PEERAGES
Last updated 28/07/2018 (18 Jan 2024)
Date Rank Order Name Born Died Age
BRADWELL
16 Jan 1976
to    
12 Aug 1976
B[L] Thomas Edward Neil Driberg
Created Baron Bradwell for life 16 Jan 1976
MP for Maldon 1942‑1955 and Barking 1959‑1974
Peerage extinct on his death
22 May 1905 12 Aug 1976 71
BRADY
22 Sep 2014 B[L] Karren Rita Brady
Created Baroness Brady for life 22 Sep 2014
4 Apr 1969
BRAGG
4 Aug 1998 B[L] Melvyn Bragg
Created Baron Bragg for life 4 Aug 1998
CH 2017
6 Oct 1939
BRAIN
26 Jan 1962 B 1 Sir Walter Russell Brain, 1st baronet
Created Baron Brain 26 Jan 1962
23 Oct 1895 29 Dec 1966 71
29 Dec 1966 2 Christopher Langdon Brain 30 Aug 1926 15 Aug 2014 87
15 Aug 2014 3 Michael Cottrell Brain 6 Aug 1928
BRAINE OF WHEATLEY
10 Aug 1992
to    
5 Jan 2000
B[L] Sir Bernard Richard Braine
Created Baron Braine of Wheatley for life 10 Aug 1992
MP for Billericay 1950‑1955, Essex South East 1955‑1983 and Castle Point 1983‑1992; PC 1985
Peerage extinct on his death
24 Jun 1914 5 Jan 2000 85
BRAINTREE
9 Feb 1948
to    
21 May 1961
B 1 Sir Valentine George Crittall
Created Baron Braintree 9 Feb 1948
MP for Maldon 1923‑1924
Peerage extinct on his death
28 Jun 1884 21 May 1961 76
BRAMALL
9 Feb 1987
to    
12 Nov 2019
B[L] Sir Edwin Noel Westby Bramall
Created Baron Bramall for life 9 Feb 1987
Field Marshal 1982; Chief of the Defence Staff 1982‑1985; Lord Lieutenant Greater London 1986‑1998; KG 1990
Peerage extinct on his death
18 Dec 1923 12 Nov 2019 95
BRAMPTON
27 Jan 1899
to    
6 Oct 1907
B 1 Sir Henry Hawkins
Created Baron Brampton 27 Jan 1899
PC 1899
Peerage extinct on his death
For an amusing anecdote concerning his wife, see the note at the foot of this page
14 Sep 1817 6 Oct 1907 90
BRAMWELL
3 Feb 1882
to    
9 May 1892
B 1 Sir George William Wilshere Bramwell
Created Baron Bramwell 3 Feb 1882
Lord Justice of Appeal 1876‑1881; PC 1876
Peerage extinct on his death
12 Jun 1808 9 May 1892 83
BRANCEPETH
3 Nov 1613
to    
Jul 1645
E 1 Robert Carr, 1st Viscount Rochester
Created Baron Brancepeth and Earl of Somerset 3 Nov 1613
See "Somerset"
c 1587 Jul 1645

31 Aug 1866 B 1 Gustavus Frederick John James Hamilton, 7th Viscount Boyne
Created Baron Brancepeth 31 Aug 1866
See "Boyne"
11 May 1797 27 Oct 1872 75
BRAND
17 Jul 1946
to    
23 Aug 1963
B 1 Robert Henry Brand
Created Baron Brand 17 Jul 1946
Peerage extinct on his death
30 Oct 1878 23 Aug 1963 84
BRANDON
23 Jul 1679 V 1 Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard of Brandon
Created Viscount Brandon and Earl of Macclesfield 23 Jul 1679
See "Macclesfield"
c 1618 7 Jan 1694

10 Sep 1711 D 1 James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton
Created Baron of Dutton and Duke of Brandon 10 Sep 1711
See "Hamilton"
11 Apr 1658 15 Nov 1712 54
BRANDON (co. Kerry)
16 Sep 1758 B[I] 1 Sir Maurice Crosbie
Created Baron Brandon 16 Sep 1758
MP [I] for Kerry County 1713‑1758
1690 20 Jan 1762 71
20 Jan 1762 2 William Crosbie, later [1776] 1st Earl of Glandore May 1716 11 Apr 1781 64
11 Apr 1781 3 John Crosbie, 2nd Earl of Glandore 25 May 1753 23 Oct 1815 62
23 Oct 1815
to    
3 May 1832
4 William Crosbie
Peerage extinct on his death
1 Nov 1771 3 May 1832 60
BRANDON (co. Kilkenny)
15 Sep 1758
to    
11 Mar 1789
E[I][L] Ellis Bermingham
Created Countess of Brandon for life 15 Sep 1758
Peerage extinct on her death
1709 11 Mar 1789 79
BRANDON OF OAKBROOK
24 Sep 1981
to    
24 Mar 1999
B[L] Sir Henry Vivian Brandon
Created Baron Brandon of Oakbrook for life 24 Sep 1981
Lord Justice of Appeal 1978‑1981; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1981‑1991; PC 1978
Peerage extinct on his death
3 Jun 1920 24 Mar 1999 78
BRAOSE
29 Dec 1299
to    
1326
B 1 William de Braose
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Braose 29 Dec 1299
On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
1326

25 Feb 1342 B 1 Thomas de Braose
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Braose 25 Feb 1342
1302 1361 59
1361 2 John de Braose 3 Feb 1367
3 Feb 1367 3 Thomas de Braose 1352 1395 43
1395 4 Thomas de Braose 1395
1395
to    
8 Jul 1399
5 Elizabeth de Saye
Peerage extinct on her death
8 Jul 1399
BRASSEY
16 Aug 1886
5 Jul 1911
B
E
1
1
Sir Thomas Brassey
Created Baron Brassey 16 Aug 1886, and Viscount Hythe and Earl Brassey 5 Jul 1911
MP for Devonport 1865 and Hastings 1868‑1886; Governor of Victoria 1895‑1901
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
11 Feb 1836 23 Feb 1918 82
23 Feb 1918
to    
12 Nov 1919
2 Thomas Allnutt Brassey
Peerages extinct on his death
For information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
7 Mar 1863 12 Nov 1919 56
BRASSEY OF APETHORPE
26 Jan 1938 B 1 Sir Henry Leonard Campbell Brassey, 1st baronet
Created Baron Brassey of Apethorpe 26 Jan 1938
MP for Northamptonshire North 1910‑1918 and Peterborough 1918‑1929
7 Mar 1870 22 Oct 1958 88
22 Oct 1958 2 Bernard Thomas Brassey 15 Feb 1905 28 Jun 1967 62
28 Jun 1967 3 David Henry Brassey 16 Sep 1932 7 May 2015 82
7 May 2015 4 Edward Brassey 9 Mar 1964
BRAY OF COLN
8 Nov 2022 B[L] Angela Lavinia Bray
Created Baroness Bray of Coln for life 8 Nov 2022
13 Oct 1953
BRAYBROOKE
5 Sep 1788 B 1 John Griffin Griffin, 4th Lord Howard de Walden
Created Baron Braybrooke 5 Sep 1788
For details of the special remainder included in this creation, see the note at the foot of this page
MP for Andover 1749‑1784; Lord Lieutenant Essex 1784‑1797
13 Mar 1719 25 May 1797 78
25 May 1797 2 Richard Griffin (previously Aldworth Neville)
MP for Grampound 1774‑1780, Buckingham 1780‑1782 and Reading 1782‑1797; Lord Lieutenant Essex 1798‑1825
29 Jun 1750 28 Feb 1825 74
28 Feb 1825 3 Richard Griffin
MP for Thirsk 1805‑1806, Saltash 1807, Buckingham 1807‑1812 and Berkshire 1812‑1825
26 Sep 1783 13 Mar 1858 74
13 Mar 1858 4 Richard Cornwallis Neville 17 Mar 1820 21 Feb 1861 40
21 Feb 1861 5 Charles Cornwallis Neville 29 Aug 1823 7 Jun 1902 78
7 Jun 1902 6 Latimer Neville 22 Apr 1827 12 Jan 1904 76
12 Jan 1904 7 Henry Neville 11 Jul 1855 9 Mar 1941 85
9 Mar 1941 8 Richard Henry Cornwallis Neville 13 Jul 1918 23 Jan 1943 24
23 Jan 1943 9 Henry Seymour Neville 5 Feb 1897 12 Feb 1990 92
12 Feb 1990 10 Robin Henry Charles Neville
Lord Lieutenant Essex 1992‑2002
29 Jan 1932 5 Jun 2017 85
5 Jun 2017 11 Richard Ralph Neville 10 Jun 1977
BRAYE
3 Nov 1529 B 1 Sir Edmund Braye
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Braye 3 Nov 1529
18 Oct 1539
18 Oct 1539
to    
19 Nov 1557
2 John Braye
On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
19 Nov 1557
3 Oct 1839
to    
21 Feb 1862
3 Sarah Otway-Cave
Abeyance terminated in her favour 1839. On her death the peerage again fell into abeyance
For further information on the termination of the abeyance, see the note at the foot of this page
2 Jul 1768 21 Feb 1862 93
13 May 1879 4 Henrietta Wyatt-Edgell
Abeyance terminated in her favour 1879
3 Nov 1809 14 Nov 1879 70
14 Nov 1879 5 Alfred Verney-Cave 23 Jul 1849 1 Jul 1928 78
1 Jul 1928 6 Adrian Verney Verney-Cave 11 Oct 1874 12 Feb 1952 77
12 Feb 1952 7 Thomas Adrian Verney-Cave 26 Jul 1902 19 Dec 1985 83
19 Dec 1985 8 Mary Penelope Aubrey-Fletcher 28 Sep 1941
BRAYLEY
22 Jun 1973
to    
16 Mar 1977
B[L] Sir (John) Desmond Brayley
Created Baron Brayley for life 22 Jun 1973
Peerage extinct on his death
29 Jan 1917 16 Mar 1977 60
BREADALBANE (AND HOLLAND)
28 Jun 1677
13 Aug 1681
V[S]
E[S]
1
1
Sir John Campbell, 5th baronet
Created Lord St. Clair, Viscount of Breadalbane and Earl of Caithness 28 Jun 1677, and Lord Glenurchy, Benederaloch, Ormelie and Weick, Viscount of Tay & Paintland, and Earl of Breadalbane & Holland 13 Aug 1681
1635 28 Mar 1717 81
28 Mar 1717 2 John Campbell
Lord Lieutenant Perthshire
19 Nov 1662 23 Feb 1752 89
23 Feb 1752 3 John Campbell
MP for Saltash 1727‑1741 and Orford 1741‑1746; PC 1766
10 Mar 1696 26 Jan 1782 85
26 Jan 1782
13 Nov 1806
12 Sep 1831
 
B
M
4
1
1
John Campbell
Created Baron Breadalbane 13 Nov 1806 and Earl of Ormelie and Marquess of Breadalbane 12 Sep 1831
For information on the fate of this peer's brother, Alexander, see the note at the foot of this page
30 Mar 1762 29 Mar 1834 71
29 Mar 1834
to    
8 Nov 1862
5
2
John Campbell
MP for Okehampton 1820‑1826 and Perthshire 1832‑1834; Lord Lieutenant Argyll 1839‑1862; KT 1838; PC 1848
On his death the Marquessate became extinct
26 Oct 1796 8 Nov 1862 66
8 Nov 1862 6 John Alexander Gavin Campbell
For further information on the Breadalbane Peerage Case of 1866, see the note at the foot of this page
30 Mar 1824 20 Mar 1871 46
20 Mar 1871
25 Mar 1873
11 Jul 1885
to    
19 Oct 1922
 
