PEERAGES
Last updated 12/09/2017 (17 Mar 2024)
Date Rank Order Name Born Died Age
MIDLETON
13 Apr 1715
15 Aug 1717
B[I]
V[I]
1
1
Alan Brodrick
Created Baron Brodrick 13 Apr 1715 and Viscount Midleton 15 Aug 1717
MP [I] for Cork City 1692‑1693, 1695‑1699 and 1703‑1710, and Cork County 1713‑1715; MP for Midhurst 1717‑1728; Solicitor General [I] 1695‑1704; Attorney General [I] 1707‑1710; Chief Justice [I] 1710‑1711; Lord Chancellor [I] 1714‑1725; PC [I] 1703
1656 29 Aug 1728 72
Aug 1728 2 Alan Brodrick 31 Jan 1702 8 Jun 1747 45
8 Jun 1747 3 George Brodrick
MP for Ashburton 1754‑1761 and New Shoreham 1761‑1765
3 Oct 1730 22 Aug 1765 34
22 Aug 1765 4 George Brodrick
MP for Whitchurch 1774‑1796; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1814‑1830
Created Baron Brodrick [GB] 11 Jun 1796
For details of the special remainder included in the creation of this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page
1 Nov 1754 12 Aug 1836 81
12 Aug 1836 5 George Alan Brodrick
For information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
10 Jun 1806 1 Nov 1848 42
1 Nov 1848 6 Charles Brodrick 14 Oct 1791 2 Dec 1863 72
2 Dec 1863 7 William John Brodrick 8 Jul 1798 29 Aug 1870 72
29 Aug 1870 8 William Brodrick
MP for Surrey Mid 1868‑1870; Lord Lieutenant Surrey 1896‑1905
6 Jan 1830 18 Apr 1907 77
18 Apr 1907
2 Feb 1920
 
E
9
1
William St. John Fremantle Brodrick
Created Viscount Dunsford and Earl of Midleton 2 Feb 1920
MP for Surrey West 1880‑1885 and Guildford 1885‑1906; Secretary of State for War 1900‑1903; Secretary of State for India 1903‑1905; PC 1897; KP 1916
14 Dec 1856 13 Feb 1942 85
13 Feb 1942 10
2
George St. John Brodrick
On his death the Earldom became extinct whilst the Viscountcy passed to -
21 Feb 1888 2 Nov 1979 91
2 Nov 1979 11 Trevor Lowther Brodrick 7 Mar 1903 30 Oct 1988 85
30 Oct 1988 12 Alan Henry Brodrick 4 Aug 1949
MIDLOTHIAN
3 Jul 1911 E 1 Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Created Baron Epsom, Viscount Mentmore and Earl of Midlothian 3 Jul 1911
The peerages remain united united with the Earldom of Rosebery
7 May 1847 21 May 1929 82
MILBROKE
30 Jan 1442
to    
1443
B 1 Sir John Cornwall
Created Baron of Milbroke 30 Jan 1442 and Baron of Fanhope 17 Jul 1433
Peerage extinct on his death
1 Dec 1443
MILDMAY OF FLETE
20 Nov 1922 B 1 Francis Bingham Mildmay
Created Baron Mildmay of Flete 20 Nov 1922
MP for Totnes 1885‑1922; Lord Lieutenant Devon 1928‑1936; PC 1916
26 Apr 1861 8 Feb 1947 85
8 Feb 1947
to    
12 May 1950
2 Anthony Bingham Mildmay
Peerage extinct on his death
For further information on the death of this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
14 Apr 1909 12 May 1950 41
MILES
7 Feb 1979
to    
14 Jun 1991
B[L] Sir Bernard James Miles
Created Baron Miles for life 7 Feb 1979
Peerage extinct on his death
27 Sep 1907 14 Jun 1991 83
MILFORD
22 Jul 1776
to    
28 Nov 1823
B[I] 1 Sir Richard Philipps, 7th baronet
Created Baron Milford 22 Jul 1776
MP for Plympton Erle 1774‑1779 and Pembrokeshire 1786‑1812; Lord Lieutenant Haverfordwest 1770‑1823 and Pembroke 1786‑1823
Peerage extinct on his death
For information on a proposed claim to this peerage in 1891, see the note at the foot of this page
c 1744 28 Nov 1823

21 Sep 1847 B 1 Sir Richard Bulkeley Philipps, 1st baronet
Created Baron Milford 21 Sep 1847
MP for Haverfordwest 1826‑1832 and Haverfordwest Boroughs 1832‑1835 and 1837‑1847; Lord Lieutenant Haverfordwest 1824‑1857
Peerage extinct on his death
7 Jun 1801 3 Jan 1857 55

2 Feb 1939 B 1 Sir Laurence Richard Philipps, 1st baronet
Created Baron Milford 2 Feb 1939
24 Jan 1874 7 Dec 1962 88
7 Dec 1962 2 Wogan Philipps
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
25 Feb 1902 30 Nov 1993 91
30 Nov 1993 3 Hugo John Laurence Philipps 27 Aug 1929 4 Dec 1999 70
4 Dec 1999 4 Guy Wogan Philipps 25 Jul 1961
MILFORD HAVEN
9 Nov 1706
to    
1727
E 1 George Augustus
Created Baron of Tewkesbury, Viscount Northallerton, Earl of Milford Haven and Marquess and Duke of Cambridge 9 Nov 1706
He succeeded as George II in 1727 when the peerage merged with the Crown
30 Oct 1683 25 Oct 1760 76

17 Jul 1917 M 1 Louis Alexander Mountbatten
Created Viscount Alderney, Earl of Medina and Marquess of Milford Haven 17 Jul 1917
Admiral of the Fleet 1921; PC 1914
14 May 1854 11 Sep 1921 67
11 Sep 1921 2 George Louis Victor Henry Sergius Mountbatten 6 Nov 1892 8 Apr 1938 45
8 Apr 1938 3 David Michael Mountbatten 12 May 1919 14 Apr 1970 50
14 Apr 1970 4 George Ivar Louis Mountbatten 6 Jun 1961
MILLER OF CHILTHORNE DOMER
28 Jul 1998 B[L] Susan Elizabeth Miller
Created Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer for life 28 Jul 1998
1 Jan 1954
MILLER OF HENDON
14 Oct 1993
to    
21 Jun 2014
B[L] Doreen Miller
Created Baroness Miller of Hendon for life 14 Oct 1993
Peerage extinct on her death
13 Jun 1933 21 Jun 2014 81
MILLETT
1 Oct 1998
to    
27 May 2021
B[L] Sir Peter Julian Millett
Created Baron Millett for life 1 Oct 1998
Lord Justice of Appeal 1994‑1998; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1998‑2004; PC 1994
Peerage extinct on his death
23 Jun 1932 27 May 2021 88
MILLS
22 Jan 1957
22 Aug 1962
B
V
1
1
Sir Percy Herbert Mills, 1st baronet
Created Baron Mills 22 Jan 1957 and Viscount Mills 22 Aug 1962
Minister of Power 1957‑1959; Paymaster General 1959‑1961; PC 1957
4 Jan 1890 10 Sep 1968 78
10 Sep 1968 2 Roger Clinton Mills 14 Jun 1919 6 Dec 1988 69
6 Dec 1988 3 Christopher Philip Roger Mills 20 May 1956
MILLTOWN
10 May 1763 E[I] 1 Joseph Leeson
Created Baron of Russborough 5 May 1756, Viscount Russborough 8 Sep 1760 and Earl of Milltown 10 May 1763
MP [I] for Rathcormack 1743‑1756; PC [I] 1770
11 Mar 1701 22 Oct 1783 82
22 Oct 1783 2 Joseph Leeson
MP [I] for Thomastown 1757‑1761
1730 27 Nov 1801 71
27 Nov 1801 3 Brice Leeson 20 Dec 1735 10 Jan 1807 71
10 Jan 1807 4 Joseph Leeson
KP 1841
11 Feb 1799 31 Jan 1866 66
31 Jan 1866 5 Joseph Henry Leeson
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
10 May 1829 8 Apr 1871 41
8 Apr 1871 6 Edward Nugent Leeson
Lord Lieutenant Wicklow 1887‑1890; PC [I] 1888; KP 1890
9 Oct 1835 30 May 1890 54
30 May 1890
to    
24 Mar 1891
7 Henry Leeson
On his death the peerage became dormant
22 Jan 1837 24 Mar 1891 54
MILNE
26 Jan 1933 B 1 Sir George Francis Milne
Created Baron Milne 26 Jan 1933
Field Marshal 1928
5 Nov 1866 23 Mar 1948 81
23 Mar 1948 2 George Douglass Milne 10 Feb 1909 1 Feb 2005 95
1 Feb 2005 3 George Alexander Milne 1 Apr 1941
MILNER
3 Jun 1901
15 Jul 1902
to    
13 May 1925
B
V
1
1
Sir Alfred Milner
Created Baron Milner 3 Jun 1901 and Viscount Milner 15 Jul 1902
High Commissioner of South Africa 1897‑1905; Secretary of State for War 1918‑1919; Secretary of State for Colonies 1919‑1921; PC 1901; KG 1921
Peerages extinct on his death
23 Mar 1854 13 May 1925 71
MILNER OF LEEDS
20 Dec 1951 B 1 James Milner
Created Baron Milner of Leeds 20 Dec 1951
MP for Leeds South East 1929‑1951; PC 1945
12 Aug 1889 16 Jul 1967 77
16 Jul 1967 2 Arthur James Michael Milner
[Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2003]
12 Sep 1923 20 Aug 2003 79
20 Aug 2003 3 Richard James Milner 16 May 1959
MILSINGTON
13 Apr 1703 V[S] 1 Sir David Colyear, 2nd baronet
Created Lord Portmore 1 Jun 1699 and Lord Colyear, Viscount Milsington and Earl of Portmore 13 Apr 1703
See "Portmore"
c 1656 2 Jan 1730
MILTON
9 Sep 1689
to    
8 Apr 1704
B 1 Henry Sydney
Created Baron Milton and Viscount Sydney 9 Sep 1689 and Earl of Romney 14 May 1694
See "Romney"
c 1641 8 Apr 1704

21 Jul 1716 V[I] 1 William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Baron Fitzwilliam
Created Viscount Milton and Earl Fitzwilliam 21 Jul 1716
See "Fitzwilliam"
29 Apr 1643 28 Dec 1719 76

