PEERAGES
Last updated 06/04/2018 (12 Mar 2024)
Date	Rank	Order	Name	Born	Died	Age
FITZWILLIAM
24 Jun 1295	B	1	Ralph Fitzwilliam Summoned to Parliament as Lord Fitzwilliam 24 Jun 1295		Nov 1315
Nov 1315		2	Robert Fitzwilliam	1275	1317	42
1317		3	Ralph de Greystock He was summoned to Parliament as Lord Greystock in 1321
1 Dec 1620	B[I]	1	William Fitzwilliam Created Baron Fitzwilliam 1 Dec 1620		6 Jan 1644
6 Jan 1644		2	William Fitzwilliam	c 1609	21 Feb 1658
21 Feb 1658	E[I]	3 1	William Fitzwilliam Created Viscount Milton and Earl Fitzwilliam 21 Jul 1716 MP for Peterborough 1667‑1679 and 1681‑1685	29 Apr 1643	28 Dec 1719	76
28 Dec 1719		2	John Fitzwilliam MP for Peterborough 1710‑1728	c 1681	28 Aug 1728
28 Aug 1728 19 Apr 1742 6 Sep 1746	B E	3 1 1	William Fitzwilliam Created Baron Fitzwilliam 19 Apr 1742, and Viscount Milton and Earl Fitzwilliam 6 Sep 1746 MP for Peterborough 1741‑1742; PC [I] 1746	15 Jan 1719	10 Aug 1756	37
10 Aug 1756		4 2	William Fitzwilliam Lord President of the Council 1794 and 1806; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1795; Lord Lieutenant West Riding Yorkshire 1798‑1819; PC 1794	30 May 1748	8 Feb 1833	84
8 Feb 1833		5 3	Charles William Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam MP for Malton 1806‑1807, Yorkshire 1807‑1830, Peterborough 1830, Northamptonshire 1831‑1832 and Northamptonshire North 1832‑1833; KG 1851	4 May 1786	4 Oct 1857	71
4 Oct 1857		6 4	William Thomas Spencer Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam MP for Malton 1837‑1841 and 1846‑1847, and Wicklow 1847‑1857; Lord Lieutenant West Riding Yorkshire 1857‑1892; KG 1862	12 Oct 1815	20 Feb 1902	86
20 Feb 1902		7 5	William Charles de Meuron Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam MP for Wakefield 1895‑1902 For further information on this peer and his father, Viscount Milton, see the notes at the foot of this page	25 Jul 1872	15 Feb 1943	70
15 Feb 1943		8 6	William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam For further information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	31 Dec 1910	13 May 1948	37
13 May 1948		9 7	Eric Spencer Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam	4 Dec 1883	3 Apr 1952	68
3 Apr 1952 to     21 Sep 1979		10 8	William Thomas George Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam Peerages extinct on his death For further information on the Fitzwilliam legitimacy case of 1951, see the note at the foot of this page	28 May 1904	21 Sep 1979	75
FITZWILLIAM OF MERYON
5 Aug 1629	V[I]	1	Thomas Fitzwilliam Created Baron Fitzwilliam of Thorncastle and Viscount Fitzwilliam of Meryon 5 Aug 1629	1581	c 1650
c 1650		2	Oliver Fitzwilliam Created Earl of Tyrconnel 20 Apr 1661 The Earldom of Tyrconnel became extinct on his death		11 Apr 1667
11 Apr 1667		3	William Fitzwilliam		c 1670
c 1670		4	Thomas Fitzwilliam		20 Feb 1704
20 Feb 1704		5	Richard Fitzwilliam MP for Fowey 1727‑1734; PC [I] 1715	c 1677	6 Jun 1743
6 Jun 1743		6	Richard Fitzwilliam PC 1746; PC [I] 1766	24 Jul 1711	25 Apr 1776	64
25 Apr 1776		7	Richard Fitzwilliam MP for Wilton 1790‑1806	22 Aug 1745	4 Feb 1816	70
4 Feb 1816		8	John Fitzwilliam	21 Oct 1752	Oct 1830	78
Oct 1830 to     Jan 1833		9	Thomas Fitzwilliam Peerage extinct on his death	3 Sep 1755	Jan 1833	77
FITZWILLIAM OF THORNCASTLE
5 Aug 1629	B[I]	1	Thomas Fitzwilliam Created Baron Fitzwilliam of Thorncastle and Viscount Fitzwilliam of Meryon 5 Aug 1629 See "Fitzwilliam of Meryon"	1581	c 1650
FLATHER
11 Jun 1990 to     6 Feb 2024	B[L]		Shreela Flather Created Baroness Flather for life 11 Jun 1990 Peerage extinct on her death	13 Feb 1934	6 Feb 2024	89
FLECK
3 Feb 1961 to     6 Aug 1968	B	1	Sir Alexander Fleck Created Baron Fleck 3 Feb 1961 Peerage extinct on his death	11 Nov 1889	6 Aug 1968	78
FLEET
15 Sep 2020	B[L]		Veronica Judith Colleton Wadley Created Baroness Fleet 15 Sep 2020	28 Feb 1952
FLEMING
c 1445	B[S]	1	Robert Fleming Created Lord Fleming c 1445		1494
1494		2	John Fleming		1 Nov 1524
1 Nov 1524		3	Malcolm Fleming	c 1494	10 Sep 1547
10 Sep 1547		4	James Fleming	c 1535	15 Dec 1558
15 Dec 1558		5	John Fleming		6 Sep 1572
6 Sep 1572		6	John Fleming Created Lord Fleming and Cumbernauld and Earl of Wigtoun in 1606	1567	Apr 1619	51
FLETCHER
9 Jul 1970 to     9 Jun 1990	B[L]		Sir Eric George Molyneux Fletcher Created Baron Fletcher for life 9 Jul 1970 MP for Islington East 1945‑1970; Minister without Portfolio 1964‑1966; PC 1967 Peerage extinct on his death	26 Mar 1903	9 Jun 1990	87
FLIGHT
13 Jan 2011	B[L]		Howard Emerson Flight Created Baron Flight for life 13 Jan 2011 MP for Arundel & South Downs 1997‑2005	16 Jun 1948
FLOREY
4 Feb 1965 to     21 Feb 1968	B[L]		Sir Howard Walter Florey Created Baron Florey for life 4 Feb 1965 Nobel Prize for Medicine 1945; OM 1965 Peerage extinct on his death	24 Sep 1898	21 Feb 1968	69
FLOWERS
20 Feb 1979 to     25 Jun 2010	B[L]		Sir Brian Hilton Flowers Created Baron Flowers for life 20 Feb 1979 Peerage extinct on his death	13 Sep 1924	25 Jun 2010	85
FOLEY
1 Jan 1712	B	1	Thomas Foley Created Baron Foley 1 Jan 1712 MP for Stafford 1694‑1712	8 Nov 1673	22 Jan 1733	59
22 Jan 1733 to     8 Jan 1766		2	Thomas Foley Peerage extinct on his death	1703	8 Jan 1766	62
20 May 1776	B	1	Thomas Foley Created Baron Foley 20 May 1776 MP for Droitwich 1741‑1747 and 1754‑1768, and Herefordshire 1768‑1776	8 Aug 1716	18 Nov 1777	61
18 Nov 1777		2	Thomas Foley MP for Herefordshire 1767‑1774 and Droitwich 1774‑1777; Postmaster General 1783	24 Jun 1742	2 Jul 1793	51
2 Jul 1793		3	Thomas Foley Lord Lieutenant Worcester 1831‑1833; PC 1830	22 Dec 1780	16 Apr 1833	52
16 Apr 1833		4	Thomas Henry Foley MP for Worcestershire 1830‑1832 and Worcestershire West 1832‑1833; Lord Lieutenant Worcester 1837‑1839; PC 1833	11 Dec 1808	20 Nov 1869	60
20 Nov 1869		5	Henry Thomas Foley	4 Dec 1850	17 Dec 1905	55
17 Dec 1905		6	Fitzalan Charles John Foley	27 Sep 1852	14 Feb 1918	65
14 Feb 1918		7	Gerald Henry Foley	15 Apr 1898	3 Apr 1927	28
3 Apr 1927		8	Adrian Gerald Foley	9 Aug 1923	12 Feb 2012	88
12 Feb 2012		9	Thomas Henry Foley	1 Apr 1961
FOLIOT
23 Jun 1295	B	1	Jordan Foliot Summoned to Parliament as Lord Foliot 23 Jun 1295		2 May 1299
2 May 1299		2	Richard Foliot	1284	c 1314
c 1314 to     1326		3	Richard Foliot On his death the peerage fell into abeyance		1326
FOLKESTONE
29 Jun 1747	V	1	Sir Jacob Bouverie, 3rd baronet Created Baron Longford and Viscount Folkestone 29 Jun 1747 MP for Salisbury 1741‑1747	14 Oct 1694	17 Feb 1761	66
17 Feb 1761		2	William Bouverie He was created Earl of Radnor in 1765 with which title this peerage then merged	26 Feb 1725	28 Jan 1776	50
FOLLIOTT
22 Jan 1620	B[I]	1	Henry Folliott Created Baron Folliot 22 Jan 1620	1568	10 Nov 1622	54
10 Nov 1622		2	Thomas Folliott	1613	1697	84
1697 to     17 Oct 1716		3	Henry Folliott MP [I] for Ballyshannon 1695‑1697 Peerage extinct on his death	1662	17 Oct 1716	54
FOOKES
30 Sep 1997	B[L]		Dame Janet Evelyn Fookes Created Baroness Fookes for life 30 Sep 1997 MP for Merton and Morden 1970‑1974 and Plymouth Drake 1974‑1997	21 Feb 1936
FOOT
29 Nov 1967 to     11 Oct 1999	B[L]		John Mackintosh Foot Created Baron Foot for life 29 Nov 1967 Peerage extinct on his death	17 Feb 1909	11 Oct 1999	90
FORBES (IRELAND)
27 Feb 1724	B[I]		George Forbes Summoned to the Irish House of Lords by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Forbes 27 Feb 1724 He succeeded as 3rd Earl of Granard in 1734	21 Oct 1685	19 Jun 1765	79
FORBES (SCOTLAND)
1445	B[S]	1	Sir Alexander Forbes Created Lord Forbes 1445	c 1380	1448
1448		2	James Forbes		c 1461
c 1461		3	William Forbes		by 1488
by 1488		4	Alexander Forbes		c 1491
c 1491		5	Arthur Forbes		c 1496
c 1496		6	John Forbes		1547
1547		7	William Forbes		1593
1593		8	John Forbes		c 1608
c 1608		9	Arthur Forbes		after 1634
after 1634		10	Alexander Forbes		20 Apr 1672
20 Apr 1672		11	William Forbes		1691
1691		12	William Forbes Lord Lieutenant Aberdeen and Kincardine 1715	c 1656	25 Jul 1716
25 Jul 1716		13	William Forbes		26 Jun 1730
26 Jun 1730		14	Francis Forbes	19 Dec 1721	8 Aug 1734	12
8 Aug 1734		15	James Forbes	1689	20 Feb 1761	71
20 Feb 1761		16	James Forbes	c 1725	29 Jul 1804
29 Jul 1804		17	James Ochancar Forbes	7 Mar 1765	4 May 1843	78
4 May 1843		18	Walter Forbes	29 May 1798	1 May 1868	69
1 May 1868		19	Horace Courtenay Gammell Forbes For information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	24 May 1829	23 Jun 1914	85
23 Jun 1914		20	Atholl Monson Forbes	15 Feb 1841	31 Jan 1916	74
31 Jan 1916		21	Atholl Laurence Cunyngham Forbes	14 Sep 1882	26 Nov 1953	71
