PEERAGES | ||||||
Last updated 03/07/2018 (12 Mar 2024) | ||||||
Date | Rank | Order | Name | Born | Died | Age |
MANCE | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 Oct 2005 | B[L] | Sir Jonathan Hugh Mance Created Baron Mance for life 3 Oct 2005 Lord Justice of Appeal 1999‑2005; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 2005‑2009; Justice of the Supreme Court 2009‑2018; PC 1999 |
6 Jun 1943 | |||
MANCHESTER | ||||||
5 Feb 1626 | E | 1 | Henry Montagu Created Baron Montagu of Kimbolton and Viscount Mandeville 19 Dec 1620 and Earl of Manchester 5 Feb 1626 MP for Higham Ferrers 1591‑1593, 1597‑1598 and 1601‑1603 and London 1604‑1611; Chief Justice of the Kings Bench 1616‑1621; Lord High Treasurer 1620‑1621; Lord President of the Council 1621‑1628; Lord Privy Seal 1628‑1642; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1636‑1642 |
c 1563 | 7 Nov 1642 | |
7 Nov 1642 | 2 | Edward Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1624‑1626; Lord Lieutenant Northampton 1643 and Huntingdon 1660‑1671; KG 1661 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Montagu of Kimbolton 22 May 1626 |
1602 | 5 May 1671 | 68 | |
5 May 1671 | 3 | Robert Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1660‑1671; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1671‑1681 |
25 Apr 1634 | 16 Mar 1683 | 48 | |
16 Mar 1683 28 Apr 1719 |
D |
4 1 |
Charles Montagu Created Duke of Manchester 28 Apr 1719 Secretary of State 1702; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1689‑1722; PC 1698 |
c 1662 | 20 Jan 1722 | |
20 Jan 1722 | 2 | William Montagu Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1722‑1739 |
Apr 1700 | 21 Oct 1739 | 39 | |
21 Oct 1739 | 3 | Robert Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1734‑1739; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1739‑1762 |
c 1710 | 10 May 1762 | ||
10 May 1762 | 4 | George Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1761‑1762; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1762‑1788; PC 1782 |
6 Apr 1737 | 2 Sep 1788 | 51 | |
2 Sep 1788 | 5 | William Montagu Governor of Jamaica 1808‑1827; Postmaster General 1827‑1830; Lord Lieutenant Huntingdon 1793‑1841 |
21 Oct 1771 | 18 Mar 1843 | 71 | |
18 Mar 1843 | 6 | George Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1826‑1837 | 9 Jul 1799 | 18 Aug 1855 | 56 | |
18 Aug 1855 | 7 | William Drogo Montagu MP for Bewdley 1848‑1852 and Huntingdonshire 1852‑1855; KP 1877 |
15 Oct 1823 | 22 Mar 1890 | 66 | |
22 Mar 1890 | 8 | George Victor Drogo Montagu MP for Huntingdonshire 1877‑1880 |
17 Jun 1853 | 18 Aug 1892 | 39 | |
18 Aug 1892 | 9 | William Angus Drogo Montagu PC 1906 |
3 Mar 1877 | 9 Feb 1947 | 69 | |
9 Feb 1947 | 10 | Alexander George Francis Drogo Montagu | 2 Oct 1902 | 23 Nov 1977 | 75 | |
23 Nov 1977 | 11 | Sidney Arthur Robin George Drogo Montagu | 5 Feb 1929 | 3 Jun 1985 | 56 | |
3 Jun 1985 | 12 | Angus Charles Drogo Montagu | 9 Oct 1938 | 25 Jul 2002 | 63 | |
25 Jul 2002 | 13 | Alexander Charles David Drogo Montagu | 11 Dec 1962 | |||
MANCROFT | ||||||
