PEERAGES
Last updated 27/11/2018 (25 Feb 2024)
Date	Rank	Order	Name	Born	Died	Age
OAKESHOTT OF SEAGROVE BAY
1 May 2000	B[L]		Matthew Alan Oakeshott Created Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay for life 1 May 2000	10 Jan 1947
OAKLEY OF CAVERSHAM
10 Sep 1831	B	1	George Cadogan Created Baron Oakley of Caversham 10 Sep 1831 See "Cadogan" with which title this peerage remains merged	5 May 1783	15 Sep 1864	81
OAKSEY
13 Jan 1947	B	1	Geoffrey Lawrence Created Baron Oaksey 13 Jan 1947 He succeeded to the Barony of Trevethin in 1959 - see "Trevethin"	2 Dec 1880	28 Aug 1971	90
OAKSHOTT
21 Aug 1964 to     1 Feb 1975	B[L]		Sir Hendrie Dudley Oakshott, 1st baronet Created Baron Oakshott for life 21 Aug 1964 MP for Bebington 1950‑1964 Peerage extinct on his death	8 Nov 1904	1 Feb 1975	70
OATES
5 Oct 2015	B[L]		Jonathan Oates Created Baron Oates for life 5 Oct 2015	28 Dec 1969
O'BRIEN
21 Oct 1654	B[I]	1	Murrough O'Brien Created Baron O'Brien and Earl of Inchiquin 21 Oct 1654 See "Inchiquin" - extinct 1855	c 1618	9 Sep 1674
16 Jun 1900 to     7 Sep 1914	B	1	Sir Peter O'Brien, 1st baronet Created Baron O'Brien 16 Jun 1900 Solicitor General [I] 1887‑1888; Attorney General [I] 1888‑1889; Lord Chief Justice [I] 1889‑1913; PC [I] 1888 Peerage extinct on his death	29 Jun 1842	7 Sep 1914	72
O'BRIEN OF LOTHBURY
14 Mar 1973 to     24 Nov 1995	B[L]		Sir Leslie Kenneth O'Brien Created Baron O'Brien of Lothbury for life 14 Mar 1973 Governor of the Bank of England 1966‑1973; PC 1970 Peerage extinct on his death	8 Feb 1908	24 Nov 1995	87
O'CATHAIN
21 Jun 1991 to     23 Apr 2021	B[L]		Detta O'Cathain Created Baroness O'Cathain for life 21 Jun 1991 Peerage extinct on her death	3 Feb 1938	23 Apr 2021	83
OCHILTREE
15 Mar 1543	B[S]	1	Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avandale He exchanged the peerage of Lord Avandale for that of Lord Ochiltree 15 Mar 1543		1548
1548		2	Andrew Stewart	c 1521	1591
1591		3	Andrew Stewart He resigned the peerage in favour of -	c 1560	after 1615
27 May 1615		4	James Stewart		1659
1659 to     12 Feb 1675		5	William Stewart On his death the peerage became either extinct or dormant		12 Feb 1675
OCKHAM
30 Jun 1838	V	1	William King-Noel Created Viscount Ockham and Earl of Lovelace 30 Jun 1838 See "Lovelace"	21 Feb 1805	29 Dec 1893	88
OCKINGHAM
9 Apr 1689 to     28 Oct 1708	B	1	George, Prince of Denmark Created Baron Ockingham, Earl of Kendal and Duke of Cumberland 9 Apr 1689 Husband of Queen Anne; KG 1684; PC 1685 Peerages extinct on his death	2 Apr 1653	28 Oct 1708	55
O'DONNELL
10 Jan 2012	B[L]		Sir Augustine Thomas ["Gus"] O'Donnell Created Baron O'Donnell for life 10 Jan 2012	1 Oct 1952
ODORNEY
1537 to     1541	B[I]	1	Edmond Fitzmaurice, 11th Baron Kerry Created Baron Odorney and Viscount Kilmaule 1537 Peerages extinct on his death		1541
OFFALY
13 May 1554	B[I]	1	Gerald Fitzgerald Created Baron Offaly and Earl of Kildare 13 May 1554 See "Kildare" - extinct 1599	28 Feb 1525	16 Nov 1585	60
29 Jul 1620	B[I]	1	Lettice Digby Created Baroness Offaly 29 Jul 1620 For further information on the Baroness, see the note at the foot of this page	c 1578	1 Dec 1658
1 Dec 1658		2	George Fitzgerald He had previously succeeded to the Earldom of Kildare in 1620 with which title this peerage then merged and so remains	23 Jan 1612	1660	48
3 Mar 1761	E[I]	1	James Fitzgerald Created Viscount Leinster 21 Feb 1747, Earl of Offaly and Marquess of Kildare 3 Mar 1761 and Duke of Leinster 26 Nov 1766 See "Leinster"	29 May 1722	19 Nov 1773	51
OGILVY OF CULLEN
24 Jun 1698	B[S]	1	James Ogilvy Created Lord Ogilvy of Cullen and Viscount of Seafield 24 Jun 1698 and Earl of Seafield 24 Jun 1701 See "Seafield"	11 Jul 1663	19 Aug 1730	67
OGILVY OF DESKFORD
4 Oct 1616	B[S]	1	Walter Ogilvy Created Lord Ogilvy of Deskford 4 Oct 1616		c 1626
c 1626		2	James Ogilvy He was created Earl of Findlater in 1638 with which title this peerage then merged until peerages became dormant in 1811		c 1653
OGLE
26 Jul 1461	B	1	Robert Ogle Summoned to Parliament as Lord Ogle 26 Jul 1461	c 1406	1 Nov 1469
1 Nov 1469		2	Owen Ogle	c 1440	c 1486
c 1486		3	Ralph Ogle	7 Nov 1468	16 Jan 1512	43
16 Jan 1512		4	Robert Ogle	c 1490	1540
1540		5	Robert Ogle		6 Mar 1545
6 Mar 1545		6	Robert Ogle	c 1526	13 Aug 1562
13 Aug 1562 to     16 Mar 1597		7	Cuthbert Ogle On his death the peerage fell into abeyance	c 1540	16 Mar 1597
Dec 1626		8	Catherine Cavendish She became entitled to the peerage Dec 1626. Her entitlement was confirmed by special letters patent dated 4 December 1628		18 Apr 1629
18 Apr 1629 16 Mar 1665	E	9 1	William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Newcastle Created Earl of Ogle and Duke of Newcastle 16 Mar 1665	16 Dec 1593	25 Dec 1676	83
25 Dec 1676 to     26 Jul 1691		10 2	Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle On his death the Earldom became extinct and the Barony again fell into abeyance	24 Jun 1630	26 Jul 1691	61
OGLE OF CATHERLOUGH
23 Dec 1645 to     14 Jul 1682	V[I]	1	William Ogle Created Viscount Ogle of Catherlough 23 Dec 1645 MP for Winchester 1640‑1643 Peerage extinct on his death	c 1600	14 Jul 1682
OGMORE
10 Jul 1950	B	1	David Rees Rees-Williams Created Baron Ogmore 10 Jul 1950 MP for Croydon South 1945‑1950; Minister of Civil Aviation 1951; PC 1951	22 Nov 1903	30 Aug 1976	72
30 Aug 1976		2	Gwilym Rees Rees-Williams	5 May 1931	9 Nov 2004	73
9 Nov 2004		3	Morgan Rees Rees-Williams	19 Dec 1937	2 May 2020	82
2 May 2020		4	Tudor David Rees-Williams	11 Dec 1991
O'GRADY
28 Jan 1831	B[I]	1	Standish O'Grady Created Baron O'Grady and Viscount Guillamore 28 Jan 1831 See "Guillamore"	1766	21 Apr 1840	73
O'GRADY OF UPPER HOLLOWAY
9 Dec 2022	B[L]		Frances Lorraine Maria O'Grady Created Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway for life 9 Dec 2022	9 Nov 1959
O'HAGAN
14 Jun 1870	B	1	Thomas O'Hagan Created Baron O'Hagan 14 Jun 1870 MP for Tralee 1863-1865; Solicitor General [I] 1860‑1861; Attorney General [I] 1861‑1865; Lord Chancellor [I] 1868‑1874 and 1880‑-1881; PC [I] 1861; KP 1882	29 May 1812	1 Feb 1885	72
1 Feb 1885		2	Thomas Towneley O'Hagan	5 Dec 1878	13 Dec 1900	22
13 Dec 1900		3	Maurice Herbert Towneley Townley‑O'Hagan	20 Feb 1882	18 Dec 1961	79
18 Dec 1961		4	Charles Towneley Strachey MEP 1973‑1975 and for Devon 1979‑1994	6 Sep 1945
OLDCASTELL
26 Oct 1409 to     25 Dec 1417	B	1	John Oldcastell Summoned to Parliament as Lord Oldcastell 26 Oct 1409 The peerage was forfeited in 1417 For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	c 1360	25 Dec 1417
OLIPHANT
c 1456	B[S]	1	Laurence Oliphant Created Lord Oliphant c 1456		c 1498
c 1498		2	John Oliphant		1516
1516		3	Laurence Oliphant	c 1505	26 Mar 1566
26 Mar 1566		4	Laurence Oliphant	c 1527	16 Jan 1593
16 Jan 1593 to     1631		5	Laurence Oliphant Peerage extinct on his death	24 Mar 1583	1631	48
1633	B[S]	1	Patrick Oliphant Created Lord Oliphant 1633		c 1680
c 1680		2	Charles Oliphant		c 1709
c 1709		3	Patrick Oliphant		14 Jan 1721
14 Jan 1721		4	William Oliphant		27 Dec 1728
27 Dec 1728 to     19 Apr 1748		5	Francis Oliphant Peerage extinct on his death	c 1715	19 Apr 1748
OLIVER OF AYLMERTON
31 Jan 1986 to     17 Oct 2007	B[L]		Sir Peter Raymond Oliver Created Baron Oliver of Aylmerton for life 31 Jan 1986 Lord Justice of Appeal 1980‑1986; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1986‑1992; PC 1980 Peerage extinct on his death	7 Mar 1921	17 Oct 2007	86
OLIVIER
9 Feb 1924 to     15 Feb 1943	B	1	Sir Sydney Haldane Olivier Created Baron Olivier 9 Feb 1924 Governor of Jamaica 1907‑1913; Secretary of State for India 1924; PC 1924 Peerage extinct on his death	16 Apr 1859	15 Feb 1943	83
5 Mar 1971 to     11 Jul 1989	B[L]		Sir Laurence Kerr Olivier Created Baron Olivier for life 5 Mar 1971 OM 1981 Peerage extinct on his death	22 May 1907	11 Jul 1989	82
O'LOAN
11 Sep 2009	B[L]		Dame Nuala Patricia O'Loan Created Baroness O'Loan for life 11 Sep 2009	20 Dec 1951
O'NEILL
30 Nov 1793 3 Oct 1795	B[I] V[I]	1 1	John O'Neill Created Baron O'Neill 30 Nov 1793 and Viscount O'Neill 3 Oct 1795 MP [I] for Randalstown 1761‑1783 and Antrim County 1783‑1794; PC [I] 1781 For further information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	16 Jan 1740	18 Jun 1798	58
18 Jun 1798 Aug 1800 to     25 Mar 1841	E[I]	2 1	Charles Henry St. John O'Neill Created Viscount Raymond and Earl O'Neill Aug 1800 Lord Lieutenant Antrim 1831‑1841; KP 1809; PC [I] 1809 On his death the creations of 1800 became extinct whilst the Viscountcy and Barony passed to -	22 Jan 1779	25 Mar 1841	62
25 Mar 1841 to     12 Feb 1855		3	John Bruce Richard O'Neill MP for Antrim 1802‑1841 Peerage extinct on his death	30 Dec 1780	12 Feb 1855	74
18 Apr 1868	B	1	William O'Neill Created Baron O'Neill 18 Apr 1868	4 Mar 1813	18 Apr 1883	70
18 Apr 1883		2	Edward O'Neill MP for Antrim 1863‑1880	31 Dec 1839	19 Nov 1928	88
19 Nov 1928		3	Shane Edward Robert O'Neill Lord Lieutenant Antrim 1938‑1944	6 Feb 1907	24 Oct 1944	37
24 Oct 1944		4	Raymond Arthur Clanaboy O'Neill Lord Lieutenant Antrim 1994‑2008	1 Sep 1933
O'NEILL OF BENGARVE