26 Nov 1953		22	Nigel Ivan Forbes	19 Feb 1918	5 Mar 2013	95
5 Mar 2013		23	Malcolm Nigel Forbes	6 May 1946
FORBES OF PITSLIGO
24 Jun 1633	B[S]	1	Alexander Forbes Created Lord Forbes of Pitsligo 24 Jun 1633		26 Oct 1636
26 Oct 1636		2	Alexander Forbes		c 1690
c 1690		3	Alexander Forbes	c 1655	Dec 1690
Dec 1690 to     1746		4	Alexander Forbes He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		21 Dec 1762
FORD
5 Jun 2006	B[L]		Margaret Anne Ford Created Baroness Ford for life 5 Jun 2006	16 Dec 1957
FORDWICH
18 Mar 1718	V	1	William Cowper, 1st Baron Cowper Created Viscount Fordwich and Earl Cowper 18 Mar 1718 See "Cowper"	c 1665	10 Oct 1723
FORESTER
17 Jul 1821	B	1	Cecil Weld-Forester Created Baron Forester 17 Jul 1821 MP for Wenlock 1790‑1820	7 Apr 1767	23 May 1828	61
23 May 1828		2	John George Weld Weld‑Forester MP for Wenlock 1826‑1828; PC 1841	9 Aug 1801	10 Oct 1874	73
10 Oct 1874		3	George Cecil Weld Weld‑Forester MP for Wenlock 1828‑1874; PC 1852	10 May 1807	14 Feb 1886	78
14 Feb 1886		4	Orlando Watkin Weld Weld‑Forester	18 Apr 1813	22 Jun 1894	81
22 Jun 1894		5	Cecil Theodore Weld‑Forester MP for Wenlock 1874‑1885	3 Aug 1842	20 Nov 1917	75
20 Nov 1917		6	George Cecil Beaumont Weld‑Forester	9 Sep 1867	10 Oct 1932	65
10 Oct 1932		7	Cecil George Wilfred Weld‑Forester	12 Jul 1899	4 Jan 1977	77
4 Jan 1977		8	George Cecil Brooke Weld‑Forester	20 Feb 1938	4 Feb 2004	65
4 Feb 2004		9	Charles Richard George Weld‑Forester	8 Jul 1975
FORFAR
2 Oct 1661	E[S]	1	Archibald Douglas, 2nd Earl of Ormond Created Earl of Forfar 2 Oct 1661	3 May 1653	11 Dec 1712	59
11 Dec 1712 to     8 Dec 1715		2	Archibald Douglas On his death the peerage became either extinct or dormant	25 May 1692	8 Dec 1715	23
10 Mar 2019	E	1	HRH Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis Created Viscount Severn and Earl of Wessex 19 Jun 1999, Earl of Forfar 10 Mar 2019 and Duke of Edinburgh for life 10 Mar 2023 See "Edinburgh"	10 Mar 1964
FORMARTINE
30 Nov 1682	V[S]	1	Sir George Gordon, 3rd baronet Created Lord Haddo, Methlick, Tarves and Kellie, Viscount of Formartine and Earl of Aberdeen 30 Nov 1682 See "Aberdeen"	3 Oct 1637	20 Apr 1720	82
FORRES
19 Jun 1922	B	1	Sir Archibald Williamson, 1st baronet Created Baron Forres 19 Jun 1922 MP for Elgin & Nairnshire 1906‑1918 and Moray & Nairn 1918‑1922; PC 1918	13 Sep 1860	29 Oct 1931	71
29 Oct 1931		2	Stephen Kenneth Guthrie Williamson	20 Mar 1888	26 Jun 1954	66
26 Jun 1954		3	John Archibald Harford Williamson	30 Oct 1922	22 Sep 1978	55
22 Sep 1978		4	Alastair Stephen Grant Williamson	16 May 1946
FORREST
8 Feb 1918 to     3 Sep 1918	B	1	John Forrest Created Baron Forrest 8 Feb 1918 No Letters Patent were ever issued and, on his death, the peerage, if indeed one had ever been created, became extinct	22 Aug 1847	3 Sep 1918	71
FORRESTER
23 Jul 1633	B[S]	1	Sir George Forrester, 1st baronet Created Lord Forrester 23 Jul 1633		1654
1654		2	James Baillie	29 Oct 1629	26 Aug 1679	49
26 Aug 1679		3	William Baillie	12 Dec 1632	May 1681	48
May 1681		4	William Baillie		1705
1705		5	George Forrester	23 Mar 1688	17 Feb 1727	38
17 Feb 1727		6	George Forrester	10 Jul 1724	26 Jun 1748	23
26 Jun 1748		7	William Forrester		Nov 1763
Nov 1763		8	Caroline Cockburn		25 Feb 1784
25 Feb 1784		9	Anna Maria Cockburn		3 Dec 1808
3 Dec 1808		10	James Walter Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston MP for St. Albans 1802‑1807 He was created Earl of Verulam in 1815 with which title this peerage then merged and still remains so	26 Sep 1775	17 Nov 1845	70
FORSTER
12 Dec 1919 to     15 Jan 1936	B	1	Henry William Forster Created Baron Forster 12 Dec 1919 MP for Sevenoaks 1892‑1918 and Bromley 1918‑1919; Governor General of Australia 1920‑1925; PC 1917 Peerage extinct on his death	31 Jan 1866	15 Jan 1936	69
FORSTER OF HARRABY
16 Jul 1959 to     24 Jul 1972	B	1	Sir John Forster Created Baron Forster of Harraby 16 Jul 1959 Peerage extinct on his death	15 Sep 1888	24 Jul 1972	83
FORSYTH OF DRUMLEAN
14 Jul 1999	B[L]		Sir Michael Bruce Forsyth Created Baron Forsyth of Drumlean for life 14 Jul 1999 MP for Stirling 1983‑1997; Minister of State, Scotland 1990‑1992; Minister of State, Employment 1992‑1994; Minister of State, Home Office 1994‑1995; Secretary of State for Scotland 1995‑1997; PC 1995	16 Oct 1954
FORTE
2 Feb 1982 to     28 Feb 2007	B[L]		Sir Charles Forte Created Baron Forte for life 2 Feb 1982 Peerage extinct on his death	26 Nov 1908	28 Feb 2007	98
FORTESCUE
5 Jul 1746	B	1	Hugh Fortescue, 14th Lord Clinton Created Baron Fortescue of Castle Hill and Earl Clinton 5 Jul 1746 For details of the special remainder included in the creation of the barony, see the note at the foot of this page On his death the Earldom of Clinton became extinct, and the barony of Fortescue devolved, via the special remainder, to -	1696	2 May 1751	54
2 May 1751		2	Matthew Fortescue	31 Mar 1719	10 Jul 1785	66
10 Jul 1785	E	3 1	Hugh Fortescue Created Viscount Ebrington and Earl Fortescue 1 Sep 1789 MP for Beaumaris 1784‑1785; Lord Lieutenant Devon 1788‑1839	12 Mar 1753	16 Jun 1841	88
16 Jun 1841		2	Hugh Fortescue MP for Barnstaple 1804‑1807, St. Mawes 1807‑1809, Buckingham 1812‑1817, Devon 1818‑1820 and 1830‑1832, Tavistock 1820‑1830 and Devon North 1832‑1839; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1839‑1841; Lord Lieutenant Devon 1839‑1861; PC 1839; KG 1856 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Fortescue 28 Feb 1839	13 Feb 1783	14 Sep 1861	78
14 Sep 1861		3	Hugh Fortescue MP for Plymouth 1841‑1842 and Marylebone 1854‑1859 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Fortescue 5 Dec 1859	4 Apr 1818	10 Oct 1905	87
10 Oct 1905		4	Hugh Fortescue MP for Tiverton 1881‑1885 and Tavistock 1885‑1892; Lord Lieutenant Devon 1904‑1928	16 Apr 1854	29 Oct 1932	78
29 Oct 1932		5	Hugh William Fortescue Lord Lieutenant Devon 1936‑1958; KG 1951; PC 1952	14 Jun 1888	14 Jun 1958	70
14 Jun 1958		6	Denzil George Fortescue	13 Jun 1893	1 Jun 1977	83
1 Jun 1977		7	Richard Archibald Fortescue	14 Apr 1922	7 Mar 1993	70
7 Mar 1993		8	Charles Hugh Richard Fortescue	10 May 1951
FORTESCUE OF CREDAN
15 Aug 1746	B[I]	1	John Fortescue-Aland Created Baron Fortescue of Credan 15 Aug 1746 MP for Midhurst 1715‑1716	7 Mar 1670	19 Dec 1746	76
19 Dec 1746 to     9 Mar 1781		2	Dormer Fortescue-Aland Peerage extinct on his death	1723	9 Mar 1781	57
FORTEVIOT
4 Jan 1917	B	1	Sir John Alexander Dewar, 1st baronet Created Baron Forteviot 4 Jan 1917 MP for Inverness-shire 1900‑1916	6 Jun 1856	23 Nov 1929	73
23 Nov 1929		2	John Dewar	17 Mar 1885	24 Oct 1947	62
24 Oct 1947		3	Henry Evelyn Alexander Dewar	23 Feb 1906	25 Mar 1993	87
25 Mar 1993		4	John James Evelyn Dewar	5 Apr 1938
FORTH
27 Mar 1642 to     2 Feb 1651	E[S]	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
12 Aug 1686 to     2 Jul 1695	V[S]	1	John Drummond Created Lord Drummond of Gilstoun and Viscount of Melfort 14 Apr 1685, and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Viscount of Forth and Earl of Melfort 12 Aug 1686 See "Melfort"	c 1650	25 Jan 1715
FORTROSE
			Although not a peerage, the title "Lord Fortrose" was used as a courtesy title by the Earls of Seaforth between 1623 and 1716
3 Dec 1771 to     Aug 1781	V[I]	1	Kenneth Mackenzie Created Baron of Ardelve and Viscount Fortrose 18 Nov 1766, and Earl of Seaforth 3 Dec 1771 Peerages extinct on his death	15 Jan 1744	Aug 1781	37
FOSTER OF AGHADRUMREE
9 Nov 2022	B[L]		Dame Arlene Isobel Foster Created Baroness Foster of Aghadrumree for life 9 Nov 2022 First Minister of Northern Ireland 2016‑2017 and 2020‑2021	17 Jul 1970
FOSTER OF BATH
7 Oct 2013	B[L]		Donald Michael Ellison Foster Created Baron Foster of Bath for life 7 Oct 2013 MP for Bath 1992‑2015; PC 2010	31 Mar 1947
FOSTER OF BISHOP AUCKLAND
16 Jun 2005 to     5 Jan 2019	B[L]		Derek Foster Created Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland for life 16 Jun 2005 MP for Bishop Auckland 1979‑2005; PC 1993 Peerage extinct on his death	25 Jun 1937	5 Jan 2019	81
FOSTER OF OXTON
29 Jan 2021	B[L]		Dame Jacqueline Foster Created Baroness Foster of Oxton for life 29 Jan 2021 MEP for North West England 1999‑2004 and 2009‑2019	30 Dec 1947
FOSTER OF THAMES BANK
19 Jul 1999	B[L]		Sir Norman Robert Foster Created Baron Foster of Thames Bank for life 19 Jul 1999 OM 1997	1 Jun 1935
FOULKES OF CUMNOCK
16 Jun 2005	B[L]		George Foulkes Created Baron Foulkes of Cumnock for life 16 Jun 2005 MP for Ayrshire South 1979‑1983 and Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley 1983‑2005; PC 2002	21 Jan 1942