23 Feb 1937 | B | 1 | Sir Arthur Michael Samuel, 1st baronet Created Baron Mancroft 23 Feb 1937 MP for Farnham 1918‑1937; Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1927‑1929 |
6 Dec 1872 | 17 Aug 1942 | 69 |
17 Aug 1942 | 2 | Stormont Mancroft Samuel Minister without Portfolio 1957‑1958 [he changed surname to Mancroft by deed poll 1925] |
27 Jul 1914 | 14 Sep 1987 | 73 | |
14 Sep 1987 | 3 | Benjamin Lloyd Stormont Mancroft [Elected hereditary peer 1999-] |
16 May 1957 | |||
MANDELSON | ||||||
13 Oct 2008 | B[L] | Peter Benjamin Mandelson Created Baron Mandelson for life 13 Oct 2008 MP for Hartlepool 1992‑2004; Minister without Portfolio 1997‑1998; Secretary of State for Trade & Industry 1998; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1999‑2001; Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform 2008‑2009; Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills 2009‑2010; First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council 2009‑2010; PC 1998 |
21 Oct 1953 | |||
MANDEVILLE | ||||||
19 Dec 1620 | V | 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 | |
MANN | ||||||
28 Oct 2019 | B[L] | John Mann Created Baron Mann for life 28 Oct 2019 MP for Bassetlaw 2001‑2019 |
10 Jan 1960 | |||
MANNERS | ||||||
26 Oct 1309 to 9 Jul 1320 |
B | 1 | Baldwin de Manners Summoned to Parliament as Lord Manners 26 Oct 1309 Peerage extinct on his death |
9 Jul 1320 | ||
20 Apr 1807 | B | 1 | Thomas Manners-Sutton Created Baron Manners 20 Apr 1807 MP for Newark 1796‑1805; Solicitor General 1802‑1805; Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1807‑1827; PC 1807; PC [I] 1807 |
24 Feb 1756 | 31 May 1842 | 86 |
31 May 1842 | 2 | John Thomas Manners‑Sutton | 17 Aug 1818 | 14 Nov 1864 | 46 | |
14 Nov 1864 | 3 | John Thomas Manners‑Sutton | 15 May 1852 | 19 Aug 1927 | 75 | |
19 Aug 1927 | 4 | Francis Henry Manners | 21 Jul 1897 | 25 Nov 1972 | 75 | |
25 Nov 1972 | 5 | John Robert Cecil Manners | 13 Feb 1923 | 28 May 2008 | 85 | |
28 May 2008 | 6 | John Hugh Robert Manners | 5 May 1956 | |||
MANNERS DE HADDON | ||||||
30 Apr 1679 | B | 1 | John Manners Summoned to Parliament as Lord Manners de Haddon 30 Apr 1679 and Marquess of Granby and Duke of Rutland 29 Mar 1703 See "Rutland" |
29 May 1638 | 10 Jan 1711 | 72 |
6 Jun 1896 | Henry John Brinsley Manners He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Manners of Haddon 6 Jun 1896 He succeeded as Duke of Rutland in 1906 |
16 Apr 1852 | 8 May 1925 | 73 | ||
MANNINGHAM-BULLER | ||||||
2 Jun 2008 | B[L] | Dame Elizabeth Lydia Manningham‑Buller Created Baroness Manningham-Buller for life 2 Jun 2008 Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter 2014 |
14 Jul 1948 | |||
MANNY | ||||||
12 Nov 1347 | B | 1 | Walter Manny Summoned to Parliament as Lord Manny 12 Nov 1347 KG 1359 |
13 Jan 1372 | ||
13 Jan 1372 | 2 | Anne Hastings | 1356 | 2 Apr 1384 | 27 | |
2 Apr 1384 to 30 Dec 1389 |
3 | John Hastings, Earl of Pembroke Peerage extinct on his death |
1372 | 30 Dec 1389 | 17 | |
MANSELL | ||||||
1 Jan 1712 | B | 1 | Sir Thomas Mansell, 5th baronet Created Baron Mansell 1 Jan 1712 MP for Cardiff 1689‑1698 and Glamorganshire 1701‑1712; PC 1704 |
9 Nov 1667 | 10 Dec 1723 | 56 |