25 Feb 1999	B[L]		Onora Sylvia O'Neill Created Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve for life 25 Feb 1999 CH 2014	23 Aug 1941
O'NEILL OF BEXLEY
7 Nov 2022	B[L]		Teresa Ann Jude O'Neill Created Baroness O'Neill of Bexley for life 7 Nov 2022	18 Jul 1961
O'NEILL OF CLACKMANNAN
14 Jun 2005 to     26 Aug 2020	B[L]		Martin John O'Neill Created Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan for life 14 Jun 2005 MP for Clackmannan & East Stirlingshire 1979‑1983, Clackmannan 1983‑1997 and Ochil 1997‑2005	6 Jan 1945	26 Aug 2020	75
O'NEILL OF GATLEY
28 May 2015	B[L]		Terence James O'Neill Created Baron O'Neill of Gatley for life 28 May 2015	17 Mar 1957
O'NEILL OF THE MAINE
23 Jan 1970 to     12 Jun 1990	B[L]		Terence Marne O'Neill Created Baron O'Neill of the Maine for life 23 Jan 1970 Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1963‑1969; PC [NI] 1956 Peerage extinct on his death	10 Sep 1914	12 Jun 1990	75
ONGLEY
30 Jul 1776	B[I]	1	Robert Henley-Ongley Created Baron Ongley 30 Jul 1776 MP for Bedford 1754‑1761 and Bedfordshire 1761‑1780 and 1784‑1785	c 1721	23 Oct 1785
23 Oct 1785		2	Robert Henley-Ongley	3 Oct 1771	20 Aug 1814	42
20 Aug 1814 to     21 Jan 1877		3	Robert Henley-Ongley Peerage extinct on his death	9 May 1803	21 Jan 1877	73
ONSLOW
19 Jun 1716	B	1	Sir Richard Onslow, 2nd baronet Created Baron Onslow 19 Jun 1716 The creation of this peerage contained a special remainder, failing heirs male of his body,to his uncle Denzil Onslow and his heirs male, and ultimately to the heirs male of the body of the grantee's father MP for Guildford 1679‑1689, Surrey 1689‑1710 and 1713‑1715, and St. Mawes 1710‑1713; Speaker of the House of Commons 1708‑1710; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1714‑1715; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1716‑1717; PC 1710	23 Jun 1654	5 Dec 1717	63
5 Dec 1717		2	Thomas Onslow MP for Gatton 1702‑1705, Chichester 1705‑1708, Bletchingley 1708‑1715 and Surrey 1715‑1717; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1717‑1740	27 Nov 1679	5 Jun 1740	60
5 Jun 1740		3	Richard Onslow MP for Guildford 1734‑1740; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1740‑1776	1713	8 Oct 1776	63
8 Oct 1776 19 Jun 1801	E	4 1	George Onslow Created Baron Cranley 20 May 1776, and Viscount Cranley and Earl of Onslow 19 Jun 1801 MP for Rye 1754‑1761 and Surrey 1761‑1774; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1776‑1814; PC 1767	13 Sep 1731	17 May 1814	82
17 May 1814		2	Thomas Onslow MP for Rye 1775‑1784 and Guildford 1784‑1806	15 Mar 1754	22 Feb 1827	72
22 Feb 1827		3	Arthur George Onslow	25 Oct 1777	24 Oct 1870	92
24 Oct 1870		4	William Hillier Onslow Governor of New Zealand 1888‑1892; President of the Board of Agriculture 1903‑1905; PC 1903	7 Mar 1853	23 Oct 1911	58
23 Oct 1911		5	Richard William Alan Onslow Paymaster General 1928‑1929; PC 1926	23 Aug 1876	9 Jun 1945	68
9 Jun 1945		6	William Arthur Bampfylde Onslow	11 Jun 1913	3 Jun 1971	57
3 Jun 1971		7	Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow [Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2011]	28 Feb 1938	14 May 2011	73
14 May 2011		8	Rupert Charles William Bullard Onslow	16 Jun 1967
ONSLOW OF WOKING
31 Oct 1997 to     13 Mar 2001	B[L]		Sir Cranley Gordon Douglas Onslow Created Baron Onslow of Woking for life 31 Oct 1997 MP for Woking 1964‑1997; Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office 1982‑1983; PC 1988 Peerage extinct on his death	8 Jun 1926	13 Mar 2001	74
OPPENHEIM-BARNES
9 Feb 1989	B[L]		Sarah A ["Sally"] Oppenheim-Barnes Created Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes for life 9 Feb 1989 MP for Gloucester 1970‑1987; Minister of State for Consumer Affairs 1979‑1982; PC 1979	26 Jul 1928
ORAM
22 Jan 1976 to     4 Sep 1999	B[L]		Albert Edward Oram Created Baron Oram for life 22 Jan 1976 MP for East Ham South 1955‑1974 Peerage extinct on his death	13 Aug 1913	4 Sep 1999	86
ORANMORE AND BROWNE
4 May 1836	B[I]	1	Dominick Browne Created Baron Oranmore & Browne 4 May 1836 MP for Mayo 1814‑1826 and 1830‑1836; Lord Lieutenant Mayo 1834‑1842; PC [I] 1834	28 May 1787	30 Jan 1860	72
30 Jan 1860		2	Geoffrey Dominick Augustus Frederick Guthrie‑Browne	8 Jun 1819	15 Nov 1900	81
15 Nov 1900		3	Geoffrey Henry Browne Created Baron Mereworth 19 Jan 1926 KP 1918; PC [I] 1921 For information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	6 Jan 1861	30 Jun 1927	66
30 Jun 1927		4	Dominick Geoffrey Edward Browne (also 2nd Baron Mereworth)	21 Oct 1901	7 Aug 2002	100
7 Aug 2002		5	Dominick Geoffrey Thomas Browne (also 3rd Baron Mereworth)	1 Jul 1929
ORFORD
7 May 1697 to     26 Nov 1727	E	1	Edward Russell Created Baron of Shingay, Viscount Barfleur and Earl of Orford 7 May 1697 MP for Launceston 1689‑1690, Portsmouth 1690‑1695 and Cambridgeshire 1695‑1697; Treasurer of the Navy 1689‑1699; First Lord of the Admiralty 1694‑1699, 1709‑1710 and 1714‑1717; Lord Lieutenant Cambridge 1715‑1727; PC 1689 Peerages extinct on his death	1653	26 Nov 1727	74
6 Feb 1742	E	1	Robert Walpole Created Baron Houghton, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford 6 Feb 1742 MP for Castle Rising 1701‑1702 and Kings Lynn 1702‑1712 and 1713‑1742; Secretary at War 1708‑1710; Treasurer of the Navy 1710. Prime Minister & Chancellor of the Exchequer 1715‑1717 and 1721‑1742; PC 1714; KG 1726	26 Aug 1676	18 Mar 1745	68
18 Mar 1745		2	Robert Walpole Lord Lieutenant Devon 1733‑1751	1701	31 Mar 1751	49
31 Mar 1751		3	George Walpole Lord Lieutenant Norfolk 1757‑1791	2 Apr 1730	5 Dec 1791	61
5 Dec 1791 to     2 Mar 1797		4	Horatio Walpole MP for Callington 1741‑1754, Castle Rising 1754‑1757 and Kings Lynn 1757‑1768 Peerage extinct on his death	5 Oct 1717	2 Mar 1797	79
10 Apr 1806	E	1	Horatio Walpole, 4th Baron Walpole Created Earl of Orford 10 Apr 1806 MP for Kings Lynn 1747‑1757	12 Jun 1723	24 Feb 1809	85
24 Feb 1809		2	Horatio Walpole MP for Wigan 1780‑1784 and Kings Lynn 1784‑1809	13 Jun 1752	15 Jun 1822	70
15 Jun 1822		3	Horatio Walpole MP for Kings Lynn 1809‑1822	14 Jun 1783	29 Dec 1858	75
29 Dec 1858		4	Horatio Walpole MP for Norfolk East 1835‑1837	18 Apr 1813	7 Dec 1894	81
7 Dec 1894 to     27 Sep 1931		5	Robert Horace Walpole Peerage extinct on his death For information on an incident early in this peer's life, see the note at the foot of this page	10 Jul 1854	27 Sep 1931	77
ORIEL OF COLLON
22 Nov 1797	B[I]	1	Margaretta Amelia Foster Created Baroness Oriel of Collon 5 Jun 1790 and Viscountess Ferrard 22 Nov 1797	1736	20 Jan 1824	87
20 Jan 1824		2	Thomas Henry Skeffington MP for Drogheda 1807‑1812 and Louth 1821‑1826; PC [I] 1809	c 1772	18 Jan 1843
18 Jan 1843		3	John Skeffington He succeeded to the Viscountcy of Massereene in 1831 with which title this peerage then merged	30 Nov 1812	28 Apr 1863	50
ORIEL OF FERRARD
17 Jul 1821	B	1	John Foster Created Baron Oriel 17 Jul 1821 MP [I] for Dunleer 1761‑1769 and Louth County 1768‑1800; MP for Louth 1801‑1821; Chancellor of the Exchequer [I] 1784‑1785, 1804‑1806 and 1807‑1811; Speaker of the House of Commons [I] 1785‑1800; PC [I] 1779; PC 1786	28 Sep 1740	16 Aug 1828	87
16 Aug 1828		2	Thomas Henry Skeffington, 2nd Baron Oriel of Collon MP for Drogheda 1807‑1812 and Louth 1821‑1826; PC [I] 1809	c 1772	18 Jan 1843
18 Jan 1843		3	John Skeffington He succeeded to the Viscountcy of Massereene in 1831 with which title this peerage then merged	30 Nov 1812	28 Apr 1863	50
ORKNEY
1379	E[S]	1	Henry Sinclair Recognized as Earl of Orkney 1379		c 1400
c 1400		2	Henry Sinclair		1418
1418 to     1470		3	William Sinclair, later [c 1449] 1st Lord Sinclair and [1455] 1st Earl of Caithness He resigned the Earldom of Orkney in 1470		1476
12 May 1567 to     29 Dec 1567	D[S]	1	James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell Created Marquess of Fife and Duke of Orkney 12 May 1567 Peerages forfeited 29 Dec 1567	c 1535	14 Apr 1578
28 Oct 1581	E[S]	1	Lord Robert Stewart Created Earl of Orkney 28 Oct 1581 Illegitimate son of James V of Scotland	1533	4 Feb 1593	59
4 Feb 1593 to     6 Feb 1614		2	Patrick Stewart The peerage was forfeited in 1614	c 1569	6 Feb 1614
3 Jan 1696	E[S]	1	Lord George Hamilton Created Lord Dechmont, Viscount of Kirkwall and Earl of Orkney 3 Jan 1696 Governor of Virginia 1714‑1737; Field Marshal; Lord Lieutenant Lanark; KT 1704; PC 1711	9 Feb 1666	29 Jan 1737	70
29 Jan 1737		2	Anne O'Brien		6 Dec 1756
6 Dec 1756		3	Mary O'Brien For further information on this peeress, see the note at the foot of this page	c 1721	10 May 1791
10 May 1791		4	Mary Fitzmaurice	4 Sep 1755	20 Dec 1831	76
20 Dec 1831		5	Thomas John Hamilton Fitzmaurice	8 Aug 1803	16 May 1877	73
16 May 1877		6	George William Hamilton Fitzmaurice	6 May 1827	21 Oct 1889	62
21 Oct 1889		7	Edmond Walter Fitzmaurice	24 May 1867	21 Aug 1951	84
21 Aug 1951		8	Cecil O'Bryen Fitzmaurice	3 Jul 1919	5 Feb 1998	78
5 Feb 1998		9	Oliver Peter St. John	27 Feb 1938
ORMATHWAITE
16 Apr 1868	B	1	Sir John Benn Walsh, 2nd baronet Created Baron Ormathwaite 16 Apr 1868 MP for Sudbury 1830‑1834 and 1838‑1840 and Radnorshire 1840‑1868; Lord Lieutenant Radnorshire 1842‑1875	9 Dec 1798	3 Apr 1881	82