FOWLER
3 Jul 2001	B[L]		Sir (Peter) Norman Fowler Created Baron Fowler for life 3 Jul 2001 MP for Nottingham South 1970‑1974 and Sutton Coldfield 1974‑2001; Minister of Transport 1979‑1981; Secretary of State for Transport 1981; Secretary of State for Health & Social Services 1981‑1987; Secretary of State for Employment 1987‑1990; Lord Speaker 2016‑2021; PC 1979	2 Feb 1938
FOX
11 Sep 2014	B[L]		Christopher Francis Fox Created Baron Fox for life 11 Sep 2014	27 Sep 1957
FOX OF BUCKLEY
14 Sep 2020	B[L]		Claire Regina Fox Created Baroness Fox of Buckley for life 14 Sep 2020 MEP for North West England 2019‑2020	5 Jun 1960
FOXFORD
11 Aug 1815	B	1	Edmond Henry Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick Created Baron Foxford 11 Aug 1815 See "Limerick"	8 Jan 1758	7 Dec 1844	86
FRAMLINGHAM
14 Jan 2011	B[L]		Sir Michael Nicholson Lord Created Baron Framlingham for life 14 Jan 2011 MP for Suffolk Central 1983‑1997 and Suffolk Central & Ipswich North 1997‑2010	17 Oct 1938
FRANCIS-WILLIAMS
13 Apr 1962 to     5 Jun 1970	B[L]		Edward Francis Williams Created Baron Francis-Williams for life 13 Apr 1962 Peerage extinct on his death	10 Mar 1903	5 Jun 1970	67
FRANKFORT DE MONTMORENCY
31 Jul 1800 22 Jan 1816	B[I] V[I]	1 1	Lodge Evans de Montmorency Created Baron Frankfort de Montmorency 31 Jul 1800 and Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency 22 Jan 1816 MP [I] for Innistiogue 1768‑1776, Bandon Bridge 1776‑1795, Ennis 1796‑1798 and Dingle 1798‑1800; PC [I] 1796	26 Jan 1747	21 Sep 1822	75
21 Sep 1822		2	Lodge Raymond de Montmorency For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	24 Nov 1806	25 Dec 1889	83
25 Dec 1889		3	Raymond Harvey de Montmorency For information on this peer's son and heir, see the note at the foot of this page	21 Sep 1835	7 May 1902	66
7 May 1902 to     5 Jul 1917		4	Willoughby John Horace de Montmorency Peerages extinct on his death	3 May 1868	5 Jul 1917	49
FRANKS
10 May 1962 to     15 Oct 1992	B[L]		Sir Oliver Shewell Franks Created Baron Franks for life 10 May 1962 PC 1949; OM 1977 Peerage extinct on his death	16 Feb 1905	15 Oct 1992	87
FRASER
29 Jun 1633	B[S]	1	Andrew Fraser Created Lord Fraser 29 Jun 1633		10 Dec 1636
10 Dec 1636		2	Andrew Fraser		c 1657
c 1657		3	Andrew Fraser		22 May 1674
22 May 1674 to     12 Oct 1720		4	Charles Fraser On his death the peerage became dormant For information on his trial for high treason in 1693, see the note at the foot of this page	1662	12 Oct 1720	54
FRASER OF ALLANDER
30 Dec 1964		1	Sir Hugh Fraser, 1st baronet Created Baron Fraser of Allander 30 Dec 1964	15 Jan 1903	6 Nov 1966	63
6 Nov 1966 to     5 May 1987		2	Hugh Fraser He disclaimed the peerage for life 1966 Peerage extinct on his death	18 Sep 1936	5 May 1987	50
FRASER OF CARMYLLIE
10 Feb 1989 to     23 Jun 2013	B[L]		Peter Lovat Fraser Created Baron Fraser of Carmyllie for life 10 Feb 1989 MP for Angus South 1979‑1983 and Angus East 1983‑1987; Solicitor General for Scotland 1982‑1989; Lord Advocate 1989‑1992; PC 1989 Peerage extinct on his death	29 May 1945	23 Jun 2013	68
FRASER OF CORRIEGARTH
31 Aug 2016 to     6 Feb 2021	B[L]		Alexander Andrew Macdonnell Fraser Created Baron Fraser of Corriegarth for life 31 Aug 2016 Peerage extinct on his death	2 Dec 1946	6 Feb 2021	74
FRASER OF CRAIGMADDIE
26 Jan 2021	B[L]		Stephanie Mary Fraser Created Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie for life 26 Jan 2021	4 Sep 1968
FRASER OF KILMORACK
11 Jun 1974 to     1 Jul 1996	B[L]		Sir Richard Michael Fraser Created Baron Fraser of Kilmorack for life 11 Jun 1974 Peerage extinct on his death	28 Oct 1915	1 Jul 1996	80
FRASER OF LONSDALE
1 Aug 1958 to     19 Dec 1974	B[L]		Sir William Jocelyn Ian Fraser Created Baron Fraser of Lonsdale for life 1 Aug 1958 MP for St. Pancras North 1924‑1929 and 1931‑1937, Lonsdale 1940‑1950 and Morecambe & Lonsdale 1950‑1958; CH 1953 Peerage extinct on his death	30 Aug 1897	19 Dec 1974	77
FRASER OF NORTH CAPE
19 Sep 1946 to     12 Feb 1981	B	1	Sir Bruce Austin Fraser Created Baron Fraser of North Cape 19 Sep 1946 Admiral of the Fleet 1948 Peerage extinct on his death	5 Feb 1888	12 Feb 1981	93
FRASER OF TULLYBELTON
13 Jan 1975 to     17 Feb 1989	B[L]		Walter Ian Reid Fraser Created Baron Fraser of Tullybelton for life 13 Jan 1975 Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1975‑1985; PC 1974 Peerage extinct on his death	3 Feb 1911	17 Feb 1989	78
FREEMAN
29 Oct 1997	B[L]		Roger Norman Freeman Created Baron Freeman for life 29 Oct 1997 MP for Kettering 1983‑1997; Minister of State, Transport 1990‑1994; Minister of State, Defence 1994‑1995; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1995‑1997; PC 1993	27 May 1942
FRENCH
1 Jan 1916	V	1	John Denton Pinkstone French Created Viscount French 1 Jan 1916 He was subsequently created Earl of Ypres in 1922	28 Sep 1852	22 May 1925	72
FRENDRAUGHT
29 Aug 1642	V[S]	1	James Crichton Created Lord Crichton and Viscount of Frendraught 29 Aug 1642	c 1620	by Aug 1665
by Aug 1665		2	James Crichton		by Jan 1675
by Jan 1675		3	William Crichton		by Aug 1686
by Aug 1686 to     14 Jul 1690		4	Lewis Crichton The peerage was forfeited in 1690 For information on a possible claim to this peerage made in 1901, see the note at the foot of this page		26 Nov 1698
FRENE
29 Nov 1336 to     Dec 1336	B	1	Hugh de Frene Summoned to Parliament as Lord Frene 29 Nov 1336 Peerage extinct on his death	c 1290	Dec 1336
FRESCHEVILLE
16 Mar 1665 to     31 Mar 1682	B	1	John Frescheville Created Baron Frescheville 16 Mar 1665 MP for Derbyshire 1661‑1665 Peerage extinct on his death	4 Dec 1607	31 Mar 1682	74
FREUD
27 Jun 2009	B[L]		David Freud Created Baron Freud for life 27 Jun 2009 PC 2015	24 Jun 1950
FREYBERG
16 Oct 1951	B	1	Sir Bernard Cyril Freyberg VC Created Baron Freyberg 16 Oct 1951 Governor General of New Zealand 1946‑1952 For further information on this peer and VC winner, see the note at the foot of this page	21 Mar 1889	4 Jul 1963	74
4 Jul 1963		2	Paul Richard Freyberg	27 May 1923	26 May 1993	69
26 May 1993		3	Valerian Bernard Freyberg [Elected hereditary peer 1999-]	15 Dec 1970
FRITCHIE
31 May 2005	B[L]		Dame Irene Tordoff [Rennie] Fritchie Created Baroness Fritchie for life 31 May 2005	29 Apr 1942
FROST
12 Aug 2020	B[L]		David George Hamilton Frost Created Baron Frost for life 12 Aug 2020 Minister of State, Cabinet Office 2021; PC 2021	21 Feb 1965
FULLBROOK
7 Sep 2020	B[L]		Lorraine Fullbrook Created Baroness Fullbrook for life 7 Sep 2020 MP for South Ribble 2010‑2015	28 Jul 1959
FULLER
8 Mar 2024	B[L]		John Charles Fuller Created Baron Fuller for life 8 Mar 2023	6 Jun 1968
FULTON
19 Jan 1966 to     14 Mar 1986	B[L]		Sir John Scott Fulton Created Baron Fulton for life 19 Jan 1966 Peerage extinct on his death	27 May 1902	14 Mar 1986	83
FURNEAUX
28 Nov 1922	E	1	Frederick Edwin Smith Created Viscount Furneaux and Earl of Birkenhead 28 Nov 1922 See "Birkenhead"	12 Jul 1872	30 Sep 1930	58
FURNESS
19 Jul 1910	B	1	Christopher Furness Created Baron Furness 19 Jul 1910 MP for Hartlepool 1891‑1895 and 1900‑1910	23 Apr 1852	10 Nov 1912	60
10 Nov 1912	V	2 1	Marmaduke Furness Created Viscount Furness 16 Jan 1918 For information on his eldest son and heir, see the note at the foot of this page	29 Oct 1883	6 Oct 1940	56
6 Oct 1940 to     1 May 1995		2	William Anthony Furness Peerage extinct on his death	31 Mar 1929	1 May 1995	66
FURNIVAL OF MALAHIDE
8 May 1839 to     29 Oct 1849	B	1	Richard Wogan Talbot, 2nd Baron Talbot de Malahide Created Baron Furnival of Malahide 8 May 1839 Peerage extinct on his death		29 Oct 1849
FURNIVALL
23 Jun 1295	B	1	Thomas de Furnivall Summoned to Parliament as Lord Furnivall 23 Jun 1295		3 Feb 1332
25 Aug 1318		2	Thomas de Furnivall Summoned to Parliament (during the life of his father) as Lord Furnivall 25 Aug 1318	1301	13 Oct 1339	38
13 Oct 1339		3	Thomas de Furnivall	1322	c 1364
c 1364		4	William de Furnivall		12 Apr 1383
12 Apr 1383		5	Joane Nevill She married Thomas Nevill who was summoned to parliament as Lord Furnivall in her right. He died 14 Mar 1407		c 1401
14 Mar 1407		6	Maud Talbot She married John Talbot who was summoned to Parliament as Lord Furnivall in her right. He was later created Earl of of Shrewsbury 1442 and died 20 Jul 1453		by 1433
20 Jul 1453		7	John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury	1413	10 Jul 1460	47
10 Jul 1460		8	John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury	12 Dec 1448	28 Jun 1473	24
28 Jun 1473		9	George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury	c 1469	26 Jul 1541
