PEERAGES
Last updated 12/07/2018 (23 Aug 2024)
Date	Rank	Order	Name	Born	Died	Age
BODMIN
23 Jul 1679	V	1	John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes Created Viscount Bodmin and Earl of Radnor 23 Jul 1679 See "Radnor"	1606	17 Jul 1685	79
BODRIGAN
26 Oct 1309 to     after 1309	B	1	Henry de Bodrigan Summoned to Parliament as Lord Bodrigan 26 Oct 1309 Peerage extinct on his death		after 1309
BOHUN DE MIDHURST
1 Jun 1363 to     1367	B	1	John de Bohun Summoned to Parliament as Lord Bohun de Midhurst 1 Jun 1363 Peerage extinct on his death		1367
BOLEBROOKE
11 Feb 1782	B	1	George Sackville-Germain Created Baron Bolebrooke and Viscount Sackville 11 Feb 1782 See "Sackville"	26 Jan 1716	26 Aug 1785	69
BOLINGBROKE
28 Dec 1624	E	1	Oliver St. John, 4th Baron St. John of Bletso Created Earl of Bolingbroke 28 Dec 1624	c 1584	Jun 1646
Jun 1646		2	Oliver St. John	c 1634	18 Mar 1688
18 Mar 1688 to     5 Oct 1711		3	Paulet St. John MP for Bedford 1663‑1685 Peerage extinct on his death	23 Nov 1634	5 Oct 1711	76
7 Jul 1712	V	1	Henry St. John Created Baron St. John of Lydiard and Viscount Bolingbroke 7 Jul 1712 These creations contained a special remainder, failing his issue male, to his father and the heirs male of his body MP for Wootton Bassett 1701‑1708 and Berkshire 1710‑1712; Secretary at War 1704‑1708; Secretary of State 1710‑1714; Lord Lieutenant Essex 1712‑1714; PC 1710	16 Sep 1678	12 Dec 1751	73
12 Dec 1751		2	Frederick St. John He had succeeded as 3rd Viscount St. John in 1748 when the two peerages became united and so remain		5 May 1787
5 May 1787		3	George Richard St. John (also 4th Viscount St. John) MP for Cricklade 1782‑1784	5 Mar 1761	18 Dec 1824	63
18 Dec 1824		4	Henry St. John (also 5th Viscount St. John)	6 Mar 1786	1 Oct 1851	65
1 Oct 1851		5	Henry St. John (also 6th Viscount St. John) For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page	30 Mar 1820	7 Nov 1899	79
7 Nov 1899		6	Vernon Henry St. John (also 7th Viscount St. John)	15 Mar 1896	1 May 1974	78
1 May 1974		7	Kenneth Oliver Musgrave St. John (also 8th Viscount St. John)	22 Mar 1927	5 Jul 2010	83
5 Jul 2010		8	Henry Fitzroy St. John (also 9th Viscount St. John)	18 May 1957	21 May 2011	54
21 May 2011		9	Nicholas Alexander Mowbray St. John (also 10th Viscount St. John)	20 Jun 1974
BOLSOVER
23 Apr 1880	B	1	Augusta Mary Elizabeth Cavendish‑Bentinck Created Baroness Bolsover 23 Apr 1880 For details of the special remainder included in the creation of this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page	8 Nov 1834	7 Aug 1893	58
7 Aug 1893		2	William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish‑Bentinck He had succeeded to the Dukedom of Portland in 1879 into which title this peerage then merged and so remains	28 Dec 1857	26 Apr 1943	85
BOLTON
9 Apr 1689	D	1	Charles Powlett, 6th Marquess of Winchester Created Duke of Bolton 9 Apr 1689 MP for Winchester 1660 and Hampshire 1661‑1675; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1667‑1676 and 1689‑1699; PC 1679	c 1625	27 Feb 1699
27 Feb 1699		2	Charles Powlett MP for Hampshire 1681‑1698; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1699‑1710 and 1714‑1722 and Dorset 1699‑1722; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1717‑1718 and 1719; PC 1690; KG 1714	1661	21 Jan 1722	60
21 Jan 1722		3	Charles Powlett MP for Lymington 1705‑1708, Hampshire 1708‑1710 and Carmarthenshire 1715‑1717; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire and Dorset 1722‑1733 and Glamorgan 1729‑1754; KG 1722; PC 1725 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Pawlet de Basing 12 Apr 1717 For information on his mistress, and later wife, see the note at the foot of this page	3 Sep 1685	26 Aug 1754	68
26 Aug 1754		4	Harry Powlett MP for St. Ives 1715‑1722 and Hampshire 1722‑1754; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1754‑1758; PC 1755	24 Jul 1691	9 Oct 1759	68
9 Oct 1759		5	Charles Powlett MP for Lymington 1741‑1754 and Hampshire 1754‑1759; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1758‑1763; PC 1758	c 1718	5 Jul 1765
5 Jul 1765 to     25 Dec 1794		6	Harry Powlett MP for Christchurch 1751‑1754, Lymington 1755‑1761 and Winchester 1761‑1765; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1782‑1793; PC 1766 Peerage extinct on his death	6 Nov 1720	25 Dec 1794	74
20 Oct 1797	B	1	Thomas Orde-Powlett Created Baron Bolton 20 Oct 1797 MP [I] for Rathcormack 1784‑1790; MP for Aylesbury 1780‑1784 and Harwich 1784‑1796; Lord Lieutenant Hampshire 1800‑1807; PC [I] 1784; PC 1785	30 Aug 1746	30 Jul 1807	60
30 Jul 1807		2	William Orde-Powlett MP for Yarmouth (IOW) 1807	31 Oct 1782	13 Jul 1850	67
13 Jul 1850		3	William Henry Orde-Powlett	24 Feb 1818	7 Nov 1895	77
7 Nov 1895		4	William Thomas Orde-Powlett	31 Jan 1845	14 Aug 1922	77
14 Aug 1922		5	William George Algar Orde-Powlett MP for Richmond (Yorkshire) 1910‑1918; Lord Lieutenant North Riding Yorkshire 1935‑1944	21 Aug 1869	11 Dec 1944	75
11 Dec 1944		6	Nigel Amyas Orde-Powlett	26 Mar 1900	15 Jun 1963	63
15 Jun 1963		7	Richard William Algar Orde-Powlett	11 Jul 1929	29 Jul 2001	72
29 Jul 2001		8	Harry Algar Nigel Orde-Powlett	14 Feb 1954	10 Jun 2023	69
10 Jun 2023		9	Thomas Peter Algar Orde-Powlett	16 Jul 1979
BONHAM-CARTER
21 Jul 1986 to     4 Sep 1994	B[L]		Mark Raymond Bonham-Carter Created Baron Bonham-Carter for life 21 Jul 1986 MP for Torrington 1958‑1959 Peerage extinct on his death	11 Feb 1922	4 Sep 1994	72
BONHAM-CARTER OF YARNBURY
23 Jun 2004	B[L]		Jane Bonham-Carter Created Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury for life 23 Jun 2004	20 Oct 1957
BONVILLE
23 Sep 1449	B	1	William Bonville Summoned to Parliament as Lord Bonville 23 Sep 1449 KG 1460	12 Aug 1392	18 Feb 1461	68
18 Feb 1461		2	Cicelie Grey		c Jun 1530
c Jun 1530		3	Thomas Grey He had previously succeeded as 2nd Marquess of Dorset with which title this peerage merged	22 Jun 1477	10 Oct 1530	53
BOOTH
7 Mar 2024	B[L]		Sydney John Peter Booth Created Baron Booth for life 7 Mar 2024	22 Aug 1955
BOOTHBY
22 Aug 1958 to     16 Jul 1986	B[L]		Sir Robert John Graham Boothby Created Baron Boothby for life 22 Aug 1958 MP for Aberdeen & Kincardine East 1924‑1950 and Aberdeenshire East 1950‑1958 Peerage extinct on his death	12 Feb 1900	16 Jul 1986	86