10 Dec 1723 | 2 | Thomas Mansell | 26 Dec 1719 | 29 Jan 1744 | 24 | |
29 Jan 1744 | 3 | Christopher Mansell | 26 Nov 1744 | |||
26 Nov 1744 to 29 Nov 1750 |
4 | Bussy Mansell MP for Cardiff 1727‑1734 and Glamorganshire 1737‑1744 Peerage extinct on his death |
c 1701 | 29 Nov 1750 | ||
MANSFIELD | ||||||
3 Nov 1620 | V | 1 | William Cavendish Created Viscount Mansfield 3 Nov 1620, Baron Cavendish of Bolsover and Earl of Newcastle upon Tyne 7 Mar 1628, Marquess of Newcastle on Tyne 27 Oct 1643 and Duke of Newcastle 16 Mar 1665 See "Newcastle upon Tyne" |
16 Dec 1593 | 25 Dec 1676 | 83 |
8 Nov 1756 31 Oct 1776 1 Aug 1792 |
B E E |
1 1 1 |
William Murray Created Baron Mansfield 8 Nov 1756, Earl of Mansfield 31 Oct 1776 and Earl of Mansfield 1 Aug 1792 The Earldom of 1776 included a special remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to Louisa Murray, Viscountess Stormont, wife of his nephew and heir David Murray, Viscount Stormont and the heirs male of her body by her said husband. For details of the special remainder included in the creation of the Earldom of 1792, see the note at the foot of this page MP for Boroughbridge 1742‑1756; Solicitor General 1742‑1754; Attorney General 1754‑1756; Lord Chief Justice 1756‑1788; PC 1756 On his death the Barony became extinct, whilst the Earldom of 1776 passed to his nephew's wife (as under) and the Earldom of 1792 passed to his nephew (see below) |
2 Mar 1705 | 20 Mar 1793 | 88 |
20 Mar 1793 | 2 | Louisa Murray (creation of 1776) | 1 Jul 1758 | 11 Jul 1843 | 85 | |
20 Mar 1793 | 2 | David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (creation of 1792) Lord Justice General of Scotland 1778‑1794; Secretary of State 1779‑1782; Lord President of the Council 1782 and 1794‑1796; PC 1763; KT 1768 |
9 Oct 1727 | 1 Sep 1796 | 68 | |
1 Sep 1796 | 3 | David William Murray (creation of 1792) Lord Lieutenant Clackmannan 1803‑1840; KT 1835 |
7 Mar 1777 | 18 Feb 1840 | 62 | |
18 Feb 1840 | 4 3 |
William David Murray MP for Aldborough 1830‑1831, Woodstock 1831‑1832, Norwich 1832‑1837 and Perthshire 1837‑1840; Lord Lieutenant Clackmannan 1852‑1898; KT 1843 He succeeded to the Earldom of 1776 in 1843 |
21 Feb 1806 | 2 Aug 1898 | 92 | |
2 Aug 1898 | 5 4 |
William David Murray PC 1905 |
20 Jul 1860 | 29 Apr 1906 | 45 | |
29 Apr 1906 | 6 5 |
Alan David Murray | 25 Oct 1864 | 14 Mar 1935 | 70 | |
14 Mar 1935 | 7 6 |
Mungo David Malcolm Murray MP for Perth 1931‑1935; Lord Lieutenant Perth 1960‑1971 |
9 Aug 1900 | 2 Sep 1971 | 71 | |
2 Sep 1971 | 8 7 |
William David Mungo James Murray MEP 1973‑1975; Minister of State, Scottish Office 1979‑1983; Minister of State, Northern Ireland 1983‑1984 |
7 Jul 1930 | 21 Oct 2015 | 85 | |
21 Oct 2015 | 9 8 |
Alexander David Mungo Murray | 17 Oct 1956 | |||
MANTON | ||||||
25 Jan 1922 | B | 1 | Joseph Watson Created Baron Manton 25 Jan 1922 |
10 Feb 1873 | 13 Mar 1922 | 49 |
13 Mar 1922 | 2 | George Miles Watson | 21 Jun 1899 | 10 Jun 1968 | 68 | |
10 Jun 1968 | 3 | Joseph Rupert Eric Robert Watson | 22 Jan 1924 | 8 Aug 2003 | 79 | |
8 Aug 2003 | 4 | Miles Ronald Marcus Watson | 7 May 1958 | |||
MANVERS | ||||||