6 Sep 1746 V 1 William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam [I]
Created Viscount Milton and Earl Fitzwilliam 6 Sep 1746
See "Fitzwilliam"
15 Jan 1719 10 Aug 1756 37
MILTON OF MILTON ABBEY
3 Jun 1753
10 May 1762
18 May 1792
B[I]
B
V
1
1
1
Joseph Damer
Created Baron Milton 3 Jun 1753 and 10 May 1762, and Viscount Milton of Milton Abbey and Earl of Dorchester 18 May 1792
See "Dorchester"
12 Mar 1718 12 Jan 1798 79
MILVERTON
9 Oct 1947 B 1 Sir Arthur Frederick Richards
Created Baron Milverton 9 Oct 1947
Governor of North Borneo 1930‑1933, Gambia 1933‑1936, Fiji 1936‑1938, Jamaica 1938‑1943 and Nigeria 1943‑1947
21 Feb 1885 27 Oct 1978 93
27 Oct 1978 2 Fraser Arthur Richard Richards 21 Jul 1930 10 Aug 2023 93
10 Aug 2023 3 Michael Hugh Richards 1 Aug 1936
MINSTER
17 Jul 1821 B 1 Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham
Created Baron Minster 17 Jul 1821
See "Conyngham"
26 Dec 1766 28 Dec 1832 66
MINTO
20 Oct 1797
24 Feb 1813
B
E
1
1
Sir Gilbert Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound, 4th baronet
Created Baron Minto 20 Oct 1797 and Viscount Melgund and and Earl of Minto 24 Feb 1813
MP for Morpeth 1776‑1777, Roxburghshire 1777‑1784, Berwick upon Tweed 1786‑1790 and Helston 1790‑1795; President of the Board of Control 1806; Governor General of India 1806‑1813; PC 1793
23 Apr 1751 21 Jun 1814 63
21 Jun 1814 2 Gilbert Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound
MP for Ashburton 1806‑1807 and Roxburghshire 1812‑1814; First Lord of the Admiralty 1835‑1841; Lord Privy Seal 1846‑1852; PC 1832
16 Nov 1782 31 Jul 1859 76
31 Jul 1859 3 William Hugh Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound
MP for Hythe 1837‑1841, Greenock 1847‑1852 and Clackmannanshire & Kinross-shire 1857‑1859; KT 1870
19 Mar 1814 17 Mar 1891 76
17 Mar 1891 4 Gilbert John Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound
Governor General of Canada 1898‑1904; Viceroy of India 1905‑1910; PC 1902; KG 1910
9 Jul 1845 1 Mar 1914 68
1 Mar 1914 5 Victor Gilbert Lariston Granet Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound 12 Feb 1891 11 Jan 1975 83
11 Jan 1975 6 Gilbert Edward George Lariston Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound 19 Jun 1928 7 Sep 2005 77
7 Sep 2005 7 Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot‑Murray‑Kynynmound
[Elected hereditary peer 2022-]
1 Dec 1953
MISHCON
10 May 1978
to    
27 Jan 2006
B[L] Victor Mishcon
Created Baron Mishcon for life 10 May 1978
Peerage extinct on his death
14 Aug 1915 27 Jan 2006 90
MITCHELL
10 May 2000 B[L] Parry Andrew Mitchell
Created Baron Mitchell for life 10 May 2000
6 May 1943
MITCHISON
5 Oct 1964
to    
14 Feb 1970
B[L] Gilbert Richard Mitchison
Created Baron Mitchison for life 5 Oct 1964
MP for Kettering 1945‑1964
Peerage extinct on his death
23 Mar 1894 14 Feb 1970 75
MITFORD
18 Apr 2000 B[L] Rupert Bertram Mitford, 6th Baron Redesdale
Created Baron Mitford for life 18 Apr 2000
18 Jul 1967
MOBARIK
19 Sep 2014 B[L] Nosheena Shaheen Mobarik
Created Baroness Mobarik for life 19 Sep 2014
MEP for Scotland 2017‑2020
16 Oct 1957
MOELS
6 Feb 1299 B 1 John de Moels
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Moels 6 Feb 1299
30 May 1310
30 May 1310 2 Nicholas de Moels 10 Aug 1289 Jan 1316 26
Jan 1316 3 Roger de Moels 11 Jun 1295 Jul 1316 21
Jul 1316
to    
Aug 1337
4 John de Moels
On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
Aug 1337
MOGG
28 May 2008 B[L] Sir John Frederick Mogg
Created Baron Mogg for life 28 May 2008
5 Oct 1943
MOHUN
6 Feb 1299 B 1 John de Mohun
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Mohun 6 Feb 1299
25 Aug 1330
25 Aug 1330
to    
15 Sep 1375
2 John de Mohun
KG 1348
On his death the peerage fell into abeyance
c 1320 15 Sep 1375
1431 3 Richard le Strange, 7th Lord Strange de Knockyn
Became sole heir in 1431. The peerage was united with the Barony of Strange and remained so until 1594 when the peerages fell into abeyance
1 Aug 1381 9 Aug 1449 68
MOHUN OF OKEHAMPTON
15 Apr 1628 B 1 John Mohun, later [1639] 2nd baronet
Created Baron Mohun of Okehampton 15 Apr 1628
MP for Grampound 1624-1625
1595 28 Nov 1640 45
28 Nov 1640 2 Warwick Mohun 25 May 1620 May 1665 44
May 1665 3 Charles Mohun c 1645 29 Sep 1677
29 Sep 1677
to    
15 Nov 1712
4 Charles Mohun
Peerage extinct on his death
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
11 Apr 1677 15 Nov 1712 35
MOIRA
30 Jan 1762 E[I] 1 Sir John Rawdon, 4th baronet
Created Baron Rawdon of Moira 9 Apr 1750 and Earl of Moira 30 Jan 1762
17 Mar 1720 20 Jun 1793 73
20 Jun 1793 2 Francis Rawdon-Hastings
He was created Marquess of Hastings in 1817 with which title this peerage then merged until its extinction in 1868
9 Dec 1754 28 Nov 1826 71
MOLESWORTH
16 Jul 1716 V[I] 1 Robert Molesworth
Created Baron Molesworth and Viscount Molesworth 16 Jul 1716
MP [I] for Dublin County 1695‑1699 and Swords 1703‑1714; MP for Camelford 1695‑1698, Lostwithiel 1705‑1706, East Retford 1706‑1708 and Mitchell 1715‑1722; PC [I] 1697
7 Sep 1656 23 May 1725 68
23 May 1725 2 John Molesworth 4 Dec 1679 17 Feb 1726 46
17 Feb 1726 3 Richard Molesworth
MP [I] for Swords 1715‑1727; Field Marshal; PC [I] 1733
1680 12 Oct 1758 78
12 Oct 1758 4 Richard Nassau Molesworth 4 Nov 1748 23 Jun 1793 44
23 Jun 1793 5 Robert Molesworth 22 Dec 1729 29 Jan 1813 83
29 Jan 1813 6 William John Molesworth 18 Aug 1763 30 May 1815 51
30 May 1815 7 Richard Pigott Molesworth 23 Jul 1786 20 Jun 1875 88
20 Jun 1875 8 Samuel Molesworth 19 Dec 1829 7 Jun 1906 76
7 Jun 1906 9 George Bagot Molesworth 6 Jun 1867 20 Mar 1947 79
20 Mar 1947 10 Charles Richard Molesworth 3 Jan 1869 24 Feb 1961 92
24 Feb 1961 11 Richard Gosset Molesworth 31 Oct 1907 15 Oct 1997 89
15 Oct 1997 12 Robert Bysse Kelham Molesworth 4 Jun 1959
MOLEYNS
13 Jan 1445 B 1 Robert Hungerford
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Moleyns 13 Jan 1445
He succeeded to the Barony of Hungerford in 1459 with which title this peerage then merged and has remained so
c 1420 18 May 1464
MOLLOY
12 May 1981
to    
26 May 2001
B[L] William John Molloy
Created Baron Molloy for life 12 May 1981
MP for Ealing North 1964‑1979; MEP 1976‑1977
Peerage extinct on his death
26 Oct 1918 26 May 2001 82
MOLSON
21 Feb 1961
to    
13 Oct 1991
B[L] Arthur Hugh Elsdale Molson
Created Baron Molson for life 21 Feb 1961
MP for Doncaster 1931‑1935 and High Peak 1939‑1961; Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation 1953‑1957; Minister of Works 1957‑1959; PC 1956
Peerage extinct on his death
29 Jun 1903 13 Oct 1991 88
MOLYNEAUX OF KILLEAD
10 Jun 1997
to    
9 Mar 2015
B[L] Sir James Henry Molyneaux
Created Baron Molyneaux of Killead for life 10 Jun 1997
MP for Antrim South 1970‑1983 and Lagan Valley 1983‑1997; PC 1983
Peerage extinct on his death
27 Aug 1920 9 Mar 2015 94
MOLYNEUX
22 Dec 1628 V[I] 1 Sir Richard Molyneux, 2nd baronet
Created Viscount Molyneux 22 Dec 1628
MP for Wigan 1614 and Lancashire 1625 and 1628‑1629
21 Feb 1594 8 May 1636 42
8 May 1636 2 Richard Molyneux c 1620 2 Jul 1654
2 Jul 1654 3 Caryll Molyneux
Lord Lieutenant Lancashire 1687‑1688
1622 2 Feb 1699 76
2 Feb 1699 4 William Molyneux c 1655 8 Mar 1717
8 Mar 1717 5 Richard Molyneux 29 May 1679 12 Dec 1738 59
12 Dec 1738 6 Caryll Molyneux 28 Dec 1683 11 Nov 1745 61
11 Nov 1745 7 William Molyneux 30 Jan 1685 30 Mar 1759 74
30 Mar 1759 8 Charles William Molyneux
He was created Earl of Sefton in 1771 with which title this peerage then merged
11 Oct 1748 25 Dec 1794 46
MONCK
7 Jul 1660 B 1 George Monck
Created Baron Monck, Earl of Torrington and Duke of Albemarle 7 Jul 1660
See "Albemarle"
6 Dec 1608 3 Jan 1670 61

23 Nov 1797
5 Jan 1801
B[I]
V[I]
1
1
Charles Stanley Monck
Created Baron Monck 23 Nov 1797 and Viscount Monck 5 Jan 1801
MP [I] for Gorey 1790‑1798
1754 9 Jun 1802 47
9 Jun 1802 2 Henry Stanley Monck
Created Earl of Rathdowne 12 Jan 1822
26 Jul 1785 20 Sep 1848 63
20 Sep 1848 3 Charles Joseph Kelly Monck 12 Jul 1791 20 Apr 1849 57
20 Apr 1849
12 Jul 1866
 