B
M
7
1
1
Gavin Campbell
Created Baron Breadalbane 25 Mar 1873 and Earl of Ormelie and Marquess of Breadalbane 11 Jul 1885
Lord Lieutenant Argyll 1914‑1922; PC 1880; KG 1894
On his death the creations of 1873 and 1885 became extinct
9 Apr 1851 19 Oct 1922 71
19 Oct 1922 8 Iain Edward Herbert Campbell 14 Jun 1885 10 May 1923 37
10 May 1923 9 Charles William Campbell 11 Jun 1889 5 May 1959 69
5 May 1959
to    
15 Dec 1995
10 John Romer Boreland Campbell
Peerage dormant on his death
For information regarding a recent claim to these peerages, see the note at the foot of this page
28 Apr 1919 15 Dec 1995 76
BRECHIN
3 Aug 1646 B[S] 1 Patrick Maule
Created Lord Maule, Brechin and Navar and Earl of Panmure 3 Aug 1646
See "Panmure"
29 May 1585 22 Dec 1661 76
BRECHIN AND NAVAR
23 Jan 1481
to    
17 Jan 1504
B[S] 1 James Stewart
Created Lord of Brechin, Navar and Ardmannoch and Earl of Ross 23 Jan 1481, and Lord Brechin & Navar, Earl of Edirdale, Marquess of Ormond and Duke of Ross 29 Jan 1488
Second son of James III of Scotland
Peerages extinct on his death
Mar 1476 17 Jan 1504 27
BRECKNOCK
20 Jul 1660 E 1 James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde
Created Baron Butler of Lanthony and Earl of Brecknock 20 Jul 1660
See "Ormonde" - peerage forfeited 1715
19 Oct 1610 21 Jul 1688 77

7 Sep 1812 E 1 John Jeffreys Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden
Created Earl of the County of Brecknock and Marquess Camden 7 Sep 1812
See "Camden"
11 Feb 1759 8 Oct 1840 81
BRECON
30 Jan 1958
to    
10 Oct 1976
B 1 David Vivian Penrose Lewis
Created Baron Brecon 30 Jan 1958
MEP 1973; PC 1960
Peerage extinct on his death
14 Aug 1905 10 Oct 1976 71
BRENNAN
2 May 2000 B[L] Daniel Joseph Brennan
Created Baron Brennan for life 2 May 2000
19 Mar 1942
BRENTFORD
27 May 1644
to    
2 Feb 1651
E 1 Patrick Ruthven
Created Baron Ruthven of Ettrick 1639, Earl of Forth 27 Mar 1642 and Earl of Brentford 27 May 1644
Peerages extinct on his death
2 Feb 1651

10 Apr 1689 E 1 Frederic Armand de Schomberg
Created Baron Teyes, Earl of Brentford, Marquess of Harwich and Duke of Schomberg 10 Apr 1689
See "Schomberg"
6 Dec 1615 1 Jul 1690 74

6 Apr 1722
to    
20 Apr 1725
B[L] Charlotte Sophia Kielmansegge, Countess of Leinster
Created Baroness of Brentford and Countess of Darlington for life 6 Apr 1722
Mistress of George I
All peerages became extinct on her death
c 1673 20 Apr 1725

5 Jul 1929 V 1 William Joynson-Hicks
Created Viscount Brentford 5 Jul 1929
MP for Manchester North West 1908‑1910, Brentford 1911‑1918 and Twickenham 1918‑1929; Postmaster General 1923; Minister of Health 1923‑1924; Home Secretary 1924‑1929; PC 1923
23 Jun 1865 8 Jun 1932 66
8 Jun 1932 2 Richard Cecil Joynson-Hicks 15 Nov 1896 27 Jun 1958 61
27 Jun 1958 3 Lancelot William Joynson-Hicks
MP for Chichester 1942‑1958
10 Apr 1902 25 Feb 1983 80
25 Feb 1983 4 Crispin William Joynson-Hicks 7 Apr 1933
BRERETON OF LEIGHLIN
11 May 1624 B[I] 1 Sir William Brereton
Created Baron Brereton of Leighlin 11 May 1624
6 Feb 1550 1 Oct 1631 81
1 Oct 1631 2 William Brereton
MP for Cheshire 1661-1664; Lord Lieutenant Cheshire 1662‑1664
28 Feb 1611 21 Apr 1664 53
Apr 1664 3 William Brereton 4 May 1631 17 Mar 1680 48
17 Mar 1680 4 John Brereton 2 Dec 1659 1718 58
1718
to    
11 Apr 1722
5 Francis Brereton
Peerage extinct on his death
1 May 1662 11 Apr 1722 59
BRETT
20 Jul 1999
to    
29 Mar 2012
B[L] William Henry Brett
Created Baron Brett for life 20 Jul 1999
Peerage extinct on his death
6 Mar 1942 29 Mar 2012 70
BRIDGE OF HARWICH
29 Sep 1980
to    
20 Nov 2007
B[L] Sir Nigel Cyprian Bridge
Created Baron Bridge of Harwich for life 29 Sep 1980
Lord Justice of Appeal 1975‑1980; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1980‑1992; PC 1975
Peerage extinct on his death
26 Feb 1917 20 Nov 2007 90
BRIDGEMAN
18 Jun 1929 V 1 William Clive Bridgeman
Created Viscount Bridgeman 18 Jun 1929
MP for Oswestry 1906‑1929; Secretary for Mines 1920‑1922; Home Secretary 1922‑1924; First Lord of the Admiralty 1924‑1929; PC 1920
31 Dec 1864 14 Aug 1935 70
14 Aug 1935 2 Robert Clive Bridgeman
Lord Lieutenant Shropshire 1951‑1970
1 Apr 1896 17 Nov 1982 86
17 Nov 1982 3 Robin John Orlando Bridgeman
[Elected hereditary peer 1999-]
5 Dec 1930
BRIDGES
4 Feb 1957 B 1 Sir Edward Ettingdene Bridges
Created Baron Bridges 4 Feb 1957
PC 1953; KG 1965
4 Aug 1892 27 Aug 1969 77
27 Aug 1969 2 Thomas Edward Bridges
[Elected hereditary peer 1999-2016]
27 Nov 1927 27 May 2017 89
27 May 2017 3 Mark Thomas Bridges 25 Jul 1954
BRIDGES OF HEADLEY
28 May 2015 B[L] James George Robert Bridges
Created Baron Bridges of Headley for life 28 May 2015
15 Jul 1970
BRIDGWATER
19 Jul 1538
to    
12 Apr 1548
E 1 Henry Daubeney, 9th Baron Daubeny
Created Earl of Bridgwater 19 Jul 1538
Peerage extinct on his death
Dec 1493 12 Apr 1548 54

27 May 1617 E 1 John Egerton, 2nd Viscount Brackley
Created Earl of Bridgwater 27 May 1617
MP for Shropshire 1601; Lord Lieutenant Shropshire, Worcester, Hereford and Monmouth 1631
1579 4 Dec 1649 70
4 Dec 1649 2 John Egerton
Lord Lieutenant Buckingham 1660‑1686, Cheshire 1673‑1676, Lancashire 1673‑1676 and Hertfordshire 1681‑1686; PC 1679
30 May 1623 26 Oct 1686 63
26 Oct 1686 3 John Egerton
MP for Buckinghamshire 1685‑1686; Lord Lieutenant Buckingham 1686‑1687 and 1689‑1701; PC 1691
9 Nov 1646 19 Mar 1701 54
19 Mar 1701
18 Jun 1720
 
D
4
1
Scroop Egerton
Created Marquess of Brackley and Duke of Bridgwater 18 Jun 1720
Lord Lieutenant Buckingham 1703‑1711 and 1714‑1728
11 Aug 1681 11 Jan 1745 63
11 Jan 1745 5
2
John Egerton 29 Apr 1727 4 Mar 1748 20
4 Mar 1748
to    
8 Mar 1803
6
3
Francis Egerton
On his death the Dukedom became extinct whilst the Earldom passed to -
21 Jul 1736 8 Mar 1803 66
8 Mar 1803 7 John William Egerton
MP for Morpeth 1777‑1780 and Brackley 1780‑1803
14 Apr 1753 21 Oct 1823 70
21 Oct 1823
to    
11 Feb 1829
8 Francis Henry Egerton
Peerage extinct on his death
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
11 Nov 1756 11 Feb 1829 72
BRIDPORT
14 Nov 1794
13 Jun 1796
16 Jun 1800
to    
3 May 1814
B[I]
B
V
1
1
1
Alexander Hood
Created Baron Bridport [I] 14 Nov 1794, Baron Bridport 13 Jun 1796 and Viscount Bridport 16 Jun 1800
MP for Bridgwater 1784‑1790 and Buckingham 1790‑1796
On his death the two peerages of Great Britain became extinct, whilst the Irish Barony passed to -
2 Dec 1726 3 May 1814 87
3 May 1814 2 Samuel Hood
MP for Heytesbury 1812‑1818
7 Dec 1788 6 Jan 1868 79
6 Jan 1868  
V
3
1
Alexander Nelson Hood
Created Viscount Bridport 6 Jul 1868
23 Dec 1814 4 Jun 1904 89
4 Jun 1904 2 Arthur Wellington Alexander Nelson Hood
MP for Somerset West 1868‑1880
15 Dec 1839 28 Mar 1924 84
28 Mar 1924 3 Rowland Arthur Herbert Nelson Hood 22 May 1911 25 Jul 1969 58
25 Jul 1969 4 Alexander Nelson Hood 17 Mar 1948
BRIENE
23 Jun 1701 V[S] 1 Robert Kerr
Created Lord Kerr of Newbottle, Viscount of Briene, Earl of Ancram and Marquess of Lothian 23 Jun 1701
See "Lothian"
8 Mar 1636 15 Feb 1703 66
BRIGGS
19 Jul 1976
to    
15 Mar 2016
B[L] Asa Briggs
Created Baron Briggs for life 19 Jul&nsbp;1976
Peerage extinct on his death
7 May 1921 15 Mar 2016 94
BRIGHTMAN
12 Mar 1982
to    
6 Feb 2006
B[L] Sir John Anson Brightman
Created Baron Brightman for life 12 Mar 1982
Lord Justice of Appeal 1979‑1982; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1982‑1986; PC 1979
Peerage extinct on his death
20 Jun 1911 6 Feb 2006 94
BRIGINSHAW
16 Jan 1975
to    
27 Mar 1992
B[L] Richard William Briginshaw
Created Baron Briginshaw for life 16 Jan 1975
Peerage extinct on his death
15 May 1908 27 Mar 1992 83
BRIGSTOCKE
21 May 1990
to    
30 Apr 2004
B[L] Heather Renwick Brigstocke
Created Baroness Brigstocke for life 21 May 1990
Peerage extinct on her death
2 Sep 1929 30 Apr 2004 74
BRIMELOW
29 Jan 1976
to    
2 Aug 1995
B[L] Sir Thomas Brimelow
Created Baron Brimelow for life 29 Jan 1976
MEP 1977‑1978
Peerage extinct on his death
25 Oct 1915 2 Aug 1995 79
BRINTON
4 Feb 2011 B[L] Sarah Virginia ["Sal"] Brinton
Created Baroness Brinton for life 4 Feb 2011
1 Apr 1955
BRISTOL
15 Sep 1622 E 1 John Digby
Created Baron Digby of Sherborne 25 Nov 1618 and Earl of Bristol 15 Sep 1622
MP for Hedon 1610
Feb 1586 21 Jan 1653 66
21 Jan 1653 2 George Digby
MP for Dorset 1640; Secretary of State 1643‑1649; KG 1653
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Digby of Sherborne 9 Jun 1641
Oct 1612 20 Mar 1677 64
20 Mar 1677
to    
18 Sep 1698
3 John Digby
MP for Dorset 1675‑1677; Lord Lieutenant Dorset 1679‑1698
Peerage extinct on his death
26 Apr 1634 18 Sep 1698 64

