for no less than £16,000. Then
came some rather interesting correspondence between the prisoner and Madame, which was
rather like that of two conspirators. Madame reminded him in one letter that in a struggle so one
sided as his, all means are fair, and begged him to look carefully over his papers. She wrote: "I
will not have my reputation, which is European, taken away by your countrymen." Other letters
seemed to be prompting him to say that the bond was for money she had lent him. "As I would
look with abhorrence on myself if I were so far the slave of cupidity as to exact a high 
remuneration for a friendly service."
'The prisoner's counsel, Mr. Robertson, though he fought the question of forgery, put all the
stress of the defence on the point of guilty knowledge. The prisoner was a gullible man, who had
been made a tool of by others. It was to this point that he used with effect the strong evidence
of good character [that] Colonel D'Aguilar and other witnesses gave the prisoner, for the jury
found that, while the excerpt was a forgery, and the Le Norman documents were forgeries, it
was not proven that the prisoner knew them to be forged. As for the other documents, they
held it was not proven that they were forged. So the prisoner was acquitted; but no more was
heard of his claims to the Stirling Peerage.'
Charles Stourton, 8th Baron Stourton
When the 7th Baron Stourton died, his son Charles, the 8th Baron, apparently entertained some
fears regarding his inheritance. Accordingly, he drew up a document binding his mother, Lady
Stourton, not to re-marry. Lady Stourton was hesitant, and refused to sign the document until
she had consulted with George Hartgill, a gentleman farmer and neighbour, in whose integrity the
whole of the surrounding county of Wiltshire trusted. Hartgill read the document and advised
Lady Stourton not to sign it until her son had assigned her a fixed income. Lady Stourton heeded
his advice.
Stourton, unaccustomed to having his wishes flouted, flew into a violent rage and threatened to
kill Hartgill unless he reversed his decision, but Hartgill stood firm. The following Sunday, 
Stourton gathered a gang of thugs and went to the Hartgill house at Kilmington. They arrived 
while the Hartgills were in church and proceeded to smash everything in the house they could 
lay their hands on. Servants who opposed them were beaten unconscious, but one servant 
managed to escape to carry the news to the family. Hartgill's son, John, dashed for home and 
was able to gain access to his longbow. He then proved his reputation as a bowman by 
wounding five of the attackers.
The next day, the Hartgills sent a petition to the Queen, Mary I. In response, she sent an order
to the Sheriff of Wiltshire to arrest Stourton and bring him to London for trial before her Lords in
Council. In deference to his rank, Stourton was allowed to ride there with only a token escort.
He spent three days in Newgate Prison while awaiting the Council's verdict. They took a lenient 
view of his actions and bound him over to keep the peace for a year, but made no order as to 
compensation for the Hartgills.
Stourton, however, had no intention of letting the matter rest. For the next few months, the
Hartgills lived under a reign of terror - in the dead of night, arrows thudded into their door, 
favourite dogs vanished and reappeared on their doorstep, mangled beyond recognition. Their
cattle died of arrow wounds, hayricks burst into flames and their servants and labourers were
beaten up and warned to leave the Hartgills' employment.
At the height of this persecution, Queen Mary made a trip to Hampshire, where the Hartgills took
the opportunity to complain. Mary was sympathetic and again ordered Stourton before the 
Council. Stourton admitted that he had persecuted the Hartgills, but swore that since Her
Majesty had taken a personal interest, he would now relent. If the family would call at his house,
he said, there would be a reconciliation and recompense. 
The honest Hartgills believed his word and George Hartgill set out for Stourton's home - but he
never reached it. He was ambushed in a lonely lane by six of Stourton's thugs and savagely 
battered with their cudgels. He would almost certainly have bled to death had his son, worried
for his father's safety, not ridden after him. The local population then combined to send a
further petition to the Queen, who passed it onto her Star Chamber. This time, the judges
delivered a stern lecture, but released Stourton on a £2000 bond. The bond was, however,
never lodged, the Chamber preferring to take his word as a gentleman.