B
4
1
Charles Stanley Monck
Created Baron Monck [UK] 12 Jul 1866
MP for Portsmouth 1852‑1857; Governor General of Canada 1861‑1868; Lord Lieutenant Dublin 1874‑1892; PC 1869; PC [I] 1869
10 Oct 1819 29 Nov 1894 75
29 Nov 1894 5 Henry Power Charles Stanley Monck 8 Jan 1849 18 Aug 1927 78
18 Aug 1927 6 Henry Wyndham Stanley Monck 11 Dec 1905 21 Jun 1982 76
21 Jun 1982 7 Charles Stanley Monck 2 Apr 1953
MONCKTON OF BRENCHLEY
11 Feb 1957 V 1 Sir Walter Turner Monckton
Created Viscount Monckton of Brenchley 11 Feb 1957
MP for Bristol West 1951‑1957; Solicitor General 1945; Minister of Labour 1951‑-1955; Minister of Defence 1955‑1956; Paymaster General 1956‑1957; PC 1951
17 Jan 1891 9 Jan 1965 73
9 Jan 1965 2 Gilbert Walter Riversdale Monckton 3 Nov 1915 22 Jun 2006 90
22 Jun 2006 3 Christopher Walter Monckton 14 Feb 1952
MONCKTON OF DALLINGTON FOREST
12 Mar 2024 B[L] Rosamund Mary Monckton
Created Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest for life 12 Mar 2024
26 Oct 1953
MONCKTON OF SERLBY
2 Jul 1887 B 1 George Edmund Milnes Monckton‑Arundell, 7th Viscount Galway
Created Baron Monckton 2 Jul 1887
18 Nov 1844 7 Mar 1931 86
7 Mar 1931 2 George Vere Arundell Monckton‑Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway 24 Mar 1882 27 Mar 1943 61
27 Mar 1943
to    
1 Jan 1971
3 Simon George Robert Monckton‑Arundell, 9th Viscount Galway
Peerage extinct on his death
11 Nov 1929 1 Jan 1971 41
MONCREIFF
9 Jan 1874 B 1 James Moncreiff
Created Baron Moncreiff 9 Jan 1874
MP for Leith Burghs 1851‑1859, Edinburgh 1859‑1868 and Universities of Glasgow & Aberdeen 1868‑1869; Solicitor General of Scotland 1850‑1851; Lord Advocate 1851‑1852, 1852‑1858, 1859‑1866 and 1868‑1869; Lord Justice Clerk 1869‑1888; PC 1869
29 Nov 1811 27 Apr 1895 83
27 Apr 1895 2 Henry James Moncreiff
Lord Lieutenant Kinross 1901‑1909
24 Apr 1840 3 Mar 1909 68
3 Mar 1909 3 Robert Chichester Moncreiff 24 Aug 1843 14 May 1913 69
14 May 1913 4 James Arthur Fitzherbert Moncreiff 19 Jul 1872 8 Dec 1942 70
8 Dec 1942 5 Harry Robert Wellwood Moncreiff 4 Feb 1915 22 Apr 2002 87
22 Apr 2002 6 Rhoderick Harry Wellwood Moncreiff 22 Mar 1954
MONE
30 Sep 2015 B[L] Michelle Georgina Mone
Created Baroness Mone for life 30 Sep 2015
8 Oct 1971
MONK BRETTON
4 Nov 1884 B 1 John George Dodson
Created Baron Monk Bretton 4 Nov 1884
MP for Sussex East 1857‑1874, Chester 1874‑1880 and Scarborough 1880‑1884; Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1873‑1874; President of the Local Government Board 1880‑1882; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1882‑1884; PC 1872
18 Oct 1825 25 May 1897 71
25 May 1897 2 John William Dodson 22 Sep 1869 29 Jul 1933 63
29 Jul 1933 3 John Charles Dodson 17 Jul 1924 26 May 2022 97
26 May 2022 4 Christopher Mark Dodson 2 Aug 1958
MONKS
26 Jul 2010 B[L] John Stephen Monks
Created Baron Monks for life 26 Jul 2010
5 Aug 1945
MONKSWELL
1 Jul 1885 B 1 Robert Porrett Collier
Created Baron Monkswell 1 Jul 1885
MP for Plymouth 1852‑1871; Solictor General 1863‑1866; Attorney General 1868‑1871; PC 1871
21 Jun 1817 27 Oct 1886 68
27 Oct 1886 2 Robert Collier 26 Mar 1845 22 Dec 1909 64
22 Dec 1909 3 Robert Alfred Hardcastle Collier 13 Dec 1875 14 Jan 1964 88
14 Jan 1964
to    
7 Apr 1964
4 William Adrian Larry Collier
He disclaimed the peerage for life 1964
25 Nov 1913 27 Jul 1984 70
27 Jul 1984 5 Gerard Collier 28 Jan 1947 12 Jul 2020 73
12 Jul 2020 6 James Adrian Collier 29 Mar 1977
MONMOUTH
7 Feb 1626 E 1 Robert Carey, 1st Baron Carey of Leppington
Created Earl of Monmouth 7 Feb 1626
MP for Morpeth 1586‑1589, Callington 1593, Northumberland 1597‑1598 and 1601 and Grampound 1621‑1622. Lord Lieutenant Staffordshire 1627‑1628
1560 12 Apr 1639 78
12 Apr 1639
to    
13 Jun 1661
2 Henry Carey
MP for Camelford 1621‑1622, Beverley 1624‑1625, Tregony 1625, St. Mawes 1626 and Grampound 1628‑1629
Peerage extinct on his death
27 Jan 1596 13 Jun 1661 65

14 Feb 1663
to    
15 Jul 1685
D 1 James Scott
Created Baron Scott of Tyndale, Earl of Doncaster and Duke of Monmouth 14 Feb 1663
Illegitimate son of Charles II; Lord Lieutenant East Riding Yorkshire 1673‑1679 and Staffordshire 1677‑1679; KG 1663; PC 1670
He was attainted and the peerages forfeited but on 21 Mar 1742 the Barony and Earldom were restored to the 2nd Duke of Buccleuch
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
9 Apr 1649 15 Jul 1685 36

9 Apr 1689 E 1 Henry Mordaunt,later [1697] 3rd Earl of Peterborough
Created Earl of Monmouth 9 Apr 1689
See "Peterborough" - extinct 1814
1658 25 Oct 1635 77
MONRO OF LANGHOLM
6 Nov 1997
to    
30 Aug 2006
B[L] Sir Hector Seymour Peter Monro
Created Baron Monro of Langholm for life 6 Nov 1997
MP for Dumfriesshire 1964‑1997; PC 1995
Peerage extinct on his death
4 Oct 1922 30 Aug 2006 83
MONSELL
30 Nov 1935 V 1 Sir Bolton Meredith Eyres‑Monsell
Created Viscount Monsell 30 Nov 1935
MP for Evesham 1910‑1935; First Lord of the Admiralty 1931‑1936; PC 1923
22 Feb 1881 21 Mar 1969 88
21 Mar 1969
to    
28 Nov 1993
2 Henry Bolton Graham Eyres‑Monsell
Peerage extinct on his death
21 Nov 1905 28 Nov 1993 88
MONSLOW
15 Jun 1966
to    
12 Oct 1966
B[L] Walter Monslow
Created Baron Monslow for life 15 Jun 1966
Peerage extinct on his death
26 Jan 1895 12 Oct 1966 71
MONSON
28 May 1728 B 1 Sir John Monson, 5th baronet
Created Baron Monson 28 May 1728
MP for Lincoln 1722‑1728; PC 1737
c 1693 18 Jul 1748
18 Jul 1748 2 John Monson 23 Jul 1727 23 Jul 1774 47
23 Jul 1774 3 John Monson 25 May 1753 20 May 1806 52
20 May 1806 4 John George Monson 1 Sep 1785 14 Nov 1809 24
14 Nov 1809 5 Frederick John Monson 3 Feb 1809 7 Oct 1841 32
7 Oct 1841 6 William John Monson 14 May 1796 17 Dec 1862 66
17 Dec 1862 7 William John Monson
MP for Reigate 1858‑1862; PC 1874
Created Viscount Oxenbridge 13 Aug 1886
18 Feb 1829 16 Apr 1898 69
16 Apr 1898 8 Debonnaire John Monson 7 Mar 1830 18 Jun 1900 70
18 Jun 1900 9 Augustus Debonnaire John Monson 22 Sep 1868 10 Oct 1940 72
10 Oct 1940 10 John Roseberry Monson 11 Feb 1907 7 Apr 1958 51
7 Apr 1958 11 John Monson
[Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2011]
3 May 1932 12 Feb 2011 78
12 Feb 2011 12 Nicholas John Monson 19 Oct 1955
MONSON OF BELLINGUARD
23 Aug 1628
to    
12 Jul 1661
B[I] 1 William Monson
Created Baron Monson of Bellinguard and Viscount Monson of Castlemaine 23 Aug 1628
He was degraded from the peerages in 1661
1607 1678 71
MONSON OF CASTLEMAINE
23 Aug 1628
to    
12 Jul 1661
V[I] 1 William Monson
Created Baron Monson of Bellinguard and Viscount Monson of Castlemaine 23 Aug 1628
He was degraded from the peerages in 1661
1607 1678 71
MONTACUTE
29 Dec 1299 B 1 John de Montacute
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montacute 29 Dec 1299
26 Sep 1316
26 Sep 1316 2 William de Montacute 6 Nov 1319
6 Nov 1319 3 William de Montacute, later [1337] 1st Earl of Salisbury 30 Jan 1344
30 Jan 1344 4 William de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury 25 Jun 1328 3 Jun 1397 68
3 Jun 1397
to    
7 Jan 1400
5 John de Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury
He was attainted and the peerages forfeited
7 Jan 1400
1421 6 Thomas de Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
Restored to the peerage 1421
1388 3 Nov 1428 40
3 Nov 1428 7 Alice Nevill, Countess of Salisbury [wife of the 5th Earl of Salisbury] 31 Dec 1460
31 Dec 1460
to    
15 Apr 1471
8 Richard Nevill, 6th Earl of Salisbury and 1st Earl of Warwick
On his death the peerage either fell into abeyance or became dormant
22 Nov 1428 15 Apr 1471 42
16 Mar 1485
to    
24 Nov 1499
9 Edward Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Warwick
He was attainted and the peerages forfeited
21 Feb 1475 24 Nov 1499 24
1513
to    
1539
10 Margaret Pole
Restored to the peerage in 1513. She was attainted and the peerage forfeited
14 Aug 1473 27 May 1541 67
3 Nov 1529
to    
9 Jan 1539
11 Henry Pole
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montacute 3 Nov 1529
He was attainted and the peerages forfeited
For further information on claims to this peerage made in 1928, see the note at the foot of this page
9 Jan 1539
MONTACUTE
25 Feb 1342 B 1 Edward de Montacute
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montacute 25 Feb 1342
14 Jul 1361
14 Jul 1361
to    
1375
2 Joan de Ufford
Peerage extinct on her death
1349 1375 26

15 Feb 1357 B 1 John de Montacute
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montacute 15 Feb 1357
25 Feb 1390
25 Feb 1390 2 John de Montacute
He succeeded as 3rd Earl of Salisbury in 1397 with which title this peerage then merged
For further information on claims to this peerage made in 1874 and 1928, see the note at the foot of this page
7 Jan 1400
MONTAGU
23 May 1461
25 Mar 1470
to    
14 Apr 1471
B
M
1
1
John Nevill
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montagu 23 May 1461 and created Marquess of Montagu 25 Mar 1470
KG 1462
He was attainted and the peerages forfeited
c 1431 14 Apr 1471

2 Sep 1554 V 1 Anthony Browne
Created Viscount Montagu 2 Sep 1554
Lord Lieutenant Essex 1558; KG 1555
29 Nov 1528 19 Oct 1592 63
19 Oct 1592 2 Anthony Maria Browne 1 Feb 1574 23 Oct 1629 55
23 Oct 1629 3 Francis Browne 2 Jul 1610 2 Nov 1682 72
2 Nov 1682 4 Francis Browne
Lord Lieutenant Sussex 1688‑1689
1638 Jun 1708 69
Jun 1708 5 Henry Browne c 1640 25 Jun 1717
25 Jun 1717 6 Anthony Browne 1686 23 Apr 1767 80
23 Apr 1767 7 Anthony Joseph Browne 11 Apr 1728 9 Apr 1787 58
9 Apr 1787 8 George Samuel Browne
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
26 Jun 1769 Oct 1793 24
Oct 1793
to    
27 Nov 1797
9 Mark Anthony Browne
On his death the peerage is presumed to have become extinct
2 Mar 1745 27 Nov 1797 52