19 Oct 1714 E 1 John Hervey
Created Baron Hervey of Ickworth 23 Mar 1703 and Earl of Bristol 19 Oct 1714
MP for Bury St. Edmunds 1694‑1703
27 Aug 1665 20 Jan 1751 85
20 Jan 1751 2 George William Hervey
Lord Lieutenant Ireland 1766‑1767; Lord Privy Seal 1768‑1770; PC 1766
31 Aug 1721 18 Mar 1775 53
18 Mar 1775 3 Augustus John Hervey
MP for Bury St. Edmunds 1757‑1763, Saltash 1763‑1768 and Bury St. Edmunds 1768‑1775; PC [I] 1766
18 May 1724 23 Dec 1779 55
23 Dec 1779 4 Frederick Augustus Hervey
PC [I] 1767
He became sole heir to the Barony of Howard de Walden in 1799. On his death the Barony descended to his great grandson
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
1 Aug 1730 8 Jul 1803 72
8 Jul 1803
30 Jun 1826
 
M
5
1
Frederick William Hervey
Created Earl Jermyn of Horningsheath and Marquess of Bristol 30 Jun 1826
MP for Bury St. Edmunds 1796‑1803
2 Jun 1769 15 Feb 1859 89
15 Feb 1859 2 Frederick William Hervey
MP for Bury St. Edmunds 1826‑1859; PC 1841
15 Jul 1800 30 Oct 1864 64
30 Oct 1864 3 Frederick William John Hervey
MP for Suffolk West 1859‑1864; Lord Lieutenant Suffolk 1886‑1907
28 Jun 1834 7 Aug 1907 73
7 Aug 1907 4 Frederick William Fane Hervey
MP for Bury St. Edmunds 1906‑1907
8 Nov 1863 24 Oct 1951 86
24 Oct 1951 5 Herbert Arthur Robert Hervey 10 Oct 1870 5 Apr 1960 89
5 Apr 1960 6 Victor Frederick Cochrane Hervey
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
6 Oct 1915 10 Mar 1985 69
10 Mar 1985 7 Frederick William John Augustus Hervey
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
15 Sep 1954 10 Jan 1999 44
10 Jan 1999 8 Frederick William Augustus Hervey 19 Oct 1979
BRITANNY
24 May 1305
to    
17 Jan 1334
B 1 John de Dreux
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Britanny 24 May 1305
Peerage extinct on his death
17 Jan 1334
BRITTAN OF SPENNITHORNE
9 Feb 2000
to    
21 Jan 2015
B[L] Sir Leon Brittan
Created Baron Brittan of Spennithorne for life 9 Feb 2000
MP for Cleveland & Whitby 1974‑1983 and Richmond (Yorkshire) 1983‑1988; Minister of State, Home Office 1979‑1981; Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1981‑1983; Home Secretary 1983‑1985; Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1985‑1986; PC 1981
Peerage extinct on his death
25 Sep 1939 21 Jan 2015 75
BRITTEN
2 Jul 1976
to    
4 Dec 1976
B[L] Edward Benjamin Britten
Created Baron Britten for life 2 Jul 1976
CH 1953; OM 1965
Peerage extinct on his death
22 Nov 1913 4 Dec 1976 63
BROADBRIDGE
14 Sep 1945 B 1 Sir George Thomas Broadbridge, 1st baronet
Created Baron Broadbridge 14 Sep 1945
MP for London 1938‑1945
13 Feb 1869 17 Apr 1952 83
17 Apr 1952 2 Eric Wilberforce Broadbridge 22 Dec 1895 18 Nov 1972 76
18 Nov 1972 3 Peter Hewett Broadbridge 19 Aug 1938 6 Feb 2000 61
6 Feb 2000 4 Martin Hugh Broadbridge 29 Nov 1929 19 Apr 2020 90
19 Apr 2020 5 Richard John Martin Broadbridge 20 Jan 1959
BROCAS
29 Jun 1925 V 1 John Rushworth Jellicoe
Created Viscount Brocas and Earl Jellicoe 29 Jun 1925
See "Jellicoe"
5 Dec 1859 20 Nov 1935 75
BROCK
5 Jul 1965
to    
3 Sep 1980
B[L] Sir Russell Claude Brock
Created Baron Brock for life 5 Jul 1965
Peerage extinct on his death
24 Oct 1903 3 Sep 1980 76
BROCKET
19 Jan 1933 B 1 Sir Charles Alexander Nall-Cain, 1st baronet
Created Baron Brocket 19 Jan 1933
29 May 1866 21 Nov 1934 68
21 Nov 1934 2 Arthur Ronald Nall Nall-Cain
MP for Wavertree 1931‑1934
4 Aug 1904 24 Mar 1967 62
24 Mar 1967 3 Charles Ronald George Nall-Cain 12 Feb 1952
BROCKWAY
17 Dec 1964
to    
28 Apr 1988
B[L] Archibald Fenner Brockway
Created Baron Brockway for life 17 Dec 1964
MP for Leyton East 1929‑1931 and Eton & Slough 1950‑1964
Peerage extinct on his death
1 Nov 1888 28 Apr 1988 99
BRODRICK
13 Apr 1715 B[I] 1 Alan Brodrick
Created Baron Brodrick 13 Apr 1715 and Viscount Midleton 15 Aug 1717
See "Midleton"
1656 29 Aug 1728 72

11 Jun 1796 B 1 George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton
Created Baron Brodrick [GB] 11 Jun 1796
For details of the special remainder included in the creation of this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page containing details of the Viscountcy of Midleton
See "Midleton"
1 Nov 1754 12 Aug 1836 81
BROERS
21 Jun 2004 B[L] Sir Alec Nigel Broers
Created Baron Broers for life 21 Jun 2004
17 Sep 1938
BROME
30 Jun 1753 V 1 Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis
Created Viscount Brome and Earl Cornwallis 30 Jun 1753
See "Cornwallis"
29 Mar 1700 23 Jun 1762 62
BROOKE
29 Jan 1621 B 1 Fulke Greville
Created Baron Brooke 29 Jan 1621
MP for Warwickshire 1586‑1601; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1614‑1621
1554 30 Sep 1628 74
30 Sep 1628 2 Robert Greville
MP for Warwickshire 1628; Lord Lieutenant Warwick 1642
1607 2 Mar 1643 35
2 Mar 1643 3 Francis Greville Nov 1658
Nov 1658 4 Robert Greville
Lord Lieutenant Stafford 1660‑1677
c 1638 17 Feb 1677
17 Feb 1677 5 Fulke Greville
MP for Warwick 1664‑1677
May 1643 22 Oct 1710 67
22 Oct 1710 6 Fulke Greville 1693 22 Feb 1711 17
22 Feb 1711 7 William Greville 1695 28 Jul 1727 32
28 Jul 1727
7 Jul 1746
 
E
8
1
Francis Greville
Created Earl Brooke of Warwick Castle 7 Jul 1746 and Earl of Warwick 13 Nov 1759
Lord Lieutenant Warwick 1749‑1757; KT 1753
10 Oct 1719 6 Jul 1773 53
6 Jul 1773 2 George Greville (also 2nd Earl of Warwick)
MP for Warwick 1768‑1773; Lord Lieutenant Warwick 1795‑1816
16 Sep 1746 2 May 1816 69
2 May 1816 3 Henry Richard Greville (also 3rd Earl of Warwick)
MP for Warwick 1802‑1816; Lord Lieutenant Warwick 1822‑1853; KT 1827
29 Mar 1779 10 Aug 1853 74
10 Aug 1853 4 George Guy Greville (also 4th Earl of Warwick)
MP for Warwickshire South 1845‑1853
28 Mar 1818 2 Dec 1893 75
2 Dec 1893 5 Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville (also 5th Earl of Warwick)
MP for Somerset East 1879‑1885 and Colchester 1888‑1892; Lord Lieutenant Essex 1901‑1919
9 Feb 1853 15 Jan 1924 70
15 Jan 1924 6 Leopold Guy Francis Maynard Greville (also 6th Earl of Warwick) 10 Sep 1882 31 Jan 1928 45
31 Jan 1928 7 Charles Guy Fulke Greville (also 7th Earl of Warwick) 4 Mar 1911 20 Jan 1984 72
20 Jan 1984 8 David Robin Francis Guy Greville (also 8th Earl of Warwick) 15 May 1934 20 Jan 1996 61
20 Jan 1996 9 Guy David Greville (also 9th Earl of Warwick) 30 Jan 1957
BROOKE OF ALVERTHORPE
23 Oct 1997 B[L] Clive Brooke
Created Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe for life 23 Oct 1997
21 Jun 1942
BROOKE OF CUMNOR
20 Jul 1966
to    
29 Mar 1984
B[L] Henry Brooke
Created Baron Brooke of Cumnor for life 20 Jul 1966
MP for Lewisham West 1938‑1945 and Hampstead 1950‑1966; Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1954‑1957; Minister of Housing 1957‑1961; Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General 1961‑1962; Home Secretary 1962‑1964; PC 1955; CH 1964
Peerage extinct on his death
9 Apr 1903 29 Mar 1984 80
BROOKE OF OAKLEY
4 Jul 1939
to    
17 Nov 1944
B 1 Sir Arthur Richard de Capell‑Brooke, 5th baronet
Created Baron Brooke of Oakley 4 Jul 1939
Peerage extinct on his death
12 Oct 1869 17 Nov 1944 75
BROOKE OF SUTTON MANDEVILLE
30 Jul 2001
to    
13 May 2023
B[L] Peter Leonard Brooke
Created Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville for life 30 Jul 2001
MP for London & Westminster South 1977‑1997 and London & Westminster 1997‑2001; Minister of State, Treasury 1985‑1987; Paymaster General 1987‑1989; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1989‑1992; Secretary of State for National Heritage 1992‑1994; PC 1988; CH 1992
Peerage extinct on his death
3 Mar 1934 13 May 2023 89
BROOKE OF YSTRADFELLTE
7 Dec 1964
to    
1 Sep 2000
B[L] Dame Barbara Muriel Brooke
Created Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte for life 7 Dec 1964
Peerage extinct on her death
14 Jan 1908 1 Sep 2000 92
BROOKEBOROUGH
1 Jul 1952 V 1 Sir Basil Stanlake Brooke, 5th baronet
Created Viscount Brookeborough 1 Jul 1952
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1943‑1963; Lord Lieutenant Fermanagh 1963‑1969; KG 1965; PC [NI] 1933
9 Jun 1888 18 Aug 1973 85
18 Aug 1973 2 John Warden Brooke
PC [NI] 1971
9 Nov 1922 5 Mar 1987 64
5 Mar 1987 3 Alan Henry Brooke
Lord Lieutenant Fermanagh 2012-; KG 2018
[Elected hereditary peer 1999-]
30 Jun 1952
BROOKES
14 Jan 1976
to    
31 Jul 2002
B[L] Sir Raymond Percival Brookes
Created Baron Brookes for life 14 Jan 1976
Peerage extinct on his death
10 Apr 1909 31 Jul 2002 93
BROOKMAN
30 Jul 1998 B[L] David Keith Brookman
Created Baron Brookman for life 30 Jul 1998
3 Jan 1937
BROOKS OF TREMORFA
17 Jul 1979
to    
4 Mar 2016
B[L] John Edward Brooks
Created Baron Brooks of Tremorfa for life 17 Jul 1979
Peerage extinct on his death
12 Apr 1927 4 Mar 2016 88
BROOME
27 Jul 1914 B 1 Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener
Created Baron Denton, Viscount Broome and Earl Kitchener of Khartoum 27 Jul 1914
See "Kitchener of Khartoum"
24 Jun 1850 5 Jun 1916 65
BROTHERTON
17 Jun 1929
to    
21 Oct 1930
B 1 Sir Edward Allen Brotherton, 1st baronet
Created Baron Brotherton 17 Jun 1929
MP for Wakefield 1902‑1910 and 1918‑1922
Peerage extinct on his death
1 Apr 1856 21 Oct 1930 74
BROUGHAM AND VAUX
22 Nov 1830
22 Mar 1860
to    
7 May 1868
B
B
1
1
Henry Peter Brougham
Created Baron Brougham and Vaux 22 Nov 1830 and again 22 Mar 1860
For details of the special remainder included in the creation of the Barony of 1860, see the note at the foot of this page
MP for Camelford 1810‑1812, Winchelsea 1815‑1830, Yorkshire 1830 and Knaresborough 1830; Lord Chancellor 1830‑1834; PC 1830
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
On his death the 1830 creation became extinct but the 1860 creation passed to -
19 Sep 1778 7 May 1868 89
7 May 1868 2 William Brougham
MP for Southwark 1831‑1835
26 Sep 1795 1 Jan 1886 90
1 Jan 1886 3 Henry Charles Brougham 2 Sep 1836 24 May 1927 90
24 May 1927 4 Victor Henry Peter Brougham 23 Oct 1909 20 Jun 1967 57
20 Jun 1967 5 Michael John Brougham
[Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2023]
2 Aug 1938 27 Aug 2023 85
27 Aug 2023 6 Charles William Brougham 9 Nov 1971
BROUGHSHANE
19 Sep 1945 B 1 Sir William Henry Davison
Created Baron Broughshane 19 Sep 1945
MP for Kensington South 1918‑1945
1872 19 Jan 1953 80
19 Jan 1953 2 Patrick Owen Alexander Davison 18 Jun 1903 22 Sep 1995 92
22 Sep 1995
to    
24 Mar 2006
3 William Kensington Davison
Peerage extinct on his death
25 Nov 1914 24 Mar 2006 91
BROUGHTON
26 Feb 1851
to    
3 Jun 1869
B 1 Sir John Cam Hobhouse
Created Baron Broughton 26 Feb 1851
MP for Westminster 1820‑1833, Nottingham 1834‑1847 and Harwich 1848‑1851; Secretary for War 1832‑1833; Chief Secretary for Ireland 1833; Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1834; President of the Board of Control 1835‑1841 and 1846‑1852; PC 1832
Peerage extinct on his death
27 Jun 1786 3 Jun 1869 82
BROUNCKER
12 Sep 1645 V[I] 1 Sir William Brouncker
Created Baron and Viscount Brouncker 12 Sep 1645
1585 Nov 1645 60
Nov 1645 2 William Brouncker
President of the Royal Society 1662‑1677
1620 5 Apr 1684 63
5 Apr 1684
to    
4 Jan 1688
3 Henry Brouncker
Peerages extinct on his death
1626 4 Jan 1688 61
BROWN
22 Dec 1964
to    
17 Mar 1985
B[L] Wilfred Banks Duncan Brown
Created Baron Brown for life 22 Dec 1964
Minister of State, Board of Trade 1964‑1970; PC 1970
Peerage extinct on his death
29 Nov 1908 17 Mar 1985 76
BROWN OF CAMBRIDGE
30 Oct 2015 B[L] Dame Julia Elizabeth King
Created Baroness Brown of Cambridge for life 30 Oct 2015
11 Jul 1954
BROWN OF EATON UNDER HEYWOOD
13 Jan 2004
to    
7 Jul 2023
B[L] Sir Simon Denis Brown
Created Baron Brown of Eaton under Heywood for life 13 Jan 2004
Lord Justice of Appeal 1992‑2004; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 2004‑2009; Justice of the Supreme Court 2009‑2012; PC 1992
Peerage extinct on his death
9 Apr 1937 7 Jul 2023 86
BROWNE OF BELMONT
12 Jun 2006 B[L] Wallace Browne
Created Baron Browne of Belmont for life 12 Jun 2006
29 Oct 1947
BROWNE OF LADYTON
22 Jul 2010 B[L] Desmond Henry Browne
Created Baron Browne of Ladyton for life 22 Jul 2010
MP for Kilmarnock & Loudoun 1997‑2010; Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2005‑2006; Secretary of State for Defence 2006‑2008; Secretary of State for Scotland 2007‑2008; PC 2005
22 Mar 1952
BROWNE OF MADINGLEY
28 Jun 2001 B[L] Sir Edmund John Philip Browne
Created Baron Browne of Madingley for life 28 Jun 2001
20 Feb 1948
BROWNE-WILKINSON
1 Oct 1991
to    
25 Jul 2018
B[L] Sir Nicholas Christopher Henry Browne‑Wilkinson
Created Baron Browne-Wilkinson for life 1 Oct 1991
Lord Justice of Appeal 1983‑1985; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1991‑2000; PC 1983
Peerage extinct on his death
30 Mar 1930 25 Jul 2018 88
BROWNING
9 Jul 2010 B[L] Angela Frances Browning
Created Baroness Browning for life 9 Jul 2010
MP for Tiverton 1992‑1997 and Tiverton & Honiton 1997‑2010
4 Dec 1946
BROWNLOW
20 May 1776 B 1 Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th baronet
Created Baron Brownlow 20 May 1776
MP for Ilchester 1768‑1774 and Grantham 1774‑1776
3 Dec 1744 25 Dec 1807 63
25 Dec 1807
27 Nov 1815
 
