Creation
Sir Hugh le Despenser I was a large landowner in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland. He was appointed High Sheriff of Staffordshire and Shropshire in 1222 and High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1226 and 1238.
The first creation was in 1295, when Hugh the elder Despenser was summoned to the Model Parliament. He was the eldest son of the sometime Justiciar Hugh Despenser (d. 1265), son of Sir Hugh le Despenser I (above). The sometime Justiciar was summoned in 1264 to Simon de Montfort's Parliament and is sometimes considered the first baron. Hugh the younger Despenser, son of Hugh the elder, was also summoned to Parliament in 1314, during his father's lifetime, the second creation of the title. Both elder and younger Despensers were attainted and executed in 1326, extinguishing the two creations.
In 1338, Hugh le Despenser, son of Hugh the younger, was summoned to Parliament, the third creation of the title. He died without issue in 1349, and the title became extinct.
In 1357, this Hugh's nephew, Edward Despenser, 1st Baron Despenser was summoned to Parliament, the fourth creation. His son Thomas inherited the title in 1375. Thomas was created Earl of Gloucester in 1397, and in 1398, the attainders of the elder and younger Despensers were reversed, making him (in modern law) heir to the first and second creations as well. Thomas himself was attainted in 1400 for his part in the Epiphany Rising. Upon the death of Anne de Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick in 1449, claims to his baronies passed into abeyance, so that the reversal of his attainder in 1461 had no immediate effect. In 1604, the first creation of the barony was called out of abeyance for Mary Fane, the first barony by writ of summons to so be revived. When calling it out of abeyance, the House of Lords gave it precedence as if it had been created in 1264. [1] Her successor in the barony was the first Earl of Westmorland, and the next six earls held the barony and the earldom together. At the death of the seventh earl, the barony again fell into abeyance. The abeyance was terminated for Sir Francis Dashwood, but at his death the barony again went into abeyance. Once again, the Sovereign had to terminate the abeyance, and the same was done in favour of Sir Thomas Stapleton, Baronet. The fourteenth baron succeeded to the title of Viscount Falmouth, and the two titles have remained united since.
The fifth creation of the title was made in 1387 for Philip le Despencer, great-grandson of Hugh the elder Despenser. The title became dormant on the death of his son Philip, the second baron, in 1424. One of his heirs was created Baron Wentworth, and the dormant title became abeyant with that barony in 1815, until its termination in 1856.
Baron Audley is a title in the Peerage of England first created in 1313, by writ to the Parliament of England, for Sir Nicholas Audley of Heighley Castle, a member of the Anglo-Norman Audley family of Staffordshire.
Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North. It was revived in 1624 in favour of Sir Francis Fane, whose mother, Mary Neville, was a descendant of a younger son of the first Earl. The first Earl of the first creation had already become Baron Neville de Raby, and that was a subsidiary title for his successors. The current Earl holds the subsidiary title Baron Burghersh (1624).
Baron Burgh is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England.
Baron Hastings is a title that has been created three times. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1290, and is extant. The second creation was in the Peerage of England in 1299, and became extinct on the death of the first holder in c. 1314. The third creation was in the Peerage of England in 1461, and has been in abeyance since 1960.
Baron FitzWalter is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 24 June 1295 for Robert FitzWalter. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. His great-grandson, the fourth baron, was an Admiral of the Fleet. The fourth baron's grandson, the sixth baron, died from dysentery at the siege of Harfleur. He was succeeded by his brother, the seventh baron, who was the last known male line descendant of Rollo of Normandy, was succeeded by his daughter and only child, Elizabeth. She was the wife of John Radcliffe. Their son, the ninth baron, was attainted for treason in 1495 with his title forfeited. However, his son Robert Radcliffe obtained a reversal of the attainder by Act of Parliament in 1509 and later served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire. He was created Viscount FitzWalter in 1525 and Earl of Sussex in 1529. His grandson, the third earl, was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in 1553 in his father's junior title of Baron FitzWalter. Lord Sussex later served as Lord Deputy of Ireland. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth earl. He had earlier represented Maldon, Hampshire and Portsmouth in the House of Commons and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. When he died the titles passed to his only child, the fifth earl. He was Lord Lieutenant of Essex.
The barony of Camoys was created twice. From 26 November 1313 to 1 April 1335 Ralph de Camoys (d.1336) was summoned to Parliament by writ, and is thereby held to have become Baron Camoys of the first creation. Ralph de Camoys (d.1336) married firstly, Margaret de Brewes, daughter of William de Brewes, 1st Lord Brewes (d.1291), and secondly, Elizabeth le Despenser, daughter of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester.
Baron Clinton is a title in the Peerage of England. Created in 1298 for Sir John de Clinton, it is the seventh-oldest barony in England.