29 Jun 1621 B 1 Edward Montagu
Created Baron Montagu 29 Jun 1621
MP for Beer Alston 1584‑1586, Brackley 1601 and Northamptonshire 1604‑1611, 1614 and 1621; Lord Lieutenant Northamptonshire 1642
c 1562 15 Jun 1644
15 Jun 1644 2 Edward Montagu
MP for Huntingdon 1640‑1644
11 Jul 1617 10 Jan 1683 65
10 Jan 1683
9 Apr 1689
14 Apr 1705
 
E
D
3
1
1
Ralph Montagu
Created Viscount Monthermer and Earl of Montagu 9 Apr 1689, and Marquess of Monthermer and Duke of Montagu 14 Apr 1705
MP for Northampton 1678 and 1679‑1683 and Huntingdonshire 1679; PC 1689
For further information on this peer and his wife, see the note at the foot of this page
24 Dec 1638 9 Mar 1709 70
9 Mar 1709
to    
16 Jul 1749
2 John Montagu
Lord Lieutenant Northamptonshire and Warwickshire 1715‑1749; KG 1718; PC 1736
Peerages extinct on his death
For information on this peer's possible involvement in the "Great Bottle Hoax" of 1749, see the note at the foot of this page
29 Mar 1689 16 Jul 1749 60

5 Nov 1766
21 Aug 1786
to    
23 May 1790
D
B
1
1
George Montagu, 4th Earl of Cardigan
Created Marquess of Monthermer and Duke of Montagu 5 Nov 1766 and Baron Montagu 21 Aug 1786
For details of the special remainder included in the reation of the Barony of 1786, see the note at the foot of this page
Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1789‑1790; KG 1752; PC 1776
On his death the Marquessate and Dukedom became extinct whilst the Barony passed to -
26 Jul 1712 23 May 1790 77
23 May 1790
to    
30 Oct 1845
2 Henry James Montagu‑Scott
Lord Lieutenant Selkirk 1823‑1845
Peerage extinct on his death
16 Dec 1776 30 Oct 1845 68
MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU
29 Dec 1885 B 1 Henry John Montagu‑Douglas‑Scott
Created Baron Montagu of Beaulieu 29 Dec 1885
MP for Selkirkshire 1861‑1868 and Hampshire South 1868‑1884
5 Nov 1832 4 Nov 1905 72
4 Nov 1905 2 John Walter Edward Douglas‑Scott‑Montagu
MP for New Forest 1892‑1905
For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page
10 Jun 1866 30 Mar 1929 62
30 Mar 1929 3 Edward John Barrington Douglas‑Scott‑Montagu
[Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2015]
20 Oct 1926 31 Aug 2015 88
31 Aug 2015 4 Ralph Douglas‑Scott‑Montagu 13 Mar 1961
MONTAGU OF BOUGHTON
8 May 1762
to    
11 Apr 1770
B 1 John Montagu
Created Baron Montagu 8 May 1762
Peerage extinct on his death
18 Mar 1735 11 Apr 1770 35
MONTAGU OF KIMBOLTON
19 Dec 1620 B 1 Henry Montagu
Created Baron Montagu of Kimbolton and Viscount Mandeville 19 Dec 1620 and Earl of Manchester 5 Feb 1626
See "Manchester"
c 1563 7 Nov 1642

22 May 1626 Edward Montagu
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Montagu of Kimbolton 22 May 1626
He succeeded as Earl of Manchester in 1642
1602 5 May 1671 68
MONTAGUE OF OXFORD
1 Nov 1997
to    
5 Nov 1999
B[L] Michael Jacob Montague
Created Baron Montague of Oxford for life 1 Nov 1997
Peerage extinct on his death
10 Mar 1932 5 Nov 1999 67
MONTAGU OF ST. NEOTS
12 Jul 1660 B 1 Edward Montagu
Created Baron Montagu of St. Neots, Viscount Hinchingbrooke and Earl of Sandwich 12 Jul 1660
See "Sandwich"
27 Jul 1625 28 May 1672 46
MONTALT
23 Jun 1295
to    
1297
B 1 Roger de Montalt
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montalt 23 Jun 1295
Peerage extinct on his death
1265 1297 32

6 Feb 1299
to    
26 Dec 1329
B 1 Robert de Montalt
Summoned to Parliament as Lord Montalt 6 Feb 1299
Peerage extinct on his death
1270 26 Dec 1329 59
 