9 Apr 1806 | E | 1 | Charles Pierrepont Created Baron Pierrepont and Viscount Newark 23 Jul 1796 and Earl Manvers 9 Apr 1806 MP for Nottinghamshire 1778‑1796 |
14 Nov 1737 | 17 Jun 1816 | 78 |
17 Jun 1816 | 2 | Charles Herbert Pierrepont MP for Nottinghamshire 1801‑1816 |
11 Aug 1778 | 27 Oct 1860 | 82 | |
27 Oct 1860 | 3 | Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont MP for Nottinghamshire South 1852‑1860 |
12 Mar 1825 | 16 Jan 1900 | 74 | |
16 Jan 1900 | 4 | Charles William Sydney Pierrepont MP for Newark 1885‑1895 and 1898‑1900 |
2 Aug 1854 | 17 Jul 1926 | 71 | |
17 Jul 1926 | 5 | Evelyn Robert Pierrepont | 25 Jul 1888 | 6 Apr 1940 | 51 | |
6 Apr 1940 to 13 Feb 1955 |
6 | Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont Peerage extinct on his death |
15 Apr 1881 | 13 Feb 1955 | 73 | |
MANZOOR | ||||||
6 Sep 2013 | B[L] | Zahida Parveen Manzoor Created Baroness Manzoor for life 6 Sep 2013 |
25 May 1958 | |||
MAPLES | ||||||
24 Jun 2010 to 9 Jun 2012 |
B[L] | John Cradock Maples Created Baron Maples for life 24 Jun 2010 MP for Lewisham West 1983‑1992 and Stratford upon Avon 1997‑2010 Peerage extinct on his death |
22 Apr 1943 | 9 Jun 2012 | 69 | |
MAR | ||||||
c 1115 | E[S] | 1 | Rothri Witness to the Charter of Scone as Earl of Mar c 1115 |
c 1141 | ||
c 1141 | 2 | Morgund | c 1182 | |||
c 1182 | 3 | Gilchrist | c 1228 | |||
c 1228 | 4 | Duncan | c 1243 | |||
c 1243 | 5 | William | c 1281 | |||
c 1281 | 6 | Donald | c 1297 | |||
c 1297 | 7 | Gratney | c 1305 | |||
c 1305 | 8 | Donald | 12 Aug 1332 | |||
12 Aug 1332 | 9 | Thomas | c 1374 | |||
c 1374 | 10 | Margaret Douglas | c 1390 | |||
c 1390 | 11 | Isabel She married Alexander Stewart (see below) |
||||
28 May 1426 | E[S] | 1 | Alexander Stewart Created Earl of Mar 28 May 1426 Illegitimate son of Robert II of Scotland On his death the peerage reverted to the Crown |
1 Aug 1435 | ||
1 Aug 1435 | 12 | Robert Erskine On his death the peerage was wrongly assumed to have become extinct and a number of new creations were made, as under - |
c 1453 | |||
c 1459 to 1479 |
E[S] | 1 | John Stewart Created Earl of Mar and Garioch c 1459 3rd son of James II of Scotland Peerage extinct on his death |
1479 | ||
c Jan 1483 to 1483 |
E[S] | 1 | Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany Created Earl of Mar and Garioch c Jan 1483 The peerage was forfeited a few months later |
c 1485 | ||
2 Mar 1486 to 11 Mar 1503 |
E[S] | 1 | John Stewart Created Earl of Mar and Garioch 2 Mar 1486 3rd son of James III of Scotland Peerage extinct on his death |
c 1480 | 11 Mar 1503 | |
c 1453 | 13 | Thomas Erskine | c 1493 | |||
c 1493 | 14 | Alexander Erskine | c 1509 | |||
c 1509 | 15 | Robert Erskine | 9 Sep 1513 | |||
9 Sep 1513 | 16 | John Erskine | 1552 | |||
1552 24 Jun 1565 |
E[S] |
17 1 |
John Erskine Created Earl of Mar 24 Jun 1565 For further information on this peerage, see the note at the foot of this page |
29 Oct 1572 | ||
29 Oct 1572 | 18 2 |
John Erskine High Treasurer of Scotland 1615‑1630; KG 1603 Created Lord Cardross 19 Jul 1606 |
1562 | 14 Dec 1634 | 72 | |
14 Dec 1634 | 19 3 |
John Erskine | c 1585 | 1654 | ||