BOOTHROYD
15 Jan 2001 to     26 Feb 2023	B[L]		Betty Boothroyd Created Baroness Boothroyd for life 15 Jan 2001 MP for West Bromwich 1973‑1974 and West Bromwich West 1974‑2000; MEP 1975‑1977; Speaker of the House of Commons 1992‑2000; PC 1992; OM 2005 Peerage extinct on her death	8 Oct 1929	26 Feb 2023	93
BOOTH-SMITH
21 Aug 2024	B[L]		Liam David Booth-Smith Created Baron Booth-Smith for life 21 Aug 2024	1987
BORINGDON
18 May 1784	B	1	John Parker Created Baron Boringdon 18 May 1784 MP for Bodmin 1761‑1762 and Devon 1762‑1784		27 Apr 1788
27 Apr 1788	V	2 1	John Parker Created Viscount Boringdon and Earl of Morley 29 Nov 1815 See "Morley"	3 May 1772	14 Mar 1840	67
BORODALE
27 Sep 1919	V	1	David Beatty Created Baron Beatty, Viscount Borodale and Earl Beatty 27 Sep 1919 See "Beatty"	17 Jan 1871	11 Mar 1936	65
BORRIE
21 Dec 1995 to     30 Sep 2016	B[L]		Sir Gordon Johnson Borrie Created Baron Borrie for life 21 Dec 1995 Peerage extinct on his death	13 Mar 1931	30 Sep 2016	85
BORTHWICK
12 Jun 1452	B[S]	1	Sir William Borthwick Created Lord Borthwick 12 Jun 1452		c 1470
c 1470		2	William Borthwick		c 1484
c 1484		3	William Borthwick		9 Sep 1513
9 Sep 1513		4	William Borthwick		1543
1543		5	John Borthwick		Mar 1566
Mar 1566		6	William Borthwick		Oct 1582
Oct 1582		7	James Borthwick	1570	1599	29
1599		8	John Borthwick		Nov 1623
Nov 1623		9	John Borthwick On his death the peerage became dormant. Based on a decision by the House of Lords in 1762, the descent was as follows:-	9 Feb 1616	c 1675
c 1675		[10]	William Borthwick		c 1690
c 1690		[11]	William Borthwick	8 Feb 1666	23 May 1706	40
23 May 1706		[12]	Henry Borthwick		27 May 1706
27 May 1706		[13]	William Borthwick		c 1723
c 1723		14	Henry Borthwick He established his right to the peerage before the House of Lords 8 Apr 1762. On his death the peerage again became dormant, the line of descent being as follows:-		6 Sep 1772
6 Sep 1772		[15]	Patrick Borthwick		6 Oct 1772
6 Oct 1772		[16]	Archibald Borthwick	13 May 1732	13 Jul 1815	83
13 Jul 1815		[17]	Patrick Borthwick	12 Sep 1779	12 Apr 1840	60
12 Apr 1840		[18]	Archibald Borthwick	31 Aug 1811	3 Jul 1863	51
3 Jul 1863		19	Cunninghame Borthwick He established his right to the peerage 5 May 1870 For further information on the history of this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page	16 Jun 1813	24 Dec 1885	72
24 Dec 1885		20	Archibald Patrick Thomas Borthwick	3 Sep 1867	4 Oct 1910	43
4 Oct 1910		21	William Henry Borthwick	28 Nov 1832	8 Oct 1928	95
8 Oct 1928		22	Henry Borthwick	23 Jul 1868	27 May 1937	68
27 May 1937		23	John Henry Stuart Borthwick	13 Sep 1905	30 Dec 1996	91
30 Dec 1996		24	John Hugh Borthwick	14 Nov 1940
BORWICK
20 Jul 1922	B	1	Sir Robert Hudson Borwick, 1st baronet Created Baron Borwick 20 Jul 1922	21 Jan 1845	27 Jan 1936	91
27 Jan 1936		2	George Borwick	22 May 1880	27 Jan 1941	60
27 Jan 1941		3	Robert Geoffrey Borwick	1 Jul 1886	30 Jan 1961	74
30 Jan 1961		4	James Hugh Myles Borwick	12 Dec 1917	19 Apr 2007	89
19 Apr 2007		5	Geoffrey Robert James Borwick [Elected hereditary peer 2013-]	7 Mar 1955
BOSCAWEN-ROSE
9 Jun 1720	V	1	Hugh Boscawen Created Baron of Boscawen-Rose and Viscount Falmouth 9 Jun 1720 See "Falmouth"	c 1680	25 Oct 1734
BOSSOM
30 Jan 1960 to     4 Sep 1965	B[L]		Sir Alfred Charles Bossom, 1st baronet Created Baron Bossom for life 30 Jan 1960 MP for Maidstone 1931‑1959 Peerage extinct on his death For information on the death of this peer's wife and son, see the note at the foot of this page	6 Oct 1881	4 Sep 1965	83
BOSTON
24 Dec 1698 to     5 Dec 1754	E	1	Henry d'Auverquerque Created Baron of Alford, Viscount Boston and Earl of Grantham 24 Dec 1698 See "Grantham"	c 1675	5 Dec 1754
10 Apr 1761	B	1	Sir William Irby, 2nd baronet Created Baron Boston 10 Apr 1761 MP for Launceston 1735‑1747 and Bodmin 1747‑1761	8 Mar 1707	30 Mar 1775	68
30 Mar 1775		2	Frederick Irby	9 Jun 1749	23 Mar 1825	75
23 Mar 1825		3	George Irby	27 Dec 1777	12 Mar 1856	78
12 Mar 1856		4	George Ives Irby	14 Sep 1802	22 Dec 1869	67
22 Dec 1869		5	Florance George Henry Irby	9 Mar 1837	4 Jan 1877	39
4 Jan 1877		6	George Florance Irby	6 Sep 1860	16 Sep 1941	81
16 Sep 1941		7	Greville Northey Irby	24 Aug 1889	16 Sep 1958	69
16 Sep 1958		8	Cecil Eustace Irby	14 Jul 1897	12 Oct 1972	75
12 Oct 1972		9	Gerald Howard Boteler Irby	29 Aug 1897	17 Feb 1978	80
17 Feb 1978		10	Timothy George Frank Boteler Irby	27 Mar 1939	3 Feb 2007	67
3 Feb 2007		11	George William Eustace Boteler Irby	1 Aug 1971
BOSTON OF FAVERSHAM
1 Jul 1976 to     23 Jul 2011	B[L]		Terence George Boston Created Baron Boston of Faversham for life 1 Jul 1976 MP for Faversham 1964‑1970; Minister of State, Home Office 1979 Peerage extinct on his death	21 Mar 1930	23 Jul 2011	81
BOSWELL OF AYNHO
8 Jul 2010	B[L]		Timothy Eric Boswell Created Baron Boswell of Aynho for life 8 Jul 2010 MP for Daventry 1987‑2010	2 Dec 1942
BOSWORTH
19 Mar 1687 to     1695	B	1	James Fitzjames Created Baron of Bosworth, Earl of Tinmouth and Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed 19 Mar 1687 See "Berwick upon Tweed"	21 Aug 1670	12 Jun 1734	63
BOTELER
23 Jun 1295 to     c 1328	B	1	William le Boteler Summoned to Parliament as Lord Boteler 23 Jun 1295 Peerage extinct on his death		c 1328
19 Mar 1308	B	1	William le Boteler Summoned to Parliament as Lord Boteler 19 Mar 1308		1334
1334		2	William le Boteler		Dec 1361
Dec 1361		3	William le Boteler		14 Aug 1369
14 Aug 1369 to     Jun 1411		4	Elizabeth Ferrers On her death the peerage fell into abeyance		Jun 1411
30 Jul 1628	B	1	Sir John Boteler, 1st baronet Created Baron Boteler 30 Jul 1628		27 May 1637
27 May 1637 to     1647		2	William Boteler Peerage extinct on his death		1647
BOTETOURT
19 Jun 1305	B	1	John de Botetourt Summoned to Parliament as Lord Botetourt 19 Jun 1305		1324
1324		2	John de Botetourt		1385
1385 to     1406		3	Joan Burnell On her death the peerage fell into abeyance		1 Jan 1406
13 Apr 1764 to     15 Oct 1770		4	Norborne Berkeley Abeyance terminated in his favour 1764 MP for Gloucestershire 1741‑1763; Lord Lieutenant Gloucester 1762‑1766 On his death the peerage again fell into abeyance	c 1717	15 Oct 1770