The special remainder to the Barony of Brodrick created in 1796 (indexed under the Viscountcy of Midleton)
From the London Gazette of 31 May 1796 (issue 13897, page 527):-
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignity of a Baron of the Kingdom of Great Britain to … the Right Honorable George Viscount Midleton, of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the Name, Stile and Title of Baron Brodrick, of Pepper Harrow in the County of Surry [sic] with Remainder to the Heirs Male of his late Father George Viscount Midleton, deceased.
George Alan Brodrick, 5th Viscount Midleton
Midleton committed suicide in November 1848. The following report appeared in The Standard of 6 November 1848. Note that his title is mis-spelled, since the peerage of "Middleton" is quite distinct from that of "Midleton". In addition, other contemporary reports state that Lord Midleton's residence was at Pepperharow Park.
We lament to record an event which has overwhelmed an eminent and noble family in affliction, and the neighbourhood of Pepper-barrow and Godalming in consternation. The unfortunate deceased, Lord Middleton, a healthful man, in the prime of life, had been for some time rather strange in his manner. He has lately resided in Pepper-barrow Park, a short distance from Godalming, and lived almost alone in the superbly decorated mansion. On the morning of Wednesday last one of his servants, feeling rather surprised that his master had not come down at his usual hour, went to ascertain the cause, when, on entering his bed-room, he found that he had left that apartment. The house was then searched, when, on entering a little room, he was horror-struck at finding his noble master lying on the floor, and blood issuing from his mouth. On the man touching his lordship's chest, he found it perfectly cold. He, nevertheless, instantly dispatched the steward on horseback to his lordship's medical attendants. Messrs. Steadman immediately started for Pepper-barrow Park, but they found that Lord Middleton had been dead some hours, and that death had been caused by the fumes of charcoal. His lordship's will, it is stated, was lying on a table near, as well as a ring he usually wore, and the pillow which had been fetched from the deceased nobleman's bed-room was lying near the brazier, and on it his lordship's head was reclined. Letters were also found indicative of his lordship's intention to destroy life. The afflicted lady of the deceased arrived at Pepper-barrow Park on Thursday, and it is stated that she was in the act of writing to his lordship her intention of returning home when the messenger arrived with the dreadful news.
At the subsequent inquest, which was extensively reported in The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle of 11 November 1848, the coroner's jury returned the usual verdict of suicide while temporarily insane.
Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete
Lord Mildmay of Flete drowned while taking his daily swim on 12 May 1950. The first report below appeared in the Manchester Guardian on the following day:-
Lord Mildmay, the well-known amateur steeplechase rider, was yesterday reported missing after his usual morning bathe at the mouth of the River Yealm at Newton Ferrers, Devon. A search by R.A.F. and naval craft yielded no result and was given up last night.
A statement issued from Mothecombe House, Holbeton, South Devon, at 1 p.m. yesterday said "When Lord Mildmay did not return from his customary early morning bathe at 9 a.m. today a search party was organised. The party found his clothes and the usual bucket of fresh water that Lord Mildmay was accustomed to prepare before his bathe to wash down with when he returned. The search is being continued with parties of the estate staff, the Devon Constabulary, coastguards, and Service personnel, including an aircraft."
It is understood that Lord Mildmay went for his bathe at about 8.30 a.m. Footprints led from his clothes down the beach to the sea, but there were no footprints returning.
Mothecombe beach is a pleasant spot on one of the most picturesque parts of the coast, "but," said a resident, "the tide runs very strongly, particularly when on the ebb, and it can be dangerous."
Lord Mildmay's body was not discovered for nearly a month. The following report appeared in The Times on 10 June 1950:-
A body found floating in the sea off Falmouth on Tuesday [6 June 1950] was identified at an inquest at Falmouth yesterday as that of Lord Mildmay of Flete, who was missed after going for a bathe from his private beach at Mothecombe, Devon, on May 12. The Coroner recorded a verdict that he was accidentally drowned while bathing.
Commander R.J.P. White, R.N.V.R., Lord Mildmay's brother-in-law, said that Lord Mildmay, who was 41, had never complained of cramp, but might have got it because of multiple injuries sustained in steeplechasing. He had several broken ribs, and a neck injury caused him to stoop.
Percival John Freeman, a groom, of the Lodge, Mothecombe, said that Lord Mildmay arranged on the evening of May 11 to go for an early ride at 7 a.m. the following day. The horses were made ready, but the witness received a message that Lord Mildmay would not ride. Later he saw Lord Mildmay going for a bathe dressed in a wrap, sand shoes, and blue bathing trunks, and carrying a towel. He appeared to be in his normal spirits, Lord Mildmay was a fairly good swimmer. Bathing was safe from the beach.
The Coroner said that he ruled out any question of suicide.
The claim made for the Barony of Milford (creation of 1776) in 1891
The following article appeared in Berrow's Worcester Journal on 14 March 1891:-
A Methodist Minister's Claim to the Peerage - the Yorkshire Post gives a circumstantial account of the claims of the Rev. William Skinner, minister of the United Methodist Free Church at Holmfirth, to be the rightful heir to the title and estates of Baron Milford, of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire. Debrett has it that the title became extinct on the death of the first baron in 1823; Burke says much the same, but adds the significant letters d.s.p. - decessit sine prole [died without issue]. The claimant to the dignity contends, however, that on this point Debrett is wrong and Burke is wrong, for neither include mention of a wife of the first Lord Milford or a certain son who married against his father's wishes and left issue. The Rev. William Skinner claims to be the lineal descendant of this erring son, and, on the strength of a clause in Lord Milford's will and several other considerations and proofs which he has got together, he urges that he is the heir-at-law to both the title and the estates. Accordingly, he has sought legal advice, and, having assured himself of counsel's opinion in favour of his contention, he is appealing to the Law Courts to vindicate his claim. Altogether, says the reporter, it is a romantic story, and one which is bound to excite public interest.
Briefly then, the claimant explains his relationship in this wise. Richard, first Baron Milford, had a wife who died in 1815, and by her he had a son named John Philipps, who contracted what Lord Milford considered to be a mesalliance with a French lady, marrying her at Cirencester in the year 1780. Three children - a daughter and two sons - were the fruit of this union. The eldest child, born in 1789, was named Anne, and in 1808 married a Mr. William Skinner, of Bristol, the grandfather of the present claimant. Mr. Skinner holds certificates of all these marriages, and of course bases his argument of lineal descent to a great extent upon them. The Rev. William Skinner was born in 1832, and is consequently 59 years of age. For 40 years he has worked zealously as a Methodist, first of all as a local preacher and afterwards for 33 years as a minister in charge of a church in different parts of the country. He began his career in the city of Salisbury, but has spent the greater part of his ministry in the neighbourhoods of Liverpool and Manchester. Latterly he has been associated with the United Methodist Free Church at Cavendish-street, Keighley, and within the past year has been appointed to the Holmfirth circuit previous to his retirement as a supernumerary, permission for which was granted some time ago. The fact that Mr. Skinner is a Methodist, and his father before him also, is especially noteworthy in the light of the statement that it was a Sir John Philipps who paid for the education of George Whitfield at Oxford [the significance of this name totally escapes me]. As far back as he can remember, Mr. Skinner says, the possibility of one of his line succeeding to the title to the title and estates of Lord Milford has been talked of in his immediate family circle, but he himself did not until nearly two years ago trouble to enter upon any investigations, and then chiefly for the sake of his son, who, however, has unfortunately since died. The result of those investigations is the impending appeal to the courts, and what they consist of will no doubt be divulged at the proper time.
I have been unable to find any further mention of this claim in newspapers of the time. Perhaps this is not surprising, as it seems to me that this claim had absolutely no chance of ever succeeding. It is a fact that Lord Milford did have a wife (his cousin, Mary) who died in 1815. It is also true that Burke's Peerage says that Milford died d.s.p. But even if it is correct that Lord Milford and his wife did produce a son who married in 1780 [and given that his parents married in 1764, any son born of that marriage must have been at most 16 in 1780], and even if this alleged son in turn had a son and two daughters, it is only possible for the title to descend to the son of such a marriage. It is obvious from the article that Skinner was relying upon his descent from the alleged eldest daughter, Anne, but the title could not descend through the female line. The patent which created the peerage had a remainder to heirs male only, as can be seen by reference to the London Gazette, issue 11679, published on 29 June 1776.
Wogan Philipps, 2nd Baron Milford (creation of 1939)
As far as I am aware, the 2nd Baron Milford is the only hereditary peer to have ever sat in the House of Lords as a Communist. When he died in 1993, the following obituary appeared in The Times of 2 December 1993:-
Lord Milford sat as a communist in the House of Lords and on Cirencester Rural District Council but always said that he was prouder of his council membership because, as he explained, "at least I didn't inherit it". He remained a communist until his death, his faith outliving his party, though he admitted that communism as seen in the Soviet Union had been a failure. In his maiden speech in the House of Lords he called for the abolition of the Upper House, describing it as an undemocratic anachronism composed of the inheritors of wealth and privilege.
Milford himself was always due to inherit wealth and privilege as the eldest son of a rich and newly created peer but in the end he had to settle for privilege as his father disinherited him when he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. The family was landed at one time but not aristocratic and it had experienced hard times before Milford's father contrived, in company with his two brothers, to make a large fortune in shipping and insurance.
Wogan Philipps, as he then was, went to Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, and then joined the family shipping business. He displayed considerable promise as an artist and was a dashing figure among the jazz generation of the 1920s.
In 1928, however, he married Rosamond Lehmann and his life altered. She had just published her first novel, Dusty Answer, [Chatto and Windus, London, 1927] which was to make her famous, and she introduced him to literary London. Then, like so many of his contemporaries who were moved by social conditions in Britain and the growth of fascism abroad, he was attracted to the politics of the left. Unlike some others, he did not just talk about aid to Spain when the Spanish civil war broke out. He went there.
Milford drove to Spain with [the English poet] Stephen Spender and served as an ambulance driver. He was wounded by shellfire and sent back to England but returned to witness the last days of the Spanish republic. After its defeat he organised the escape of thousands of refugees by sea - the only occasion on which his family connection with shipping helped his political faith.
He had not yet taken the decisive step of joining the Communist party and, in fact, became the prospective Labour candidate for Henley-on-Thames, though the war prevented him from fighting the seat. When his medical record caused him to be rejected by the forces he spent the war working in agriculture in Gloucestershire - the county to which he devoted so much of the rest of his life. He took a leading part in building up the National Union of Agricultural Workers there, serving on the union's county committee and representing his branch on Cheltenham Trades Council.
Side by side with farming went political crusading. As a communist on Cirencester R[ural] D[istrict] C[ouncil] from 1946 to 1949 he did not have an easy time. The otherwise all-Tory council actually regarded him as a serious threat to the status quo and considerable efforts were made to ensure that he lost his seat. Even so, he was defeated by only 14 votes. He went on fight Cirencester and Tewkesbury as a communist in the 1950 general election but the constituency was hardly a centre of the class war and of the 45,000 votes cast he collected only 423.
His father died in 1962, still holding to his decision that he would not leave a penny to a son who was a communist. Milford, as the second baron, decided to make his maiden speech in the Lords as Tony Benn was attempting to renounce his succession to his father's viscountcy. Milford revealed himself as a communist during the debate on the Peerage Bill, saying that the Upper House was a indefensible obstacle to socialism. He called on their lordships to abolish themselves. Naturally, his fellow-peers disagreed.
There were no noisy demonstrations in the Lords but Milford was received in icy silence. He nevertheless continued to speak regularly on subjects of interest to his party. Vietnam, Nicaragua and American intervention generally were his special interests. He failed to gain much support even from those peers who held left-wing views. His problem was that he was advancing his arguments at the height of the Cold War. The two postwar communist MPs [Willie Gallacher in Fife West and Philip Piratin in Mile End] both having failed to get re-elected to the Commons in 1950, he was, quaintly, the only declared communist to sit in either House of Parliament for the past 30 years.
With advancing age he ceased his political activities and lived quietly in Hampstead. He never lost his interest in art. In his earlier years he had been a gifted painter with successful exhibitions in London, Milan and Cheltenham.
His marriage to Rosamond Lehmann ended in divorce and in 1944 he married Cristina, Countess of Huntingdon, also a communist and a member of a noble Italian family as the daughter of the Marchese Casati. Milford's second wife died in 1953 and in the following year he married Tamara Rust, widow of William Rust, who had been editor of the communist Daily Worker. She survives him, together with his son Hugh, a child of his first marriage and heir to the title. His daughter Sally, who was married to the poet P.J. Kavanagh, died in 1958.
Joseph Henry Leeson, 5th Earl of Milltown
The Earldom of Milltown is shown in all standard peerage reference works as having become dormant on the death of the 7th Earl in 1891. The peerage continued to be listed, however, in such works until comparatively recently. In The New Extinct Peerage by L.G.Pine, published in 1972, the author remarks that this is a case of a peerage, to the succession of which no claim has been made out. The full account of the history of this peerage is given in current peerage works, evidently with the idea that an heir to the peerage exists and may come forward to prove a claim, but no indication is given as to the line from which this heir may come.