E
2
1
John Cust
Created Viscount Alford and Earl Brownlow 27 Nov 1815
MP for Clitheroe 1802‑1807; Lord Lieutenant Lincoln 1809‑1852
19 Aug 1779 15 Sep 1853 74
15 Sep 1853 3
2
John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton-Cust 28 Jun 1842 20 Feb 1867 24
20 Feb 1867
to    
17 Mar 1921
4
3
Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust
MP for Shropshire North 1866‑1867; Paymaster General 1887‑1889; Lord Lieutenant Lincoln 1867‑1921; PC 1887
On his death the Earldom became extinct whilst the Barony passed to -
19 Aug 1844 17 Mar 1921 76
17 Mar 1921 5 Adelbert Salisbury Cockayne Cust 14 Sep 1867 19 Apr 1927 59
19 Apr 1927 6 Peregrine Francis Adelbert Cust
Lord Lieutenant Lincoln 1936‑1950
27 Apr 1899 28 Jul 1978 79
28 Jul 1978 7 Edward John Peregrine Cust 25 Mar 1936 15 May 2021 85
15 May 2021 8 Peregrine Edward Quintin Cust 9 Jul 1974
BROWNLOW OF SHURLOCK ROW
9 Oct 2019 B[L] David Ellis Brownlow
Created Baron Brownlow of Shurlock Row for life 9 Oct 2019
16 Sep 1963
BROXBOURNE
21 Sep 1983
to    
22 Jan 1992
B[L] Sir Derek Colclough Walker-Smith, 1st baronet
Created Baron Broxbourne for life 21 Sep 1983
MP for Hertford 1945‑1955 and Hertfordshire East 1955‑1983; MEP 1973‑1979; Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1956‑1957; Minister of State, Board of Trade 1957; Minister of Health 1957‑1960; PC 1957
Peerage extinct on his death
13 Apr 1910 22 Jan 1992 81
BROXMOUTH
25 Apr 1707 V[S] 1 John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe
Created Lord Ker of Cessfurd & Cavertoun, Viscount of Broxmouth, Earl of Kelso, Marquess of Bowmont & Cessfurd and Duke of Roxburghe 25 Apr 1707
See "Roxburghe"
c 1680 24 Feb 1741
 