3 Apr 1881		2	Arthur Walsh MP for Leominster 1855‑1868 and Radnorshire 1868‑1880; Lord Lieutenant Radnorshire 1875‑1895	14 Apr 1827	27 Mar 1920	92
27 Mar 1920		3	Arthur Henry John Walsh MP for Radnorshire 1885‑1892; Lord Lieutenant Radnorshire 1918‑1922	10 Apr 1859	13 Mar 1937	77
13 Mar 1937		4	George Harry William Walsh	3 Dec 1863	27 Oct 1943	79
27 Oct 1943		5	Reginald Walsh	17 Jul 1868	13 Feb 1944	75
13 Feb 1944 to     8 Mar 1984		6	John Arthur Charles Walsh Peerage extinct on his death	25 Dec 1912	8 Mar 1984	71
ORME
21 Oct 1997 to     27 Apr 2005	B[L]		Stanley Orme Created Baron Orme for life 21 Oct 1997 MP for Salford West 1964‑1983 and Salford East 1983‑1997; Minister of State, Northern Ireland 1974‑1976; Minister of State, Health & Social Security 1976; Minister for Social Security 1976‑1979; PC 1974 Peerage extinct on his death	5 Apr 1923	27 Apr 2005	82
ORMELIE
13 Aug 1677	B[S]	1	John Campbell, Earl of Caithness Created Lord Glenurchy, Benederaloch, Ormelie and Weick, Viscount of Tay & Paintland, and Earl of Breadalbane & Holland 13 Aug 1681 See "Breadalbane & Holland"	c 1635	28 Mar 1717
12 Sep 1831	E	1	John Campbell, 4th Earl of Breadalbane Created Baron Breadalbane 13 Nov 1806 and Earl of Ormelie and Marquess of of Breadalbane 12 Sep 1831 See "Breadalbane and Holland" - extinct 1862	30 Mar 1762	29 Mar 1834	71
11 Jul 1885 to     19 Oct 1922	E	1	Gavin Campbell, 7th Earl of Breadalbane Created Baron Breadalbane 25 Mar 1873 and Earl of Ormelie and Marquess of Breadalbane 11 Jul 1885 On his death the creations of 1873 and 1885 became extinct	9 Apr 1851	19 Oct 1922	71
ORMOND
1445 to     1 May 1455	E[S]	1	Hugh Douglas Created Earl of Ormond 1445 He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		1 May 1455
29 Jan 1488 to     17 Jan 1504	M[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	Mar 1476	17 Jan 1504	27
23 Dec 1600 to     27 Mar 1625	M[S]	1	Charles Stuart Created Lord Ardmannoch, Earl of Ross, Marquess of Ormond and Duke of Albany 23 Dec 1600 He succeeded to the throne of England as Charles I in 1625, when the peerage merged with the Crown	19 Nov 1600	30 Jan 1649	48
3 Apr 1651	E[S]	1	Archibald Douglas Created Lord Bothwell & Hartside, and Earl of Ormond 3 Apr 1651	c 1609	15 Apr 1655
15 Apr 1655		2	Archibald Douglas He was created Earl of Forfar in 1661 with which title these peerages then merged	3 May 1653	11 Dec 1712	59
ORMONDE
2 Nov 1328	E[I]	1	James Butler Created Earl of Ormonde 2 Nov 1328	c 1305	6 Jan 1337
6 Jan 1337		2	James Butler Chief Governor of Ireland 1359, 1360, 1364 and 1376‑1378	4 Oct 1331	13 Oct 1382	51
13 Oct 1382		3	James Butler Chief Governor of Ireland 1384, 1392 and 1404		7 Sep 1405
7 Sep 1405		4	James Butler Chief Governor of Ireland 1407, 1419‑1423, 1424‑1425, 1426‑1427, 1440‑1442, 1443‑1445 and 1453	c 1392	22 Aug 1452
22 Aug 1452 to     1 May 1461		5	James Butler Created Earl of Wiltshire 8 Jul 1449 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1453‑1456; KG 1459 He was attainted and the peerage forfeited	24 Nov 1420	1 May 1461	40
1476		6	John Butler Attainder reversed 1476	c 1422	14 Oct 1478
14 Oct 1478 to     8 Aug 1515		7	Thomas Butler Created Lord Rochford 14 Oct 1495 On his death the peerage lapsed to the Crown	c 1424	8 Aug 1515
8 Dec 1529 to     13 Mar 1539	E[I]	1	Thomas Boleyn Created Viscount Rochford 18 Jun 1525, Earl of Ossory 23 Feb 1528, Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormonde 8 Dec 1529 Lord Privy Seal 1530‑1536; KG 1523 Peerage extinct on his death	1477	13 Mar 1539	61
22 Feb 1538	E[I]	8	Piers Butler Restored as Earl of Ormonde 22 Feb 1538	c 1467	26 Aug 1539
22 Aug 1539		9	James Butler Created Viscount Thurles 2 Jan 1536	c 1490	28 Oct 1546
28 Oct 1546		10	Thomas Butler KG 1588	1532	22 Nov 1614	82
22 Nov 1614		11	Walter Butler	1569	24 Feb 1633	63
24 Feb 1633 30 Aug 1642 30 Mar 1661 9 Nov 1682	M[I] D[I] D	12 1 1 1	James Butler Created Marquess of Ormonde 30 Aug 1642, Baron Butler and Earl of Brecknock 20 Jul 1660, Duke of Ormonde [I] 30 Mar 1661 and Duke of Ormonde [E] 9 Nov 1682 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1643‑1647, 1648‑1650, 1662‑1669 and 1677‑1685; Lord Lieutenant Somerset 1660‑1672; KG 1649; PC [I] 1660; PC 1682	19 Oct 1610	21 Jul 1688	77
21 Jul 1688 to     20 Aug 1715		13 2	James Butler Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1703-1707 and 1710-1713; Lord Lieutenant Somerset 1691-1714; Warden of the Cinque Ports 1712; Lord Lieutenant Norfolk 1713-1714; PC [I] 1690; KG 1688 He was attainted and his English peerages forfeited	29 Apr 1665	16 Nov 1745	80
16 Nov 1745 to     17 Dec 1758		14 3	Charles Butler On his death the Irish Dukedom and Marquessate became extinct whilst the Irish Earldom passed to -	4 Sep 1671	17 Dec 1758	87
17 Dec 1758		15	John Butler		24 Jun 1766
24 Jun 1766		16	Walter Butler For further information on this peer's daughter, see the note at the foot of this page	10 Jun 1703	2 Jun 1783	79
2 Jun 1783		17	John Butler MP [I] for Gowran 1776‑1783 and Kilkenny City 1783‑1792 Although he succeeded to the peerage in 1783 his succession was not confirmed until 1791	10 Dec 1740	30 Dec 1795	55
30 Dec 1795 Jan 1816 to     10 Aug 1820	M[I]	18 1	Walter Butler Created Baron Butler of Lanthony 20 Jan 1801 and Marquess of Ormonde Jan 1816 MP [I] for Kilkenny County 1789‑1795; KP 1798; PC [I] 1797 On his death the Marquessate became extinct whilst the Earldom passed to -	4 Feb 1770	10 Aug 1820	50
10 Aug 1820 17 Jul 1821 5 Oct 1825	B M[I]	19 1 1	James Wandesford Butler Created Baron Ormonde [UK] 17 Jul 1821 and Marquess of Ormonde 5 Oct 1825 For details of the special remainder included in the creation of the Barony of 1821, see the note at the foot of this page MP [I] for Kilkenny County 1796‑1800; MP for co. Kilkenny 1801‑1820; Lord Lieutenant Kilkenny 1831‑1838; KP 1821	15 Jul 1774	18 May 1838	63
18 May 1838		20	John Butler MP for co. Kilkenny 1830‑1832; KP 1845	24 Aug 1808	25 Sep 1854	46
25 Sep 1854		21	James Edward William Theobald Butler Lord Lieutenant Kilkenny 1878‑1919; KP 1888; PC [I] 1902	5 Oct 1844	26 Oct 1919	75
26 Oct 1919		22	James Arthur Wellington Foley Butler	23 Sep 1849	4 Jul 1943	93
4 Jul 1943		23	James George Anson Butler	18 Apr 1890	21 Jun 1949	59
21 Jun 1949		24	James Arthur Norman Butler	25 Apr 1893	17 Apr 1971	77
17 Apr 1971 to     25 Oct 1997		25	James Hubert Theobald Charles Butler On his death the Marquessate and the Barony of 1821 became extinct, whilst the Earldom became dormant. For information as to who should succeed to the title, the reader is advised to go to the following webpage:- http://www.butler-soc.org/nextormond/index.htm	19 Apr 1899	25 Oct 1997	98
ORONSAY
19 Oct 1706	B[S]	1	Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll Created Lord Oronsay, Dunoon and Arase, and Viscount and Earl of Ilay 19 Oct 1706 See "Argyll"	Jun 1682	15 Apr 1761	78
ORREBY
4 Mar 1309	B	1	John de Orreby Summoned to Parliament as Lord Orreby 4 Mar 1309		Mar 1329
Mar 1329		2	John de Orreby	1318	Jan 1354	35
Jan 1354		3	Joan de Orreby	c 1350	30 Jul 1369
30 Jul 1369 to     25 Aug 1394		4	Mary de Orreby Peerage extinct on her death	12 Mar 1368	25 Aug 1394	26
ORRERY
5 Sep 1660	E[I]	1	Roger Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle of Broghill Created Earl of Orrery 5 Sep 1660 MP for Arundel 1660‑1679; PC [I] 1660	25 Apr 1621	16 Oct 1679	58
16 Oct 1679		2	Roger Boyle	24 Aug 1646	29 Mar 1682	35
29 Mar 1682		3	Lionel Boyle MP for East Grinstead 1695, 1698‑1701 and 1701‑1702	11 Jul 1671	24 Aug 1703	32
24 Aug 1703		4	Charles Boyle Created Baron Boyle of Marston 5 Sep 1711 MP [I] for Charleville 1695‑1699; MP for Huntingdon 1701‑1705; Lord Lieutenant Somerset 1714‑1715; KT 1705; PC 1711	28 Jul 1674	28 Aug 1731	57
28 Aug 1731		5	John Boyle He succeeded as 5th Earl of Cork in 1753 with which title this peerage continues to be united	13 Jan 1707	23 Nov 1762	55
ORR-EWING
30 Apr 1971 to     19 Aug 1999	B[L]		Sir Charles Ian Orr-Ewing, 1st baronet Created Baron Orr-Ewing for life 30 Apr 1971 MP for Hendon North 1950-1970 Peerage extinct on his death	10 Feb 1912	19 Aug 1999	87
ORWELL
7 Apr 1762 21 Jul 1776 to     15 Oct 1783	B[I] V[I]	1 1	Francis Vernon Created Baron Orwell 7 Apr 1762, Viscount Orwell 21 Jul 1776 and Earl of Shipbrook 8 Feb 1777 Peerages extinct on his death	c 1715	15 Oct 1783
OSAMOR
26 Nov 2018	B[L]		Martha Otito Osamor Created Baroness Osamor for life 26 Nov 2018	Sep 1940
OSBORNE
2 Feb 1673 15 Aug 1673	V B	1 2	Thomas Osborne Created Viscount Osborne 2 Feb 1673, Baron Osborne and Viscount Latimer 15 Aug 1673, Earl of Danby 27 Jun 1674, Marquess of Carmarthen 9 Apr 1689 and Duke of Leeds 4 May 1694 He surrendered the Viscountcy of Osborne created in 1673 to his 2nd son, Peregrine Osborne in August 1673	20 Feb 1632	26 Jul 1712	80
Aug 1673	V	2	Peregrine Osborne He succeeded as 2nd Duke of Leeds in 1712	1659	25 Jun 1729	69
3 Mar 1690	B		Peregrine Osborne He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Osborne 3 Mar 1690 He succeeded as 2nd Duke of Leeds in 1712	1659	25 Jun 1729	69