4 Jun 1803		5	Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort Abeyance terminated in his favour 1803. Peerage merged with Dukedom of Beaufort and remained so merged until the death of the 10th Duke in 1984, when the barony again fell into abeyance.	16 Oct 1744	11 Oct 1803	58
BOTETOURT OF LANGPORT
17 Mar 1664 to     3 Jun 1665	E	1	George Berkeley, 1st Viscount Fitzhardinge Created Baron Botetourt of Langport and Earl of Falmouth 17 Mar 1664 See "Fitzhardinge"	by 1636	3 Jun 1665
BOTHAM
10 Sep 2020	B[L]		Sir Ian Terence Botham Created Baron Botham for life 10 Sep 2020	24 Nov 1955
BOTHWELL
c 1485 to     8 Oct 1488	B[S]	1	Sir John Ramsay Created Lord Bothwell c 1485 Peerage forfeited 1488		1513
17 Oct 1488	E[S]	1	Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hales Created Earl of Bothwell 17 Oct 1488		c 1508
c 1508		2	Adam Hepburn		9 Sep 1513
9 Sep 1513		3	Patrick Hepburn		Sep 1556
Sep 1556 to     29 Dec 1569		4	James Hepburn Husband of Mary, Queen of Scots Peerage forfeited 1569	c 1536	14 Apr 1578
16 Jun 1581 to     12 Jul 1592	E[S]	1	Francis Stewart, Lord Darnley Created Lord Hales and Earl of Bothwell 16 Jun 1581 He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		c 1604
BOTHWELL AND HARTSIDE
3 Apr 1651	E[S]	1	Archibald Douglas Created Lord Bothwell & Hartside, and Earl of Ormond 3 Apr 1651 See "Ormond"	c 1609	15 Apr 1655
BOTREAUX
24 Feb 1368	B	1	William de Botreaux Summoned to Parliament as Lord Botreaux 24 Feb 1368		10 Aug 1391
10 Aug 1391		2	William de Botreaux		25 May 1392
25 May 1392		3	William de Botreaux	1389	1462	73
1462		4	Margaret Hungerford		1477
1477		5	Mary Hastings		c 1520
c 1520		6	George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon	1488	24 Mar 1545	56
24 Mar 1545		7	Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon	c 1514	22 Jun 1561
22 Jun 1561		8	Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon	c 1536	14 Dec 1595
14 Dec 1595		9	George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon	c 1540	31 Dec 1604
31 Dec 1604		10	Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon	24 Apr 1586	14 Nov 1643	57
14 Nov 1643		11	Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon	18 Jan 1608	13 Feb 1656	48
13 Feb 1656		12	Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon	10 Dec 1650	30 May 1701	50
30 May 1701		13	George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon	22 Mar 1677	22 Feb 1705	27
22 Feb 1705		14	Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon	12 Nov 1696	13 Oct 1746	49
13 Oct 1746		15	Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon	13 Mar 1729	2 Oct 1789	60
2 Oct 1789		16	Elizabeth Rawdon	23 Mar 1731	11 Apr 1808	77
11 Apr 1808		17	Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings	9 Dec 1754	28 Nov 1826	71
28 Nov 1826		18	George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings	4 Feb 1808	13 Jan 1844	35
13 Jan 1844		19	Paulyn Reginald Serlo Rawdon-Hastings, 3rd Marquess of Hastings	2 Jun 1833	17 Jan 1851	17
17 Jan 1851 to     10 Nov 1868		20	Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings On his death the peerage fell into abeyance	22 Jul 1842	10 Nov 1868	26
6 Nov 1871		21	Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, Countess of Loudoun Abeyance terminated in her favour 1871	10 Dec 1833	23 Jan 1874	40
23 Jan 1874 to     17 May 1920		22	Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 11th Earl of Loudoun On his death the peerage again fell into abeyance	5 Jan 1855	17 May 1920	65
7 Mar 1921 to     24 Feb 1960		23	Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, Countess of Loudoun (12th in line) Abeyance terminated in her favour, but once again fell into abeyance upon her death	13 May 1883	24 Feb 1960	76
BOTTESFORD
10 Mar 1835	V	1	Sir Charles Manners-Sutton Created Baron Bottesford and Viscount Canterbury 10 Mar 1835 See "Canterbury"	29 Jan 1780	21 Jul 1845	65
BOTTOMLEY
31 Jan 1984 to     3 Nov 1995	B[L]		Arthur George Bottomley Created Baron Bottomley for life 31 Jan 1984 MP for Chatham 1945‑1950, Rochester and Chatham 1950‑1959, Middlesbrough East 1962‑1974 and Middlesbrough 1974‑1983; Secretary for Overseas Trade 1947‑1951; Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs 1964‑1966; Minister of Overseas Development 1966‑1967; PC 1952 Peerage extinct on his death	7 Feb 1907	3 Nov 1995	88
BOTTOMLEY OF NETTLESTONE
24 Jun 2005	B[L]		Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley Created Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone for life 24 Jun 2005 MP for Surrey South West 1984‑2005; Minister for Health 1989‑1992; Secretary of State for Health 1992‑1995; Secretary of State for National Heritage 1995‑1997; PC 1992	12 Mar 1948
BOURCHIER
25 Feb 1342	B	1	Robert Bourchier Summoned To Parliament as Lord Bourchier 25 Feb 1342 Lord Chancellor 1340‑1349		1349
1349		2	John Bourchier KG 1392		21 May 1400
21 May 1400		3	Bartholomew Bourchier		18 May 1409
18 May 1409		4	Elizabeth Robessart		1 Jul 1433
1 Jul 1433 14 Dec 1446	V	5 1	Henry Bourchier Created Viscount Bourchier 14 Dec 1446 and Earl of Essex 30 Jun 1461 KG 1452	1406	4 Apr 1483	76
4 Apr 1483 to     13 Mar 1540		6 2	Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex Viscountcy extinct on his death	1472	13 Mar 1540	67
13 Mar 1540		7	Anne Parr		28 Jan 1571
28 Jan 1571		8	Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex	16 Sep 1541	22 Sep 1576	35
22 Sep 1576 to     25 Feb 1601		9	Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex He was attainted and the peerages forfeited	10 Nov 1567	25 Feb 1601	33
18 Apr 1604 to     14 Sep 1646		10	Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex Restored to the peerages 1604. On his death the Barony fell into abeyance	22 Jan 1591	14 Sep 1646	55
BOURKE OF BRITTAS
17 Feb 1618	B[I]	1	Theobald Bourke Created Baron Bourke of Brittas 17 Feb 1618		1654
1654		2	John Bourke		1668
1668 to     1691		3	Theobald Bourke He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		by Sep 1706
BOURKE OF CLANMORIES
20 Apr 1629	V[I]	1	John Bourke Created Viscount Bourke of Clanmories 20 Apr 1629		16 Nov 1635
16 Nov 1635		2	Thomas Bourke		c 1650
c 1650		3	Ulick Bourke, 5th Earl of Clanricarde Peerage merged with Earldom of Clanricarde until its extinction in 1916	Dec 1604	Jul 1657	52