26 Jul 1541		10	Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury	1500	21 Sep 1560	60
21 Sep 1560		11	George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury	by 1528	18 Nov 1590
18 Nov 1590 to     8 May 1616		12	Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury On his death the peerage fell into abeyance	20 Nov 1552	8 May 1616	43
1651		13	Alathea Howard She became sole heir in 1651 when the abeyance was terminated		24 May 1654
24 May 1654		14	Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of Norfolk	9 Mar 1627	13 Dec 1677	50
13 Dec 1677		15	Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk	12 Jul 1628	11 Jan 1684	55
11 Jan 1684		16	Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk	11 Jan 1655	2 Apr 1701	46
2 Apr 1701		17	Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk	11 Dec 1683	23 Dec 1732	49
23 Dec 1732 to     20 Sep 1777		18	Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk On his death the peerage again fell into abeyance	5 Jun 1686	20 Sep 1777	91
3 May 1913 to     24 Dec 1968		19	Mary Frances Katherine Dent [nee Petre] Abeyance terminated in her favour On her death the peerage again fell into abeyance For information on the termination of this abeyance, see the note at the foot of this page	27 May 1900	24 Dec 1968	68
FYFE OF DORNOCH
20 Jul 1962 to     27 Jan 1967	B	1	David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Viscount Kilmuir Created Baron Fyfe of Dornoch and and Earl of Kilmuir 20 Jul 1962 Peerages extinct on his death	29 May 1900	27 Jan 1967	66
FYFE OF FAIRFIELD
16 May 2000 to     1 Feb 2011	B[L]		George Lennox Fyfe Created Baron Fyfe of Fairfield for life 16 May 2000 Peerage extinct on his death	10 Apr 1941	1 Feb 2011	69
FYVIE
4 Mar 1598	B[S]	1	Alexander Seton Created Lord Fyvie 4 Mar 1598 and Earl of Dunfermline 4 Mar 1605 See "Dunfermline"		16 Jun 1622

	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton, son of the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam and father of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam
	The 6th Earl Fitzwilliam (1815-1902) had 14 children - 8 sons and 6 daughters. Each of the sons was, confusingly, named William, so apart from the eldest son, they were known by their middle names. The eldest son was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Milton.
	In 2007, Catherine Bailey's book Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty was published by Penguin Books in London. The book is an in-depth study of the Fitzwilliam family between the birth of Viscount Milton in 1839 and the extinction of the earldom in 1979. I found it to be a fascinating story and I have no hesitation in recommending it to others who are interested in the Fitzwilliam family. The following notes on Viscount Milton, and the 7th and 8th Earls Fitzwilliam are based on information contained in this book.
	The eldest son, William Fitzwilliam, was born 27 July 1839 and, in the ordinary course of events, would have succeeded his father in the earldom had he not died, aged only 37, in 1877. Based on Catherine Bailey's history of the family, however, his death, far from being viewed as a family tragedy, was viewed as a relief. Milton was an epileptic at a time when the condition was misunderstood. In the mid‑nineteenth century, epilepsy was viewed as a form of madness, caused by melancholy, morbid terror and excessive masturbation. Milton's father appears to have been a proud but ignorant man, who while initially seeking the best treatment for his son, later came to view him as placing the family's future in jeopardy, since any stigma of perceived madness in the Fitzwilliam family would threaten the family's ability to contract advantageous marriages with other great aristocratic families. Bailey provides a number of examples of the total exclusion of Milton from his family - for example, it was traditional that the heir's 21st birthday was celebrated in a lavish fashion. In 1807, when Milton's grandfather, the 5th Earl, had come of age, the family gave a party for 10,000 guests. In 1860, when Milton reached the age of 21, his birthday was not celebrated at all by the family.
	In April 1861, Milton announced his engagement to a niece of the Marquess of Donegall. His father was horrified and behind Milton's back he wrote to Donegall, telling him that "My son suffers from fits which cause at times great mental excitement sometimes followed by considerable depression of spirits". The engagement was immediately broken off.
	In June 1862, Milton, together with a young doctor named William Cheadle, was sent into exile to the wilds of Canada. There, determined to prove himself to his father, Milton and Cheadle set off on an epic expedition of exploration during which they succeeded in mapping a route across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. When he returned to England and published his book The North-West Passage by Land, Milton was treated as a conquering hero. At the general election in 1865, Milton was returned for the constituency of Yorkshire West Riding South which he represented until 1872.
	After an ill-fated pursuit of Lady Mary Butler, daughter of the Marquess of Ormonde (who was similarly warned off), Milton married Laura Beauclerk, niece of the Duke of St. Albans, in August 1867. His new wife was never welcomed into her husband's family, with the result that the young couple spent much of their time in self-imposed exile in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. In July 1872, their son, also William, who was to become the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam, was born in Canada - see the following note for more details.
	Milton's health continued to deteriorate until he died in France on 17 January 1877, aged 37.
	William Charles de Meuron Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam
	As mentioned in the note above, the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam was born in Canada in 1872. The first intimation of this birth is to be found in The Times of 5 September 1872 where it is stated that "a son and heir to the noble house of Fitzwilliam has been born on the banks of the Kaministiquia River, on the north shore of Lake Superior. It may be remembered that some time since, Lord Milton, resigning his seat in Parliament, came to this continent with Lady Milton and a young family [2 young daughters], and attended also by a physician. There, near Fort William, and on the borders of civilization … now sojourn the young couple and their family".
	The name of the actual place where the future 7th Earl was born is Pointe de Meuron, north‑west of what was then called Fort William, but is today named Thunder Bay. At that time, this area was a very isolated spot, in the middle of Indian territory. The name of his birthplace was incorporated into the 7th Earl's name. No valid reason has ever been discovered as to why Viscount Milton had caused his son to be born in such an isolated place.
	The rest of his family, however, were convinced that they knew the reason for this place of birth. It was obvious, they said, that the baby was a changeling who had been substituted at birth for Milton's real child, a daughter. They alleged that Lady Milton had been rendered unconscious by the use of chloroform and the babies had been switched. In this way, the 'taint' of epilepsy could be removed from future generations. By the time these allegations surfaced, in 1896, both parents were dead and William was now the heir to the earldom. No documents, including his birth certificate, could be found and William was forced to retain a private detective to investigate the circumstances of his birth. He tracked down the doctor and the midwife who had been present at the birth, and both categorically refuted the allegations. It would seem that this was the end of the matter - both the doctor and the midwife pointed out that the obtaining of another white child as a substitute would have been impossible in an area which was occupied solely by Indians - but some years later the private detective and William fell out, with the eventual result that William went to great lengths to silence the private detective. Bailey speculates that the private detective may have been in possession of information about William's birth that William was desperate to suppress. We will never know, however, as all of the family's private documents have been destroyed.