28 Jan 1713	B		Peregrine Hyde Osborne He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Osborne 28 Jan 1713 He succeeded as 3rd Duke of Leeds in 1729	11 Nov 1691	9 Apr 1731	39
15 May 1776	B		Francis Godolphin Osborne He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Osborne 15 May 1776 He succeeded as 5th Duke of Leeds in 1789	29 Jan 1751	31 Jan 1799	48
2 Jul 1838	B		Francis Godolphin D'Arcy-Osborne He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Osborne 2 Jul 1838 He succeeded as 7th Duke of Leeds on 10 Jul 1838	21 May 1798	4 May 1859	60
O'SHAUGHNESSY
1 Oct 2015	B[L]		James Richard O'Shaughnessy Created Baron O'Shaughnessy for life 1 Oct 2015	26 Mar 1976
OSSINGTON
13 Feb 1872 to     7 Mar 1873	V	1	John Evelyn Denison Created Viscount Ossington 13 Feb 1872 MP for Newcastle under Lyme 1823‑1826, Hastings 1826‑1830, Nottinghamshire 1831‑1832, Nottinghamshire South 1832‑1837, Malton 1841‑1857 and Nottinghamshire North 1857‑1872; Speaker of the House of Commons 1857‑1872; PC 1857 Peerage extinct on his death	27 Jan 1800	7 Mar 1873	73
OSSORY
23 Feb 1528	E[I]	1	Thomas Boleyn Created Viscount Rochford 18 Jun 1525, Earl of Ossory 23 Feb 1528, Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormonde 8 Dec 1529 See "Ormonde"	1477	13 Mar 1539	61
8 Aug 1662			Thomas Butler He was summoned to the Irish House of Lords by a Writ of Acceleration as Earl of Ossory [I] 8 Aug 1662, and later created Baron Butler of Moore Park [E] in 1666 MP for Bristol 1661‑1666; PC [I] 1660; KG 1672 He was the son and heir apparent of the 1st Duke of Ormonde, but died before he could succeed to that title	8 Jul 1634	30 Jul 1680	46
OSSULSTON
24 Nov 1682	B	1	John Bennet Created Baron Ossulston 24 Nov 1682 MP for Wallingford 1663‑1679	5 Jul 1616	11 Feb 1695	78
11 Feb 1695		2	Charles Bennet He was created Earl of Tankerville in 1714 with which title this peerage then merged	1674	21 May 1722	47
20 May 1859	B		Charles Bennet He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Ossulston 20 May 1859 He succeeded as Earl of Tankerville 25 Jun 1859	10 Jan 1810	18 Dec 1899	89
OUSELEY
26 Jun 2001	B[L]		Sir Herman George Ouseley Created Baron Ouseley for life 26 Jun 2001	24 Mar 1945
OVERSTONE
5 Mar 1850 to     17 Nov 1883	B	1	Samuel Jones Loyd Created Baron Overstone 5 Mar 1850 MP for Hythe 1819‑1826 Peerage extinct on his death	25 Sep 1796	17 Nov 1883	87
OVERTOUN
23 Jun 1893 to     15 Feb 1908	B	1	John Campbell White Created Baron Overtoun 23 Jun 1893 Lord Lieutenant Dumbarton 1907‑1908 Peerage extinct on his death	21 Nov 1843	15 Feb 1908	64
OWEN
30 Jun 1992	B[L]		David Anthony Llewellyn Owen Created Baron Owen for life 30 Jun 1992 MP for Plymouth Sutton 1966‑1974 and Devonport 1974‑1992; Minister of State, Health and Social Security 1974‑1976; Minister of State, Foreign Office 1976‑1977; Foreign Secretary 1977‑1979; PC 1976; CH 1994	2 Jul 1938
OWEN OF ALDERLEY EDGE
12 Jul 2023	B[L]		Charlotte Kathryn Tranter Owen Created Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge for life 12 Jul 2023	10 May 1993
OXBURGH
27 Jul 1999	B[L]		Sir Ernest Ronald Oxburgh Created Baron Oxburgh for life 27 Jul 1999	2 Nov 1934
OXENBRIDGE
13 Aug 1886 to     16 Apr 1898	V	1	William John Monson, 7th Baron Monson Created Viscount Oxenbridge 13 Aug 1886 Peerage extinct on his death	18 Feb 1829	16 Apr 1898	69
OXENFOORD OF COUSLAND
16 Aug 1841	B	1	John Hamilton Dalrymple, 8th Earl of Stair Created Baron Oxenfoord of Cousland 16 Aug 1841 For details of the special remainder included in the creation of this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page See "Stair"	14 Jun 1771	10 Jan 1853	81
OXFORD
1142	E	1	Aubrey de Vere Created Earl of Oxford 1142	c 1120	1194
1194		2	Aubrey de Vere	1163	1214	51
1214		3	Robert de Vere	c 1170	25 Oct 1221
25 Oct 1221		4	Hugh de Vere	c 1210	Dec 1263
Dec 1263		5	Robert de Vere	c 1240	2 Sep 1296
2 Sep 1296		6	Robert de Vere	Jun 1262	17 Apr 1331	68
17 Apr 1331		7	John de Vere	Mar 1313	24 Jan 1360	46
24 Jan 1360		8	Thomas de Vere	1337	18 Sep 1371	34
18 Sep 1371 to     3 Feb 1388		9	Robert de Vere Created Marquess of Dublin for life 1 Dec 1385 and Duke of Ireland for life 13 Oct 1386 KG 1384 He was attainted and the peerages forfeited	16 Jan 1362	22 Nov 1392	30
12 Feb 1392		10	Aubrey de Vere He was restored as Earl of Oxford 12 Feb 1392 For information on a claim to this peerage made by the Duke of Atholl in 1912, see the note at the foot of this page	c 1340	23 Apr 1400
23 Apr 1400		11	Richard de Vere KG 1415	c 1386	15 Feb 1417
15 Feb 1417		12	John de Vere	23 Apr 1407	26 Feb 1462	54
26 Feb 1462 to     Oct 1474 Oct 1485		13	John de Vere He was attainted and the peerage forfeited in Oct 1474 but restored Oct 1485 KG 1486	1443	10 Mar 1513	69
10 Mar 1513		14	John de Vere, 8th Lord Playz	14 Aug 1499	15 Jul 1526	26
15 Jul 1526		15	John de Vere (also 9th Lord Playz) KG 1527	by 1490	21 Mar 1540
21 Mar 1540		16	John de Vere Lord Lieutenant Essex 1558	c 1512	3 Aug 1562
3 Aug 1562		17	Edward de Vere	12 Apr 1550	24 Jun 1604	54
24 Jun 1604		18	Henry de Vere	24 Feb 1593	12 Jun 1625	32
12 Jun 1625		19	Robert de Vere	by 1600	17 Aug 1632
17 Aug 1632 to     12 Mar 1703		20	Aubrey de Vere Lord Lieutenant Essex 1660‑1687 and 1688‑1703; KG 1660; PC 1681 Peerage extinct on his death	28 Feb 1626	12 Mar 1703	77
23 May 1711	E	1	Robert Harley Created Baron Harley of Wigmore and Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer 23 May 1711 These creations contained a special remainder failing heirs male of his body to those of his grandfather, Sir Robert Harley MP for Tregony 1689-1690 and Radnor 1690‑1711; Speaker of the House of Commons 1701‑1705; Secretary of State 1704‑1708; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1710‑1711; Prime Minister 1711‑1714; PC 1704; KG 1712	5 Dec 1661	21 May 1724	62
21 May 1724		2	Edward Harley MP for Radnor 1711‑1715 and Cambridgeshire 1722‑1724	2 Jun 1689	16 Jun 1741	52
16 Jun 1741		3	Edward Harley MP for Herefordshire 1727‑1741	c 1699	11 Apr 1755
11 Apr 1755		4	Edward Harley MP for Herefordshire 1747‑1755; Lord Lieutenant Radnorshire 1766‑1790	2 Sep 1726	11 Oct 1790	64
11 Oct 1790		5	Edward Harley	20 Feb 1773	28 Dec 1848	75
28 Dec 1848 to     19 Jan 1853		6	Alfred Harley Peerage extinct on his death	10 Jan 1809	19 Jan 1853	44
OXFORD AND ASQUITH
9 Feb 1925	E	1	Herbert Henry Asquith Created Viscount Asquith and Earl of Oxford & Asquith 9 Feb 1925 MP for Fife East 1886‑1918 and Paisley 1920‑1924; Home Secretary 1892‑1895; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1905‑1908; Prime Minister 1908‑1916; PC 1892; PC [I] 1916; KG 1925	12 Sep 1852	15 Feb 1928	75
15 Feb 1928		2	Julian Edward George Asquith Governor of the Seychelles 1962‑1967	22 Apr 1916	16 Jan 2011	94
16 Jan 2011		3	Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith [Elected hereditary peer 2014-]	24 Aug 1952
OXFUIRD
			For information on two legends associated with this family, see the note at the foot of this page
19 Apr 1651	V[S]	1	Sir James Makgill, 1st baronet Created Lord Makgill of Cousland and Viscount of Oxfuird 19 Apr 1651		5 May 1663
5 May 1663		2	Robert Makgill On his death the peerage became dormant. The descent of the peerage was as follows:-	20 May 1651	8 Dec 1706	55
[8 Dec 1706]		3	[David Makgill]		Sep 1717
[Sep 1717]		4	[James Makgill]		26 Sep 1747
[26 Sep 1747]		5	[John Makgill]	13 Jun 1676	19 Apr 1762	85
[19 Apr 1762]		6	[Arthur Makgill]	18 May 1709	Dec 1777	68
[Dec 1777]		7	[George Makgill]	6 Sep 1723	26 Aug 1797	73
[26 Aug 1797]		8	[John Makgill]	16 Nov 1790	3 May 1817	26
[3 May 1817]		9	[George Makgill]	23 Dec 1812	21 Sep 1878	65
[21 Sep 1878]		10	[John Makgill]	6 Feb 1836	14 Nov 1906	70
[14 Nov 1906]		11	[George Makgill] He established his claim to the Makgill baronetcy in May 1907	24 Dec 1868	17 Oct 1926	57
[17 Oct 1926] 1977		12	John Donald Alexander Arthur Makgill He established his claim to the peerage in 1977 For further information, see the note at the foot of this page	31 Dec 1899	24 Jan 1986	86
24 Jan 1986		13	George Hubbard Makgill [Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2003]	7 Jan 1934	3 Jan 2003	68
3 Jan 2003		14	Ian Alexander Arthur Makgill	14 Oct 1969
OXMANTOWN
2 Jul 1681	B[I]	1	Sir Richard Parsons Created Baron Oxmantown and Viscount Rosse 2 Jul 1681 See "Rosse"	c 1657	30 Jan 1703
25 Sep 1792 6 Oct 1795 to     20 Apr 1807	B[I] V[I]	1 1	Lawrence Harman Parsons Created Baron Oxmantown 25 Sep 1792, Viscount Oxmantown 6 Oct 1795 and Earl of Rosse 3 Feb 1806 The creations of 1792 and 1806 both contained a special remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to his nephew Sir Lawrence Parsons, 5th baronet See "Rosse" - Viscounty extinct 1807	26 Jul 1749	20 Apr 1807	57

	Lettice Digby, Baroness Offaly in her own right
	The Baroness Offaly's story is very similar to that of Lady Arundell of Wardour. Both ladies are famous for defending their homes during the English Civil War, one in England and the other in Ireland. The following is extracted from Chapters from Family Chests by Edward Walford [2 vols, Hurst & Blackett, London 1886]. From the way in which the author speaks of the Baroness, he obviously believed her to be an absolute paragon of virtue.