BOURKE OF CONNELL (or CASTLE CONNELL)
16 May 1580	B[I]	1	Sir William Bourke Created Baron Bourke of Connell (or Castle Connell) 16 May 1580		1584
1584		2	John Bourke		14 Jan 1592
14 Jan 1592		3	Richard Bourke		28 Feb 1599
28 Feb 1599		4	Thomas Bourke		28 Feb 1599
28 Feb 1599		5	Edmund Bourke		1635
1635		6	William Bourke		c 1665
c 1665		7	Thomas Bourke		c 1680
c 1680 to     1691		8	William Bourke He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		after 1691
BOURNE
22 Aug 1964 to     26 Jun 1982	B[L]		Geoffrey Kemp Bourne Created Baron Bourne for life 22 Aug 1964 Peerage extinct on his death	5 Oct 1902	26 Jun 1982	79
BOURNE OF ABERYSTWYTH
9 Sep 2013	B[L]		Nicholas Henry Bourne Created Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth for life 9 Sep 2013	1 Jan 1952
BOWDEN
18 Jan 1964 to     28 Jul 1989	B[L]		Bertram Vivian Bowden Created Baron Bowden for life 18 Jan 1964 Minister of State for Education & Science 1964‑1965 Peerage extinct on his death	18 Jan 1910	28 Jul 1989	79
BOWEN
23 Sep 1893 to     10 Apr 1894	B[L]		Sir Charles Synge Christopher Bowen Created Baron Bowen for life 23 Sep 1893 Lord Justice of Appeal 1882‑1893; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1893‑1894; PC 1882 Peerage extinct on his death	29 Aug 1831	10 Apr 1894	62
BOWES OF CLONLYON
15 Aug 1758 to     22 Jul 1767	B[I]	1	John Bowes Created Baron Bowes of Clonlyon 15 Aug 1758 MP [I] for Taghmon 1731‑1742; Solicitor General [I] 1730; Attorney General [I] 1739; Lord Chancellor [I] 1757‑1767; PC [I] 1742 Peerage extinct on his death	1691	22 Jul 1767	76
BOWES OF STREATLAM CASTLE & LUNEDALE
7 Aug 1815 to     3 Jul 1820	B	1	John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne Created Baron Bowes of Streatlam Castle and Lunedale 7 Aug 1815 Peerage extinct on his death	14 Apr 1769	3 Jul 1820	51
1 Jul 1887	B	1	Claud Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Created Baron Bowes of Streatlam Castle and Lunedale 1 Jul 1887 See "Strathmore & Kinghorne"	21 Jul 1824	16 Feb 1904	79
BOWLES
12 Dec 1964 to     29 Dec 197	B[L]		Francis George Bowles Created Baron Bowles for life 12 Dec 1964 MP for Nuneaton 1942‑1964 Peerage extinct on his death	2 May 1902	29 Dec 1970	68
BOWLES OF BERKHAMSTED
23 Oct 2015	B[L]		Sharon Margaret Bowles Created Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted for life 23 Oct 2015 MEP for South East England 2005‑2014	12 Jun 1953
BOWMONT AND CESSFORD
25 Apr 1707	M[S]	1	John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe Created Lord Ker of Cessfurd & Cavertoun, Viscount of Broxmouth, Earl of Kelso, Marquess of Bowmont & Cessfurd and Duke of Roxburghe 25 Apr 1707 See "Roxburghe"	c 1680	24 Feb 1741
BOWNESS
17 Jan 1996	B[L]		Sir Peter Spencer Bowness Created Baron Bowness for life 17 Jan 1996	19 May 1943
BOYCE
16 Jun 2003 to     6 Nov 2022	B[L]		Sir Michael Cecil Boyce Created Baron Boyce for life 16 Jun 2003 Chief of the Defence Staff 2001‑2003; Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 2004‑2022; KG 2011 Peerage extinct on his death	2 Apr 1943	6 Nov 2022	79
BOYCOTT
9 Jul 2018	B[L]		Rosel Marie Boycott Created Baroness Boycott for life 9 Jul 2018	13 May 1951
BOYD OF DUNCANSBY
14 Jun 2006	B[L]		Colin David Boyd Created Baron Boyd of Duncansby for life 14 Jun 2006 Solictor General of Scotland 1997‑2000; Lord Advocate 2000‑2006; PC 2000	7 Jun 1953
BOYD OF KILMARNOCK
c 1454 to     c 1469	B[S]	1	Sir Robert Boyd Created Lord Boyd c 1454 He was attainted and the peerage forfeited		c 1470
1482		2	James Boyd	c 1469	1484
1484		3	Alexander Boyd		after 1508
after 1508		4	Robert Boyd Confirmed in the peerage c 1546		c 1558
c 1558		5	Robert Boyd	c 1517	3 Jan 1589
3 Jan 1589		6	Thomas Boyd	c 1547	Jun 1611
Jun 1611		7	Robert Boyd	1595	Aug 1628	33
Aug 1628		8	Robert Boyd	c 1618	17 Nov 1640
17 Nov 1640		9	James Boyd		Mar 1654
Mar 1654		10	William Boyd He was created Earl of Kilmarnock 1661 with which this peerage then merged	by 1646	Mar 1692
BOYD OF MERTON
8 Sep 1960	V	1	Alan Tindal Lennox‑Boyd Created Viscount Boyd of Merton 8 Sep 1960 MP for Bedfordshire Mid 1931‑1960; Minister of State for Colonial Affairs 1951‑1952; Minister of Transport 1952‑1954; Secretary of State for Colonies 1954‑1959; PC 1951; CH 1960	18 Nov 1904	8 Mar 1983	78
8 Mar 1983		2	Simon Donald Rupert Neville Lennox‑Boyd	7 Dec 1939
BOYD-CARPENTER
1 May 1972 to     11 Jul 1998	B[L]		John Archibald Boyd-Carpenter Created Baron Boyd-Carpenter for life 1 May 1972 MP for Kingston upon Thames 1945‑1972; Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1951‑1954; Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation 1954‑1955; Minister of Pensions & National Insurance 1955‑1962; Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General 1962‑1964; PC 1954 Peerage extinct on his death	2 Jun 1908	11 Jul 1998	90
BOYD-ORR
9 Mar 1949 to     25 Jun 1971	B	1	Sir John Boyd-Orr Created Baron Boyd-Orr 9 Mar 1949 MP for Scottish Universities 1945‑1947; Nobel Peace Prize 1949; CH 1968 Peerage extinct on his death	23 Sep 1880	25 Jun 1971	90
BOYLE
6 Sep 1660	B[I]	1	Francis Boyle Created Baron Boyle and Viscount Shannon 6 Sep 1660 See "Shannon"	25 Jun 1623	Apr 1699	75
23 Aug 1673	V[I]	1	Murrough Boyle Created Baron Boyle and Viscount Blessington 23 Aug 1673 See "Blessington"	1648	26 Apr 1728	79
BOYLE OF BANDON
20 Mar 1756	V[I]	1	Henry Boyle Created Baron of Castle Martyr, Viscount Boyle of Bandon and Earl of Shannon 20 Mar 1756 See "Shannon"	1682	28 Dec 1764	82
BOYLE OF BROGHILL
28 Feb 1628	B[I]	1	Roger Boyle Created Baron Boyle of Broghill 28 Feb 1628 and Earl of Orrery 5 Sep 1660 See "Orrery"	25 Apr 1621	16 Oct 1679	58
BOYLE OF HANDSWORTH
3 Jul 1970 to     29 Sep 1981	B[L]		Sir Edward Charles Gurney Boyle, 3rd baronet Created Baron Boyle of Handsworth for life 3 Jul 1970 MP for Handsworth 1950‑1970; Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1959‑1962; Minister of Education 1962‑1964; PC 1962; CH 1981 Peerage extinct on his death	31 Aug 1923	29 Sep 1981	58
BOYLE OF KELBURN
31 Jan 1699	B[S]	1	David Boyle Created Lord Boyle of Kelburn, Stewartoun, Cumbra, Largs and Dalry 31 Jan 1699 See "Glasgow"	1666	1 Nov 1733	67
BOYLE OF KINALMEAKY