One story which may shed some light on this possible claimant is that the 5th Earl, prior to succeeding to the title, was a wild and impetuous young man, who is alleged to have become infatuated with a pretty young girl who was a daughter of one of his father's tenants. When he wished to marry the girl openly, he met with much opposition from his family, and so he fled with her to Scotland, where they are supposed to have lived as man and wife, under the same name. In Scottish law, this act of living together constituted a valid marriage.
A son is alleged to have been born from this union, but, when he was about 2 years old, and during the temporary absence of his father, he and his mother disappeared and all efforts to subsequently trace them came to nothing. In the early years of the 20th century, it was reported that a man, who worked as a conductor on the Indian railways and who had spent his boyhood in Australia, claimed to be the missing son of the 5th Earl, but I am not aware that anything ever came of this claim.
A longer account of this matter appeared in The Washington Post on 8 July 1906, as follows:-
[The 4th earl] was very strict with his children and therefore when his eldest son, Joseph Lord Russborough, fell in love with a very pretty girl, daughter of a farmer on the Russborough estate, and wanted to marry her, the earl drove him from his presence.
The viscount fled with the girl to Scotland, where they lived together as man and wife under the same name, this being according to Scottish law sufficient to constitute a valid marriage. A boy was born to the union, but when the child was about two years old it disappeared mysteriously with its mother, during a fortnight's absence of the father, and he was never able to obtain any trace of what had become of him, although firmly convinced that they had been spirited away somewhere or another at the instance of his parents.
In course of time his father died in 1866, and he succeeded to the honors and estates as fifth Earl of Milltown. But he never married again. In fact, he did not feel himself free to do so, and six [five] years later he, in turn, was gathered to his fathers, and in the absence of his missing son and heir, his brother Edward became sixth earl. The latter's marriage to Lady Geraldine Stanhope, daughter of Lord Harrington, remained childless, and at his demise, in 1890, his only surviving brother, Henry, became seventh Earl of Milltown, dying ten months later unmarried. The honors thereupon became dormant owing to the failure of any of the claimants, by reason of lack of means, to establish their rights to the succession.
Among the most interesting of the claimants was a man about fifty-six years of age, who brought a good deal of evidence to show that he was the missing son of the fifth earl. He told a story to the effect that he and his mother had been hurried off to Australia by the agents of the fourth earl, and that his mother had been promised provision for herself and for her child providing she would remain in the Antipodes and make no attempt to communicate with her common-law husband. His mother received an allowance as long as the fourth earl lived, and then it ceased, and the woman died suddenly before she could make any attempt to communicate with England. Her son, a mere boy at the time, was cared for by neighbours, grew up to engage in the horse trade, was sent with a shipment of Australian horses to India, and there became acquainted with a member of his father's family, John Leeson, who was a guard or conductor on one of the Indian railroads. Through him the young fellow became interested in his own early history, made investigations in Australia, and acquired the conviction that he was the son of the secret and common-law marriage of the fifth earl. He was killed in a railway accident, however, before he could take any practical steps to establish his claim, and thereupon the rights to the earldom passed to John Leeson, the railroad conductor, as a son of the second son of the third earl of Milltown. He, too, was prevented by poverty from making good his pretensions, and died last year at an advanced age, leaving two daughters. [Burke's Peerage 1900 shows that there was such a person, although he appears to have been a grandson of the second son of the third earl, rather than a son. Burke's notes that he married a Winifred Rose Collins, of Delhi, which suggests that he was in India.]
Next in line of succession came Robert Frederick William Leeson, the victim of [a] tram-car accident of a fortnight ago, and whose [grand]father was the third son of the third Earl of Milltown. He never married, and now whatever rights there may be to the earldom would appear, since there are no surviving descendants in the male line of the third Lord Milltown, except Henry Saunders Leeson [who appears to have been a great-great-grandson of the third earl], long missing in America and believed dead, to pass to the senior descendant in the male line of the first earl, namely, to Richard John Leeson … and after him to his younger brother Ralph. [Both Richard and Ralph are shown as direct descendants of the first earl in Burke's 1900.] Then there is his cousin, Markham Leeson-Marshall, high sheriff for County Kerry, and Maj. Ralph Leeson … Neither Richard nor [his brother] Ralph is sufficiently rich to institute the costly legal proceedings to prove his claim, and it is not until they die without issue and their rights pass to their wealthy cousin, the high sheriff of Kerry, that any real move will be made to revive the dormant earldom of Milltown.
According to Burke's Peerage 1900, all four of the above names (i.e. Richard John and his brother Ralph, and their cousins Markham and Maj. Ralph) were direct descendants of the first earl, together with a number of other direct male descendants not mentioned in the article above. Thus there would appear to have been no shortage of heirs at the time of the death of the seventh earl in 1891, but I have been unable to discover any further attempts to claim the title.
The name of one of the claimants, John Leeson, was used in a fraud by a man named William Joachim, who appears have met Leeson in Calcutta. Leeson apparently gave Joachim a power of attorney to act on his behalf in the furtherance of his claim to be Earl of Milltown. Joachim then inserted advertisements in the newspapers for a secretary to John Leeson, a post which carried with it an annual salary of £1,000, a huge amount at that time. Applicants (and there were many) had to apply through Joachim, and each received a letter purporting to be from Leeson inviting them to purchase 10 bonds at £1 1s 6d each "to assist me in my undoubted right, title, and interest to the peerage". Although not prosecuted, despite many complaints made to the police, Joachim was eventually, in February 1911, convicted on other fraud charges and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun of Okehampton
In keeping with his later life, the circumstances of Mohun's (pronounced 'moon') birth were tempestuous. His mother was a shrew whose own father had disowned her as 'an insolent baggage' and his father died in a duel shortly after his son's birth. Although his physical well-being was adequately cared for by his mother's second husband, his education was neglected, and instead of being at school he ran wild.
By the time he reached his teens, he was uncontrollable, and by the age of 15 he had made himself notorious by his drinking, gambling and whoring in London, during a time when it was not that easy to earn the title of 'notorious'. His first attempt at a duel occurred in December 1692, when he challenged the 7th Earl of Cassillis after accusing him of cheating at dice. Both were so drunk that they disarmed each other the first time their rapiers crossed, and so both could then withdraw with honour intact.
Two days later, Mohun was back to his drunken brawlings with one of his military friends, a Captain Richard Hill in the Three Tuns Tavern. As the wine emboldened the pair, Hill held forth on his love for the 21-year-old 'Diana of the English stage', Anne Bracegirdle. Hill, whose only conquests to date as a soldier had been in the bedroom, could not understand Anne's antipathy toward himself, and blamed the attentions paid to her by the actor William Mountfort. Hill convinced himself that he could force Mrs Bracegirdle to love him and in this delusion he was prompted by Mohun. They therefore decided to abduct her as she left the theatre that night.
They thereupon hired a coach, and Hill acquired a nightdress for his lady. Half a dozen soldiers were recruited to aid them in their scheme. But their plans were so badly laid that when they arrived at the theatre they found that Mrs Bracegirdle was not even on the stage that night. However, they discovered that she was dining further up Drury Lane. At about 10 o'clock, she appeared with her mother and her host and was immediately seized by Hill who tried to push her into the coach. The hired soldiers did their best to overpower Mrs Bracegirdle Snr, but she clung to her daughter and it was found impossible to get her into the carriage. By this time, the screams of the women had attracted the watch and Mohun, who had kept himself hidden in the carriage, tried to smooth things over. The upshot was that the furious Hill, sword drawn, insisted on escorting Mrs Bracegirdle and her mother home. Protesting, the women allowed him to accompany them, but would not allow him inside their lodgings. This only reinforced Hill's drunken belief that Mountfort was being entertained inside and, for the next two hours, he pounded up and down the street outside the house with Mohun, vowing revenge.
Finally, around midnight, Mountfort appeared in the street. While Mohun engaged Mountfort in conversation, Hill ran Mountfort through with his sword, inflicting a wound from which Mountfort died the following day. At Mountfort's cry of 'Murder, murder!' Hill ran off into the darkness, but Mohun stayed to give himself up to the watch. In Hill's absence, Mohun was indicted by the Middlesex grand jury and ordered to stand trial for murder.
Mohun elected to be tried by his peers, and on 31 January 1693 was brought from the Tower of London to Westminster Hall, where the Lord High Steward's Court for trial. In evidence, it was shown that at no time had Mohun had his sword unsheathed, that he had always been on friendly terms with Mountfort and that Mountford's last words had been 'My Lord Mohun offered me no violence, but while I was talking with him Captain Hill ran me through before I could draw my sword'. The question was therefore narrowed down to whether Mohun was aware of Hill's intention to kill Mountfort - if so, he was guilty of murder as an accessory.
Mohun impressed his fellow-peers with the ability with which he conducted his own defence and the prosecution was further compromised when the Solicitor-General, Sir Thomas Trevor, lost the thread of his argument during his summing-up due to an uproar in the galleries where a woman had just taken a fit. After a long debate, the peers voted 69 to 14 in favour of Mohun, who was discharged with an admonition from the Lord High Steward to follow a quieter life in future.
Most people thought that Mohun was lucky to escape with his life. Contemporary wits said that the 'only fair thing about the trial was the show of ladies in the galleries'. The actual murderer, Captain Hill, managed to evade the law, but was killed in a drunken brawl some five years later.
In 1694, Mohun fought a duel with Francis Scobell, MP for Mitchell, who had remonstrated with him in Pall Mall for assaulting a coachman. To avoid any further complications, Mohun was packed off to the Continent was a captain of horse, and during the next three years his appetite for violence had its fill in the almost continuous wars of the time. After a distinguished military showing, Mohun returned to London in 1697, keen to take up where he had left off. This intention led him almost immediately into a duel with a Captain Bingham in St. James's Park, but the adversaries were separated by the sentinels and the affair was hushed up.
On 29 October 1698 he was in the company of a number of young 'bloods' when one of them, a Captain Richard Coote, became quarrelsome and challenged another of the party, Captain Richard French, to a duel. Perhaps a little wiser by then from his own experience, Mohun did his best to call a truce, but failed. The party then proceeded to Leicester Fields, where Coote was mortally wounded. French, together with his seconds, Captain Roger James and George Dockwra, were later found guilty of manslaughter. Coote's seconds, Mohun and the Earl of Warwick, being noblemen, elected to be tried by the House of Lords.
Accordingly, on 29 March 1699, Mohun appeared before his fellow-peers for the second time. The Earl of Warwick was found guilty of manslaughter but received no punishment. Mohun was unanimously acquitted, since there was some doubt that he was present when the duel took place - Mohun claimed that he had chased after the other five men to try and stop them before they arrived at Leicester Fields, but had failed to reach them in time. For a more detailed history of this case, see the note under Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick and 3rd Earl of Holland.
Mohun appears to have taken this second trial to heart, since his private life was, for the next decade, very quiet. In 1702, on the death of the Earl of Macclesfield, whose niece he had married, Mohun found that Macclesfield had left him the bulk of his estate. The will, however, was immediately challenged in the Court of Chancery by the Duke of Hamilton, who had married another of Macclesfield's nieces. During the 11 years of litigation which followed, Mohun contained his temper admirably, but at a Chancery hearing on 13 November 1712, he lost it and quarrelled violently with Hamilton.
A duel took place between them on 15 November 1712. Mohun suffered many rapier wounds and lay dying on the grass. As Hamilton, who had also been badly wounded, leant over him, Mohun fatally stabbed Hamilton in the abdomen before dying of his wounds.
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth
The following biography of the Duke of Monmouth appeared in the September 1953 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade:-
It has been said that the suppression of a rebellion is the making or marring of a regime - and nowhere, perhaps, in history is it better borne out than in the fate of James, Duke of Monmouth, the eldest illegitimate, most dazzling and best beloved son of Charles II, who, for a few brief weeks of the summer of 1685, led an abortive rebellion against his uncle, James II. Monmouth was executed; but paradoxically, his death - and the death of hundreds in the punitive Bloody Assizes that followed - laid open the way for the accession to the English throne of William of Orange and dealt the coup de grace to the House of Stuart.
Monmouth was the child of Charles II's springtime of exile in France. His mother was Lucy Walter, a brunette beauty of no particular moral worth, who was living in Holland, a Royalist exile from Cromwell's protectorate. He was the graceless recipient of Charles' almost doting affection for his first-born. Yet all his life Monmouth suffered from the super-sensitivity of one not sure of his position. Monmouth suddenly found himself politically important when his uncle, James, Duke of York, and heir to the throne, embraced Catholicism. Anti-Catholic feeling in England was high, and fearful at the thought of having James as king, the people were ready to turn to anything or anyone that would prevent this. Protestant Monmouth was the obvious answer. All might have gone well had Monmouth possessed some of his father's insight and political sagacity, added to the popular attributes of a leader. Betrayed by his own stupidity Monmouth's eventual rebellion against James after he had become king degenerated into a military farce. For two weeks he was self-crowned "King Monmouth" before he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower. Craven at first in appeals for his life, he took courage when he knew that all was lost, and walked to his death "as unconcerned as if he had been going to a ball".