	The Lady Lettice Digby is a heroine whose name right well deserves to be held in remembrance along with those of Brilliana Harley, of Blanche Lady Arundell and of the Lady of Lathom, whose defenses of Wardour Castle and Lathom House I have told in previous papers. Her defense of Geashill Castle, in King's County, Ireland was one of the most spirited episodes in the history of the Irish Rebellion in 1641. She was by birth Lettice Fitzgerald, being the only child of Gerald, Lord Offaley, whose great-grandfather, Gerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, was an ancestor of the ducal house of Leinster. Her mother, the Lady Katherine Knollys, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, was left a widow almost at birth, in 1580.
	The earldom, of course, descended in the male line, but the barony of Offaley, as a barony in fee, was one which it was thought could pass to females, and was therefore claimed for the youthful heiress while still a child. But the claim, though brought before the judges, was kept so long in dispute that King James I undertook to adjudicate it in person, and in the end he did so, being probably moved by gifts and presents, which in his day often helped to promote or to defeat justice. His Majesty in the end adjudged the ancient barony to the earl, but created Lettice Knollys Baroness Offaley for life. The King's grant, which is dated in 1619 [sic - 1620], and was made under the Great Seal of England, invested her with the lands of Killeagh and the territory and demesne of Geashill, which she brought by marriage into the Digby family.
	When the Irish rebellion of 1641 broke out, as mentioned above, the Lady Offaley was some sixty years of age, and had been a widow for a quarter of a century. 'With the rebels she could make no common cause, and with the defection of the Lords of the Pale she could have no sympathy;' she therefore proposed to resist every challenge and every overture on the part of the insurgents, whose action she regarded as foul disloyalty. Her ladyship was residing at Geashill with her sons and some of her grandchildren, when the forces of the enemy appeared before the walls of her castle, in spite of the natural defences of the bogs by which the place was surrounded. Henry Demsey, a brother of Lord Clanmalier, and her own kinsman, along with others of the leaders of the rebels, sent her a summons which purported to be in the King's name, ordering her to at once surrender her fortress, and at the same time threatening, in case of non-compliance, to burn it and the town which lay clustered at the foot of its walls, but promising her and her people a safe convoy in case she should yield.
	This missive was addressed to 'the honorable and thrice virtuous lady, the Lady Digby. But, aware of the men with whom she had to deal, Lady Digby was not to be dismayed by threats or duped by promises. Castle after castle had yielded, some gained over by threats, some by siege, and some by storm, and their helpless inmates had been butchered or driven forth homeless and shelterless. The Lady Lettice had too much spirit to yield herself to such a fate without a struggle, or without fighting a blow in self-defense. She alike questioned the authority of her enemies and distrusted their promises of mercy.
	'I am,' she replied, 'as I have ever been, a loyal subject of my king. I thank you for your offer of a convoy which, however, I hold as of little safety. Being free from offending His Majesty, or doing wrong to any of you, leaving the issue to God.' Such was this noble lady's dauntless answer to a summons sent fraudulently in the king's name, requiring her to give up her castle to her own and the king's enemies.
	Being surrounded by extensive bogs, Geashill Castle was by no means easy of approach, as already mentioned; but in proportion to its strength was its possession of importance to the rebels. 'Gesshall, in the King's County, is very necessaire to be had; it is a matter of consequence to her Majesties service in that county' were the words of Sir Henry Sidney, when he paid a visit to Ireland in the previous reign of Elizabeth. Sixty years later it was [an] equally valuable prize, and the rebels determined to secure it if they could, at all cost.
	Negotiations with its high-spirited owner being useless, they proceeded to make an assault on the castle; but they experienced such a warm reception on a near approach, that they were glad to retreat. 'One of the Lady Offaley's sons, having fallen into the hands of the rebels, was brought under the castle walls in chains, and a threat was held out that, unless she made at once an unconditional surrender they would strike his head off before her eyes. Nothing daunted, she replied that she had a Roman Catholic priest as a prisoner within her walls, that she would bring him out onto the ramparts, and that his life should be immediately forfeited if the rebels touched a hair of her son's head. As the rebels were Catholics, reverence for their priest induced them to withdraw as the price of his safety.
	The siege was, however, renewed after a brief interval, and prisoners were taken on either side. On one occasion a messenger, sent by Lady Offaley with a letter to the rebels, was detained by I am innocent,' she wrote, 'of doing you any injury, unless you count it injury for my people to bring back a small quantity of my own woods when they find them, and with them some men who have done me all the ill they can devise.'
	The siege was suspended for a time, but not abandoned, an interval of two months being spent in making preparations for a renewed assault. A hundred and forty fragments of old iron were collected from every quarter, and brought together, and an Irish rebel undertook the work of fixing them, and molding them into one huge cannon. Three times were they recast before the work was completed, but the lady of Geashill showed no signs of alarm. At length the engine was brought across the bogs to the front of the castle. Hoping to intimidate its gallant defender, Lord Clanmalier himself wrote to her announcing the arrival of this formidable piece of ordnance, telling her that he would never leave the spot to which he had advanced, until he had gained possession of the castle. Her answer was characteristic of womanly bravery: 'I am still of the same mind, my lord, and I can think no place safer that my own house; God will, I trust, take a poor widow into His protection, and defend her from all those who without cause have risen up against her.'
	Her confidence was not vain. Clanmalier ordered the cannon to be placed in the most commanding position, but it burst on its first discharge, injuring several of the rebel forces. The rest, in bitter disappointment, took up their guns, and kept up a continuous fire of musketry until the evening, but without inflicting any real damage. Lady Offaley herself watched the attempted assault from the window. As soon as night set in, the insurgents made off carrying with them their unlucky cannon.
	But the respite which they allowed the lady was a brief one. Next morning Lady Offaley received the following letter from her rebel cousin, Lord Clanmalier:
	"Madame - I received your letter, and am still tender to your good and welfare, though you give no credit thereunto. And, whereas you do not understand by relation that my piece of ordnance did not prosper, I believe you will be sensible of the hazard and loss you are like to sustain thereby, unless you be better advised to accept of the kind offer which I mentioned to you in my last letter unto you … If not, expect no further favor at my hands … And so I rest, your ladyship's loving cousin, &c."
	The fawning hypocrisy of her foe was well met by the keen and caustic reply of Lady Offaley:
	"My Lord - Your second summons I have received, and shall be glad to find you tender of my good. For your piece of ordnance I never disputed how it prospered, presuming you would rather make use of it for your own defense or against your enemies that against a poor widow of your own blood, which, if shed, shall be required at the hands of those that seek to spill it. For my part, my conscience tells me that I am innocent, and I wish you so too - I rest, your cousin, &c."
	In this letter true womanly feeling and thorough heroism are apparent in closest alliance. Lady Lettice was not ashamed of pleading her womanhood and her widowhood. Her mind was free from arrogance and pride; she uttered no hard words; she was cautious as well as courageous. When her danger became more imminent, and her resources grew feebler, she felt that help from outside was not to be rejected. At the end of April, 1642, she succeeded in informing Sir Charles Coote who was then at Naas, in the county of Kildare, of the straits to which she was reduced. He applied at once to the Earl of Ormond, who was at Dublin, for instructions, and the matter was laid before the council at Dublin Castle. It was determined that no time should be lost in sending assistance to Geashill. Accordingly, Philip Sydney, Lord de Lisle, son of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, was sent to King's County, with a regiment of carabineers and a company dragoons, which he had brought with him from England. He was placed in the high command in spite of his youth; but 'he would have belied the high name which he bore, had he not been forward to render assistance where such claims of chivalry and humanity were put forth as at Geashill.'
	Accompanied by Sir George Wentworth, Sir Charles Coote, and Lord Digby, the Lady Lettice's eldest son, he set off at once, and at the head of three hundred horse, and half that number of foot-soldiers. But their active aid was scarcely needed, for, though they were slightly harassed by some rebel skirmishers as they crossed the bog, yet on reaching Geashill it was found that the rebels had gone off into the woods and the mountains. It appeared that Lady Offaley, weary of waiting for help, or, at all events, unaware that it was close at hand, had despatched messages to some of her relatives among the FitzGeralds, asking for the loan of about fifty foot-soldiers to protect her against the 'mixed multitude' of insurgents. This latter, however, fell into the hands of her foes, who were on the point of returning to renew the siege, when the sudden arrival of the royal troops scattered them one and all to the winds.