28 Feb 1628	V[I]	1	Lewis Boyle Created Baron of Bandonbridge and Viscount Boyle of Kinalmeaky 28 Feb 1628	28 May 1619	2 Sep 1642	23
2 Sep 1642		2	Richard Boyle He succeeded as 2nd Earl of Cork in 1643 with which title this peerage then merged and still remains so	20 Oct 1612	15 Jan 1698	85
BOYLE OF MARSTON
5 Sep 1711	B	1	Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery Created Baron Boyle of Marston 5 Sep 1711 See "Orrery"	28 Jul 1674	28 Aug 1731	57
BOYLE OF STEWARTOUN
12 Apr 1703	B[S]	1	David Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle of Kelburn Created Lord Boyle of Stewartoun, Cumbraes, Finnick, Largs, and Dalry, Viscount of Kelburn and Earl of Glasgow 12 Apr 1703 See "Glasgow"	1666	1 Nov 1733	67
BOYLE OF YOUGHAL
6 Sep 1616	B[I]	1	Sir Richard Boyle Created Baron Boyle of Youghal 6 Sep 1616 He was subsequently created Earl of Cork	3 Oct 1566	15 Sep 1643	76
BOYNE
20 Aug 1717	V[I]	1	Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Stackallan Created Viscount Boyne 20 Aug 1717 MP [I] for Donegal County 1692‑1693, 1695‑1699 and 1703‑1713, and Strabane 1713‑1715; PC [I] 1710	c 1640	16 Sep 1723
16 Sep 1723		2	Gustavus Hamilton MP for Newport (IOW) 1736‑1741; PC [I] 1736	1710	18 Apr 1746	35
18 Apr 1746		3	Frederick Hamilton	9 Nov 1718	2 Jan 1772	53
2 Jan 1772		4	Richard Hamilton MP [I] for Navan 1755‑1761	24 Mar 1724	30 Jul 1789	65
30 Jul 1789		5	Gustavus Hamilton	20 Dec 1749	29 Feb 1816	66
29 Feb 1816		6	Gustavus Hamilton	12 Apr 1777	30 Mar 1855	77
30 Mar 1855		7	Gustavus Frederick John James Hamilton Created Baron Brancepeth 31 Aug 1866	11 May 1797	27 Oct 1872	75
27 Oct 1872		8	Gustavus Russell Hamilton-Russell	28 May 1830	30 Dec 1907	77
30 Dec 1907		9	Gustavus William Hamilton-Russell	11 Jan 1864	18 Jan 1942	78
18 Jan 1942		10	Gustavus Michael George Hamilton-Russell Lord Lieutenant Shropshire 1994‑1995	10 Dec 1931	14 Dec 1995	64
14 Dec 1995		11	Gustavus Michael Stucley Hamilton-Russell	27 May 1965
BRABAZON
19 Jul 1616	B[I]	1	Edward Brabazon Created Lord Brabazon, Baron of Ardee 19 Jul 1616	1549	7 Aug 1625	76
7 Aug 1625		2	William Brabazon He was created Earl of Meath 1627 into which this peerage then merged	c 1580	19 Dec 1651
30 Oct 1665			William Brabazon He was summoned to the Irish House of Lords by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Brabazon 30 Oct 1665 He succeeded as 3rd Earl of Meath in 1675	c 1635	1 Mar 1685
9 Mar 1715			Chaworth Brabazon He was summoned to the Irish House of Lords by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Brabazon 9 Mar 1715 He succeeded as 6th Earl of Meath in 1715	1686	14 May 1763	76
BRABAZON OF TARA
27 Apr 1942	B	1	John Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon Created Baron Brabazon of Tara 27 Apr 1942 MP for Chatham 1918‑1929 and Wallasey 1931‑1942; Minister of Transport 1940‑1941; Minister of Aircraft Production 1941‑1942; PC 1940	8 Feb 1884	17 May 1964	80
17 May 1964		2	Derek Charles Moore-Brabazon	24 Dec 1910	11 Dec 1974	63
11 Dec 1974		3	Ivon Anthony Moore-Brabazon PC 2013 [Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2022]	20 Dec 1946
BRABOURNE
26 May 1880	B	1	Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen Created Baron Brabourne 26 May 1880 MP for Sandwich 1857‑1880; PC 1873	29 Apr 1829	6 Feb 1893	63
6 Feb 1893		2	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen MP for Rochester 1889‑1892	5 Apr 1857	29 Dec 1909	52
29 Dec 1909		3	William Wyndham Wentworth Knatchbull‑Hugessen	21 Sep 1885	11 Mar 1915	29
11 Mar 1915		4	Cecil Marcus Knatchbull‑Hugessen	27 Nov 1863	15 Feb 1933	69
15 Feb 1933		5	Michael Herbert Rudolf Knatchbull MP for Ashford 1931‑1933; Governor of Bombay 1933‑1937 and Bengal 1937‑1939	8 May 1895	23 Feb 1939	43
23 Feb 1939		6	Norton Cecil Michael Knatchbull	11 Feb 1922	15 Sep 1943	21
15 Sep 1943		7	John Ulick Knatchbull	9 Nov 1924	22 Sep 2005	80
22 Sep 2005		8	Norton Louis Philip Knatchbull He succeeded as 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma 13 Jun 2017	8 Oct 1947
BRACKEN
7 Jan 1952 to     8 Aug 1958	V	1	Brendan Bracken Created Viscount Bracken 7 Jan 1952 MP for Paddington North 1929‑1945, Bournemouth 1945‑1950 and Bournemouth East & Christchurch 1950‑1952; Minister for Information 1941‑1945; First Lord of the Admiralty 1945; PC 1940 Peerage extinct on his death	15 Feb 1901	8 Aug 1958	57
BRACKLEY
7 Nov 1616	V	1	Thomas Egerton Created Baron Ellesmere 21 Jul 1603 and Viscount Brackley 7 Nov 1616 Solicitor General 1581‑1592; Attorney General 1592‑1594; Master of the Rolls 1594‑1603; Lord Keeper 1596‑1603; Lord Chancellor 1603‑1617; Lord Lieutenant Buckingham 1607‑1616	1540	15 Mar 1617	76
15 Mar 1617		2	John Egerton He was created Earl of Bridgwater 1617 into which this peerage then merged
18 Jun 1720	M	1	Scroop Egerton Created Marquess of Brackley and Duke of Bridgwater 18 Jun 1720 See "Bridgwater" - title extinct 1803	11 Aug 1681	11 Jan 1745	63
6 Jul 1846	V	1	Lord Francis Egerton Created Viscount Brackley and Earl of Ellesmere 6 Jul 1846 See "Ellesmere"	1 Jan 1800	18 Feb 1857	57
BRACO OF KILBRYDE
28 Jul 1735	B[I]	1	William Duff Created Baron Braco of Kilbryde 28 Jul 1735 He was subsequently created Earl Fife	c 1696	30 Sep 1763
BRADBURY
28 Jan 1925	B	1	Sir John Swanwick Bradbury Created Baron Bradbury 28 Jan 1925	23 Sep 1872	3 May 1950	77
3 May 1950		2	John Bradbury	7 Jan 1914	31 Mar 1994	80
31 Mar 1994		3	John Bradbury	17 Mar 1940	8 Aug 2023	83
8 Aug 2023		4	John Timothy Bradbury	16 Jan 1973
BRADESTON
25 Feb 1342	B	1	Thomas de Bradeston Summoned to Parliament as Lord Bradeston 25 Feb 1342		Aug 1360
Aug 1360 to     1374		2	Thomas de Bradeston On his death the peerage became dormant	c 1352	1374
BRADFORD
11 May 1694	E	1	Francis Newport, 1st Viscount Newport of Bradford Created Earl of Bradford 11 May 1694 MP for Shrewsbury 1640‑1644; Lord Lieutenant Shropshire 1660‑1687 and 1689‑1704; PC 1668	23 Feb 1620	19 Sep 1708	88
19 Sep 1708		2	Richard Newport MP for Shropshire 1670‑1681 and 1689‑1698; Lord Lieutenant Shropshire 1704‑1712 and 1714‑1723; PC 1710	3 Sep 1644	14 Jun 1723	78
14 Jun 1723		3	Henry Newport MP for Bishop's Castle 1706‑1708 and Shropshire 1708‑1710 and 1713‑1722; Lord Lieutenant Staffordshire 1715‑1725 and Shropshire 1724‑1734	8 Aug 1683	23 Dec 1734	51