	The following anecdote is not included in Catherine Bailey's book, but is still deserving of note.
	Before he succeeded to the title in 1902, Fitzwilliam was known by his courtesy title of Viscount Milton. In 1896, he had the dubious privilege of reading his own premature obituary. On 31 January 1896, a number of newspapers published reports that Milton had been riding his horse over a railway bridge near Swinton, in Yorkshire, when he had been thrown off the horse onto the railway tracks below, and had been killed. A number of newspapers rushed into print in their evening editions, containing biographical articles about the supposedly dead Viscount, and deploring his untimely death. Fortunately for Lord Milton, these reports proved to be totally incorrect. The young Viscount subsequently was quoted as saying; "I do not know how the report got about. I was riding a horse which does not carry me very well, and I got a long way behind. Whether that constitutes the alleged fall I do not know. I was never better in my life." Due to the title he used at the time, the affair was quickly dubbed "Milton's Paradise Lost".
	William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam
	The 8th Earl succeeded his father in 1943. He had previously, in 1933, married Olive Plunket, daughter of the Bishop of Meath. In June 1946, he met Katherine, Marchioness of Hartington, widow of the Marquess of Hartington, heir to the dukedom of Devonshire, whom she had married in May 1944. The marriage ended only four months later when Hartington was killed in action while serving in Belgium during WW2. Katherine, who was better known as 'Kick', was the daughter of Joseph Kennedy and therefore sister of John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Edward Kennedy.
	Before long, Kick was Fitzwilliam's mistress, and were planning to wed once Fitzwilliam had divorced his wife, Olive.
	On 13 May 1948, Fitzwilliam hired a private plane to fly him and Kick to the south of France. The plane landed in Paris, where Fitzwilliam arranged an impromptu lunch with some Parisian friends. The lunch dragged on for far longer than anticipated and by the time the plane took off for Cannes, the weather had markedly deteriorated. All commercial flights had been cancelled, but Fitzwilliam insisted that his plane take off. About an hour and a half into the flight, the plane ran into a severe thunderstorm and the pilot lost control and the plane went into a steep dive. In a desperate attempt to halt the dive, the pilot pulled back on the control column, but the plane could not withstand the g‑force thus created and the plane broke up in mid‑air. All aboard the plane were killed instantly when the fuselage landed vertically on a mountain ridge.
	The Fitzwilliam Legitimacy Case of 1951
	In 1951, the 9th Earl of Fitzwilliam was in his late 60s, and had no male children to inherit the Earldom. The next heir to the titles was to be found amongst the descendants of the younger brothers of the 6th Earl who had died in 1902. The next younger brother of the 6th Earl was George Wentworth Fitzwilliam, MP for Richmond in 1841 and for Peterborough 1841‑1859. He in turn had a son George Charles Wentworth Fitzwilliam (1866‑1935) who married Daisy Evelyn Lyster (d 1925). According to Burke's Peerage, this couple were married on 31 December 1888, and the son born of this marriage in 1904 became the 10th Earl Fitzwilliam on the death of the 9th Earl in 1952.
	Burke's does not mention any other offspring of the marriage of George and Daisy. However, a son, George James Charles Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam, was born on 17 May 1888. But was George a legitimate son? - in March 1951, the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice sat to decide this matter.
	The case was brought about by a petition in which George sought to be declared that he was from the date of his birth the lawful child of George and Daisy, and that his parents had lawfully married on a date unknown to him between 1 September 1886 and 18 May 1888. He further stated that, although the place of marriage was unknown to him, he would contend that if, as he believed, the marriage was celebrated in Scotland, it was lawful according to the law of that country.
	At this point it is worth quoting two points of law. The first is from An Act for amending the law of marriage in Scotland 1856, commonly known as "Lord Brougham's Act". This Act states that "After December 31, 1856, no irregular marriage contracted in Scotland by declaration, acknowledgment, or ceremony shall be valid, unless one of the parties had at the date thereof his or her usual place of residence there, or had lived in Scotland for 21 days next preceding such marriage; any law, custom, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding". [My emphasis.] In addition, the Legitimacy Act of 1926 states that "Nothing in this Act shall affect the succession to any dignity or title of honour or render any person capable of succeeding to or transmitting a right to succeed to any such dignity or title".
	It was shown in evidence that George and Daisy first met in the northern spring of 1886. Daisy, who was generally known as 'Evie', was a chorus girl. George and Evie soon fell in love. In her role as chorus girl, Evie went to Scotland as part of a touring company whose performance opened in Glasgow on 20 September 1886. From there, the company toured other places in Scotland, returning to England on 2 October. George accompanied Evie on this tour; they were known as Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam, and occupied the same bedroom.
	On their return from Scotland, George and Evie continued their relationship. George, the petitioner, was born on 17 May 1888. On 31 December 1888, his parents were married by special licence at St. George's, Hanover Square. By this time George, the father, had been commissioned in the Royal Horse Guards. At that time, it was recognised that it would be a disgrace for a Guards officer to marry an actress, and thus news of the wedding was kept secret. However, the fact of the marriage became known, and George was forced to resign his commission in May 1889.
	The judge trying the petition summed up the petitioner's position as follows - because the onus of proof was on the petitioner, he had to be able to satisfy the Court that, early during their stay in Scotland, his parents went through a ceremony which, though informal, was equivalent to a declaration that they wished, or were doing their best, to get married and, although the ceremony was invalid, since neither party was resident in Scotland, Scottish law required that the marriage be recognised if the parties thereafter remained on Scottish soil for a period of more than 21 days, believing themselves to be validly married.
	In the final judgment of this case, it was held that the petitioner had not proved that his parents had contracted, or had attempted to contract, a marriage prior to the birth of the petitioner. In any event, the judge stated that he had grave doubts whether the petitioner's parents had spent the required 21 days in Scotland. As a result, the petition was dismissed and, on the death of the 9th Earl a little over a year later, George's younger brother, William Thomas George Wentworth‑Fitzwilliam, succeeded as the 10th Earl. When he died in 1979 the peerage became extinct.
	It should be emphasised that, at no stage, was this case a 'battle' between George and his younger brother. There appears to have been absolutely no ill-feeling between the two, with both parties recognising that it was important for this matter to be resolved.
	Horace Courtenay Gammell Forbes, 19th Lord Forbes
	Lord Forbes committed suicide in June 1914. The report below appeared in the Manchester Guardian of 24 June 1914.
	Early this morning Lord Forbes, the premier baron of Scotland, was found dead in his room at a Dundee hotel. According to the Press Association he was found with his throat cut. Lord Forbes was 85 years of age.
	Our Dundee correspondent, telephoning at three o'clock this morning, says:- Lord Forbes came to the Dundee hotel a month ago. He had stayed there before. He was in his usual good health, but, as was his practice at this hotel, he took his meals in his bedroom. Yesterday he was out and about, and seemed to be in good spirits. At night he retired to his room comparatively early.
	About half an hour after midnight the proprietor of the hotel made his customary round of the building to see that all was right. He noticed that the light was still on in Lord Forbes' room. This was so unusual that after knocking several times in vain he opened the room and entered. Lord Forbes was lying on the floor in a pool of blood close to his bed. A doctor summoned pronounced life to be extinct.
	The special remainder to the Barony of Fortescue created in 1746
	From the London Gazette of 1 July 1746 (issue 8550, page 5):-
	The King has been pleased to grant unto the Right Hon. Hugh Baron Clinton, the Dignities of a Baron and Earl of the Kingdom of Great Britain, by the Name, Stile and Title of Baron Fortescue of Castle Hill in the County of Devon, and Earl Clinton; and in Default of Issue Male, then the said Title of Baron Fortescue to descend to Matthew Fortescue, Brother to the said Hugh Baron Clinton, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten.
	Lodge Raymond de Montmorency, 2nd Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency
	After the death of the 2nd Viscount, a contemporary newspaper cautiously commented that "there has always been a certain degree of doubt as to whether the 2nd Viscount was altogether sane or not".
	In September 1843, the Viscount caused the following 'memorial' to be printed and a copy sent to every member of the House of Lords:-
	… [the Viscount] has to complain of a long series of continuous and most aggravated grievances and injuries which for several years past have seriously interfered with, and in some instances fatally destroyed, his domestic arrangements, placed him at variance with his family connections, made considerable inroads on his pecuniary resources, depreciated his property, endangered his health by various and repeated contrivances against, and attacks upon his constitution, through the means of corrupted domestics, and by all the means which active, vindictive, powerful and opulent persecutors can bring into operation, tormented your memorialist to the utmost limits of human endurance, without absolutely sinking under the baneful effects - and for which, notwithstanding all your memorialist's exertions, he has not hitherto been able to obtain either attention or redress from those he imagined were the proper authorities to whom an application ought in such case to be made.
	The memorial continues for a number of paragraphs, containing many references to 'nefarious transactions', 'disgraceful outrages' and 'abuses of authority'. In the end, nothing appears to have been done regarding any of the Viscount's accusations, which appear to have been paranoid delusions.
	In September 1847, the Viscount appeared before the Middlesex Sessions, charged with assaulting one Robert Hall, who deposed that, while walking down New Bond Street, the Viscount stopped him and accused Hall of spitting in the Viscount's face. When Hall denied that he had done so, the Viscount spat in Hall's face and dared him to repeat his action. Hall then spat in the Viscount's face, upon which the Viscount assaulted Hall with a heavy walking-stick.
	The Viscount's lowpoint occurred in August 1852, when he was tried at Bow Street for the defamation and libel of a number of members of the aristocracy, and, in particular, Lord Henry Gordon Lennox, son of the Duke of Richmond. The libels were contained in a circular and in a letter. The first two paragraphs of the circular read:-
	Some portion of the public may be astonished to learn that a most demoralizing system has long existed, in an atrocious degree of perfection, by which the integrity of families has been broken up, and the repose of their establishments destroyed, by a sort of 'secret police', of a higher and far more mischievous organisation than has ever been suspected to prevail, and conducted under the auspices of a 'secret committee', of which the 'chairman' and his principal colleagues are well known, though not at present sufficiently appreciated. One of the first steps is to pretend that certain parties, and principally females, who are pursued for the worst purposes, are applied to, to give information which they are told is required by an important portion of the state, before a supposed committee of which body they are conducted, and led to believe the ceremony of making a species of sworn deposition has been legalised, and that they are then bound to consider themselves for ever under an intimidating and coercive judicial superintendence.