	Although repeatedly urged by her friends to retire to some place of peace and safety, this heroic lady preferred to remain within her own castle walls, which were now well-provided from Dublin with arms and ammunition. Having spent some months in peace and quiet, and having seen the last of the rebels in her own neighbourhood, Lady  Lettice was at last persuaded to quit the fortress which she had so gallantly defended, and to settle down in England for the remainder of her days. She therefore retired to her husband's estate at Coleshill, in Warwickshire, where she died December 1, 1658, and she lies buried by his side in the parish church of that pleasant country town.
	John Oldcastell, Lord Oldcastell
	Lord Oldcastell was executed in December 1417, having been found guilty of heresy. He was a member of the Lollard religious movement founded by John Wycliffe. The Lollards' major aim was the reform of Western Christianity, with the result that they were opposed by the established Church.
	Oldcastell is sometimes referred to as Lord Cobham (including within the article below), since he was married to Joan, Baroness Cobham in her own right.
	Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, who appears in Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and The Merry Wives of Windsor is reputed to be based on Oldcastell, although the historical Oldcastell bears no resemblance to the vain and boastful Falstaff.
	The following is taken from A new abridgment and critical review of the state trials and impeachments for high treason by Thomas Salmon [London 1738]:-
	Sir John Oldcastle had been presented by the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury, assembled in Convocation, as the great Supporter and Encourager of several Heretics, particularly with maintaining, 1. That in the Sacrament of the Altar, the Elements, after Consideration by a Priest, still remained Bread and Wine: 2. That Confession to a Priest was not necessary: 3. That Images, or the Cross, ought not to be worshipped: 4. That the Pope, with the Bishops and Friars, constituted a complete Antichrist: and, 5. That it was not necessary to go on Pilgrimages.
	This Nobleman had been cited by the Archbishop to appear, and answer to the Articles: and for his Contumacy, in not appearing, stood excommunicated. However, depending on the King's Favour and Protection, he did not abscond, but remained still about the Court; till at length the Bishops and Clergy obtained an Order from the King to apprehend Sir John, and carry him to the Tower.
	On the 23d of September, Sir John was brought by the Lieutenant of the Tower, before the Archbishop and his Associates, at the Chapter House of St. Pauls, when the Court let the Prisoner know, that, notwithstanding he stood excommunicated, he might be absolved and admitted to a Trial, on making his Submission. But Sir John boldly avowed all the Doctrines he was accused of maintaining; and applying himself to the People, declined, that those who sat in Judgment on him would seduce them, and lead them all to Hell.
	The Court was so incensed at this Insult, that Sentence was pronounced against Sir John as an obstinate Heretick and Apostate; and he was delivered over to the secular Arm to be burnt; and a Writ issued accordingly for his Execution.
	The Prisoner afterwards escaping out of the Tower, his Enemies suggested that he was not only an Heretick, but a Rebel and Traitor to the Government, and had appointed the Lollards to assemble in St. Giles's Fields on a certain Night, in order for an Insurrection, which the poor Protestants, or Wickliffites, had given some Colour to, by assembling for their Devotions in the Night-Time in St. Giles's Woods. The King being persuaded to come thither in person with a Body of his Troops, on a Night when it was known they would assemble there, apprehended about four score of the Lollards in Arms; among whom was Sir Roger Acton, a Knight of some Reputation; which confirmed the King in the Belief that an Insurrection was intended; and Sir Roger, with several more of the Prisoners, were tried, condemned and executed. Though it did not appear that Sir John Oldcastle was at the Meeting in St. Giles's Fields, he was outlawed for High Treason, as a Promoter of that Rebellion, as it was called, and taking Refuge in the Mountains of Wales, he defended himself against all the Force and Stratagems of his Persecutors, for three Years, and upwards; and might have remained there much longer, possibly, if he had not given the Clergy fresh Provocation, by defacing the Pictures and Images of the Saints wherever he came; Of which Complaint being made in a Parliament held by the Duke of Bedford, Regent of the Kingdom during the King's Absence in France, anno 1417, fresh Forces were sent down against Sir John, and a Reward offered to any Person that should take him. Whereupon the Lord Powis surrounded the Lord Cobham and his Friends; and after a desperate Engagement, in which many were killed on both Sides, the Lord Cobham was made Prisoner. This Service was then thought of such Importance, that the Lord Powis received the Thanks of the Parliament for it; and Sir John, according to our Historians, being brought before the House of Lords, was ordered to be executed both as a Traitor, and an Heretick. In pursuance whereof it is said he was hanged by the Middle in an Iron Chain, and burnt as an Heretick under a new Gallows erected at St. Giles's for that Purpose; and while his Enemies cursed and reviled him, and ordered the People not to pity, or pray for him, he gloried in his Sufferings, and was not all dismayed at the complicated Execution.
	John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill
	When the Irish insurrection of 1798 broke out on 23 May of that year, O'Neill, who was Governor of the county of Antrim, called a meeting of the Antrim magistrates. O'Neill arrived in Antrim on the 7th of June to find himself trapped between two opposing forces. Various accounts describe what happened next - in one account, he fired his pistols at the advancing rebels, but was stabbed in the side by a pike which pierced his stomach. Other versions of the story state that the man who thrust the pike into him was O'Neill's own lodge-keeper or park-keeper who had failed to recognize his master. After lingering for 11 days, O'Neill died at the house of his neighbour, the Earl of Massereene, on 18 June 1798.
	Geoffrey Henry Browne, 3rd Baron Oranmore & Browne and 1st Baron Mereworth
	Lord Oranmore and Browne died from injuries received when the car in which he was travelling collided with a bus on the road between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. His wife was killed in the accident. The inquest was reported in The Irish Times of 4 July 1927:-
	Mr. H.A. Vere, Coroner, on Saturday last held an inquest at Mereworth Castle, near Maidstone, on the body of Lord Oranmore and Browne, who died on Thursday last from the effects of injuries received in a motor accident on June 7th, when Lady Oranmore and Browne was killed. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
	The Coroner said that Lord Oranmore and Browne bore a very distinguished name, and his death left a blank that could not readily be filled.
	The Hon. Dominick Geoffrey Browne, son and heir of the late peer, identified the remains, and said that his father was 66 years of age.
	In describing the accident, the late Lord Oranmore's chauffeur (Harry Vine) said that it occurred in a thick mist, and he added:- "I saw the 'bus in the narrow lane, and I immediately started to pull up. I put on the hand-brake. The car went on some yards. After I had touched the foot-brake the wheels seemed to lock. I skidded violently into the middle of the road. I thought the car was going over, but I got it back to the near side. Immediately I got straight I changed into low gear. To my horror, when I got straight, I sa the 'bus still coming at me. I took what I thought to be the lesser risk, and turned to my right to get out of the way, as there was no chance of the 'bus stopping or getting through. The 'bus came on and hit me on the near mudguards."
	A juryman asked if the chauffeur had had an opportunity at the inquest on Lady Oranmore of putting questions to the driver of the omnibus? Vine - No, I did not have an opportunity. The Coroner - The 'bus driver said he was absolutely at a standstill. Vine - He was not. The Coroner - There seems to be a direct conflict of evidence about this. The first jury seemed to think that you were wrong and that the other driver was right.
	Dr. Landale Clark, Lord Oranmore's medical attendant, said that Lord Oranmore received a very severe blow on the front part of the body. There was a time when he seemed to be recovering, but he failed, and the cause of death was the crushing of the internal organs and internal haemorrhage.
	Robert Horace Walpole, 5th and last Earl of Orford (creation of 1806)
	According to Lord Orford's obituary in The Times of 28 September 1931, he had led a very adventurous life and had seen a large part of the world. The obituary states that, after leaving Eton, he joined the Royal Navy and was shipwrecked on St. Paul's Island, where he survived for three months on a diet of seaweed and birds' eggs. He was in Fiji at the time of its annexation, and was present during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. It is with his experience on St. Paul's Island that this note is concerned. The following article appeared in the February 1965 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade. Although it does not mention Orford, he was one of the sailors present.
	On June 9, 1871, Chief Carpenter Henry Boryer, of the Royal Navy supply ship Megaera, requested permission to inform Captain Thrupp that the bottom was likely to fall out at any moment. The captain had expected trouble ever since leaving England, but the old Megaera had reached the middle of the Indian Ocean safely, and he had hoped she would hang together as far as Melbourne. Once there Captain Thrupp would gladly have said farewell to his worst command in 25 years of naval service.
	Descending to the hold with the carpenter and Lieutenant Jones, Thrupp examined the position. He already knew that some girders were so corroded that they would hardly hold a bolt, and that many plates had been eroded until paper-thin. Now he was dismayed to find water pouring in from an inaccessible leak under the coal bunkers. With the lives of 420 [other sources put the number at about 290] men at stake he was in a terrible dilemma. They were midway between Cape Town and West Australia, and even with the best of luck it was most unlikely that the Megaera would last the distance. If he increased speed the pounding of the worn-out engines might tear [the ship] to pieces.
	Ordering the pumps into action, Captain Thrupp altered course for the uninhabited island of St. Paul, an extinct volcano which thrust its rugged head out of the Indian Ocean north of Kerguelen Island. For eight tense days the ship churned slowly on, every available man helping to battle the steadily rising water. But steam pumps, hand pumps and bucket brigades failed to check the flow. The officers knew the corroded plates might give way and the ship sink under them like a stone at any moment. To add to their peril, a high sea was running, and the ship was slowly sinking by the head. Every time the screw lifted clear of the water the shuddering engines threatened to rip away from their bed­plates. The most Thrupp could do was set enough sail to keep the vessel steady.
	On June 17 the 1000-foot peak of St. Paul loomed through the haze. Still hoping to save the ship, Thrupp ran her into a bay formed by the breaking down of the old crater rim of the volcano. A heavy surf was running. After losing all his anchors, he drove the Megaera hard and fast on a sandbar some distance from the beach. Next day the weather moderated enough for a diver to descend. His report was so gloomy that Thrupp abandoned ship. The Megaera's company toiled to bring everything ashore that could be moved, manhandling bags of coal out of the bunkers, heaving cases of stores out of the holds. When one exhausted seaman refused to work Thrupp's temper exploded. The solitary mutineer landed on St. Paul with his back raw from 40 lashes.
	Hitherto inhabited only by rats and noisy colonies of seabirds, the beach soon presented almost a civilised appearance. Tents were run up out of sailcloth and huts built with stones and sods. Fishing parties were organised, a flag­pole erected on the peak and beacon fires lit. The only drinkable water was in a natural reservoir high up the side of the hill. So the men rigged an ingenious 800ft. pipeline to bring it down to their camp. A few days later a cyclone hit the island. From the little settlement the 420 Crusoes watched the Megaera remorselessly pounded to pieces until little was left but the bones of her hull. The inglorious career of the Royal Navy's most notorious coffin ship was over at last.