Monmouth was born on April 9, 1649, in Holland, and called James after the uncle he was to hate all his life. His mother died when he was an infant [1658], and he spent his early years with his father in exile in France. In 1660 Charles was able to return to England to claim his kingdom, and he took young "Jemmy" with him. Placed in the charge of Lord Crofts, by whose name he was known, the boy became the pampered darling of his father's Restoration court. However, no formal acknowledgement of young Mr. Crofts was made until his betrothal to Anne Scott, Countess of Buccleuch, whom he married in 1665, when he was 16 and she two years younger. Two years before marriage he had been made Duke of Monmouth and Knight of the Garter.
There was war with Holland in the year of his marriage, and young James sailed with his uncle, the Duke of York. He proved brave enough and returned after a baptism of fire "all fat and lusty and ruddy by being in the sun" to a plague-stricken London. As a tall youth of 19, with long, dark eyes under straight black brows and a curving mouth that not even the jutting under-lip he inherited from his father could save from looking feminine, Monmouth charmed the French court on a visit in 1668. It was a semi-diplomatic trip, which demonstrated to Charles his eldest son's utter ineptitude for the cool bluff of politics. However, on Monmouth's return to England, he and his father became inseparable companions, hunting and walking, and keen but friendly rivals at horse racing.
Monmouth was now a "dazzling" young man, and men, as well as women, succumbed to his charm. Charles honoured him afresh by appointing him colonel of a foot regiment of militia, and within three weeks of his 21st birthday he was admitted to the Privy Council. He led a gay [in the old meaning of the word], energetic life in London, revelling, drinking, wenching and rogueing. He accompanied his father on tours of England, to the welcome of salutes of guns and pealing bells, and at Raynham [seat of the Marquesses Townshend] today, the locals swear that Monmouth haunts the bedroom in which he slept nearly 300 years ago.
The ambitious Earl of Shaftesbury looked on with approval at Monmouth's growing popularity, and dreamed of the youth as puppet king of England and himself as dictator. Assiduously he cultivated anti-Catholic feeling, and did all he could to discredit the Duke of York in the public regard, at the same time circulating the rumor that Monmouth's father and mother had been married, and that the young man was rightful heir to the throne. In February, 1673, the always hard-up Charles - who once said he always read his speeches in Parliament because he had asked them so often for money he couldn't look them in the face - once again asked for a subsidy. To get it, he gave consent to the Test Act, a bill, subtly introduced by Shaftesbury, which provided that all who held public office must take the Sacrament in accordance with Anglican ritual. The measure was aimed directly at the Duke of York. Not only did he refuse the Test, but within a year he married his second wife, the Catholic Mary of Modena, and flung his religion in the face of his challengers.
By now all England was aware of the bitter rivalry between the Duke of York and Monmouth for the right of succession, and in Court circles the money was all on Monmouth. King Charles blamed York for "beginning too harshly" with Monmouth, but he stood by his brother and his right to the succession, and denied, as all through his life, having ever married Lucy Walter. He sternly disapproved Monmouth's activity against James and told him he would make him the "last man in the kingdom" if he persevered in it. Eventually Charles packed them both off in the hope the trouble would die down - Monmouth to Holland and James to Flanders. There was a reconciliation between father and son when Monmouth returned, but it did not last long. Monmouth believed he could play the political game as astutely as his father or uncle. He made Royal Progress through the countryside, and at Shaftesbury's insistence was given command of the English army against the Scottish Covenanters.
Then in the same year (1678) came the "Popist plot" of the infamous Titus Oates, which sought by inference to implicate the Duke of York in an attempt to assassinate King Charles. Charles was never taken in, but the populace was roused to a frenzy of anti­Catholicism, and hostility towards York. Monmouth's popularity increased still further, and Shaftesbury was able to force the King to summon a new Parliament. Playing his hand for all it was worth, Shaftesbury persuaded the Commons, in September, 1680, to pass a bill disinheriting the Duke of York from his right to the throne. However, unexpected opposition was met in the Lords, and the measure was thrown out by a majority of 33.
London broke into a tumult, and Charles took advantage of the situation to dissolve Parliament and order another election, the new body to assemble at Oxford the following March. Charles was sparring for time, hoping to swing popular opinion his way. The people had had enough of civil war and wanted only peace; also he knew they had a deep-rooted respect for legitimate descent [sic]. When the new Parliament assembled, Charles appeared before it, ordered its dissolution, and soon afterwards had Shaftesbury arrested, taken to the Tower, and charged with high treason, of which he was subsequently acquitted.
In September, 1682, Monmouth went north to show himself to the people, and he was acclaimed as the "Protestant Duke". Charles had him arrested for "appearing in several parts of this kingdom with great numbers of people in a riotous and unlawful manner". Released on bail, Monmouth went into the country with his wife. In January, 1683, Shaftesbury died and a secret Council of Six took his place - [William] Russell [Lord Russell], [John] Hampden, [Arthur Capell, Earl of] Essex, Algernon Sidney, [William Howard, 3rd Baron] Howard of Escrick and Monmouth. Plans [the Rye House Plot] were discussed for assassination of the King and Duke of York, but the extent to which Monmouth was involved is debatable.
Charles discovered the plot, and was careful to let Monmouth escape with his new mistress, Henrietta Wentworth [6th Baroness Wentworth in her own right], before ordering the arrest of the other conspirators. Presently, after a series of abject letters in which he promised allegiance to both his father and to York, Monmouth was allowed to return to court, but when Hampden came up for trial in February, 1684, Monmouth and Henrietta fled again, this time to Holland. Then, 12 months later, came the news of the King's death, and the accession to the throne of the Duke of York as James II. A wiser man would have realised the futility of fighting on, and let it go at that, but Monmouth allowed himself to be persuaded to stage a rebellion in the west of England, which was meant to synchronise with a rising headed by the Earl of Argyll in Scotland.
He landed on June 21, 1685, on the beach at Lyme Regis and led his army of 82 towards the town. Before the end of the second day, his ranks had swelled to 1000 untrained foot and 150 horse, with mounts from the plough and postcoach. The cry went up throughout the Protestant West country, "Monmouth is come". Monmouth got to Taunton along a way strewn with flowers, the narrow roads so thronged with people that his army could scarcely pass. But the only man of standing he had was Lord Grey [Ford Grey, 3rd Baron Grey of Werke, later 1st Earl of Tankerville], and when after his self-coronation he wrote in the royal plural calling on the Duke of Albemarle to join him, he met with a snub.
The failure of the revolt was inevitable. Worn down with strain, left to bear the weight of the rebellion single-handed, Monmouth was routed at Sedgemoor [6 July 1685] and escaped so narrowly that his coat and papers were taken. A day or two later Lord Grey was captured and then some of the King's soldiers, searching the bracken and crops nearby, came on Monmouth, dressed in rough shepherd's clothes, lying asleep in a ditch. In a desperate effort to save his life, the imprisoned Monmouth wrote to James, promising every zealous service. As a last throw he even offered to become a Catholic. Whatever memories may have stirred James, he merely bade him to have a care of his soul and dismissed him. "Poor Monmouth," he said, "he was always easy to be imposed upon."
When news that he was to die reached Monmouth, he recovered his courage. His wife was allowed to visit him in the Tower and he spoke gently to her. On July 15, 1685, he walked calmly to his death. Beyond a protest on behalf of Henrietta Wentworth, "a lady of virtue and honour", he refused to speak to the crowd, contenting himself with the declaration of his own illegitimacy and saying that he forgave all his enemies, who were many. He refused to be blindfolded or bound, and, lying down, he fitted his neck to the block. It took six strokes [other sources say five or eight] to finish the job, and weeping men and women pressed forward to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood.
The claims to the peerages of Montacute and Monthermer in 1874 and 1928-1929
The following report appeared in The Manchester Times on 11 July 1874:-
The committee for privileges of the House of Lords had before them on Tuesday the claim of the Right Hon. Charles Edward Hastings, Earl of Loudoun (in the peerage of Scotland), Baron Botreaux, Baron Hungerford, Baron de Moleyns, and Baron Hastings (in the peerage of England) to the English baronies of Montacute (1299), Monthermer, Montacute (1357), and Montagu as senior co-heir.
The petitioner in this case prayed that the abeyance at present affecting the abovenamed ancient baronies might be terminated in his favour. He rested his case upon the following statement. Simon de Montacute, the ancestor of the Earls of Salisbury, was first summoned to Parliament by King Edward I in 1299. His grandson was created Earl of Salisbury in full Parliament by King Edward III in 1337; Ralph de Monthermer, who had married the Princess Joan, the daughter of King Edward, the then widow of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, was first summoned to Parliament by King Edward II in 1309, and his grand-daughter Margaret, the sole heiress of this title, married John de Montacute (the second son of the Earl of Salisbury and younger brother of the second Earl), who thereupon was also summoned to Parliament by King Edward III in 1357. Through this marriage the three baronies were transmitted to the son John, who afterwards succeeded as the third Earl of Salisbury. He was beheaded in 1400, and his son Thomas (who succeeded subsequently as fourth Earl) accompanied King Henry V into France during his wars, being ultimately mortally wounded when in command of the English army at the Siege of Orleans, 1428. He had married the Lady Heleanor Plantagenet, daughter of Thomas, and sister and co-heir of Edmund, Earl of Kent, by whom he left an only child, Alice, Countess of Salisbury, who married Richard Neville (in her right Earl of Salisbury), by whom she was the mother of Richard Neville, afterwards the sixth Earl of Salisbury, the famous King Maker, who married Anne, Countess of Warwick, and had issue two daughters - Isabella, married to George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (brother of King Edward IV), and Anne, married first to Edward, Prince of Wales (only son of King Henry VI), and secondly to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III, by neither of whom was there any issue which survived. Isabella, by the Duke of Clarence, had issue Edward, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, the last unfortunate Prince of the House of Plantagenet, beheaded in 1499, and a daughter Margaret, afterwards restored by King Henry VIII [as] Countess of Salisbury, who married Sir Richard Pole, K.G., by whom she had several children. Henry Pole, the eldest son, was summoned to Parliament as Lord Montagu [Montacute] in 1529, and he was beheaded in 1539, leaving issue two daughters, the elder of whom, Katherine, married Francis, second Earl of Huntingdon, whose direct heir the present claimant now is. The younger daughter, Winifred, was first married to Sir Thomas Hastings, the next brother to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon, by whom she had no issue, and she subsequently married Sir Thomas Barington. Subsequently, in 1541, on the death, on the scaffold, of Margaret, the Countess of Salisbury, the four baronies fell into abeyance between the two daughters of Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, and on the accession of Queen Mary in 1553 an act of Parliament was passed on their petition for the full restitution in blood of the heirs of Henry Pole. The abeyance of the baronies of Botreaux, Hungerford, De Moleyns, and Hastings were terminated in 1871 in favour of the late Countess [of Loudoun] and her heirs general, and the titles are now inherited by the present claimant.
At the termination of the evidence and arguments on behalf of the claimant, their Lordships, without calling upon the learned counsel who appeared for the Crown, resolved that the petitioner had not made out his claim, inasmuch as he had not shown that the attainder of the Countess of Salisbury, by which the peerages in question had been extinguished, had been reversed. Claim disallowed accordingly.
Notwithstanding the decision of the Committee for Privileges above, a further attempt was made in 1928‑929, but was rejected for exactly the same reasons - i.e. that the two baronies in question were still subject to the attainders of 1539.
In the minutes of the House of Lords for 20 March 1928, there is noted "a petition of William Selby‑Lowndes, of Whaddon Hall, in the County of Buckingham, Esquire, O.B.E., claiming to be one of the co-heirs of the ancient Baronies of Montacute and Monthermer, praying his Majesty to determine in his favour the abeyance now existing of the said Baronies, and, in case it should be found that the said Baronies are affected by the attainder of Margaret Countess of Salisbury or any other of the attainders referred to in the said Petition, to be graciously pleased to give directions for the introduction of a Bill into Parliament to relieve the Petitioner from the effect or effects of the said attainder or attainders as aforesaid, in so far as it relates or they relate to the said honours and dignities of Montacute and Monthermer respectively."
The claim to the peerages was heard by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges in December 1928. The petitioner's claim rested upon his descent from his great-great-great-grandmother, who was the second daughter and co-heir of Sir John Barrington, Bt., who was third in descent from the marriage of Sir Thomas Barrington with the Hon. Winifred Pole, granddaughter and co-heir of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury and sole heir of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of King Edward IV.
Margaret Plantagenet had married Sir Richard Pole around 1491. In 1539 she was arrested and attainted, and, two years later, was beheaded within the Tower of London. Margaret was the last surviving member of the Plantagenet dynasty. Her eldest son, Henry Pole, was summoned to Parliament in his mother's title of Lord Montacute in 1529 but he, too, was attainted and executed in January 1539. Another son, Reginald Pole, was the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, dying on the same day as Queen Mary in 1558. Margaret was viewed by the Catholic Church as a martyr and was beatified in 1886.