	The system is then applied to enforce the requisite inquiries as to the properties, feelings, affections, politics, state of mind and any other peculiar positions of their husbands, families and friends. These parties are then visited from time to time by the chairman and two other members of the committee, one of whom styles himself a distinguished diplomatist, and other agents of the system, to make what are called confidential communications, but which are in truth only so many snares to obtain private information on matters that may be publicly abused. Intimate friends, confidential servants, and known advisers of families, are tampered with in a similar manner; and all means employed to convert the most harmless expressions into the most injurious accusations. To effect more readily these wretched purposes, the Italian school of poisoning chemistry has been ransacked to produce the most debilitating effects upon the mental and bodily system; and by these means have the brightest loveliness of woman, and the highest honour of manhood been outraged; while the highest estates have been seriously injured by calumnies, perjuries, forgeries, and fines illegally imposed, to an extent which only the abominations of the Star Chamber can furnish any adequate idea.
	These two paragraphs are quite lucid when compared to the remainder of the circular, which degenerates into a series of wild accusations, including the accusation that 'they [the committee] are also employed to turn the inhabitants of this country into cannibals, and take even children of rank out of their graves; but the workhouse deadhouse is the principal depot of supply'.
	As part of the same proceedings, Lord Frankfort de Montmorency was charged with a further libel, after one of his female servants had been taken into custody on her way to the Post Office at which she had been instructed to post 50 similar letters, addressed for the most part to various clergymen, and which purported to come from, among others, Lord Henry Gordon Lennox. The letter read as follows:-
	Mr Macbeath presents his duty to the peeresses and the daughters of the nobility and gentry, and informs them that he continues to arrange assignations with the most perfect impunity and safety. Having been trained by Mr Harris, he now acts directly under President and Director‑General of Assignations Phipps. Mr M. begs to call the attention of the ladies to his long‑established mode of transacting business. He himself waits upon them at dusk, sending up his card in a tissue envelope; always seeing the parties himself, and arranging personally with them for the reception of the Lothario of the evening, at one o'clock at night; when is enabled by the peculiar system to keep the husband insensibly asleep, while the parties are amorously engaged in the drawing-room. P.S. He guarantees to married women half their husband's fortune, or more, if they are found out, and will put him in the ecclesiastical courts, which are an appendage to his establishment. To spinsters he promises husbands, whom he puts into madhouses, and gets all the fortune for the wives. His predecessor broke one baronet's neck, for his wife's sake; and having got rid of another, is now endeavouring to destroy his will.
	Contrary to the more cautious position taken by the newspaper quoted in the opening paragraph of this note, the newspaper from which details of the second libel have been taken (the Liverpool Standard) is somewhat more forthright, stating that 'the course of life which this unfortunate man has pursued for a long time is a disgrace to manhood, and an outrage on public morality. The most charitable construction that can be put on his proceedings is, that they are dictated by a disordered brain. That he is a fit subject for a lunatic asylum can hardly be doubted; but that his disease of mind has been induced by depraved habits is abundantly evident.'
	No contemporary newspaper that I've been able to find contains a report of the sentence meted out to the Viscount. A report in a newspaper published nearly 50 years later states that he received 12 months' hard labour in Pentonville Prison.
	Raymond Hervey Lodge Joseph de Montmorency VC, son of the 3rd Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency (5 Feb 1867‑23 Feb 1900)
	De Montmorency was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the Sudan Campaign in 1898. His citation reads:- "At the battle of Khartoum on September 2, 1898, Lieutenant de Montmorency, after the charge of the 21st Lancers, returned to assist Second Lieutenant R.G. Grenfell, who was lying surrounded by a large body of Dervishes. Lieutenant de Montmorency drove the Dervishes off, and finding Lieutenant Grenfell dead, put the body on his horse, which then broke away. Captain Kenna and Corporal Swarbrick then came to his assistance and enabled him to rejoin the regiment which had begun to open a heavy fire on the enemy." Kenna also received a Victoria Cross for his actions that day.
	De Montmorency was later killed in action at the Battle of Stromberg during the Second Boer War.
	Charles Fraser, 4th Lord Fraser
	In 1693 Fraser was charged with high treason, for proclaiming that the exiled King James II was the true King, rather than William III. The following [edited] account of his trial appeared in A Collection and Abridgement of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scotland by Hugo Arnot [Edinburgh 1785].
	It was charged against the prisoner, that, contrary to his allegiance, he, in the month of June or July 1692, went with his accomplices to the market-cross of Fraserburgh, stepped upon the cross, and, after three several O yes's, did three several times proclaim the late King James, and the pretended Prince of Wales, to be righteous and lawful King of this Kingdom, and successor to the same, and that they cursed all who would say the contrary: Then they drank, and caused to be drank, King James's good health, and that of the Prince of Wales, and cursed King William and all his adherents; drank to his confusion; uttered reproachful speeches of him, calling him Burgar, and Burgar-Master of the Hague, and saying that he was only Prince of Orange: That, for the greater solemnity, they fired guns and pistols from the Cross on the occasion, and forced some of his Majesty's subjects to drink treasonable healths: By all which the prisoner testified his rebellion against his Majesty's person and authority, and his treasonable intentions to depose the King; and did disown the King's title to the crown, and did all that in him lay to incite the people to take arms" For which contempts and treasons he ought to be punished with death, and the forfeiture of his estate.
	Numerous witnesses were called, but none of them stated that Lord Fraser had been the man who actually spoke the words contained in the indictment. The witnesses agreed that Fraser was seen drinking the health of King James, but stated that the words in the indictment were spoken by one of Fraser's servants.
	The jury … all in one voice found it not proved that the prisoner either actually proclaimed, or caused proclaim, of the late King James, and the pretended Prince of Wales; but found it proved that he was present at the proclamation. Found, by a plurality of voices, that a proclamation was made at the Cross of Fraserburgh, of the late King James and the Prince of Wales; but not in terms of the indictment, viz as being righteous and lawful King of this kingdom, and lawful successor therein. The assize, all in one voice, found it not proved, that the prisoner and his accomplices cursed all those who would say to the contrary. They found it proved, that the prisoner drank King James's health, and that of the Prince of Wales: But found his cursing King William, and drinking to his confusion, and uttering reproachful speeches of him, and forcing people to drink treasonable healths, not proved. They found that pistols were fired; but did not find that it was by the prisoner's order … On the 16th of May the Court pronounced sentence on Lord Fraser, fining him in L. 200 Sterling.
	The Viscountcy of Frendraught
	The following article, which appeared in the Aberdeen Journal on 1 June 1901, discusses a possible claim to be made for this peerage. Given that the claim appears to have had no merit whatsoever, it is not surprising that the claim does not appear to have been prosecuted.
	There is a rumour that the new Laird of Lathrisk, Lieutenant Maitland-Makgill-Crichton, purposes claiming the title of Viscount of Frendraught, which, it is said, has been in abeyance since 1690. It may be interesting to readers both in Fifeshire and the north to learn something about the Viscounts of Frendraught, and the relation of the claimant to the Crichtons of other days. The Laird of Lathrisk is lineally descended from William Crichton, the famous Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, during the reigns of James I and James II, who was created Lord Crichton in 1445. James Crichton, son of the Chancellor, obtained the barony of Frendraught through his marriage in 1430 with Lady Janet Dunbar, eldest daughter of the Earl of Moray, and founded the family of Crichton of Frendraught. William Crichton, son of this marriage, became third Lord Crichton on the death of his father in 1469 [c 1455?]; but as he joined with his two brothers in the Duke of Albany's rebellion against James III he forfeited his title as Baron Crichton and the estates of his brothers were confiscated. As the third Lord Crichton was married to a sister of the King, the Royal clemency was extended to him, so that the estate of Frendraught remained to his posterity. But the title of Lord Crichton has since remained extinct.
	The next member of the family who came into prominence was James Crichton of Frendraught, fifth in descent from the last Baron Crichton. His father made over the family estate to him while he was alive - a precaution frequently taken in unsettled times - and James Crichton was married in February, 1619, to Lady Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of John, twelfth Earl of Sutherland, then one of the most powerful noblemen in the north of Scotland. He was acknowledged as the heir male of Lord Crichton, and his eldest son, James Crichton of Frendraught, was advanced to the peerage during the father's lifetime, with the title of Viscount Frendraught, with limitation to "his heirs male and successors". The patent of nobility is dated 29th August, 1642. Lord Frendraught took a leading part with the Marquess of Montrose in his last expedition. He was with him on the fatal field of Invercarron, when [Archibald] Strachan prevailed over "the Great Marquess" in 1650. It is related that during the battle, when the horse of Montrose was shot under him, Frendraught dismounted and insisted that his leader should take his charger, and flee from the field. With the aid thus generously offered Montrose made his escape, though he was afterwards treacherously captured. Frendraught was made prisoner and carried off to Edinburgh. The story has long been current that the Viscount took the defeat of Montrose so much to heart that he starved himself to death in Edinburgh Castle; but there seems to be no truth in this tale, as Frendraught was certainly at the "true funerals" of Montrose in 1661, eleven years after his supposed death. He was twice married. By his first wife, Lady Margaret Leslie, daughter of the Earl of Leven, he had one daughter, Janet, who was married in 1665 to Sir James Makgill of Rankeillour, and was the ancestress of the present laird of Lathrisk. To her story we shall return. Meanwhile it is necessary to trace the male line of Frendraught. The second wife of the viscount was Marion, daughter of Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum, whom he married in 1642, and by whom he had two sons. The elder son, James, became second viscount. He had one son, William, third viscount, who died, unmarried, in his minority, when the title fell to his uncle Lewis, fourth viscount. Lewis was a confirmed Jacobite, and accompanied James II to France when that monarch abdicated. He was attainted by Parliament in July, 1690, and was present with James II in Ireland. He died without children in November, 1698, and as he was under ban as a traitor the title became extinct, and even though he had legitimate progeny they could not have succeeded.