	An iron steamer of 2000 tons, she had long been regarded as the worst ship in the navy. She was launched in 1849 as a sloop-of-war, but was soon found so useless for combat that her guns were stripped off. She was relegated to transporting stores and personnel, gradually declining in status until she was at the bottom of the fourth reserve, the most ignominious position in the list. Because she was in and out of their hands almost continually, dockyard officials hated the sight of her. There had been many recommendations for scrapping the vessel, but the Admiralty had fallen into a state of inertia, and no one would take the responsibility of sending a steam vessel to the junk yards. In 1864 £30,000 was spent on reconditioning, but within a few years she was as unseaworthy as ever.
	As in most early iron vessels, the designer had not left enough clearance at the bottom. A thorough inspection would have meant removing the engines, water tanks and bunkers. Instead, dockyard foremen deputed the examining job to undersized boys called "ferrets", who crawled through the 18-inch space and reported when they reached the other end. On the opinion of these urchins the ship was certified sound or otherwise.
	In 1871 the Megaera was ordered to carry relief crews out to the frigates Blanche and Rosario, serving on the Australian station. Her captain, Arthur Thrupp, hotly protested that she was unfit for so long a voyage. He was supported by the Port Admiral at the Medway, who said nothing would persuade him to travel in such a coffin ship. Thrupp's objections were ignored. Woolwich docks hurriedly passed the Megaera on to Sheerness, where she was patched up a bit more. At last, loaded with stores and seamen, the ill-fated vessel sailed late in February 1871. Thrupp was soon forced to put into Cork [Queenstown] harbour with his command leaking like a sieve. Her main deck was awash, and the officers' cabins were ankle-deep in water. Again Thrupp lodged a protest, in which his officers joined. As a result the Megaera was ordered into the nearest dockyard for still another examination. Some leaking portholes were tightened and 127 tons of badly stowed cargo removed. After that the ship was optimistically pronounced fit to last another couple of years. Thrupp could do no more. Fortunately removal of some cargo made the ship easier to handle, and the weather was fine all the way to the Cape of Good Hope.
	After that began the trouble that eventually led to the cold and inhospitable shore of St. Paul. There was no reason why any ship should call at the island. For all Thrupp knew, he and his men might be there for years. It was not an inviting place on which to be marooned. A howling westerly blew continually. Nothing grew except a little coarse grass. Apart from fish the island had no natural resources.
	Assuming a long stay, Thrupp cut rations to a minimum. It was well he did, for the naval castaways spent 80 days there. By then the stores had almost run out, and the company was depending on boiled grass and dandelions to preserve them from the scurvy which was just beginning to make its dread appearance.
	In mid-August, Captain Visser, of the Dutch ship Aurora, bound from Amsterdam to Batavia, noticed an odd-looking tree on the summit of the peak of St. Paul. Standing in for a closer view he found that the tree was a tall spar and its foliage a ragged British ensign, flying upside down. In a few hours he established contact with the castaways. Having landed what little flour he could spare, he took Lieutenant Jones on to Java. Barely had the Aurora dropped out of sight than a German collier appeared. Her skipper offered to dump his cargo overboard and take all of the Megaera's men to Melbourne - provided the captain guaranteed him £100 per head passage money. Not wishing to involve the Admiralty in a bill for £40,000, Thrupp rejected the suggestion.
	Arrived at Sourabaya, Lieutenant Jones telegraphed the Admiralty and the commodore commanding on the China Station. The steamer Malacca was immediately dispatched from Hong Kong. Although there was now very little left of the Megaera, her malign influence persisted. Caught by a north­wester, the Malacca was nearly wrecked while trying to take the castaways off.
	Captain Thrupp and some of his officers returned to England for the necessary court martial. The rest of the Megaera's men arrived at Melbourne on September 27. The court martial, in the battleship Duke of Wellington, completely exonerated Captain Thrupp. But his evidence and that of his officers was so startling that a royal commission was appointed to inquire into the history of the ship. Reputations went overboard and jobs became vacant as a result of the commission.
	William Ladd, master shipwright at Woolwich, and Alfred Trickett, chief engineer, had a particularly bad time. It was proved that many of the Megaera's plates were eroded to a thickness of barely 3/16 of an inch. Nevertheless, Ladd and Trickett had signed a certificate of seaworthiness, because, they naively declared, "it was the usual thing". The men from Sheerness and Queentown dockyards came out of the inquiry no better. In fact, Lord Lawrence, chairman of the commission, impatiently remarked that nobody seemed to know anything about the wretched ship's real condition. Nor could he discover anyone whose business it was to find out - unless it was the 12-year-old ferrets who were deputed to crawl round the bottom of the ship.
	Admiralty memories proved equally unreliable. Admiral [Sir Robert] Robinson, Controller of the Navy, failed to recall Captain Thrupp's heated protests at having to sail in an unsafe ship. Mr. Vernon Lushington, Secretary to the Admiralty, admitted blandly that he knew nothing about iron ships, except that officers perpetually complained they were rusty. The commission's findings were such a blistering indictment of naval methods that the name of Megaera became an evil memory in every dockyard in the United Kingdom.
	Mary O'Brien, Countess of Orkney in her own right
	Mary was deaf and dumb, and when she married her cousin, Murrough O'Brien (later 5th Earl of Inchiquin and 1st Marquess of Thomond), her responses in the wedding ceremony were performed in sign language.
	The following anecdote concerning the Countess is included in Sir Bernard Burke's The Romance of the Aristocracy (3 vols, London, 1855).
	… Shortly after the birth of her first child, the nurse, with considerable astonishment, saw the mother cautiously approach the cradle in which the infant was sleeping, evidently full of some deep design. The Countess, having perfectly assured herself that the child really slept, took out a large stone, which she had concealed under her shawl, and to the horror of the nurse … seized it with an intent to fling it down vehemently. Before the nurse could interpose, the Countess had flung the stone - not, however, at the child, but on the floor, where, of course, it made a great noise. The child immediately awoke and cried. The Countess, who had looked with maternal eagerness to the result of her experiment, fell on her knees in a transport of joy. She had discovered that her child possessed the senses that were wanting in herself.
	Lady Eleanor Butler, daughter of the 9th Earl of Ormonde (1739‑1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755‑1831)
	Two ladies who became famous under the name of 'The Ladies of Llangollen' and who have since become iconic figures in the lesbian community.
	The Butler and Ponsonby families lived very close to each other in Ireland. They met for the first time in 1768 and soon became friends. Lady Eleanor's mother despaired of Eleanor ever marrying and, worried that they might be forced into unwanted marriages, the two ladies ran away together in April 1778. They set up house together near the village of Llangollen, a small town in Denbighshire, in north east Wales. The house they lived in for the rest of their lives was named Plas Newydd (Welsh for 'new place' or 'new hall').
	The ladies lived in complete seclusion with a gardener, a footman, two maids, Flirt the dog and Mrs Tatters the cat. Neither spent a single night away from their house, or from each other, until Lady Eleanor died over 50 years later.
	They devoted their time to private studies in literature and the arts, and to improving their garden, which became in time a showpiece. The house attracted all manner of visitors, mainly from writers, and included Wordsworth, Southey, de Quincey, Shelley, Byron and Scott, as well as famous figures such as the Duke of Wellington. Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, asked for the plans of their garden and persuaded her husband to grant them a pension.
	The house is now a museum run by the local county council. For a photo of the house and further information regarding these remarkable ladies, see the following link:- http://www.f-n-f.net/Ladies-of-Llangollen.htm
	For a full length book on the Ladies, I recommend The Ladies of Llangollen: A Study in Romantic Friendship by Elizabeth Mavor (Penguin Books, London, 1973)
	The special remainder to the Barony of Ormonde created in 1821
	From the London Gazette of 14 July 1821 (issue 17724, page 1461):-
	The King 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 to James Earl of Ormonde and Ossory, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Baron Ormonde, of Llanthony, in the county of Monmouth; with remainder, in default of such issue male, to his brother the Honourable Charles Haward Butler Clarke, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.
	The special remainder to the Barony of Oxenfoord created in 1841
	From the London Gazette of 13 August 1841 (issue 20007, page 2072):-
	The Queen has … been pleased to direct letters patent to be passed under the … Great Seal, granting the dignity of a Baron of the said United Kingdom to General John Earl of Stair, of that part of the said United Kingdom called Scotland, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Baron Oxenfoord, of Causland, in the county of Edinburgh; with remainder in default of such issue male, to North Dalrymple, of Fordel and Cleland, Esq. (brother of the said John Earl of Stair), and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.
	The attempt by the Duke of Atholl to claim the Earldom of Oxford in 1912
	In 1912 the Committee for Privileges heard the claim of the Duke of Atholl to be entitled to the Earldom of Oxford.
	The 9th Earl was attainted and his peerage forfeited in 1388, but the peerage was restored to his uncle four years later. The question was whether this was indeed a restoration of the original earldom, or whether the earldom was a fresh creation.
	The Committee's hearings were reported in The Scotsman of 3 December 1912:-
	Among the numerous peerage claims which are pending in the House of Lords, not the least interesting is that of the Duke of Atholl, who seeks to establish his right to the Earldom of Oxford. His petition came before the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords which met to-day. The Committee consisted of the Earl of Donoughmore, who presided, Lords Halsbury, Ashbourne, Mersey, Shaw, Sheffield, Sanderson, and Desart.
	The last peerage claim of the De Veres was heard in the reign of Charles I … The De Veres, who gave warriors, courtiers, and crusaders to England, died out towards the end of the seventeenth century in the person of Aubrey de Vere, the twentieth Earl of Oxford. For a long time the Earldom has been extinct, but the present claimant says that it ought to have passed to the daughters of the fourteenth earl of the creation of 1142, and remained in abeyance among their descendants. The Duke of Atholl claims to be the lineal descendant and senior co-heir of John Neville, a son of Lady Latimer.
	Sir R. Finlay, K.C., in his argument for the Duke of Atholl, said on the attainder [in 1388] there was a forfeiture of the dignities of the Earldom, and although the attainder was afterwards revoked in the 21st year of the reign of King Richard II, it remained unversed until then, and the result was that for four years [1388‑1392] there was no Earl of Oxford. Then took place the proceedings, the effect of which was to recreate the Earldom of Oxford with limitations. The present case, said Sir R. Finlay, was whether the document to which he would now call attention created a new Earl of Oxford with new limitations, or whether it could be regarded as having revived the old Earldom of Oxford, which had become forfeited on the attainder of Robert, the ninth Earl. The question was whether until the attainder was got rid of the old Earldom remained in abeyance, or was put an end to until the Earldom was revived. If his interpretation was correct, what was done in 1392 was the creation of a new Earldom of Oxford, and the old Earldom remained in suspense till 1397, when the attainder of Richard II, 1388, was put an end to and annulled, and the old Earldom of 1142 was revived, and given to Aubrey, uncle and heir to Robert, the ninth Earl of Oxford of the 1142 creation. In the old Earldom there was a limitation to heirs of the body, but in the new Earldom of 1392 the limitation was to heirs male for ever. There was a second question which had to be decided, viz., whether the doctrine of the abeyance of a Peerage applied in the case of an Earldom as in that of a Baron. If what Parliament intended was that the old dignity should exist in the person of Aubrey de Vere, they would have proceeded in a very different way. They might have reversed the attainder to Robert, in which case the title would have gone to his uncle, or they might have enacted that the old Earldom should rest in Aubrey de Vere: but none of these things were done.