Jane, Lady Hawkins, wife of Baron Brampton
Jane Louis Reynolds married in 1887, as his second wife, the eminent judge Sir Henry Hawkins, who was later created Baron Brampton. According to Colin Simpson, Lewis Chester and David in their book The Cleveland Street Affair [Little Brown, Boston 1976] she was very ambitious for her husband and is described in that book as being a noted Mrs Malaprop. The authors give an amusing example of this trait - "She is reported to have said after being congratulated on possession of a particularly fine Persian carpet: "You wouldn't believe how many people have copulated me on that carpet."
Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey
The following biography of Lord Brassey appeared in the Australian monthly magazine Parade in its issue for December 1963:-
Although World War I was only weeks away, June 1914 saw international social events in full swing. Among those who attended the German naval regatta at Kiel was a portly Englishman who rose at dawn and rowed himself about the crowded harbour. Since the battleships Seydlitz, Roon and von der Tann, pride of the Kaiser's new Imperial Navy, were lying at anchor at Kiel, German counter­espionage agents were on edge. They did not trust the inquisitive, cigar-smoking English oarsman. Although apparently well over 70, he sculled with the ease of a professional waterman. The agents decided his battered yachting cap, fisherman's guernsey and ancient reefer jacket were worn as a blind. Because the Kaiser was due in Kiel at any moment, the secret service men decided to take no risks. They pounced on the mysterious oarsman and lodged him in Kiel naval prison. The Englishman's only reaction was to roar with laughter. "Lock me up by all means, gentlemen," he said urbanely, "but kindly get me some more cigars and tell your emperor why I won't be dining with him this evening".
The supposed spy was the veteran British peer Lord Brassey, millionaire philanthropist, political economist, naval authority and owner-skipper of the 530-ton Sunbeam, the most famous steam yacht afloat. Although the yacht had been in commission for 30 years and had logged nearly a million miles, Brassey asserted that she was still the most seaworthy private yacht in the world. But the Sunbeam was no toy to Thomas Brassey, who had less of the playboy in his composition than most other millionaires of his time. His yacht was as much his home as his mansion in Park Lane or his country home at Normanhurst, Sussex.
The first yacht-owner to hold a master-mariner's ticket, Lord Brassey sailed the Sunbeam to almost every country, setting up records unlikely to be equalled. The Sunbeam was the first private vessel to navigate the inland sea of Japan. Brassey remains the only owner-skipper to sail a steamship through the Straits of Magellan.
Lord Brassey was the son of "Old Tom" Brassey, a small farmer and land surveyor who, in 1831, became friendly with George Stephenson of railway fame. Convinced by Stephenson that stage-coaches belonged to the past, Brassey decided to tender for the construction of a few miles of railway line. The completed job won him such a reputation that within a few years he was the world's biggest railway contractor, with a business extending to Canada, Australia, Japan, Russia and the Argentine. A man of great vision, Brassey supplied his own raw materials by establishing mines, smelters, foundries, shipyards and timber mills. During the 1850s he had 100,000 men on his payroll. After making fortunes for many of his associates, he left an estate of £5.2 million when he died in 1870.
Born in Stafford in 1836, Thomas had no urge to build railways. He wanted to join the navy. But his father soon convinced him that the navy was in such a chaotic state and promotion was so slow he would probably remain a midshipman for years. So young Tom decided to tackle the navy from the top. Instead of joining as a cadet midshipman, he went to Oxford University, took high honours in law, history and economics, and spent his vacations navigating small craft in the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean.
At the age of 29 Brassey entered the House of Commons. His maiden speech, which took five months to prepare and 50 minutes to deliver, showed the Royal Navy had acquired a new and authoritative critic and advocate. Both were needed. Ever since the end of the Napoleonic wars 50 years before, the navy had been sinking deeper into confusion. It had become a medley of wooden ships, iron ships, steamships, sailing ships and composites. Trained in the age of sail, the average senior officer, whom Brassey described as having a head as well as a heart of oak, had a three-decker outlook. The prejudice against steam power was as strong as that against breech­loading guns. Engineers had no standing, professional or social. One captain even ordered the marine sentries at the gangway not to salute engineer officers when they boarded or left the ship.
From the outset of his political career, Brassey set himself to tidy up this expensive and dangerous mess. He advocated chiefly the scrapping of obsolete vessels, the formation of the Royal Naval Reserve, the appointment of gunnery and torpedo officers and the promotion of engineers to ranks equal to those of deck officers. He had an immense capacity for work and wrote a number of important books on naval reform. Becoming one of the Lords of the Admiralty he eventually pushed home most of the changes he had advocated. But his straight-from-the-shoulder methods and inability to mince words cost him a lot of popularity.
In the early 1870s he began the world travels which made him the most notable tourist of the time. After experimenting with several chartered vessels, he built the Sunbeam, a 530-ton ship described by naval architects as a composite three-masted, topsail screw schooner. Fitted with 350-horsepower engines, the Sunbeam carried a crew of 35, including seamen, engineers, cooks, stewards, stewardesses and a surgeon. To this complement were usually added the personal servants of the Brassey family.
Brassey's first venture in the Sunbeam was a cruise to northern Europe and the Norwegian fiords. In 1876 the yacht left Chatham on her first round-the-world voyage. The owner, who earned his master's certificate by examination in the usual way, proved himself a thoroughly competent mariner. Off Patagonia, the yacht made news when she rescued the crew of the Monkshaven, which was going down in flames. But her presence in the Pacific baffled the inhabitants of some of the remoter islands. "You come here save soul?" asked the chief of Mattea. When Brassey assured him that he was not a missionary, the chief fell back on the two other standard occupations of white men in the Pacific at that time: "You steal men or sell grog?" Learning that his visitor was neither a blackbirder nor a bootlegger, the chief gave it up. "Why the hell you come here at all then?" he demanded.
In 1886 Brassey's support for the unpopular cause of Irish Home Rule cost him his seat in the Commons. Raised to the peerage, he took his seat in the House of Lords and as Lord Brassey set out on another world trip, taking in the East Indies and Australia. In Melbourne he made a hit when he led the search for a fishing boat which had disappeared during a gale in Port Phillip and rescued the crew from a buoy half a mile off Mornington. Queenslanders were delighted when he took his famous yacht right up the coast, entertaining children on board at every port from Brisbane to Cooktown.
In 1895 Brassey, who was now known as "his yachtship", returned to Australia in the Sunbeam, this time as Governor of Victoria. The economic boom of the 1880s had burst and Melbourne was a depressed city. Lord Brassey did his best to cheer everyone up. His vice-regal salary meant nothing to the governor. He spent his first year's pay on a ball the first week he arrived. After that his donations to charity and hiscial expenses assumed astronomical proportions. During [Melbourne] Cup Week in 1898, after having entertained 5000 citizens at a garden party, he gave two balls, each of which was attended by 3000 guests. On Steeplechase Day, he stayed away from Flemington [Racecourse] to entertain 5000 school-children to tea. Nothing pleased him more than to see a few thousand of the city's ragamuffins swarming over the Government House lawns or being marched into the huge marquees which sailors from the Sunbeam were always on hand to erect. His caterer became accustomed to receiving a telephone call from an aide ordering 10,000 bottles of lemonade, 6000 sponge cakes, jam tarts and sausage rolls and anything up to a ton of boiled sweets.
Lord Brassey revived yacht racing on Port Phillip Bay, and did a lot of cruising in the Sunbeam, including a trip to New Zealand, where he was arrested for furious bicycle riding in Christchurch. He was the last colonial governor of Victoria [i.e. prior to Australia's Federation in 1901]. What the job cost him was never revealed. To the grief of caterers, dressmakers, florists, tailors, bandsmen and even the proprietors of roundabouts and Punch-and-Judy shows, he left in 1900.
Although Australia saw him no more, his yachtship sailed on. In 1910, at the age of 74, he took the Sunbeam across the Atlantic for the last time. Five years later she turned up in the eastern Mediterranean where her indomitable commander used her as an auxiliary hospital ship during the Gallipoli campaign. By the time he was 80, Brassey forsook the sea and the Sunbeam to the Indian Government for the rest of the war. Dying early in 1918 at the age of 82, her owner did not see her again. The following year Brassey's only son was killed in an accident and the title became extinct [see following note for more details].
The name lives on in Brassey's Naval Annual, a publication founded by the earl in 1886 and still regarded as authoritative. [After undergoing a number of changes of name, the publication continued until 1992]. The famous Sunbeam ended her career as a training ship for boys in Pangbourne on the Thames, a fate that disgusted some of the former members of her crew.
************************
Surprisingly, the article above makes no mention of Brassey's first wife. He married, on 9 October 1860, Anna Allnutt (7 October 1839-14 September 1887), who accompanied him on the Sunbeam during its voyages. Following the completion of the round the world voyage of 1876-77, she published A Voyage in the Sunbeam which became a best-seller. The standard biographies of Lady Brassey state that she died of malaria and was buried at sea in September 1887.
However, a number of American newspapers for many years after her death sought to inject an element of mystery into her death, for no reason that I have ever been able to discover. One such typical article appeared in The Los Angeles Times of 17 July 1904:-
Mysterious indeed was the disappearance at sea of Lady Brassey on September 4 [sic], 1887. She had been visiting India with her husband, Lord Brassey, and was voyaging on board her well-known yacht, the Sunbeam, from Bombay to Melbourne. Her children were on board and inasmuch as both they and her husband were devoted to her, and her life had been a singularly happy one, there was no reason whatsoever why she should have taken her life. Yet one evening when the maid tapped at the door of her cabin in order to help her dress for dinner, she found the apartment empty, and as dinner was announced before Lady Brassey appeared, she notified Lord Brassey. The latter, who like his daughters, had been under the impression that Lady Brassey had been resting in her cabin, at once became alarmed and instituted a search which failed to bring to light any trace of the unfortunate woman. The Sunbeam remained cruising about in the vicinity in the hope of recovering at least the body. But it was a vain hope at the best, since the seas in those latitudes are infested with sharks.
Did Lady Brassey fall overboard, or throw herself into the sea voluntarily? No one knows to this day. Her end has always been shrouded in mystery, and I doubt whether any of those in this country who peruse the pages of that singularly charming book entitled "The Voyage of the Sunbeam", which is to be found in every American library, public as well as private, are aware of the strange fate of its gifted author.
Thomas Allnutt Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey
The 2nd Earl died after being hit by a taxi while crossing a London street. The following report of his inquest appeared in The Scotsman on 15 November 1919:-
Dr Ingleby Oddie at the Westminster Coroner's Court yesterday held an inquest concerning the death of Earl Brassey, who died on Wednesday from injuries received in a taxi-cab accident, which took place yesterday week at Westminster.
Evidence was given by the widow of the deceased peer, Lady Idena Mary Brassey, who identified her husband, and said he was 56 years of age, and lived at 32 Lancaster Gardens. Earl Brassey met with an accident on November 6th, but the only thing he said about it was that a taxi-cab caught him in the back and knocked him down. The late Earl, she added, was in good health, but one of his eyes was rather affected. He shot with his left eye.
The Coroner - And his hearing? - Witness - Quite good.
Police-Constable Maynard produced a plan of the spot near Westminster Hospital where the accident took place. He explained that it had been drawn up when it was proposed to put a refuge there. The roadway was wood-paved, and about 110 feet wide.
The Coroner, after examining the plans remarked that it would be a very good thing if a refuge was placed there.
Grace Mary Fenning, of Shotter Mill, Haslemere, said that she was in the taxi-cab going towards Westminster Bridge when the accident occurred. The taxi was driving at a quite ordinary pace, and the driver, she believed, was on the right side of the road. She happened to be looking out of the window at the time, and saw a man suddenly dashing across the road, evidently to the other side. He was going at an angle of about fifteen degrees towards the taxi.
The Coroner - Was he in front of you? - I only just saw him. His back was towards me. He was running.
What did the driver do? - He pulled up after the man had collided with the taxi. As far as I could see the taxi man could not possibly have pulled up in time to avoid him.
Police-Constable Marriner, who was on point duty at the time of the accident, said that Lord Brassey refused to go to the Hospital on a stretcher. Witness assisted him to walk there. After attention in the hospital witness accompanied him home in a cab. Lord Brassey said to him about the accident, "I think it was my own fault. I was passing in front of another vehicle."
Sir Geo. Hastings, who attended Earl Brassey at his home, said that on the evening of the accident he appeared to be perfectly well, and talked and complained of pain at the back of his head. Later on he became confused in his speech, and went into a sort of coma. Next morning witness found him comatose. Other surgeons were called in, and early on Wednesday morning they operated, and a clot the size of a fist was discovered and removed. This, however, gave no relief, and Lord Brassey sank during the day, and died at 6.30 on Wednesday evening. The actual cause of death was the injury to the brain and a fractured skull.
The Coroner said there was no evidence of negligence on the part of the driver, and he would record a verdict of "accidental death".
The special remainder to the Barony of Braybrooke created in 1788
From the London Gazette of 26 August 1788 (issue 13020, page 413):-
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignity of a Baron of the Kingdom of Great Britain to the Right Honourable John Griffin, Lord Howard of Walden, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, and General of His Majesty's Forces, and to the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Name, Stile and Title of Lord Braybrooke, Baron of Braybrooke, in the County of Northampton; with Remainder to Richard Aldworth Neville, of Billingbear, in the County of Berks, Esq; and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten.