Baron Cromwell is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, which was by writ, was for John de Cromwell in 1308. On his death, the barony became extinct. The second creation came in 1375 when Ralph de Cromwell was summoned by writ to Parliament as Lord Cromwell. His grandson, the third baron, served as Lord High Treasurer to King Henry VI. However, on his death in 1455 the barony fell into abeyance between his nieces Maude and Joan. On Joan's death in 1490 the abeyance was terminated in favour of Maude, the fourth holder. When she died childless in 1497 the peerage once again fell into abeyance, this time between the daughters of the first baron. The title remained in abeyance for over 400 years. However, in 1922 the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords reported in favour of the petition for the termination of the abeyancy of Selina Frances Bewicke-Copley. She was the daughter of Sir Charles Watson Copley, 3rd Baronet, and one of the co-heirs of Maud, daughter of the first baron Cromwell. Selina died in 1923 and in July of the same year the abeyance was terminated in favour of her son Robert Godfrey Wolesley Bewicke-Copley, who became the fifth baron. He notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. As of 2010 the ancient barony is held by his grandson, the seventh baron, who succeeded his father in 1982. Having lost his seat in the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999, in April 2014 he was elected at a hereditary peers' by-election as a Crossbencher.
Baron Strange is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1326, had only one holder each, upon whose deaths they became extinct. Two of the creations, that of 1299 and that of 1628, are extant. The surname Le Strange was Latinized as Extraneus. The arms of Le Strange of Knockin Castle in Shropshire were: Gules, two lions passant argent.
Baron Hungerford is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 January 1426 for Walter Hungerford, who was summoned to parliament, had been Member of Parliament, Speaker of the House and invested as Knight of the Order of the Garter before and was made Lord High Treasurer one year before he became a peer. The man who would later succeed as third baron was created Baron de Moleyns on 13 January 1445 by writ of summons; both titles merged when he succeeded as Baron Hungerford in 1459. The third baron was attainted and the peerage forfeit in 1461. This attainder was reversed in 1485 for the then 4th baroness of Hungerford, and so it came into the Hastings family of Earls of Huntingdon until 1789, when it came into the Rawdon(-Hastings) family of the Marquesses of Hastings until 1868 when it fell into abeyance. This abeyance was terminated three years later for a member of the Abney-Hastings family and an Earl of Loudoun. In 1920 it again fell into abeyance, which was terminated one year later for the Philipps family of the Viscounts of St Davids where it has remained since.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser, Lord of Glamorgan, was an English peer. Imprisoned as a consequence of his support for deposed king Edward II, he would return to royal favour under Edward III, being made Baron le Despenser in 1338. His title became extinct at his death without issue.
The title Baron Bergavenny was created several times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain, all but the first being baronies created by error. Abergavenny is a market town in South East Wales with a castle established by the Norman lord Hamelin de Balun c. 1087.
The title of Baron Burghersh has been created three times in the Peerage of England.
Baron Wentworth is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1529 for Thomas Wentworth, who was also de jure sixth Baron le Despencer of the 1387 creation. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend via female lines.
Several members of the Mortimer family were summoned to Parliament during the reign of Edward I, thereby making them hereditary barons in the Peerage of England. The most important family with this surname were the lords of Wigmore, a marcher lordship on the borders of Herefordshire and Shropshire with Wales, living at Wigmore Castle. The second Baron Mortimer of Wigmore was created Earl of March.
The titles Baron Montacute or Baron Montagu were created several times in the Peerage of England for members of the House of Montagu. The family name was Latinised to de Monte Acuto, meaning "from the sharp mountain"; the French form is an ancient spelling of mont aigu, with identical meaning.
Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron Despenser was the son of another Edward le Despenser and Anne Ferrers, sister of Henry, Lord Ferrers of Groby. He succeeded as Lord of Glamorgan in 1349.
Frances Neville, Baroness Bergavenny (also Nevill was an English noblewoman and author. Little is known of either Lady or Lord Bergavenny, except that the latter was accused of behaving in a riotous and unclean manner by some Puritan commentators. Lady Bergavenny's work appeared in The Monument of Matrones in 1582 and was a series of "Praiers". Her devotions were sixty-seven prose prayers, one metrical prayer against vice, a long acrostic prayer on her daughter's name, and an acrostic prayer containing her own name.
Despencer or Despenser is an occupational surname referring to the medieval court office of steward, most commonly associated with Norman-English barons of the 13th- and 14th-centuries and their descendants. Notable people with this surname include:
Thomas Fane of Badsell Manor in the parish of Tudeley in Kent, and of Mereworth Castle, Kent, was Sheriff of Kent. He is not to be confused with his younger brother, Thomas Fane, of Burston, Hunton, Kent, a Member of Parliament for Dover.