The baronies of Montacute and Monthermer were therefore both under attainder - indeed the Montacute peerage was under two attainders. After reviewing all the evidence and arguments put forward by the claimant, the Committee for Privileges decided that, even if the two attainders were to be reversed, there still remained numerous descendants of Margaret Plantagenet. As a result, the peerages would still be in abeyance, and therefore the petitioner's request for termination of the abeyances in his favour was refused.
Elizabeth Monck, Duchess of Albemarle and later Duchess of Montagu (22 Feb 1654‑11 Sep 1734)
Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle, a man of immense wealth, who maintained kingly state at his great country seat of Welbeck Abbey, and who never journeyed far from it without being accompanied by at least 40 servants and three coach loads of friends and retainers, representing his 'court'.
On 30 December 1669, Lady Elizabeth married, at age 15, Christopher Monck, son and heir of the Duke of Albemarle. The ceremony took place beside the Duke's deathbed, and four days later, the Duke having died, she found herself Duchess of Albemarle.
As the years passed, Elizabeth bore the Duke a son, but he died almost immediately and no other children were forthcoming. Lacking an heir, or any prospect of one, the Duke made a will allotting £8,000 a year and the use of his Essex mansion, Newhall, to his wife, and bequeathed the rest of his vast estate to his lifelong friend, John Granville, Earl of Bath. When she heard of the details of this will, Elizabeth subjected him to a ceaseless barrage of nagging and reproaches; but the Duke was determined to have his way in this matter, so he endorsed the will with a second, in which he stipulated that no subsequent will should prevail unless signed in the presence of six witnesses, of whom three should be peers and that a sixpence should change hands in the process of signing it.
The Duchess' bickering about the will now developed into a mania, and rose to furious heights when a lucky speculation in a treasure-seeking expedition to the Caribbean added £90,000 to Albemarle's fortune. To placate her, he made a will as she desired, but not before six witnesses as his earlier will required. Knowing nothing of the endorsement to his first will, Elizabeth was at last satisfied.
In October 1687, Albemarle and his wife sailed for Jamaica, where he had been appointed as Governor, accompanied by 100 servants and 500 tons of goods. A year later, following a short illness, Albemarle died, aged 35. Elizabeth returned to England, where a dispute immediatel arose over the estate. The Earl of Bath produced the first will and its endorsement, while Elizabeth countered by producing the second will, which did not meet the conditions of the endorsement and was therefore likely to be invalid. Eventually, Lord Bath agreed, for a consideration, to relinquish all claims during the Duchess' lifetime.
Elizabeth's delusions of grandeur had now reached such mammoth proportions as to tip her over the edge into insanity. She let it be known that she would not condescend to marry anyone below the rank of a reigning prince. The challenge was taken up by Ralph Montagu, an unscrupulous widower, hard up and attempting to repair his fortunes. Montagu was short and dark with a sallow complexion. He hit upon the idea of dressing in Chinese clothing and introducing himself to Elizabeth as the Emperor of China. Elizabeth was captivated and the two were married in September 1692. In order to prevent her from discovering his deception, he bribed all of the servants and persuaded her that it was her duty as the Empress of China to remain in strict seclusion.
When anyone was granted admission to 'the presence', they were required to fall flat upon the floor, since this was what the Duchess fondly imagined to be the Chinese ceremony of abasement known as 'kowtowing'. After Montagu, who had been created a Duke in 1705, died in 1709, Elizabeth's relatives had her examined by the Lunacy Commissioners who found that she was quite mad and appointed her three brothers-in-law her guardians.
None of this mattered to Elizabeth; she was completely happy in her madness and loath to abandon her mythical celestial empire, which she ruled over for a further 25 years until she died in August 1734, aged 80.
John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, and the Great Bottle Hoax
Montagu, who was notorious as a practical joker, is identified by some sources as being the man behind "The Great Bottle Hoax" which took place in January 1749. Other sources, however, identify William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland and Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield as being the originators of the hoax. The Montagu theory is contained in Dramatic Table Talk, or Scenes, situations & adventures, serious and comic, in theatrical history and biography by Richard Ryan and Francois Joseph Talma, 3 volumes, London 1830:-
In the year 1749, the facetious Duke of Montague played off upon the good people of our Metropolis [London], a hoax so remarkable, that it has ever since been referred to as a proof of human credulity - This Nobleman being in company with some friends, the conversation turned on public curiosity, when the Duke said that it went so far, that if a person advertised that he would creep into a quart bottle, he would procure an audience. Some of the company could not believe this was possible; a wager was the result, and the Duke, in order to decide it, caused the following advertisement to be put in all the papers.
"At the New Theatre in the Hay-Market on Monday next, the 16th instant, to be seen, a person who performs the several most surprising things following, viz., first, he takes a common walking-cane from any of the spectators, and thereon plays the music of every instrument now in use, and likewise sings to surprising perfection. Secondly, he presents you with a common wine bottle, which any of the spectators may first examine; this bottle is placed on a table in the middle of the stage, and he (without any equivocation) goes into it in sight of all the spectators, and sings in it; during his stay in the bottle any person may handle it, and see plainly that it does not exceed a common tavern bottle.
"Those on the stage or in the boxes may come in masked habits (if agreeable to them); and the performer (if desired) will inform them who they are.
"Stage 7s.6d., boxes 5s., pit 3s, gallery 2s. To begin at half an hour after six o'clock. Tickets to be had at the theatre."
The following advertisement was also published at the same time, which one would have thought sufficient to prevent the other having any effect.
"Lately arrived from Italy - Signor Capisello Jumpedo, a surprising dwarf, no taller than a common tavern tobacco pipe; who can perform many wonderful equilibres on the slack or tight rope: likewise he'll transform his body in above ten thousand different shapes, and postures; and after he has diverted the spectators two hours and a half, he will open his mouth wide and jump down his own throat. He being the most wonderfullest wonder of wonders as ever the world wondered at, would be willing to join in performance with that wonderful musician on Monday next, in the Haymarket."
The bait, however, took even better than could be expected. The play-house was crowded with Dukes, Duchesses, Lords, Ladies, and all ranks and degrees to witness the bottle conjurer. Of the result, we quote the following account from the journals of the times.
"Last night (viz. Monday the 16th,) the much expected drama of "The Bottle Conjurer", at the New Theatre in the Haymarket, ended in the tragi-comical manner following. Curiosity had drawn together prodigious numbers. About seven, the Theatre being lighted up, without so much as a single fiddle to keep the audience in good humour, many grew impatient. Immediately followed a chorus of catcalls, heightened by loud vociferations, and beating with sticks; when a fellow came from behind the curtain, and bowing, said, that, if the performer did not appear, the money should be returned; at the same time a wag crying out from the pit, that if the ladies and gentlemen would give double prices the conjurer would get into a pint bottle. Presently a young gentleman in one of the boxes seized a lighted candle and threw it on the stage. This served as the charge for sounding to battle. Upon this the greater part of the audience made the best of their way out of the Theatre; some losing a cloak, others a hat, others a wig, and swords also. One party, however, staid in the house, in order to demolish the inside, when the mob breaking in, they tore up the benches, broke to pieces the scenes, pulled down the boxes; in short, dismantled the Theatre entirely, carrying away the particulars above mentioned into the street, where they made a mighty bonfire; the curtain being hoisted on a pole by way of a flag. A large party of guards were sent for, but came time enough only to warm themselves round the fire. We hear of no other disaster than a young nobleman's chin being hurt, occasioned by his fall into the pit with part of one of the boxes, which he had forced out with his foot. 'Tis thought the conjurer vanished away with the bank. Many enemies of a late celebrated book, concerning the ceasing of miracles, are greatly disappointed by the conjurer's non-appearance in the bottle; they imagining that his jumping into it would have been the most convincing proof possible, that miracles are not yet ceased."
The case for the instigator being the 2nd Duke of Portland is raised in the very interesting book Room Two More Guns; the intriguing history of the Personal Column of the Times (George Allen & Unwin, London 1986) by its author Stephen Winkworth, who, when examining the origins of classified advertising, includes the following anecdote:-
In 1749 the Duke of Portland and the Earl of Chesterfield were discussing the question of human gullibility and the persuasive power of advertising. The Duke advanced the claim that people were foolish enough and curious enough to pay good money to see 'the most impossible thing in the world' performed, if it were well advertised. The Earl of Chesterfield challenged this assertion. 'Surely, if a man should say, for example, he would jump into a quart bottle, no one would believe him.' The Duke replied that on the contrary he was prepared to bet they would believe as much, and more; and he would wager a hundred pounds on it. The two men composed an advertisement, which was placed in a newspaper called The General Advertiser:
"At the new theatre in the Haymarket on Monday next, the 16th instant, is to be seen a person who performs the most surprising thing - viz., he presents you with a common wine bottle, which any of the spectators may first examine; this bottle is placed on a table in the middle of the stage, and he (without any equivocation) goes into it, in the sight of all the spectators, and sings in it; during his stay in the bottle any person may handle it, and see plainly that it does not exceed a common tavern bottle. Tickets to be had at the theatre. To begin a half hour after six o'clock."
The effects of this advertisement were beyond all expectations. The theatre was sold out, with seats priced at up to seven shillings each, and the building was packed from pit to gallery. When the appointed hour came and went without anyone appearing, the crowd grew restless. In vain the manager came out and apologised for the delay. The minutes passed, boos and hisses began to fill the air; then suddenly a top-hatted buck in a box threw a lighted candle at the stage. Pandemonium broke out, and the audience started ripping down the curtains and tearing up the furniture. The theatre was gutted. But the Duke of Portland's wager was won.
The special remainder to the Barony of Montagu created in 1786
From the London Gazette of 5 August 1786 (issue 12775, page 351):-
The King has … been pleased to grant the Dignity of a Baron of the Kingdom of Great Britain to his Grace George Montagu, Duke of Montagu, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, for and during his natural Life, by the Name, Style and Title of Baron Montagu, of Boughton in the County of Northampton; with Remainder to the Right Honourable Henry James Montagu (commonly called Lord Henry James Montagu) Second Son of his Grace Henry Duke of Buccleugh, Knight of the Most Ancient Order of the Thistle, and of Elizabeth Duchess of Buccleugh his Wife, Daughter of the said George Duke of Montagu, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten; and with Remainder to the Third and other after-born Sons of the said Duchess successively in Tail Male.
George Samuel Browne, 8th Viscount Montagu
Montagu was travelling in Switzerland with a companion named Burdett in October 1793, when, according to The Times of 2 November 1793, having a desire to view a famous cataract near that place [Schaffhausen], they embarked in a small boat, notwithstanding the urgent solicitations of the inhabitants of this place not to do so, on account of the danger. They had not pushed off from the shore many minutes, when the boat was overset by a whirlpool, and both these gentlemen were drowned.
The waterfall in question was the Rheinfall in Switzerland, the largest (by volume of water) in Europe. A photograph of the falls can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Falls
John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu
Montagu was one of the few who had the privilege of reading their own obituaries, after he had been assumed to have been lost when the ship in which he was travelling was torpedoed in the eastern Mediterranean during WW1. A number of reports of his presumed death and a lengthy appreciation of his life were published before it was found that he had survived.
Lord Montagu's account of the sinking appeared in The Times of 6 January 1916.
The Persia was torpedoed without warning at 1.5 p.m. on Thursday, December 30 [1915]. It was a fine day, with a moderate sea. The ship turned turtle and sank in five minutes.
The was no panic among the passengers, but owing to the ship's rapid heeling over to the port side it was impossible to launch the boats, for which a drill had taken place on the previous day. The port side was submerged in two minutes, and the ship sank by the stern, dragging me down with her.
When I was blown up to the surface again I saw a dreadful scene of struggling human beings. There was hardly any wreckage to grasp. Nearly all the boats were smashed, and only three remained afloat. After a desperate struggle, I climbed on to the bottom of a broken boat with 28 Lascars and three other Europeans. Our number was reduced to 19 by Thursday night, and only 11 remained on Friday, the rest having died from exposure and injuries.
We saw a neutral steamer pass close by on Thursday evening at about 8 o'clock, but she took no notice of the red flare shown by another of the Persia's boats. I pulled five dead men out of the water during the first night in the water-logged boat. We saw a large steamer three miles away on the next day, but she, too, ignored our signals, probably thinking they were a ruse of an enemy submarine.
Our broken boat capsized constantly and we were all the time washed by the waves, so that we were almost exhausted when the second night began. At 8.30 pm. we saw the Alfred Holt steamer Ningchow near us and shouted as loudly as we could. Eventually the steamer stopped some way off, again suspecting a submarine trap, but as last she approached and rescued us on Friday night at 9 o'clock, after we had been 32 hours in the sea without water or food, except one biscuit from a tin found in the boat, since breakfast time on Thursday.
Our survival and rescue were absolutely miraculous in the circumstances. Captain Allen and the officers and crew of the Ningchow did all that could possibly be done. Our lives are due to the Third Officer, Mr. Maclean, who first heard our voices.
We landed at Malta on Monday morning, where every kindness was shown to us by Captain Andrews, the P. and O. agent. I am staying with Lord Methuen until I have recovered from my injuries and shock. Everything was done by the officers and crew of the Persia, but it is marvellous that anyone escaped.