The successful claim to the Barony of Braye 1835-1839
After being in abeyance for the best part of 300 years, a descendant of one of the co-heirs to this peerage petitioned for the termination of the abeyance in 1835. In the following year, this petition was heard by the Committee of Privileges, as reported in the London Morning Post of 27 February 1836:-
The claim of Mrs. Sarah Otway Cave to the above title and dignity [the barony of Braye] came on to be investigated this morning, before a Committee of Privileges …
In consequence of the obscurity attending this and other ancient baronies, from the loss of the early Parliamentary records, and the length of time during which they have been lying in abeyance, two extremely important questions have arisen, affecting Peerage claims generally, viz., whether the baronies were originally created by writs of summons, or by patent or charter; and, secondly, whether they are baronies in fee, descendible to heirs general; or baronies in tail, limited and descendible to heirs male only.
The present claim arises under the following circumstances:- Sir Edmund Braye, of Braye, in the county of Bedford, Knight, was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of the realm, by writ, as is stated in the twenty-first year of the reign of King Edward VIII [Henry VIII] (anno 1529), and sat in Parliament in pursuance thereof, whereby he acquired the dignity of a Baron to him and the heirs of his body. He married Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Hallighwell, and died in the 31st of Henry VIII (1539), leaving issue by his said wife one son, John Braye, and six daughters viz., Anne, Elizabeth, Frideswide, Mary, Dorothy, and Frances. He was succeeded by his only son, the said John, second Baron Braye, who was repeatedly summoned to and sat in Parliament as a Baron of the realm in the reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, and Queen Mary, and died on the 18th of November, 4 and 5 Phil. and Mary (1557), without issue, leaving his aforesaid six sisters, his co-heirs, in whom, or whose descendants and representatives, the barony fell into abeyance, in which state it still continues, and is therefore at his Majesty's disposal. Neither the writ of summons or any enrolment of it is now extant, nor is any patent or charter creating the barony enrolled.
In the month of November last [1835] the claimant presented a petition to the King, praying that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to determine the abeyance in her favour, she being the sole heiress of the body of Elizabeth, the second sister and co-heir of John, the last Baron Braye, who married Sir Ralph Verney, and setting forth in her said petition that the other co-heirs of the barony were Sir William Boothby, of Ashbourn Hall, in the county of Derby, Bart., as heir of Anne, the eldest sister and co-heir of John the last Baron Braye, and that her grandson and heir, Henry, Lord Cobham, was attainted on high treason in the year 1603, which attainder has never been reversed (the representation of the eldest co-heir is therefore vested in the Crown); Sir Percival Hart Dyke, of Lullingstone Castle, in the county of Kent, Baronet, as heir of Frideswide, the third sister and co-heir of the said Baron Braye; his Grace the Duke of Bedford, as heir to Dorothy, the fifth sister and co-heir; and Sir Francis Vincent, Bart., as heir to Francis, the sixth and youngest sister, and co-heir of the said Lord Braye; and with respect to Mary, the fourth sister and co-heir, that she married Sir Robert Peckham, Knight, and that her descendants, if any at all, are unknown, a most diligent search, as well as every other effort to trace this branch of the family, having been unsuccessful. The probability is that there was no issue of her marriage, as her husband, Sir Robert Peckham, of Bellesden, in the county of Bucks, Knight, by his will, dated the 11th of September, 1569, and proved on the 17th of the same month, directed his body to be buried in the Church of St. Gregory, at Rome, and his heart to be taken out and placed in lead, and sent to his brother and "universal heir, Sir George Peckham", whom he appointed his executor and heir to all his lands and possessions. He bequeathed all his rings and jewels to "his dearest Mary Peckham", besides the legacies given to her by a former will made in England.
The petition was referred by his Majesty to the Attorney-General, who reported on the 18th of January last that there was strong evidence to show that the petitioner was the sole heiress of the body of Elizabeth, the second daughter of the first, and the sister and co-heir of the second and last Baron Braye, but from the obscurity in which the creation of the Barony was involved, and the length of time the title had been in abeyance, he felt it his duty to recommend to his Majesty to refer the claim to the House of Peers, which was accordingly done.
The only evidence this day gone into was that of the Rev Mr  Wright, the rector of the parish of Middle Clayton, in the county of Bucks, who produced and proved extracts from, and examined copies of, the parish register and monumental inscriptions, in order to prove the descent and certain links in the pedigree, commencing with Sir Ralph Verney, who died in September, 1696, and ending with Mary, Baroness of Fermanagh, in Ireland, who died in November, 1810, unmarried, and was the last of the noble family of Verney. Some of these extracts were curious. They mention that information on oath was given of some of the bodies having been buried and wound up in linen instead of woollen, for which, according to the act of 30 Car. II, certain forfeitures were incurred, and penalties levied and paid to the poor of the parish.
Eventually, on 27 August 1839, Sarah was found to be co-heir to the barony of Braye, following which the abeyance was terminated in her favour by letters patent dated 3 October 1839.
Alexander Campbell, brother of the 1st Marquess of Breadalbane (31 March 1767-24 August 1808)
Campbell was executed in 1808 for killing a fellow army officer in a duel. The killing of an opponent in a duel was, under English law, treated as being a murder, although the courts were often very lenient in applying this interpretation. However, the prohibition on duelling in the military was generally much more rigidly observed, and was, accordingly, more severely punished.
The following account of his trial appeared in the Aberdeen Journal of 14 August 1808:-
On Thursday, the 4th came on at Armagh Assizes the trial of Brevet-Major Alexander Campbell, of the 21st regiment of foot, accused of murder, by shooting Captain Alexander Boyd, of the same regiment, with a pistol bullet.
The circumstances of the quarrel were detailed in evidence by Mr Adams, assistant-surgeon of the regiment, who stated that he knew Major Campbell and Captain Boyd. In June 1807 they were quartered in the barracks in the county of Armagh, near Newry. On the 23rd of said month, the regiment was inspected by General Kerr; after the inspection the General and officers messed together; about 8 o'clock all of the officers left the mess, except Major C., Captain B., witness and Lieut. Hall. A conversation then commenced by Major C. stating, "General Ker corrected him that day about a particular mode of giving a word of command, when he conceived he gave it right;" he mentioned how he gave it, and how the General corrected him. Captain Boyd remarked, "neither was correct according to Dundas, which is the King's order". Major C. said it might not be according to the King's order, but still he conceived it was not incorrect. Captain B. still insisted, "it was not correct, according to the King's order". They argued for some time, until Captain B. said, "he knew it as well as any man;" Major C. replied, "he doubted that much". Capt. Boyd at length said, "he knew it better than him, let him take that as he liked". Major Campbell then got up and said, "Then, Captain Boyd, do you say that I am wrong?" Capt. B. replied, "I do - I know I am right according to the King's order". Major C. then quitted the room. Capt B. remained after him for some time; he left the room before witness or Lieut. Hall. Witness and Lieut. Hall went out together in a short time after; they went to a second mess room, and there Captain B. came up and spoke to them. They then went out together, and witness left Captain B. and Lieut. Deivars. In about 20 minutes after, he was called on to visit Capt.  Boyd; he went and found him sitting on a chair vomiting; he examined his wound, and conceived it a very dangerous one; he survived it but 18 hours.
John Hoy, the mess waiter to the 21st regt. Deposed to his having gone in quest of Capt. B. at Major Campbell's desire on the evening of the duel. He found him on the parade ground, and Capt. B. accompanied him to the mess room; no one was there, and witness pointed to a little room off it, as the room the gentleman was in; he then went to the mess kitchen, and in eight or ten minutes he heard the report of a shot; he thought nothing of it till he heard another; he then went to the mess room, and there saw Capt. Boyd and Lieutenants Hall and Macpherson; Capt B. was sitting on a chair vomiting; Major Campbell was gone, but in about 10 or 12 minutes he came to the room where witness was washing some glasses; Major C. asked for candles; he got a pair and brought them into the small room; Major C. shewed the witness the corners of the room in which each person stood, which distance measured seven paces.
John Macpherson was a Lieut. in said regt. Knew Major Campbell and Capt. Boyd; recollects the day of the duel; on the evening of that day, going upstairs about 9 o'clock he heard as he thought, Major Campbell say - "On the word of a dying man is everything fair?" Capt. Boyd replied - "Campbell you have hurried me - you're a bad man". Witness was in coloured clothes, and Major C. did not know him, but said again "Boyd, before this stranger and Lieut. Hall, was every thing fair?" Capt. B. replied "O no. Campbell, you know I wanted you to wait and have friends". Major C. then said "Good God, will you mention before these gentlemen, was not every thing fair; did not you say you were ready?" Capt. B. answered "Yes;" but in a moment after said "Campbell, you're a bad man". Capt. B. was helped into the next room, and Major C. followed, much agitated, and repeatedly said to Capt. B. that he (Boyd) was the happiest man of the two - "I am (says Major C.) an unfortunate man, but I hope not a bad one". Major C. asked Capt B. if he forgave him; he stretched out his hand and said, "I forgive you - I feel for you, and am sure you do for me". Major C. then left the room.
The defence set up was merely and exclusively as to the character of the prisoner for humanity, peaceable conduct, and proper behaviour; to this several officers of the highest rank were produced. After retiring about half an hour, the Jury returned a verdict of GUILTY, but recommended him to mercy on the score of character only. He was sentenced to be executed on Monday, but respited to Wednesday se'ennight.
The following report of his subsequent execution appeared in The Times of 6 September 1808:-
Our readers are already in possession of the trial and conviction of this unfortunate Gentleman, and the recommendatory memorials which were addressed to the Lord Lieutenant in his behalf. On this occasion his Grace [the Duke of Richmond] declined deciding, but sent the entire documents, with the Judge's notes, to the King, and on the 16th sent a special messenger to Armagh, with a further respite till the 24th. Major Campbell passed the painful interval, as may be imagined, in a state of extreme anxiety, agitated between contending hopes and fears; but receiving all the consolation which affectionate friendship and commiseration could bestow.
On the 23rd, about four o'clock in the evening, a second messenger arrived at Armagh, with the fatal tidings that the King's pleasure was unfavourable; that his Grace could interfere no longer; and that the awful sentence must take place next day. Early on Wednesday morning another messenger arrived from Dublin Castle, with an order to remit that part of the sentence with respect to the anatomising and dissecting his body.
The Sheriff sent a message to fix his own hour, and he chose between 11 and 12 o'clock in the day.
The Rev. Mr. Ball, the curate of Armagh church, remained with him the whole of the night; and we are informed, that too much cannot be said for this gentleman's humane concern for him during his unhappy state. The Major was attentive to his religious duties, and was well prepared to meet his fate with the greatest firmness of mind; and the night before his execution he settled all his money accounts with the jailor, with the greatest composure.
Shortly before his execution, when the Sheriff's attendants waited on him to confine his arms, he observed to them, that "it was very proper; it would prevent him from struggling:" adding, "that he thought he would have died a more honourable death; but since this was his fate, he would submit himself to the laws". He then walked firmly up stairs to the execution-room, took off his cravat, put it in his breast, and opened his neck, stooping his head to the executioner to receive the halter, which he complained was too thick, and that a smaller one would be more effectual.
He prayed most fervently to Heaven for himself, and that his poor wife and children might be protected. He then bade farewell to the people in the room, and with the most becoming fortitude, he stepped out on the fatal drop, and saluted the people on every side of him. He spoke a few words in the Erse language to the soldiers, which was understood to be desiring them to pray for him. He asked a few moments longer; he was told to make his own time. He again repeated a fervent prayer for his wife and family - drew down the cap over his face - clenched his hands firm in each other, and was then removed from this world to eternity. He struggled a short time; and, after hanging 35 minutes, was cut down, and his body given to his friends. They put it into a coffin, which was enclosed in a deal box, and immediately sent off on a car for Donaghadee. The body is to be interred at Ayr, in Scotland.
The Breadalbane Peerage Case of 1866
On the death of John Campbell, 2nd Marquess and 5th Earl of Breadalbane in 1862, the Marquessate became extinct. The Earldom, however, survived and the question of who was the rightful heir to both this title and the entailed estates was fought out between two competitors in the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The following report is taken from the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle of 30 June 1866:-
Judgment was given by the Court of Session today [26 June 1866] in the case of the competitors for the Breadalbane succession. The parties were Lieutenant Charles William Campbell, of the 2nd Bengal Cavalry, pursuer, and John Alexander Gavin Campbell, defender. The subject of competition was the title of Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, Viscount of Tay, and Lord Glenurchy, in the peerage of Scotland, and the entailed estates of Breadalbane and Inverardan, situated in the counties of Perth and Argyll, and said to be of the annual value of above £50,000. The late Marquis of Breadalbane, who died in 1862, left no family nor near kindred, and the succession to the marquisate, being limited to heirs male, lapsed. The succession to the Scottish earldom and entailed estates opened to a distant connection, running back about two centuries.
It was admitted that the right of possession belonged to the representative of William Campbell, of Glenfalloch, who died in 1791, leaving seven sons. Of this William the present parties were great-grandsons, the defendant being descended from the second and the pursuer from the sixth, the other lines being extinct.