23 Dec 1734 to     18 Apr 1762		4	Thomas Newport Peerage extinct on his death		18 Apr 1762
17 Aug 1794	B	1	Sir Henry Bridgeman, 5th baronet Created Baron Bradford 17 Aug 1794 MP for Ludlow 1748‑1768 and Wenlock 1768‑1794	7 Sep 1725	5 Jun 1800	74
5 Jun 1800 30 Nov 1815	E	2 1	Orlando Bridgeman Created Viscount Newport and Earl of Bradford 30 Nov 1815 MP for Wigan 1784‑1800	19 Mar 1762	7 Sep 1825	63
7 Sep 1825		2	George Augustus Frederick Henry Bridgeman	23 Oct 1789	22 Mar 1865	75
22 Mar 1865		3	Orlando George Charles Bridgeman MP for Shropshire South 1842‑1865; Lord Lieutenant Shropshire 1875; PC 1852	24 Apr 1819	9 Mar 1898	78
9 Mar 1898		4	George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman MP for Shropshire North 1867‑1885	3 Feb 1845	2 Jan 1915	69
2 Jan 1915		5	Orlando Bridgeman	6 Oct 1873	21 Mar 1957	83
21 Mar 1957		6	Gerald Michael Orlando Bridgeman	29 Sep 1911	30 Aug 1981	69
30 Aug 1981		7	Richard Thomas Orlando Bridgeman	3 Oct 1947
BRADLEY
12 Jun 2006	B[L]		Keith John Charles Bradley Created Baron Bradley for life 12 Jun 2006 MP for Withington 1987‑2005; PC 2001	17 May 1950
BRADSHAW
22 Jul 1999	B[L]		William Peter Bradshaw Created Baron Bradshaw for life 22 Jul 1999	9 Sep 1936

	Henry St. John, 5th Viscount Bolingbroke and 6th Viscount St. John
	These peerages are descended from Henry St. John, statesman during the reign of Queen Anne. The titles are pronounced "Bullingbrook" and "Sinjin" respectively.
	Sometime around 1852, the Viscount, just after he had succeeded to the title, paid a visit to London where he met a young girl of 17 named Ellen Medex. Bolingbroke fell in love with her and begged her to marry him. In spite of her older sister forbidding the union, the couple left England together and travelled throughout Europe for some years, but whether they were ever actually married remains doubtful. Upon their return to England, they lived in various lodging houses rather than at the family seat at Lydiard Tregoze in Wiltshire. When Ellen died in May 1885, she was buried as Viscountess Bolingbroke.
	Until that time, the various peerages had assumed that Bolingbroke was a bachelor and that the heir to the titles was his kinsman, the Rev Maurice Ferdinand St. John, Canon of Gloucester Cathedral and Vicar of Kempsford. After the death of Ellen, he informed the various peerages that he was, in fact, a widower and that he had two sons, Henry and Charles. It seems that editors of the peerages remained unconvinced and requested copies of the marriage and birth certificates so as to ensure that their information was correct. For the next ten years or so, the editors of the peerages pestered Bolingbroke for documentary proof, but he declined to supply any, with the result that the peerages eventually ignored the possibility of the marriage to Ellen and reinstated Canon St. John as the heir presumptive.
	In 1881, prior to the death of Ellen, Bolingbroke had returned by himself to Lydiard Tregoze. According to the commonly accepted version of the story, it was there that one afternoon, he was out riding in a country lane when his horse cast a shoe. While it was being adjusted at the local blacksmith's he met the smith's 20-year-old daughter, Mary Howard. Impressed by her, he offered her the post of housekeeper at the family seat, but it was not long before she became a good deal more. In December 1882, a son was born; this was Henry, who Bolingbroke allowed the world (and the peerage editors) to think was his son by Ellen Madex. He soon set up another establishment in Bath so that he now lived at Lydiard Tregoze as Viscount Bolingbroke, in London with Ellen Medex as Mr and Mrs Morgan, and at Bath with Mary Howard as Mr and Mrs Wilson.
	After the death of Ellen Medex, he told Mary Howard that in order to ensure that their son Henry became his heir, he represented him as the son of Ellen Medex, antedating his birth by two years. A further son Charles was born in November 1885; he too was passed off as Ellen's son and his age was also antedated, this time by necessity, since he had been born after Ellen Medex's death.
	In January 1893, Bolingbroke finally married Mary Howard in Bath. On the marriage certificate, hedescribed himself as 'widower'. The marriage was kept secret and the couple continued to live in Bath as Mr and Mrs Wilson. There, in March 1896, another son, Vernon Henry, was born. The Viscount handed his wife the marriage and birth certificates and gave her strict instructions that she not disclose her or her son's identity until he should be dead.
	When the Viscount died in November 1899, it was assumed that Canon St. John was the rightful heir. After the funeral had been conducted, the late Viscount's solicitors issued a statement which read 'The late Viscount married late in life, and leaves a widow and a son, the Hon. VernonHenry St. John, who succeeds to the title as Viscount Bolingbroke. The announcements made in some quarters that Canon St. John is the heir have been made from want of knowledge of the true circumstances.'
	In March 1922, Vernon petitioned the King to be recognised as Viscount Bolingbroke and St. John. His petition was heard by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and the petition was upheld. For further reading on this case, I recommend Romances of the Peerage by Horace Wyndham (Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, London, 1930).
	The special remainder to the Barony of Bolsover
	From the London Gazette of 23 April 1880 (issue 24835, page 2600):-
	The Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland granting the dignity of a Baroness of the said United Kingdom to Augusta Mary Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentinck, widow of Lieutenant-General Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck, by the name, style, and title of Baroness Bolsover, of Bolsover Castle, in the county of Derby, and at her decease the dignity of a Baron of the United Kingdom to the heirs male of the body of her late husband theid Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck, by the name, style, and title of Baron Bolsover, of Bolsover Castle, in the said county of Derby.