On his return home, Stourton wrote to the Hartgills a letter couched in the most conciliatory
terms, asking that they meet him at Kilmington Church, where he would pay them the
compensation ordered by the Star Chamber. Believing that the Star Chamber had taught him a
lesson, and that no violence would take place on holy ground, the Hartgills, father and son,
arrived at the church, where Stourton cried 'I arrest you for a felony.'
Stourton's thugs seized the two Hartgills, bound them hand and foot and hustled them into the
parsonage next to the church. Leaving one man to guard them, Stourton's party then dispersed,
but returned a little later and transported them, across the backs of horses, to Bonham, a
house near Stourton's home. Stourton called in two local magistrates and demanded they 
commit the prisoners to the local prison. They acceded to Stourton's request and then left 
hastily.
Stourton was infuriated by the Hartgills' refusal to beg for their lives, so he had them taken
to his home that night. They had now been bound for 36 hours and were weak from thirst
and hunger. Their captors dumped them in the back garden and disappeared into the house,
returning with spades, with which they beat out their victims' brains. Believing them to be
dead, the Hartgills were carried into Stourton's private apartment and laid them on the floor.
When the old man stirred and groaned, Stourton drew his dagger and cut his throat. The
murderers then buried the Hartgills in a 15-feet deep grave under the flagstones in the
cellar.
Within a few days, the disappearance of the Hartgills was the talk of the county. The
Sheriff of Wiltshire, Sir Anthony Hungerford, opened an investigation. The two local
magistrates informed him that they had left the Hartgills in Stourton's charge. Gradually,
Hungerford pieced the whole story together - one of the thugs confessed and the bodies
were recovered from the cellar. Stourton and four of his henchmen were arrested and Stourton
was sent to the Tower of London to await trial, with his henchmen being locked up at Salisbury.
Here he was found guilty by a special commission. Stourton believed that, as Mary was at the
time in the midst of a religious purge, and being of the same religion as her, she would take a
lenient view of the praiseworthy killing of two heretics. But Mary, although intolerant of
religious opposition, was extremely just in other respects and she viewed Stourton's crime as
being murder.
Stourton was taken to Salisbury and hanged on 6 March 1557. He exercised his right as a peer 
to be hanged with a silken rope, which being thinner, compressed his windpipe much quicker
than a normal rope, while its smoothness allowed the noose to run much more freely. His four
henchmen were hanged in chains near the scene of their crime.
Henry William John Byng, 4th Earl of Strafford
On 16 May 1899, the 4th Earl of Strafford was killed when hit by a train at Potter's Bar, 18
miles north of London.
The report in 'The Times' of 18 May 1899 states that:-
'Inquiries have failed to clear up the precise circumstances of the terrible occurrence, and it is
probable that not until the inquest is held today will the facts be ascertained with certainty.
All that seems to be established beyond doubt is that Lord Strafford went down to Potter's
Bar on Tuesday afternoon and engaged at the local station a cab to convey him to Wrotham
Park. He drove in that direction, but discharged the man before reaching his destination. Some
time later his dead and mutilated body was found near the railway station at Potter's Bar. The
remains were removed to the Station Hotel, and afterwards, by special coroner's permit, to 
Wrotham Park. It is related that on Tuesday evening an elderly gentleman, apparently not
known to the few people who were waiting at Potter's Bar Station, was seen to be strolling 
about the upper end of the platform just as an express train from Cambridge was passing
through, at 6.30, on its way to London. No sound was heard, and nothing unusual was seen
until the express was clear of the station, and then it was noticed that the gentleman had
disappeared. A few minutes later, the Earl's mutilated body was found some 50 yards up the
line, to which point it had apparently been carried by the engine. The identity of the body was
in doubt for some time, but was ultimately settled by marks upon the linen and by documents
in the pockets……….'