	Return now to Janet Crichton, daughter of the first viscount and wife of Sir James Makgill. She had one son, David Makgill of Rankeillour, whose daughter, Isabella Makgill, married the Rev. William Dick, minister of Cupar. Margaret Dick, granddaughter and heiress of this minister, was married to the Hon. Frederick Maitland, sixth son of the Earl of Lauderdale, who assumed the additional name of Makgill. The eldest son of this marriage, Charles Maitland‑Makgill of Rankeillour, was married in August, 1794, to Mary, daughter of David Johnstone of Lathrisk. Their eldest son, David Maitland Makgill Crichton of Rankeillour, was born in 1801, and succeeded his grandmother in 1827. He was served "heir of line" of the first Viscount Frendraught on his application in June, 1839. He survived till 1851, and his grandson (the son of his son) is the present lieutenant. David  Maitland‑Makgill‑Crichton succeeded to the estate of Lathrisk in January last. It is said that he now claims the title of Viscount Frendraught.
	In examining this claim, it is necessary first to notice that there is no such title as Viscount Frendraught in existence. The fourth viscount was the legitimate holder of the title, and it was attainted in his person. Even if it had not been so, the title appears to have been confined to "heirs male", and the Makgill branch could only claim through an heir‑female, viz. Janet Crichton. At least, this point should be cleared up by reference to the original patent, for, unless it confers the succession to the title on "heirs whatsoever" - a very unusual circumstance - there can be absolutely no claim to the title, even were it in existence. These matters must all have been carefully considered in 1839, when David Maitland‑Makgill‑Crichton was retoured [i.e. confirmed as an heir] as "heir general" of the first viscount; and had the claim to the title been well founded it would have unquestionably been preferred at that time. Unless some new documents have been found bearing upon the destination of the title, the claim could have no effect now. And even though it had, there would have to be a petition presented to the King, asking him to restore the forfeited title, which has not been in abeyance, but actually extinct since 1690. It is quite possible that the late Mr Johnstone of Lathrisk may have discovered some documentary evidence unknown in 1839; and, in any case, it will be extremely interesting to watch the progress of this peerage claim, if claim there be.
	Bernard Cyril Freyberg VC, 1st Baron Freyberg
	Freyberg was a Captain and temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment when he won a Victoria Cross for his actions on 13 November 1916 during the final stages of the Battle of the Somme at Beaucourt‑sur‑Ancre in France.
	The official citation, published in the London Gazette of 15 December 1916, reads as follows:-
	By his splendid personal gallantry he carried the initial attack straight through the enemy's front system of trenches. Owing to mist and heavy fire of all descriptions, Lieutenant-Colonel Freyberg's command was much disorganised after the capture of the first objective. He personally rallied and re-formed his men, including men from other units who had become intermixed.
	He inspired all with his own contempt of danger. At the appointed time he led his men to the successful assault of the second objective - many prisoners being captured.
	During this advance he was twice wounded. He again rallied and re-formed all who were with him, and although unsupported in a very advanced position, he held his ground for the remainder of the day, and throughout the night, under heavy artillery and machine gun fire. When reinforced on the following morning, he organised the attack on a strongly fortified village and showed a fine example of dash in personally leading the assault, capturing the village and five hundred prisoners. In this operation he was again wounded.
	Later in the afternoon, he was again wounded severely, but refused to leave the line until he had issued final instructions.
	The personality, valour and utter contempt of danger on the part of this single Officer enabled the lodgement in the most advanced objective of the Corps to be permanently held, and on this point d'appui [point of support] the line was eventually formed.
	In April 1917 Freyberg was promoted to the rank of temporary Brigadier, making him the youngest general officer in the British Army at that time. The only younger general officer in the British Army during the Great War (or, indeed, in modern times) was Roland Boys Bradford VC, who was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in November 1917, aged just 25. He was killed in action 10 days after receiving this promotion.
	Freyberg was subsequently Governor General of New Zealand between 1946 and 1952.
	The following biography of Freyberg appeared in the Australian monthly magazine Parade in its issue for October 1960:-
	In the blackness of the night of April 24, 1915, a six-foot, athletic figure stood on the deck of a British destroyer off Turk-held Gallipoli. He was naked. His body was daubed with oil and painted black. To whispered good wishes, he went over the side and, swimming strongly, propelled a small raft shorewards. A few hours later, in the dawn of a new day, thousands of Australian, New Zealand and British troops stormed ashore. Many more lives would have been lost in those gallant Gallipoli landings, but for the lone swimmer from the lurking destroyer.
	The swimmer was young New Zealand-bred Bernard Freyberg. Freyberg swam ashore with flares in a diversionary feint that fooled the Turks into thinking a large-scale landing was coming far from the actual invasion beaches. Many Turkish units, which would have opposed the Anzacs, were pinned further north waiting for an attack that never came.
	Freyberg is now Baron Freyberg, V.C., G.C.M.G., K.C.B., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. and three bars, renowned the world over as one of the most romantic modern fighting men. In World War I he was wounded nine times. At 27 he was the youngest brigadier-general in the British Army. At 44 he was the youngest major-general. In World War II he commanded the New Zealand Expeditionary Force through Greece, Crete, Africa and Italy.
	Bernard Cyril Freyberg was born near London in 1889. At two he was taken to New Zealand, where his father was a government timber expert. He grew into a husky young athlete. His bulk earned him the nickname "Tiny". Freyberg excelled at football, boxing, yachting and particularly swimming. He one went for a sail in the harbour in a small boat and ended up at Lyttelton, 100 miles away. At swimming, all distances came alike. He was the idol of Wellington College as he swept victoriously through championships against rivals four or five years his senior. When he went sailing he grew impatient if the boat made slow progress in heavy seas. "Tiny" Freyberg would then leap overboard and swim home in a race with the boat.
	Freyberg qualified in dentistry at Otago University. In his 20s, he worked as a dentist's assistant in a small New Zealand country town. He chafed at the dull grind of pulling teeth and making dentures. His grandfather and two great uncles had marched to Moscow and back with Napoleon. To young Bernard Freyberg, life should be as they lived it.
	Freyberg stayed with his drills and forceps till war flared in 1914. He could not wait to join New Zealand's own Expeditionary Force. A week later he was on a ship for England. To raise his fare he sold the cups and medals he won in amateur swimming events. In England he joined the Army, then boldly pulled up Winston Churchill in the street to ask for a commission in the Royal Naval Division. This was a land force hastily formed from reserve stokers and seamen to throw into Belgium to stem the Hun advance.
	Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. The Royal Naval Division was his own personal baby and was known as "Winston's Own". Winston liked the look of the rangy New Zealander with the fighting set of his shoulders and pugnacious jaw. He commissioned Bernard Freyberg a temporary lieutenant and bundled him off to Antwerp to see his first fighting action. The Naval Division did not save Antwerp. Bernard Freyberg hardly distinguished himself. He got tangled up in electric wire and was nearly electrocuted. His own men, seeing him crawling through the wire, mistook him for a German and opened fire. Only their bad marksmanship, for which he wrathfully slated them, averted a permanent interruption to Freyberg's career. "I know you blundered in taking me for a Hun", he told them. "But infinitely worse was missing me when 50 of you had me square in your sights. Don't let it happen again."
	The Naval Division was pulled out and sent to the Dardanelles. Just before the scheduled Gallipoli landing, Freyberg heard of a plan to land a platoon on the Gulf of Saros and bamboozle the Turks into thinking a full-scale attack was pending there. Freyberg begged the chance to do the job alone. His superiors agreed that one hot-headed New Zealander could be better spared than a whole platoon.
	The night before the operation (April 23) Freyberg helped bury the famous poet Rupert Brooke, so he got no sleep. Also made an officer in the Naval Division by Winston Churchill, Rupert Brooke died on a hospital ship from blood poisoning. Freyberg and others dug his grave on the island of Scyros and strewed it with white marble. Freyberg got no rest next day. He was too busy building his raft and loading it with calcium flares.
	Freyberg's job was to get the flares ashore without being seen. Then he had to set them off at different points along the beaches to draw the attention of the Turks - while the Anzacs made the real attack further south. Though chances of returning alive were slender, "Tiny" Freyberg was unworried as he left the destroyer about two miles offshore. He was naked and painted black from head to toe. He went over the side where the waiting raft bobbed, and set off with a strong side stroke, pushing it towards the distant beach. He took an hour and a quarter to reach land. He crawled ashore in the dense blackness and wriggled to the shelter of some bushes. Freyberg lit his first bunch of flares, sprinted back to the water and pushed off his raft. Bullets plopped round him in the darkness as he made for another point along the coast.
	Within an hour he had set off half a dozen more batches of flares. He then abandoned the raft and swam out to the spot where he hoped the destroyer was waiting. The sea was bitterly cold. He was suffering from cramp. He swam two hours in agony and was on the verge of exhaustion when he heard the splash of oars and good round English oaths. They came from a cutter manned by his own men searching for him.
	Freyberg's action, for which he received the D.S.O., immobilized large Turkish forces. They were convinced a heavy sea-borne attack was coming at the Gulf of Saros. Whole units were bottled up there for days instead of being flung against the Anzacs tenaciously digging in at Gallipoli. Freyberg then went in with the British invasion force and was twice wounded. He was still there and mentioned in despatches during the final evacuation on January 9, 1916.
	Back in France in November, 1916, Freyberg, then a colonel and commanding the Hood Battalion of the Naval Division, won his V.C. for "conspicuous bravery and brilliant leadership" in the final phases of the Battle of the Somme round Beaucourt. Next year, at 27, Freyberg became the youngest brigadier-general in the British Army. Before the war was over he collected two bars to his D.S.O. After World War I, Freyberg stayed in the British Army in various staff jobs until 1937. He was by then a major-general - the youngest in the Army.
	In the years between the wars, Freyberg made four attempts to swim the English Channel. They failed through bad luck with tides and wind and recurring trouble from his war wounds. Once he was taken out of the water after 17 hours - when only half a mile from his goal.
	In World War II Lieut.-General Sir Bernard Freyberg commanded the New Zealand Division in some of the hardest fighting of the war. The division fought a rearguard action in Greece. It went to Crete and battled valiantly beside the Australians before being evacuated to Egypt. The division finally became part of Montgomery's victorious Eighth Army. It did its share in turning the tide at Alamein and pursued Rommel's panzers to Tunisia. It Italy, it was among the spearheads in the bloody battles of the Sangro, the Orsogna and Cassino. It ended one of the most gallant campaigns of the war in Trieste in 1945.