The priority of the defendant was sought to be superseded on the ground of the illegitimacy of his father. The defendant is the grandson of James Campbell, second son of William [Campbell] of Glenfalloch, and the same James, in 1781, quartered in the west of England with his regiment, eloped with Eliza Maria Blanshard, wife of Christopher Ludlow, grocer, in Chipping Sudbury, with whom to the end of his life he continued to cohabit. There is some evidence of a marriage ceremony by the Gaelic minister in Edinburgh in 1781, but that was founded on by the pursuer rather than the defender, being, in consequence of Ludlow's existence, an invalid or bigamous one, not followed by any lawful ceremony constituting lawful wedlock after Ludlow's death.
From 1793 down to James Campbell's death in 1806, the residence of the pair was almost continuously in Scotland, and there can be no doubt that Eliza Maria Blanshard was, while there, presented to Campbell's friends, and received as his wife, including the father of the late Marquis of Breadalbane. In 1788, they had a son William John, who was brought up by his parents on the apparent footing of legitimacy. In 1812, on the demise of his uncle William, this William John was served as heir to the family estate of Glenfalloch, to which he would succeed only if legitimate, and his service was conducted by his cousin Campbell, of Boreland, grandfather of [the] pursuer, who should himself have succeeded if William John was illegitimate. In 1852 William John Lamb Campbell died, and was succeeded in the estate of Glenfalloch by the defender.
It was pleaded on the one hand that the service to Glenfalloch ruled the present case, and, on the other, that Boreland was then in ignorance of facts since come to light regarding James Campbell's relations with his wife which have enabled him to claim that succession. The pleas for the pursuer were that James Campbell's connection with Eliza Maria Blanshard was at the beginning an adulterous one and to the end an illicit one; that the passing her off as his wife was illusory, and that a connection so beginning cannot by mere continuance constitute a marriage by habit and repute, as the Scotch law allows in other cases.
The defendant on the other hand contended that, although previous to 1784, when Ludlow died, the connection was illicit, it became a matrimonial connection by consent, by cohabitation and repute; that after 1784 the parties were quite free to enter into an irregular marriage by the Scotch law, and that in point of fact they did so. Mr Campbell recognised Blanshard, treated her as his wife, left her on one occasion a power of attorney to act as his wife, and even inhibited her at the time, and that William John, if born a bastard, was at least legitimatised per subsequens matrimonium.
The case originally came before Lord Barcaple, who found in favour of John Campbell, but Charles Campbell appealed his finding. As a result, the other judges in the Court of Session were called in to consider the matter. After one of the judges had excused himself due to his relationship to Charles Campbell, the judges voted 10 to 2 in favour of John Campbell, who was found to be the rightful Earl of Breadalbane.
The recent claim to the Earldom of Breadalbane
On the death of the 10th Earl in 1995, the peerage became dormant. Two claimants have emerged since that time. The first claimant is a third cousin, once removed from the 10th Earl, and a member of the branch of the Campbell family that currently live in Hungary.
The following article on the first claimant appeared in the London Telegraph of 3 October 2000:-
A Hungarian former taxi driver brought up in a hovel is the heir presumptive to a Scottish earldom.
Huba Andras Campbell, 55, now a Budapest businessman, is claiming the earldom of Breadalbane and Holland. The title was declared dormant after John Romer Boreland Campbell, the 10th earl and 14th baronet, died in a nursing home in 1995. But Robert Noble, a genealogist, discovered Huba Campbell's claim after researching the Hungarian branch of the Campbells of Breadalbane for eight years.
He said yesterday: "The family knew of the Scottish connection, but had no idea that they were now the most senior line". The Campbells' Hungarian connection dates from the 1870s when John Breadalbane Campbell, Huba's great-grandfather, was one of many Scottish engineers employed to build bridges over the Danube. He married Katherine Gordon, a descendant of the Marquess of Huntly, in Budapest in 1873.
Huba Campbell suffered greatly for his noble ancestry in communist Hungary. In the Fifties his family was sent to the countryside for 're-education'. His parents worked as vegetable-pickers and he was denied a university education because of his origins. At 17 he became a mechanic and later a taxi driver. Since the fall of communism he and his brother Nicholas have run a haulage and car import business and now live in one of Budapest's smartest quarters.
Mr Noble said: "In communist Hungary it was bad enough to be a member of the nobility, but to be from the British nobility was unforgivable". The earldom was created in 1681 for Sir John Campbell, the 11th Earl of Glenorchy [sic], to whom popular myth has attributed the massacre of the MacDonald clan in Glencoe. The last earl suffered a severe head wound as an officer with the Black Watch in the Second World War.
He subsequently worked as a gardener, on building sites and as a barman. He was a keen bagpipe player, whose favourite tune was said to be "The Campbells are Coming". In 1994 he was taken into a nursing home in Taunton, Somerset, after the owner found him wandering the streets barefoot, wearing a poncho. George Way, a Scottish solicitor specialising in peerage law, is preparing Huba Campbell's case for a ruling by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
However, the only reward will be the title. The huge estates have gone. Alastair Campbell of Airds, the author of the history of Clan Campbell, said: "At one time they were nearly the largest landowners in Scotland and their lands exceeded those of the clan chief, the Duke of Argyll. As recently as the beginning of the 20th century they were supposed to be able to ride for 100 miles across Scotland without leaving the family's lands."
But a series of distantly related heirs and indifferent management brought about a rapid decline. "They badly overspent when Queen Victoria came to stay at Taymouth Palace in Perthshire in the 1840s and the last property, Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe in Argyllshire, was sold off some dozen years ago."'
The second claimant is Sir Lachlan Campbell, 6th baronet, who is descended from a son of the first Earl by his second marriage. However, as it appears that one of this claimant's ancestors was illegitimate, his ability to succeed is severely compromised.
I have been unable to find to what extent this claim has progressed, if at all. It may well be that the lack of the necessary funds has caused the claim to grind to a halt.
Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgwater
The following is extracted from The Emperor of the United States of America and Other Magnificent British Eccentrics by
Egerton, the 8th Earl of Bridgewater, spent most of his life as the Rev Mr Egerton, but his interests were more academic than spiritual and his career in the Church owed much to the influence of his father, the Bishop of Durham. In 1796 he left England for France, possibly to avoid scandal about one or more illegitimate children, but also partly for the sake of his health. He quarrelled with his brother, eventually the 7th Earl, and he was disappointed in the legacy left to him by his uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, but his pride in his family name was unqualified.
Egerton's succession in 1823 to the Earldom and £40,000 a year allowed him to indulge his pride and his fancies. Everything that could be embossed with the Bridgewater arms and crest, including the silver collars worn by his large assortment of dogs and cats. He styled himself a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, a claim difficult to prove or disprove since the Empire, long a meaningless entity, had been formally dissolved in 1806.
The Earl was not much of a socialiser and often his only companions at dinner were two of his dogs - usually his favourites, Bijou and Biche. They, like all his other dogs, were dressed in the height of Parisian fashion right down to their handmade boots. Linen napkins around their necks protected their clothes and a footman behind each chair made sure their wants were attended to. Of course the dogs were expected to display good manners, which is more than can be said of the Earl, who was something of a slob at table. Any of the 'guests' who failed to live up to the honour of dining with their master were condemned to the humiliation of wearing the yellow servants' livery and eating in the servants' hall for a week.
His carriage, emblazoned with the Bridgewater crest, pulled by four horses, and attended by liveried footmen, was often seen driving through Paris with half a dozen dogs reclining on silk cushions on their way to the Bois de Boulogne for a walk. If it rained a servant was on hand especially to shield them with an umbrella. Sometimes Egerton sent his carriage, fully attended, merely to convey a borrowed book back to a neighbour in proper Bridgewater style.
The Earl was a bit of a dandy. He suffered from a tremendous underbite and a very upturned chin, so his clothes had to be remarkable to distract attention from his physiognomy. The same bootmaker who shod Egerton's pets had a standing order for a new pair of boots for the Earl himself. He wore each pair once only and employed a valet to keep the cast-offs arranged in the order in which they had been worn. That way a glance at any pair told him when, where and, as they were left uncleaned, in what weather he had worn them; his boots served him as a sort of diary.
Although he lived in France for over 30 years, Egerton never mastered French, which meant he had to converse with his scholarly friends in Latin. Even that was preferable to his later habit of ordering his secretary to entertain them by reading extracts from his long and ever changing will.
On the rare occasions when Egerton had friends to dine, they could reasonably expect a good meal since he employed, at no mean expense, the great chef, Viard. Egerton's favourite menu, however, was boiled beef and potatoes which he presented to his less than thrilled guests as a great English delicacy.
He missed English hunting and shooting even more than English boiled beef. With a few select friends, mounted on spirited horses, and dressed in pink coats, and with an imported fox, proper hounds, and a professional huntsman to sound the horn, Bridgewater gave miniature hunts in his Paris gardens. He also kept 300 each of rabbits, pigeons and partridges so that he could totter out into the grounds on the arm of a servant and bag his dinner.
His whims, which he always indulged, were often on a grand scale. Having once decided to remove for a season to the country, Egerton oversaw the ordeal of packing which went on for months. On the great day, the party set off in sixteen luggage-laden carriages led by one containing himself and his pets. Along with this came thirty servants on horseback. Only a few hours after this procession had left the Earl's house, neighbours saw it wearily returning. The change of plans had been occasioned by a substandard lunch which awakened the Earl to the hazards of travel.
In his will, Egerton left most of his estate to academic or charitable concerns and he directed that his house should be run for two months after his death as if he were still alive. Each servant received a mourning suit, a cocked hat and three pairs of worsted stockings. The dogs and cats were not mentioned.
Egerton is buried at Little Gaddesden Church in Hertfordshire. A monument designed to his instructions depicts a woman with a dolphin at her feet, a stork behind her and an elephant at her side.
The Earls and Marquesses of Bristol
Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol - Frederick was better known as the Earl-Bishop of Derry. In an incident in Siena, Italy, he was forced to run for his life after he had seized a tureen of pasta and dropped it out of a window onto a Corpus Christi procession. He was later imprisoned in a castle in Milan, upon which the British Ambassador in Naples reported that "his lordship's freedom in conversation, particularly after dinner, is such as to make him liable to accidents of this nature". After his release from prison, a young Irish girl spotted the Bishop out on the town. "He was sitting in his carriage", she wrote, "between two Italian women, dressed in a white bed-gown and night-cap like a witch and giving himself the airsof an Adonis." After he died in Italy, the crew of the ship hired to return his body to England refused to allow the corpse on board. He had to be smuggled back to England in a packing case labelled as an antique statue.
His daughter, Lady Elizabeth Foster (1759-1824) combined charm and a formidable sex drive, the latter embracing bisexual tastes. As a young widow, Lady Elizabeth's relationship with the 5th Duke of Devonshire and his gambling-mad wife, Georgiana, evolved into a notorious menage-a-trois. Elizabeth's perseverance was rewarded and, after bearing two illegitimate children by the duke, she became his second wife in 1809.
Lord John William Nicholas Hervey (1841-1902) - in December 1865, Lord John, together with the Hon Henry Strutt and Mr Coore were cruising around Greece when they encountered an unlooked-for adventure. According to the Athens correspondent of The Times
On the 4th inst. [i.e. 4 December 1865], these gentlemen left Ithaca for a week's shooting in Acarnania. Dragomans, guides, and Ionians all assured them that there was no danger. On reaching Acarnania they touched at Askatos to exhibit the papers of the yacht and take on board a few beaters selected by their guide, Photé. I believe they did not find so much game as they expected, killing only a single deer on Thursday. On Friday they changed their position, going up the gulf of Dragomestre and nearer Askatos, in order the beat the woods at a place called Maratha, and in the afternoon of the 8th inst. suddenly found themselves as completely at the mercy of Spiro Deli as the five officers who went out to capture Kitzos were at his mercy when he murdered the priest of Marathon before their eyes on the 23rd of October.
One of the sailors of the yacht called out that they had fallen among brigands, and on Lord John, Strutt, and Coore looking around each saw a gun pointed at him within 40 yards, while he who held the gun contrived to conceal everything but a very small angle of his person. They could see four enemies in ambush, and while they paused to consider the means of escape, their interpreter, whom the brigands had already secured, called out to them not to fire, as the robbers were many, and on turning to gain the shore where their boat was waiting by some open ground they encountered five more guns pointed at them, the owners of which contrived with admirable ingenuity to conceal their persons. In the meantime, their guide, Photé, disappeared with the beaters. They stood still, and the chief of the brigands came forward and politely requested them to make him a present of their rifles and revolvers, which, as nine muzzles were still pointed at them, they did with as much good will as they could command. They were now prisoners, and the brigands had a council to settle the manner in which their capture might be turned to the best account.