1654 | 20 4 |
John Erskine | Sep 1668 | |||
Sep 1668 | 21 5 |
Charles Erskine | 19 Oct 1650 | 22 Apr 1689 | 38 | |
22 Apr 1689 to 17 Feb 1716 |
22 6 |
John Erskine Secretary of State for Scotland 1706‑1707; KT 1706; PC 1708 He was attainted and the peerages forfeited |
Feb 1675 | May 1732 | 57 | |
17 Jun 1824 | 23 7 |
John Francis Erskine Restored to the peerages |
1741 | 20 Aug 1825 | 84 | |
20 Aug 1825 | 24 8 |
John Thomas Erskine | 18 Jun 1772 | 20 Sep 1828 | 56 | |
20 Sep 1828 | 25 9 |
John Francis Miller Erskine For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page He succeeded as 11th Earl of Kellie in 1829. On his death the creation of 1565 passed to his cousin (see below) whilst the original earldom passed to - |
28 Dec 1795 | 19 Jun 1866 | 70 | |
19 Jun 1866 | 26 | John Francis Erskine Goodeve‑Erskine | 29 Mar 1836 | 17 Jun 1930 | 94 | |
17 Jun 1930 | 27 | John Francis Hamilton Sinclair Cunliffe Brooks Forbes Goodeve‑Erskine | 27 Feb 1868 | 29 Sep 1932 | 64 | |
29 Sep 1932 | 28 | Lionel Walter Young Erskine | 13 Jun 1891 | 27 Nov 1965 | 74 | |
27 Nov 1965 | 29 | James Clifton | 22 Nov 1914 | 21 Apr 1975 | 60 | |
21 Apr 1975 | 30 | Margaret of Mar [Elected hereditary peer 1999‑2020] |
19 Sep 1940 | |||
MAR | ||||||
24 Jun 1565 | E[S] | 1 | John Erskine Created Earl of Mar 24 Jun 1565 |
29 Oct 1572 | ||
29 Oct 1572 | 2 | John Erskine High Treasurer of Scotland 1615‑1630; KG 1603 |
1562 | 14 Dec 1634 | 72 | |
14 Dec 1634 | 3 | John Erskine | c 1585 | 1654 | ||
1654 | 4 | John Erskine | Sep 1668 | |||
Sep 1668 | 5 | Charles Erskine | 19 Oct 1650 | 22 Apr 1689 | 38 | |
22 Apr 1689 to 17 Feb 1716 |
6 | John Erskine Secretary of State for Scotland 1706-1707; KT 1706; PC 1708 He was attainted and the peerages forfeited |
Feb 1675 | May 1732 | 57 | |
17 Jun 1824 | 7 | John Francis Erskine Restored to the peerages |
1741 | 20 Aug 1825 | 84 | |
20 Aug 1825 | 8 | John Thomas Erskine | 18 Jun 1772 | 20 Sep 1828 | 56 | |
20 Sep 1828 | 9 | John Francis Miller Erskine He succeeded as 11th Earl of Kellie in 1829 |
28 Dec 1795 | 19 Jun 1866 | 70 | |
19 Jun 1866 | 10 | Walter Coningsby Erskine (also 12th Earl of Kellie) | 12 Jul 1810 | 17 Jan 1872 | 61 | |
17 Jan 1872 | 11 | Walter Henry Erskine (also 13th Earl of Kellie) | 17 Dec 1839 | 16 Sep 1888 | 48 | |
16 Sep 1888 | 12 | Walter John Francis Erskine (also 14th Earl of Kellie) Lord Lieutenant Clackmannan 1898‑1955; KT 1911 |
29 Aug 1865 | 3 Jun 1955 | 89 | |
3 Jun 1955 | 13 | John Francis Hervey Erskine (also 15th Earl of Kellie) Lord Lieutenant Clackmannan 1966‑1993 |
15 Feb 1921 | 22 Dec 1993 | 72 | |
22 Dec 1993 | 14 | James Thorne Erskine (also 16th Earl of Kellie) Created Baron Erskine of Alloa Tower for life 19 Apr 2000 |
10 Mar 1949 | |||
MARCH (England) | ||||||
9 Nov 1328 to 29 Nov 1330 |
E | 1 | Robert Mortimer, 2nd Lord Mortimer Created Earl of March 9 Nov 1328 Chief Governor of Ireland 1316‑1319 He was attainted and the peerages forfeited For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page |
29 Apr 1286 | 29 Nov 1330 | 44 |
1354 | 2 | Roger Mortimer Obtained a reversal of the attainder KG 1348 |