At the subsequent inquest, medical evidence showed that the Earl had a history of mild 
seizures after which his mind was temporarily dazed and semi-conscious. No evidence relating
to possible suicide was presented and the verdict was that the Earl had met his death by
misadventure, presumably when in a dazed state after one of his seizures.
The barony of Strange created in 1628
This is one of a number of peerages which were created in error. Similar examples relate to the
baronies of Percy created in 1722 and de Clifford, also created in 1628. In each case it was 
wrongly assumed that the ancient baronies were vested as subsidiary titles in higher ranked
peerages, and were therefore available for use in "writs of acceleration," where the eldest son
and heir apparent of a peer can be summoned to the House of Lords. In these cases, the
subsidiary peerage to which the writ of acceleration applied were not vested as was assumed,
with the result that the writ had the effect of creating a new peerage.
The barony of Strange de Knokin was a barony by tenure from the time of King Henry II, and
became a barony by writ when John le Strange was summoned to attend Parliament in December
1299. The barony passed down through the descendants of the 1st baron until the death of the
8th Lord Strange de Knokin in 1477. He died without any male heirs, and his only daughter and
heiress, Joan, married George Stanley, son of 1st Earl of Derby. He was summoned to Parliament 
in the right of his wife in 1482, but he died during the lifetime of his father in 1497. On the death
of Joan in 1514, the barony of Strange de Knokin became merged in the earldom of Derby. 
The earldom of Derby, together with the barony of Strange de Knokin, descended to Ferdinando,
5th Earl of Derby, who died in 1594, leaving three daughters and co-heiresses - Anne, married
firstly to Grey Bridges, Lord Chandos and secondly to the notorious Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of
Castlehaven [qv]; Frances, who married John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater; and Elizabeth,
who married Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon. As a result, the barony of Strange de 
Knockin fell into abeyance between the three sisters, while the earldom of Derby passed to the
heir male, William, 6th Earl of Derby.
However, under the erroneous notion that the barony of Strange de Knokin remained vested in
the 6th Earl of Derby, his son, James Stanley, was summoned to Parliament in March 1628. The
writ was meant to be one of acceleration, but because the barony in which he was being called
was not vested in his father, the writ created a new peerage.
James Stanley succeeded as 7th Earl of Derby in 1642. His daughter and eventual heiress 
married John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, and through this marriage James, 2nd Duke of 
Atholl, became on the death, without issue, of James, 10th Earl of Derby in 1736, heir to the
barony of Strange created in 1628. The question of Atholl's entitlement to the barony was
discussed in the House of Lords in March 1736, and his claim to it was allowed by the House. For
a detailed discussion on this case, see Chapter 5, Section 78 of "A Treatise on the Origin and 
Nature of Dignities or Titles of Honour" by William Cruise [1823] available on Google Books. See
also the notes under "Percy (creation of 1722)" and "Clifford (creation of 1628)"
The special remainder to the Barony of Strathcona and Mount Royal created in 1900
From the "London Gazette" of 26 June 1900 (issue 27205, page 3963):-
"The Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, granting the dignity of a Baron of the said United
Kingdom unto Donald Alexander, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, G.C.M.G., High 
Commissioner in London for the Dominion of Canada, by the name, style, and title of Baron
Strathcone and Mount Royal, of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec and said Dominion of
Canada, and of Glencoe in the county of Argyll; to hold to him and the heirs male of his body
lawfully begotten ; and in default of such issue male to hold the name, style, and title of 
Baroness Strathcona and Mount Royal, of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec and said
Dominion of Canada, and of Glencoe in the county of Argyll, to Margaret Charlotte, wife of
Robert Jared Bliss Howard, of Queen Anne-street, Cavendish-square in the parish of Saint
Marylebone in the county of London, Esquire, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., only daughter of the said
Donald Alexander, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal; and after her decease to hold the name,
style, and title of Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec
and said Dominion of Canada, and of Glencoe in the county of Argyll aforesaid, to the heirs male
lawfully begotten of the body of the said Margaret Charlotte Howard."
 
 
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