	After the war Freyberg was elevated to the peerage as Baron Freyberg, of Wellington. He served as Governor-General of New Zealand for several terms till he retired to live in England in 1952.
	Christopher Furness VC, son of the 1st Viscount Furness (17 May 1912-c 24 May 1940)
	When the 1st Viscount Furness died in October 1940, he would have been, in the normal course of events, succeeded by his son Christopher. However, Christopher had not been seen or heard of since 24 May of that year, having almost certainly been killed while fighting the Germans.
	In April 1941, the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice heard an application for leave to presume that Christopher was dead. The result of this application was reported in The Times on 8 April 1941:-
	This was an application for leave to swear that Lieutenant the Hon. Christopher Furness, of Burrough Court, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, died on or since May 24, 1940.
	Mr. Victor Russell, for the applicant, said it appeared from War Office records that Mr. Furness died in action either in France or Belgium on or about that date, but a declaration of the Court was deemed to be necessary. Nothing had been seen nor heard of him since May 24. In a letter to Mr. Furness's father, the colonel commanding the battalion of the Welsh Guards, in which Mr. Furness was an officer said:-
	"Dick (Mr. Furness) was covering the withdrawal of some transport when some men of another regiment said that German infantry were close in a wood nearby. Instantly Dick went off to reconnoitre with a view to attack. Suddenly fire was opened on him by a concealed German anti-tank gun. Several carriers were destroyed, including Dick's. I am told he charged straight at the gunner and shot him before he fell himself. His action was the most gallant possible."
	A lance-corporal wrote that he saw Mr. Furness spread-eagled across the top of a carrier with a Bren gun in front of him, and added: "Mr. Furness must have known then the very slender chances of his returning from such a hell".
	Another officer who saw Mr. Furness's Bren carrier, easily recognizable by the fighting cock engraved on its side, go into action single-handed, said it was "an extremely gallant action", which saved an entire column from destruction.
	Leave [to presume death] was granted as prayed.
	After the war, Christopher's gallantry was recognised by the award of a posthumous Victoria Cross. The citation states that:-
	between May 17 and 24, when his battalion formed part of the garrison of Arras, Lieutenant Furness displayed the highest qualities of leadership and dash in many local actions with the enemy and imbued his platoon with a magnificent offensive spirit. On May 23 he was wounded, but refused to be evacuated.
	By this time the enemy had encircled the town on three sides and Lieutenant Furness's carrier platoon, together with a small force of light tanks, were ordered to cover the withdrawal by night of the transport, consisting of over forty vehicles. An enemy attack, however, with very heavy small arms and anti-tank gunfire, blocked the whole column and placed it in serious jeopardy.
	Immediately Lieutenant Furness decided to attack the enemy, who were located in a strongly entrenched position behind wire. He advanced with three carriers supported by the light tanks. The enemy opened up with very heavy fire and the light tanks were put out of action, but Lieutenant Furness continued to advance. He reached the enmy position and circled it several times at close range, inflicting heavy losses.
	All three carriers were hit and most of their crews killed or wounded. His own carrier was disabled and the driver and Bren gunner killed. He then engaged the enemy in persona; hand-to-hand combat until he was killed. This magnificent act of self-sacrifice made the enemy withdraw for the time being and enabled the large column of vehicles to get clear unmolested and covered the evacuation of some of the wounded of his own carrier platoon and the light tanks."
	The termination of the abeyance of the barony of Furnivall in favour of Mary Frances Katherine Petre (later Dent), 19th Baroness Furnivall in her own right
	The London Daily Telegraph of 4 December 1912 reported that:-
	The Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords proceeded to hear arguments in the claim of Lady Petre, the widow of Lord Petre, as mother and next friend of the Hon. Mary Frances Katherine Petre, 12 years of age, that the abeyance now existing on the barony of Furnivall might be determined in her favour.
	The case on behalf of the petitioner set out that at the death of Edward, [9th] Duke of Norfolk, in 1777, the various baronies in fee which had accumulated in the line of the Howard family, fell into abeyance between the lines represented by the Lords Stourton and the Lords Petre. Among the twenty or more peerages to which claims might be put forward, amongst those represented entirely by the Lords Stourton and Lords Petre jointly were the baronies of Mowbray, Segrave, Howard, Talbot, Furnivall, and Strange.
	Both co-heirs being already peers, there was little to be gained save precedence, as, until the death of the late Lord Petre on June 16, 1908, every person who was at any time a co-heir to any of the peerages mentioned was already a peer or peeress. Alfred Joseph Lord Stourton having petitioned her late Majesty Queen Victoria, the abeyances existing in the baronies of Mowbray and Segrave were determined in his favour in 1878, and his son, Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton, at present the only other co-heir, now consented to and concurred in the present position.
	The only issue of the marriage of the late Lord Petre being his daughter, the Hon. Mary Francis Katherine Petre, who could not succeed to the Barony of Petre, which was limited to heirs male, the late Lord Petre intended himself to petition that the abeyance of some one of the baronies to which he was co-heir might be determined in his favour, so that his daughter might subsequently inherit it. His untimely decease frustrated his intention of himself proceeding in the matter. Of all the baronies for which a petition might have been lodged the Barony of Furnivall was chosen, inasmuch as there was no existing peerage with which that designation conflicts. The exact origin of the barony could not be given.
	Lord R[obert] Cecil [later Viscount Cecil of Chelwood], who appeared in support of the claim, dealt with the summoning by writ of Thomas de Furnivall to a Parliament convened by Edward I [in 1283] to be held at Shrewsbury to deal with the treacheries of David ap Griffith. This summons showed that Thomas de Furnivall was a peer being summoned to this Parliament. Thomas de Furnivall was also summoned to the Parliament which confirmed the Charter of Liberties, and in 1300 a letter of the barons to the Pope, repudiating his superiority over Scotland, was signed by him as "Lord of Sheffield".
	The next day, 5 December 1912, the Daily Telegraph revealed that:-
	Mr. Fox-Davies [for the petitioner] put in a series of documents, in copy, necessary to establish that the petitioner was one of the co-heirs to the barony. He said he had intended to call the Baroness Petre, but unfortunately she was very seriously ill. The Committee thereupon agreed to accept the entries in the journal of their lordships' House, showing that the present Lord Petre took his seat in succession, and Mr. Coutts, a solicitor, gave evidence as to the steps in that succession, and testified also that shortly before his death the late Lord Petre had consulted him as to petitioning for the removal of the abeyance of the Furnivall barony in favour of the present petitioner.
	Mr. Raymond Asquith [son of Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister and later Earl of Oxford and Asquith who was killed in action in 1916], who stated the case for the Crown, alluded to the discussion which took place over the Strathbolgi [i.e. Strabolgi] barony. The conclusion, he said, which emerged from that discussion was that where they found there had been a writ of summons to an ancestor, and subsequently a sitting in Parliament by a descendant of that ancestor, their lordships might, if the surrounding circumstances warranted it, say that the attendance of the descendant at a Parliament might be regarded as proof that the peerage dated from the date of the writ, and not from the date of the sitting. But he argued that principle did not apply in the present case. Counsel then called the Committee's attention to the table of pedigree showing the descent of the barony of Furnivall. Thomas Nevill, who was summoned to Parliament as a peer of the realm, and sat as Lord Furnivall, was the husband of Joane, daughter of the fourth Lord Furnivall. Supposing this Thomas Nevill had been a son instead of a son-in-law of the fourth Lord Furnivall, and had sat in Parliament, their lordships would have been justified in referring back to the writ issued to the ancestor to attend the 1295 Parliament. But Nevill was not a descendant of any of the Furnivalls who had previously been summoned. If there was a barony vested in Joane, wife of Nevill, he quite admitted that her husband might have been summoned in respect of that barony. That he did not deny, but the point here was, was there a barony vested in Joane at that time? Nevill had two wives and two daughters, and as he had no male issue the dignity fell into abeyance between his two daughters. He suggested that there was the creation of a new peerage to John Talbot.
	Lord Ashbourne said Nevill married the Furnivall heiress, and was summoned to Parliament in right of his wife. There was no question of abeyance.
	The Earl of Desart said if it was a new creation it was remarkable that this man, a man of great distinction, should, without any apparent reason, select for the name of his peerage a name from his wife's family.
	Mr. Asquith said there was no doubt that he had his wife's lands, which were very extensive, and it was not unnatural that he should take the title of his peerage from his wife's family.
	The Times of 10 December 1912 summed up the evidence given so far in the hearings, and reported that:-
	Lord Ashbourne said there was no doubt about the pedigree: this was a peerage by writ, and there was evidence of the writ and sitting. There was no difficulty about the writ and the sitting. It had been contended that the fifth lord was made a peer, but Lord Robert Cecil had shown conclusively that the first, second, third, and fourth Lords Furnivall had been summoned and had sat in Parliament. One of them had signed a proxy and expressed his wish to attend, and the great probability was that he took part in the proceedings at Carlisle, and the circumstances pointed to an actual sitting. But he was unable to hold that the creation of the peerage could have been of an earlier date than 1295.
	Lord Shaw thought that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to call the peerage out of abeyance in favour of the petitioner. On the substantial merits of the case there was no controversy. The sole question was one of date. It was first suggested that the date should be 1283, but he was unable to accept that date, and thought that the earliest period assignable was 1295. Lord Robert Cecil had adduced a number of circumstances, each slight in itself, but cumulatively of considerable weight, in favour of the conclusion that Thomas Neville Lord Furnivall sat in right of his wife, and he could not bring his mind to believe that there was any new peerage in 1283, but the position of Lord Furnivall's name in the Parliament Roll and other circumstances showed that at the end of the thirteenth century Lord Furnivall was a peer of Parliament. He concurred in the motion that the prayer of the petition might be granted, and that the date thereof should be assigned to 1295.
	The Committee reported accordingly, and the London Gazette of 20 May 1913 [issue 28720, page 3590] contained a notice stating that the abeyance had been terminated by writ dated 3 May 1913.

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