	Lavinia Fenton, mistress, and later wife, of the 3rd Duke of Bolton
	The following biography of Lavinia Fenton appeared in the Australian monthly magazine Parade in its issue for October 1968:-
	A big, luxuriously appointed coach with an English ducal crest emblazoned on the door panels rolled up to the best inn in the French spa resort of Aix-en-Provence one September day in 1751. The annual appearance of My Lord the Duke of Bolton, with his mistress, parson, valet, cook, maid and two huge mastiffs, was something of an event in the pleasant little town. For at least 10 years the duke had been coming to drink the waters. The dogs and servants sometimes changed, but the mistress and parson never.
	With her delicately rouged and powdered little face, Lavinia Fenton looked very much the same as when she had been the most bewitching actress on the London stage. And the parson was no longer a mystery to the society of the various European cities and spas around which the Bolton entourage perambulated year after year. At first it had been thought that my lord was a very pious man and took the clergyman with him to provide spiritual consolation on his travels. "No, damme, no!" the duke growled. "I keep him by me that he may marry me to Miss Fenton the instant I hear news that my infernal wife is dead!"
	On September 21, 1751, [actually 20 October] when the party once more arrived at the Inn of the Golden Pheasant in Aix, the duke found a bulky missive from London awaiting him. That evening, with the parson stammering through the ceremony in the candle-lot inn parlour, Lavinia Fenton - illegitimate daughter of a coffee house wench, actress and amorous adventuress - became Her Grace the Duchess of Bolton.
	The story of Lavinia Fenton was a striking illustration of the rewards of fidelity, patience and good sense. She had been the toast of London when she snared the infatuated Duke of Bolton not only into running away with her, but also into promising to wed her. Having done so she was prepared to wait more than 20 years to become his duchess, rigidly faithful to her protector and abandoning all the pleasures of love she had tasted so often before.
	There was no hint of this coming magnificence when Lavinia first saw the light of day in the back room of a cheap London coffee house in 1708. Her mother was a maid in the house and her probable father was a naval officer named Beswick who went back to sea a few weeks before the child was born. Lieut Beswick left the mother a few guineas and instructions that the infant was to be named Porteous if a boy and Lavinia if a girl. He also urged his mistress to "retire into the country and resist any more temptations". Having bequeathed this excellent advice he sailed away and was killed in the wars.
	Far from seeking rural seclusion, Lavinia's mother used the money to set up her own coffee house at Charing Cross and soon married one of her admirers, a tradesman named John Fenton. Lavinia was given her stepfather's and she remained at the coffee house until she was 13. By then she was already a budding beauty with a well-formed figure, coquettish dark eyes and a gift for singing and dancing that delighted the fashionable gentlemen who frequented the house. Mrs Fenton was not averse to her daughter's precocious conquests but, believing she needed a little more polish, packed her off to a select boarding school. The experiment in teaching Lavinia Fenton ladylike manners was not successful. Within two years she was back at the coffee shop, after rocking the school to its sedate foundations. The climax had come when she was caught one night entertaining a young lawyer behind the garden rose bushes. Next day she packed her trunk and departed.
	The beaux of Charing Cross welcomed her back with open arms and Mrs Fenton now decided that her daughter had better find a husband as soon as possible to keep her out of more mischief. Lavinia, however, had other ideas. The fine gentlemen might not be prepared to marry her, but she knew how to extort a handsome return for her favours. Rarely was the sharp-witted girl deceived in her calculations, though she could be just as warm-heartedly generous as grasping when the occasion arose.
	Once when she was not quite 16, she went off for a month in the country with a Portuguese nobleman who wooed her ardently with promises of jewels, money and a mansion full of servants. The next time she heard of the foreign charmer he was in the Fleet debtors' prison, disowned by the Portuguese embassy and likely to languish in his cell indefinitely. Hastening to to visit him Lavinia was deeply touched by his miserable plight as he flung himself at her feet and begged for forgiveness. Selling all the jewels, gowns and geegaws given her by other admirers, Lavinia raised enough cash to pay his debts and put him on board a ship for Portugal. It did not take her, long to recoup these charitable losses despite several more mishaps in heramorous career.
	The momentous hour in Lavinia Fenton's career came in 1726 when she was 18 years old and faced nothing better than the precarious life of a superior kind of harlot. For years she had been entertaining the coffee house patrons by mimicking the famous actresses of the day and singing the latest airs from the Italian opera house. Among her listeners, one summer evening in 1726 was a friend of the managers of the dilapidated, near-bankrupt little theatre in the Haymarket.
	A few days later, armed with a letter of introduction, she arrived at the theatre to join the swarm of second­rate and unemployed actors who hung about the door hoping for a temporary engagement. Intrigued by her prettyce and assured grace, the managers at once agreed to give her a trial in the old melodrama The Orphan. In tragedy Lavinia was a flop. But the story was very different five weeks later when she appeared as the lively innkeeper's daughter in Farquhar's comic masterpiece, The Beaux Stratagem. With all London singing her praises if was obvious that the dazzling new star would soon move on from the scruffy purlieus of the Haymarket. In 1727 Lavinia signed a 15/- a week contract with John Rich of the theatre in Lincolns Inn Fields, an event that was to be a turning point in the lives of both of them.
	Rough, crafty, hard-dealing John Rich was facing a crisis of dwindling audiences in the teeth of intense competition from the famous house in Drury Lane. Late in 1727 he determined to take a gamble on a bundle of tattered manuscriptsat poet John Gay had been hawking unsuccessfully round the London theatres for months. It was a play with songs and music called The Beggar's Opera. And Rich and his fellow managers had never read anything like it before. Instead of the customary ladies and gentlemen the cast was made up of highwaymen, thieves, cut-throats, gaolers and their haunting, bedraggled doxies. And besides uproariously parodying all the polite conventions of Italian opera the play was stuffed with deadly satire against Prime Minister Walpole and his government. Nevertheless Rich decided to take the plunge. The result was one of the most astonishing successes in theatrical history.
	The Beggar's Opera opened on January 29, 1728, and continued for 62 performances - a run absolutely unprecedented on the London stage up to that time. Rich had hand-picked his company. But it was Lavinia's Polly Peachum, the bold highwayman's mistress, who filled the house with the thunder of rapturous applause night after night. There were Lavinia Fenton bonnets, fans and gloves. Books of verses were published about her, her highly mythical "life" was written and print shops could not keep pace with the demand for her engravings.
	Meanwhile, planted night after night in his box throughout the whole season, sat Charles Paulet, third Duke of Bolton, gazing in rapt devotion at the gambols of Polly Peachum. His infatuation became the talk of London. The wits wagered whether he would one night leap on to the stage and cut highwayman MacHeath's throat out of jealousy. For years the 45-year-old duke had lived apart from his cold, strait-laced duchess, but never before had scandal suggested that he sought amusement elsewhere.
	Then in June 1728 came the sensation that staggered London society. The Duke of Bolton and pretty, witty Polly Peachum had run away together. The theatre never saw Lavinia Fenton again - though, according to one cynical observer, she gave the most remarkable performance of her life in the role of ducal mistress. Modest, unassuming and completely faithful despite her passionate nature, Lavinia continued to live happily with her lord and the most vicious gossips could find nothing to say against her.
	Bolton bought her a London house and an estate in Yorkshire but the couple spent much of each year, travelling Europe in style. Lavinia's belated elevation to the rank of duchess made little difference to their mode of existence and in any case their life as a legally married couple was brief. When the duke died in August 1754 his title went to his brother but almost all his vast estates were divided between Lavinia and their children born out of wedlock.
	The bereaved Lavinia was then 46 but she was still a ripe beauty ready for any amorous encounter. Dr Thomas Kelly, a dashing Irish surgeon at Tunbridge Wells, was reputed to be among those fortunate enough to comfort the duchess in her years of widowhood. It was among these final whiffs of scandal that Lavinia Fenton, Duchess of Bolton, died at Greenwich on January 24, 1760.
	The Borthwick Peerage
	The Scottish peerage of Borthwick has a very interesting history, being twice in a state of dormancy before being revived.