	The Earl of Sheffield - Was there any evidence after the Act of Richard II that the Earl of Oxford was placed in the old precedence of Henry II?
	Sir R. Finlay - There was no evidence they could find.
	Mr Geoffrey Ellis followed on the same side on the question of the two creations.
	The Attorney-General said the important question to be considered at this stage of the proceedings was - Did the Act of Parliament and the charter, or either of them, create an Earldom, as alleged by the petitioner, or did both or either continue and restore an Earldom of Oxford in new limitations? That was a question dependent upon the interpretation which their Lordships thought right to give to those two documents. It was a very significant fact that in neither of those two documents did they find the essential word "create", a well-known word, frequently used, especially in patents, both before and after the year 1392. He submitted that the non-use of the word "create" was fatal to the petitioner's case. Adopting the phraseology used by Lord Shaw, was the mind of the King set upon the creation of something new, or upon the continuation and restoration of something old with new limitations. A reference to contemporary documents showed that it had at that time become a fashion to limit dignities in the way this statute did to heirs-male for ever, instead of as hitherto to heirs-general. Looking at the Act of Parliament passed in 1392, there was reference to the ancestors of Aubrey de Vere, who had been Earls of Oxford from ancient times, and the King had by special grace "restored and continued" the dignity, so that the state and name of Earl of Oxford should not utterly cease. These words, "restored and continued", should be read along with the subsequent words, "given and granted". The object of continuing and restoring was to put Aubrey de Vere in the same position as if he had succeeded in the ordinary course. There was a new limitation to heirs-male for ever, words which were introduced, not necessarily as a condition of the restoration, but a something by which the name and title were restored. It was a very remarkable fact that in the Earldoms of Suffolk, Huntingdon, Rutland, and Wilts, the words "praeficimus et creamus" were employed and not in the restored and continued Earldom of Oxford. The Attorney-General went on to quote cases, such as that of the Earl of Arundel, where new limitations were made to an old dignity.
	After the hearing had been adjourned until the next day, The Scotsman on 4 December 1912 reported that:-
	The Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords resumed yesterday consideration of the petition of the Duke of Atholl, who claimed to be co-heir to the Earldom of Oxford. The Attorney-General … submitted that there was no new creation of Peerage, but merely the restoration of the old creation. He said that John, 4th Earl of Oxford of the 1392 creation, obtained in the Parliament of 3 and 4 Edward IV, a final reversal of the proceedings of the Henry IV, and thus the attainder of his ancestor, Robert, ninth Earl, having been removed, he became the thirteenth Earl of the old creation. He was attainted in 14 Edward IV, and all his honours forfeited. In the Henry VII he was appointed Admiral of England. All his honours were restored, and he acted as Lord Great Chamberlain of Henry VII in which office he was again confirmed in the Henry VIII. Counsel went on to quote petitions to Parliament in which his uncle and heir was referred to as having his name, estate, and dignity of Earl of Oxford restored to him. All this, he contended, showed that the view taken at that time by Parliament was that there had been full restitution of his estate and dignity, and it was quite inconsistent with the contention of his learned friend (Sir Robert Finlay) that there was a new creation.
	After further argument, one of the members of the Committee, Lord Halsbury, said: This case has occupied a wide field of inquiry, and it has been extremely interesting. But as a matter of fact, for reasons which those who have heard the argument will appreciate, it is dependent entirely on one simple fact, and that is evidenced by the original document to which reference is made. That question is whether the Peerage which is now in dispute was the restored original Peerage or an original Peerage newly created. On that subject it will be unnecessary for me to go through what I think we are all agreed upon, but we take the view of the Attorney-General on that subject, that it was a restored Peerage …
	Each of the other members of the Committee in turn agreed that the events of 1392 constituted a restoration of the Earldom, and as a result, the Duke of Atholl's claim was disallowed.
	Sir John Donald Alexander Arthur Makgill, 12th baronet and later 12th Viscount Oxfuird
	Sir John's successful claim to the Viscountcy of Oxfuird was heard by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges in 1977. The following newspaper reports are relevant to the claim.
	The London Daily Telegraph of 14 April 1977:-
	After groping for days through a jungle of birth, marriage and death certificates and bumping into sharp differences between ancient English and Scottish law, the Law Lords are trying to judge the validity of a claim by a Scottish baronet to a seat in the House of Lords empty for more than 250 years.
	The Lord's Committee, chaired by Lord Wilberforce, was told by the baronet, Sir John Donald Alexander Arthur Makgill, that he had a legitimate line of descent from the first Viscount of Oxfuird and Lord Makgill of Cousland and thus claimed the Scottish title, with its appropriate honours and dignities.
	When the peerage was created, in 1651, Charles II had not been proclaimed King of England. He had been declared King of Scotland after his father's execution in 1649 but although he considered himself King, it was not until 1660 that he was restored as monarch of Great Britain and Ireland.
	The Crown, though not opposed to the claim, was represented at the hearing to observe and help in unravelling legal records.
	According to the original letters patent under the Great Seal of 1651, the first Viscount had the right to name an heir to the title. In fact he had a son, Robert, who inherited it. Whether Robert also inherited the right to name his heir has since been argued. He had only daughters and named one of them, Christian, as his heir.
	During evidence a Scottish laird, not connected with Sir John, was referred to. He had disinherited his son who had murdered the boot boy and was discovered roasting him on a spit to eat him [this is presumably James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry]. No such skeletons were found in the Makgill cupboard, but when Christian and her son Robert attempted to claim the title in 1733 they were not allowed to vote at the election of Scottish peers.
	The first Viscount had died in 1663. Robert died in 1705, and thus, in the precise wording of the lawyers, "the heirs male of the body of James, 1st Viscount of Oxfuird, became extinct".
	After Christian's unsuccessful attempt to claim the title in 1733, another member of the Makgill family, Sir James Makgill of Rankeillor, tried two years later at the House of Lords to claim the title. He actually voted in the House before his claim was rejected. It is that Sir James from whom Sir John Makgill, the present claimant, is descended; and it is that decision, made nearly 250 years ago, which he is now contesting. Sir John is now 77 and the oldest surviving member of his family.
	The London Daily Telegraph of 18 June 1977:-
	A 77-year-old Scottish baronet's claim to a peerage which has been dormant for 270 years is, after many years of discussion and debate, on the brink of success. After wading through a sea of evidence the House of Lords Committee for Privileges, headed by Lord Wilberforce, has ruled unanimously that the claim by Sir John Donald Alexander Arthur Makgill to the Viscountcy of Oxfuird should be upheld.
	But, before Sir John can take his seat in the House of Lords as the rightful Viscount Oxfuird the committee's ruling has to be ratified first by his fellow peers, and finally by the Queen.
	Sir John's claim to the "appropriate honours and dignities" of the title were based on the fact that the first Viscount, created by Charles II in 1651 in Scotland, had the right to name an heir. The first viscount had a son, Robert, who inherited the title, and argument since has been whether it can be assumed that he, too, had the right to name his heir. He died in 1705 without male issue, having named a daughter, Christian, as heir. But when Christian and her son attempted to vote at the election of Scottish peers in 1733 they were overruled.
	There was one other attempt two years later by another member of the Makgill family, Sir James Makgill of Rankeillor to assume the title. He even voted at the House of Lords before his claim was rejected. It was that Sir James from whom the present claimant is descended.
	"British justice has triumphed in the end," said Sir John at his home in Ayrshire last night.
	The London Daily Telegraph of 28 June 1977:-
	The House of Lords yesterday accepted the recommendation of its committee of privileges to revive the old Scottish Viscountcy of Oxfuird and to recognise the claim of Sir John Makgill, the 12th baronet, to succeed the second viscount who died 272 years ago.
	While supporting a motion by Lord Wilberforce, a Lord of Appeal, that they should do so, Lord Molson (C) argued that no similar petition should ever again be entertained by the House of Lords. New Scottish peerages were ended by the Act of Union in 1707 but the Scottish succession laws maintained a phantom existence and came back to life like a ghost from the tomb, he said.
	Sir John was the collateral heir who later became the first Viscount Oxfuird. Their common ancestor was the first Viscount's great grandfather. A previous claim to the viscountcy in 1735 was held to be not proved. He [Lord Molson] suggested that the Lords should appoint a committee to consider whether the whole or part of the archaic peerage law of Scotland should be repealed.
	Lord Keith of Kinkel, a Lord of Appeal, argued in a maiden speech that the Scottish succession law was not arcane. It was entirely clear to those instructed in the law of Scotland about hereditable property, a body of law which could not be repealed without upsetting the whole basis of Scottish peerage law.
	Lord Fraser of Tullybelton, a Lord of Appeal, said that a law which raised an awkward decision only once in 25 years as this one had done, and that of the Earldom of Dundee 25 years ago, was not doing too badly. There was no question of repealing the law and to change it in a retrospective way seemed a dangerous procedure.
	The Earl of Dundee said the whole subject rested on the execution of justice. Where in the course of history the succession had unjustly and wrongly been interfered with it might take a very long time to put it right. In the case of his own peerage it took 200 years before justice was done. The Lords must not countenance injustice.
	Viscount Dilhorne said further consideration should be given to whether there should be future claims of this character. For 272 years nobody had proved his title to this peerage. One might have concluded that it had become extinct or dormant. In winning his claim to the succession this claimant might lead to a number of other claims, Scottish and English. A previous Lords Privileges Committee decided in 1926 that claims to English baronies would not be entertained where these had been in abeyance for more than 100 years. It was therefore anomalous that this viscountcy should be revived.
	Lord McCluskey, Solicitor General for Scotland, said the proposal looked like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. But Ministers would study ways to reduce the waste of time and expense involved in considering such matters.
	Two legends associated with the Viscountcy of Oxfuird
	The seat of the Makgill family was at Kemback, near Cupar in Fifeshire. Two interesting legends of Kemback are worth recording.
	At the gate to the estate there is reputed to be a lime tree which behaved in the same manner as Aaron's Rod in the Bible (in Numbers, chapter 17). The first Makgill of Kemback, when courting the woman who later became his wife, who lived at Brackmont, pulled a branch from a lime tree at Brackmont, which he used to control the speed of his horse, presumably in the same manner as a riding crop. When he returned home to Kemback he stuck the stick in the ground at the entrance to his estate, where it budded and grew into a large tree which is still known as the Staff.
	Another legend has it that a number of subterranean passages run underneath the River Eden from Kemback to Dairsie Castle. At some point hundreds of years ago, some repairs were being made to the Kemback entrance to these passages, but no one was sure which passage was the correct one to follow. Just then, a wandering piper appeared on the scene and was induced to enter the passages and play his pipes, so that the direction of the passage might be ascertained from the sound of the pipes. Those listening heard the piper playing below ground until he reached the river's edge, but then the sounds ceased. Those above ground waited for an entire month for the piper to reappear, keeping watch at both entrances. But when there was no sign of the piper at the end of that period, and no one being willing to explore the passages in an attempt to find him, both passage entrances were bricked up.

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