In order to lose as little time as possible a party was sent off to plunder the yacht, but returned extremely dissatisfied with the small sum found in gold. This induced the brigands to declare that they would carry all three to the mountains, but Mr Strutt said that if they would allow him to go on board he would give them 20 napoleons, which they had not found. This put them in a better humour, and on receiving the 20 napoleons they agreed to keep only one hostage and the interpreter, and to allow the other two to go to Patras for the ransom. Lots were cast, and Mr Coore had the misfortune to remain in the hands of the brigands for a week. Lord John Hervey and Mr Strutt are said to have received each a bank-note for 100 drachmas to pay their passage to Patras, and they were the bearers of a letter to Mr Wood, the managing partnerof the house of Barff and Co., of which this is a translation:-
"Mr. Wood - you must send us 3,000 lirais sterlinais [i.e. £3,000] to ransom the Englishman within eight days, and take care that we are not molested in the meantime, or we shall kill the men we have.
"The Company in the Forest"
Lord John Hervey and Mr Strutt were so fortunate as to get on board the Greek steamer and they reached Patras on Sunday evening. They immediately presented their letter from "The Company in the Forest", but Messrs. Barff and Co. had not £3,000 in gold in hand. They therefore applied for what they wanted to the branch of the Greek National Bank, which at other seasons of the year has often from £8,000 to £10,000 of the money of Messrs Barff and Co. in its hands for months. But the manager would give no gold, even to deliver Englishmen, without an order from Athens. A telegram was sent off to the governor of the National Bank, who on receiving it went to bed, and immediately afterwards to the British Minister, Mr Erskine, who on receiving his, about midnight, immediately went and roused the governor of the National Bank from his bed. But the persuasion of Mr Erskine, who offered his own private guarantee as well as the security of Her Majesty's Minister in Greece, was unavailing to procure an order for the advance of any gold until a council of direction approved sacrificing gold for men's lives.
Next morning, however, a telegram was sent off in these terms:-
"Give the money to Mr. Wood on receiving bills signed by Lord John Hervey and the Hon Henry Strutt, but at an advantageous price."
But only £2,400 was collected in gold, and Lord John and Mr Strutt sailed on Monday, at 3 p.m., with that amount in gold and the rest in Greek bank-notes. The brigands declined receiving Greek bank-notes. In order to prevent any loss of time, the captain of the Chanticleer went over to Ithaca, and obtained the gold from the bank branch there on paying a premium of six per cent. This gold was in Venetian sequins, which the brigands, after cutting in two and bending the others in true seraff style to verify the purity of the coin, condescended to receive, and Mr Coore was released. Mr Coore appears to have passed rather a hard time with the brigands. He slept in caverns and under trees, but he was rarely allowed to enjoy uninterrupted rest, for the band usually changed its position in the middle of the night. On one occasion the brigands came suddenly within a few hundred yards of a detachment of gendarmes, and the chief informed Mr Coore that he would shoot him rather than allow him to escape. Fortunately for Mr Coore the brigands were not pursued.
For a similar story of Englishmen being captured by Greek brigands, see under "Muncaster".
Victor Frederick Cochrane Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol - he was known as 'Victor Hervey, Mayfair Playboy No. 1' in society columns written by himself. On one occasion he drove his car into a taxi rank to discover whether cars buckled like a concertina - he was able to report that they did. He later tried to relieve his financial situation by becoming a gun runner in the Spanish Civil War, but failed through incompetence. Soon after this disappointment, he received a three-year prison sentence on two counts of robbery. Asked why he needed the money, he explained that he was waiting for an unpaid commission of £83,000 on an arms sale to China.
Frederick William John Augustus Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol - the family decadence reached its height (or should that be depth?) with the drug-addicted 7th Marquess. Before the death of his father, with whom he was on poor terms, Bristol lived as a tax exile in France on the proceeds of a £4 million family trust. On one occasion, when driving through Paris, he was shot at by a Frenchman. Happily, he was in his six-door, armour-plated Mercedes that had been built for Pope John Paul II.
Though slightly built, Bristol never lacked courage, and he took the incident in good part. When his father died in 1985, he moved into one wing of the ancestral home in Ickworth, Suffolk, thereafter coping with life with copious amounts of heroin. A favourite source of amusement was to organise midnight rabbit shoots for his inebriated young guests, firing from limousines; another was to shoot holes in a rubber dinghy in which a guest was fishing on the lake. A less pleasant idiosyncrasy was to feed his wolfhound on a diet of cats culled from the estate. In all, 47 cats were thought to have been eaten by the massive 12-stone dog.
Bristol was married briefly to Francesca, the daughter of a property tycoon, but he preferred the company of young men who were delivered in the middle of the night like pizzas. A helicopter, parked on the lawn, was used for this purpose, as well as for the ferrying in of drugs. Targeted by the police, he was arrested several times for dealing in heroin and cocaine, and he spent a year in prison. There is no reason to suppose that this experience provided any sort of cure, and he continued to throw parties until his death at the age of 44. The cause of death was 'multi-organ failure attributable to chronic drug abuse'. By then, the 7th Marquess's friends had helped him to dissipate a fortune of £16 million.
Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux
The following biography of Lord Brougham and Vaux appeared in the February 1965 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade. It should be noted that "Brougham and Vaux" should be pronounced as "Broom and Vokes."
Although Lord Henry Brougham was recognised as a brilliant and versatile public figure, he was also notorious for eccentricities and a lack of balance which made many people doubt his mental stability. When Lord Melbourne was forming a new government and refused to have Brougham in his Cabinet, he pathetically asked the Prime Minister: "Why do you refuse me office? I am not mad am I? You don't think I'm mad, do you?" Mad or not, Lord Brougham was a legend in his own lifetime as a passionate reformer and fighter against injustice and oppression.
Henry Peter Brougham was born at Edinburgh in 1778. His father was a small landowner and the boy grew up in an atmosphere of genteel poverty, although there was enough money for him to attend Edinburgh University. All his life he was to dazzle his contemporaries with the force of his intellect. He matriculated at 13 and before he was 20 had published three scientific papers which later [1803] earned him election to the Royal Society. After taking an arts degree he studied law and was called to the bar in 1800, but his brilliance did not appeal to the Scottish legal world and briefs were few.
To live he contributed articles to the newly founded Edinburgh Review. No fewer than 80 articles in the first 20 issues came from his pen, on subjects ranging from vegetarianism to Latin synonyms. He had opinions about everything and did not keep them to himself. After he had been host to Brougham for a weekend the editor of the Edinburgh Review remarked: "This morning Solon, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Archimedes, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Chesterfield and a great many more departed from my house in one carriage". In 1803 he published a learned work on colonial policy. The first of more than 40 books he produced, it was widely acclaimed and its attack on the slave trade caused the famous humanitarian William Wilberforce to invite the author to London.
So Brougham went south and settled down in Lincoln's Inn to study for the English bar. Meanwhile he wrote political pamphlets for Wilberforce's Tory party and made a dangerous expedition to Holland to try to persuade the Dutch authorities to ban the slave trade. He duly qualified for the English bar and worked hard on behalf of the Tories during the 1807 elections. But he had political ambitions himself and when the Tories failed to find him a seat in the Commons he had no compunction in switching his services to the Whig opposition.
The Whigs used his prolific pen in all the dirty work of political journalism. In 1810 they allowed him to enter Parliament as member for the Duke of Bedford's pocket borough of Camelford. In the Commons, Brougham was the best orator the Whigs had. Such was his energy and ambition that he often made 150 speeches in a single session of Parliament. His enemies said he was a political opportunist only interested in publicising himself. They said he had "every talent except discretion". To get rid of him, in 1812 they quietly arranged for the Duke of Bedford to sell the pocket borough, thus leaving their problem member without a Commons seat.
Brougham remained out of Parliament for four years but his name was still on every tongue. As a lawyer he successfully defended the radical writer Leigh Hunt on a charge of sedition brought by the Tory Government. With an eye to his political future he then snapped up the post of legal adviser to the Princess of Wales, later the unfortunate Queen Caroline, who had for years been estranged from her husband, the future George IV. Brougham's astute manipulation of the Princess of Wales as a weapon of intrigue behind the scenes forced the Whigs to find him another Commons seat in 1816 [July 1815].
By that time the Princess of Wales, having been excluded from Court and insulted by her husband, had retired to live on the Continent. After roaming from place to place she finally settled in a villa on Lake Como. On her staff, as a kind of butler, was an Italian adventurer named [Bartolomeo] Pergami. Soon ugly rumours had developed of an affair between the princess and Pergami. Seeing his chance for a divorce, her husband sent spies to Italy in 1819 to obtain evidence.
By the time the spies returned to England George III had died, and as the new king, George IV was determined to get rid of his wife by any means. He quickly brought suit in the House of Lords to annul the marriage. Now Queen Caroline, his wife hastened back to England to defend the suit. Her counsel was Henry Brougham. Most people believed that the dissolute George IV was trying to frame and persecute the queen.
The trial opened on August 17, 1820, before the Lords. Henry Brougham, with brilliant cross-examination, demolished the evidence of a crowd of shady witnesses who had been brought from the Continent. Brougham's final speech took two days and all through it he fortified himself with mulled port. When he concluded he fell to his knees drunk. Yet he successfully hid his condition by pretending to be saying a prayer for "this cruelly ill-used woman whose only crime was that she was foolish". The case against Queen Caroline collapsed and Henry Brougham was a public idol. He set to work to use his popularity for political advancement.
For the next 10 years he was in the Commons as a member of the Whig opposition. But from that seemingly powerless position he pushed through a whole mass of reforms. William Wilberforce had been responsible for putting the abolition of the slave trade on the statute book. But it was Brougham with his legal knowledge who forced through the punitive legislation which in practice eliminated it. He also virtually invented state education by persuading the government to devote funds to it and pass the Public Education Act. The network of mechanics' institutes which spread all over England and provided the first system of adult education was another product of his fertile mind. London University was founded by Brougham in 1828 [1836]. He also started the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, which published hundreds of of cheap textbooks for the working classes.
On February 7, 1828, he addressed the House of Commons for six hours and three minutes on the abuses and anomalies in English law. When it was printed the speech took up 168 pages. Mindful of his experience with mulled port in the Queen Caroline trial, Brougham consumed only oranges to refresh himself as he spoke. During his speech he outlined virtually every law reform which was carried out in England in the next 100 years.
Parliamentary reform to give more equitable representation to the people was another cause into which Brougham threw himself. He attacked the system of rotten boroughs in which small, ancient villages with only a handful of inhabitants sent members to the Commons while great centres of population like Manchester had no representation. In the election of 1830 he abandoned the borough seat he held and instead stood for the huge, popular constituency of Yorkshire, which had to be won on merit. He won hands down.
The Whig Party, under Lord Grey, fought the whole election on the promise of parliamentary reform triumphed after 23 years in opposition. As a result William IV had to ask Lord Grey to form a government. And in that government Henry Brougham (after being elevated to the Lords as Lord Brougham and Vaux) served as Lord Chancellor. He immediately set to work to use his new power. After being sworn in at noon, he had a bill on the table only six hours later, abolishing abuses of the Chancery Court. He revolutionised the criminal law by ensuring the defence equal rights with the prosecution. He also set up the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
In 1832 Lord Grey brought in the promised Reform Bill which abolished the rotten boroughs and gave the vote to every male holding a house with a rental value of £10 a year. Grey has gone down in history as the father of this historic Reform Bill. But it was Brougham who, when the House of Lords refused to pass it, bulldozed it through by bullying William IV until he threatened to create 500 new peers and so get it passed.
For all that, the power of Brougham began to decline with his taking of office. His eccentricities, which had advertised him as a private member, did not befit the dignity of a Lord Chancellor. He insisted on wearing strange-looking plaid trousers. On a tour of Scotland he became roaring drunk one night and, still intoxicated the next day, allowed himself to be carried to the race-course in his wig and gown.
When the Grey ministry fell in 1834 Lord Melbourne formed a government - but he adamantly refused to find a place in it for Brougham. But Brougham has one more accomplishment to his name. Travelling in France in 1834 he fell in love with a little Mediterranean fishing village called Cannes. He made a home there and built a magnificent villa. For the rest of his life he kept publicising Cannes and almost single-handed turned it into the famous resort it is today. Lord Brougham died at Cannes in 1868, aged 89. Today, almost forgotten in his own country, he is honoured there with a fine park called the Square Brougham. His home, the Chateau Elenore-Louise, which is named after his daughter, still stands in Cannes and is now an exclusive hotel.
Although not mentioned in the article above, he designed the four-wheeled, horse drawn carriage which is named after him.
The special remainder to the Barony of Brougham and Vaux created in 1860
From the London Gazette of 16 March 1860 (issue 22367, page 1099):-
The Queen has been pleased to direct letters patent to be passed under the Great Seal, granting the dignity of a Baron of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto Henry, Baron Brougham and Vaux, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Baron Brougham and Vaux, of Brougham, in the county of Westmorland, and of Highhead Castle, in the county of Cumberland, with remainder, in default of such heirs male, to his brother, William Brougham, Esq., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.