	The following account is a summary of two articles which appeared in The Glasgow Herald of 13 July 1869 and The Times of 12 May 1870:-
	The date of creation of the Borthwick peerage was for many years thought to have been in the early years of the fifteenth century. The greatest authority on the Scottish peerage during the eighteenth century, Sir Robert Douglas, in his Peerage of Scotland [1764] gives a date of "before 1430". However, during the hearings before the House of Lords Committee for Privileges it was established that the peerage must have been created between 1450 and 1455. Burke's Peerage gives the date as 12 June 1452, while a contemporary writer known as the Auchinleck Chronicler quoted in Tytler's History of Scotland gives a date of 27 March 1452.
	Whatever the exact date was, the peerage descended in an unbroken line from father to son until the death of the 9th Lord Borthwick around 1675, when it became dormant. In 1727, Henry Borthwick was served as the heir male general of the 1st Lord Borthwick, based on his descent from Alexander Borthwick, a younger son of the 3rd Lord. Accordingly, Henry assumed the title of 14th Lord Borthwick and voted in the elections of Scottish Representative Peers between 1727 and 1762, when he was ordered by the House of Lords to cease voting until he had established his right to the title, which he did on 8 April 1762.
	When Henry, the 14th Lord, died in 1772, the title once again became dormant. On his death, the next heir was his cousin, Patrick Borthwick, who died a month later. Patrick left a son, Archibald Borthwick, who at the time of his father's death was a merchant living at Christiansand in Norway. Archibald took no steps to return to Scotland or to make any claim to the title until 1808, when he petitioned the House of Lords to be recognised as the 16th Lord Borthwick.
	In the meantime, however, another claimant had appeared in the person of a John Borthwick of Crookston, whose argument was that the whole line of the 10th Lord Borthwick, known as the Borthwicks of Soltray, was extinct. He therefore claimed the title as being the direct descendant of a younger son of the 1st Lord. The claimant produced documentary evidence which purported to prove his descent from a younger son of the 1st Lord, but the Lord Advocate of the time expressed doubts as to their genuineness, and after proceedings had been taken in the House of Lords, that body ordered in January 1777 that John Borthwick should not take the title of Lord Borthwick until such time as he had proved his right thereto.
	In 1808, Archibald Borthwick returned to present his petition. In the following year, John Borthwick of Crookston, son of the 1777 claimant, applied to be allowed to oppose the claim, alleging that the Alexander Borthwick previously mentioned above, and from whom Archibald Borthwick claimed descent, was illegitimate. This provided the House of Lords with a problem, since they had already, in 1762, admitted the claim of Henry, 14th Lord Borthwick, based on his pedigree which the House of Lords had accepted. They therefore appointed a committee to look for precedents but nothing happened until 1812, when Borthwick of Crookston again presented a petition for the peerage, arguing that Alexander was illegitimate and that his descendants were not therefore entitled to the peerage.
	The case was heard in April 1814, when Archibald Borthwick proved his descent from Alexander, younger son of the 3rd Lord, from whom the 10th Lord has also claimed descent in 1762. However, during the course of evidence, it became apparent that the pedigree of the 10th Lord had omitted one generation. Following the discovery of this error, in June 1814, the House of Lords allowed Borthwick of Crookston to attempt to prove Alexander's illegitimacy. This he tried to do by reference to a document produced from his family's files. However, Archibald died in 1815 before the claim could be completed, and the question then remained in abeyance until 1867.
	After the death of Archibald, 16th Lord Borthwick, the right to the title descended to his son, Patrick, 17th Lord Borthwick. After his death in 1840, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Archibald, who died in 1863, to be succeeded in turn by his younger brother Cunninghame Borthwick, 19th Lord Borthwick. In 1867, Cunninghame Borthwick was confident that he could disprove the authenticity of the document relied upon by Borthwick of Crookston in the 1814 petition, and accordingly he revived his late grandfather's claim.
	The case commenced before the House of Lords Committee for Privileges in July 1869. Sir Roundell Palmer, later 1st Earl of Selborne, was counsel for the applicant. Palmer attacked the authenticity of the document tendered in 1814, contending that it was a forgery. He pointed out that the document had not been produced in the original 1762 case or in the subsequent challenge by John Borthwick in 1777. Further, the document had been produced from Borthwick of Crookston's own family files, and, if genuine, surely it would have been produced in the earlier cases? In the 1814 case, it had been Borthwick of Crookston's intention to rely upon the words filius naturalis which were used by the 3rd Lord Borthwick to describe his son, Alexander, and which, according to Borthwick of Crookston, proved that Alexander was a natural [i.e. illegitimate] son of the 3rd Lord. However, it was quickly shown that the term filius naturalis was, at the time of the alleged document, used to designate sons of the body as distinguished from sons by adoption. The Committee pointed out that this form of words was still prevalent in the current time in the ecclesiastical courts.
	As a result of its hearings, the Committee of Privileges found, on 5 May 1870, that Cunninghame Borthwick was entitled to the Borthwick peerage.
	Alfred Charles Bossom, Baron Bossom [L]
	Before being ennobled, Alfred Bossom sat in the House of Commons as member for Maidstone between 1931 and 1959. Not long after being first elected, his wife and eldest son were killed in a plane crash. The following [edited] report appeared in The Irish Times of 28 July 1932:-
	Three people - the wife and son of an M.P. and a prince - were killed last night when their plane crashed at Farnham, Surrey.
	They were Mrs [Emily] Bossom, wife of Mr A[lfred] Bossom, M.P. for Maidstone; her son, Mr Bruce Bossom, and Prince Otto Erbach-Fürstenau.
	The crash occurred at 6 p.m. on a cruising flight from Heston. The young prince was a friend of Mr and Mrs Bossom, and had been staying with them as their gueSt. Mr Bruce Bossom was acting as pilot.
	Mr Alfred Bossom dashed to the scene as soon as he heard of the accident.
	A friend told a reporter that the party were just having a flight around, with no destination in mind.
	In the case of all three it is believed that death was instantaneous.
	The three bodies were mutilated so badly as to be almost unrecognisable. Mr Bossom was identified by his pilot's licence, and Prince Otto by the name "Otto" on his cigarette case. Mrs Bossom's body was found some distance from the others, and her identity was only known as she left Heston with her son.
	The circumstances of the accident are at present unexplained, but it is stated that the machine, for no apparent reason, suddenly appeared to be in difficulties and crashed.
	Prince Otto was aged twenty-three [he was born 22 June 1909], and came from a very distinguished German family. His father is still alive.
	The bodies were found several hundred feet from the wreckage of the 'plane, and were widely separated from each other.
	The Farnham police were notified that an aeroplane had been seen to fall, and a number of officers at once searched for the machine. It had crashed on Hankley, near Churt. The spot is an isolated one, and the nearest houses are about a mile away.
	Mr. Alfred Bossom, M.P., arrived at Farnham mortuary last night, and identified the bodies of his wife and son. He appeared overwhelmed with grief and stunned by the tragedy when he reached the little town where the bodies had been carried.
	The machine apparently passed through some very stormy weather after leaving Heston, but it was comparatively calm when the crash occurred.
	An eye-witness said - I saw an aeroplane flying at a good height, and it disappeared into a cloud. Very shortly afterwards it came out again, and something seemed to have happened to the wings. It crashed to earth. The three occupants were flung out of the machine while it was falling.
	Mr Bruce Bossom, who was 21 years of age [he was born 25 March 1911], recently stated that he was casually employed by a firm at Heston. He had had considerable experience of flying, and his ambition was to break the Australian or South African records or to cross the Atlantic.
	At the subsequent inquest, the jury returned verdicts of "death by misadventure".

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