11 Nov 1328 | 26 Feb 1360 | 31 | |
26 Nov 1360 | 3 | Edmund Mortimer Chief Governor of Ireland 1379‑1381 |
1 Feb 1351 | 27 Dec 1381 | 30 | |
27 Dec 1381 | 4 | Roger Mortimer Chief Governor of Ireland 1395‑1398 |
11 Apr 1374 | 20 Jul 1398 | 24 | |
20 Jul 1398 | 5 | Edmond Mortimer Chief Governor of Ireland 1423‑1425 |
6 Nov 1391 | 19 Jan 1425 | 33 | |
19 Jan 1425 | 6 | Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York | 21 Sep 1411 | 30 Dec 1460 | 49 | |
30 Dec 1460 to 1461 |
7 | Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke of York He succeeded to the throne as Edward IV in 1461 when the peerage merged with the Crown |
28 Apr 1442 | 9 Apr 1483 | 40 | |
18 Jul 1479 to 9 Apr 1483 |
E | 1 | Edward Plantagenet, Duke of Cornwall Created Earl of March and Earl of Pembroke 18 Jul 1479 He succeeded to the throne as Edward V in 1483 when all his honours merged with the Crown |
2 Nov 1470 | c 1483 | |
7 Jun 1619 | E | 1 | Esme Stuart Created Baron Stuart of Leighton Bromswold and Earl of March 7 Jun 1619 See "Lennox" - these titles extinct 1672 |
1579 | 30 Jul 1624 | 45 |
9 Aug 1675 | E | 1 | Charles Lennox Created Baron Setrington, Earl of March and Duke of Richmond 9 Aug 1675 and Lord of Torboltoun, Earl of Darnley and Duke of Lennox 9 Sep 1675 See "Richmond" |
29 Jul 1672 | 27 May 1723 | 50 |
MARCH (Scotland) | ||||||
1455 | E[S] | 1 | Alexander Stewart Created Earl of March 1455 and Duke of Albany c 1456 See "Albany" |
c 1485 | ||
5 Mar 1580 to 29 Mar 1586 |
E[S] | 1 | Robert Stuart Created Lord of Dunbar and Earl of March 5 Mar 1580 Peerages extinct on his death |
29 Mar 1586 | ||
1 May 1672 to 24 Aug 1682 |
M[S] | 1 | John Maitland Created Marquess of March and Duke of Lauderdale 1 May 1672 and Baron Petersham and Earl of Guilford 25 Jun 1674 Peerages extinct on his death |
24 May 1616 | 24 Aug 1682 | 66 |
20 Apr 1697 | E[S] | 1 | Lord William Douglas Created Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Viscount of Peebles and Earl of March 20 Apr 1697 |
c 1665 | 2 Sep 1705 | |
2 Sep 1705 | 2 | William Douglas | c 1696 | 7 Mar 1731 | ||
7 Mar 1731 | 3 | William Douglas, later [1748] 3rd Earl of Ruglen and [1778] 4th Duke of Queensberry | 16 Dec 1724 | 23 Dec 1810 | 86 | |
23 Dec 1810 | 4 | Francis Charteris-Wemyss He had previously succeeded to the Earldom of Wemyss in 1808 with which title this peerage then merged and so remains |
15 Apr 1772 | 28 Jun 1853 | 81 | |
MARCHAMLEY | ||||||
3 Jul 1908 | B | 1 | George Whiteley Created Baron Marchamley 3 Jul 1908 MP for Stockport 1893‑1900 and Pudsey 1900‑1908; PC 1907 |
30 Aug 1855 | 21 Oct 1925 | 70 |
21 Oct 1925 | 2 | William Tattersall Whiteley | 22 Nov 1886 | 17 Nov 1949 | 62 | |
17 Nov 1949 | 3 | John William Tattersall Whiteley | 24 Apr 1922 | 26 May 1994 | 72 | |
26 May 1994 | 4 | William Francis Whiteley | 27 Jul 1968 | |||
MARCHMONT | ||||||
23 May 1697 | E[S] | 1 | Sir Patrick Hume, 2nd baronet Created Lord Polwarth 26 Dec 1690 and Lord Polwarth, Viscount of Blasonberrie and Earl of Marchmont 23 May 1697 High Chancellor of Scotland 1696‑1702 |
13 Jan 1641 | 2 Aug 1724 | 83 |
2 Aug 1724 | 2 | Alexander Hume-Campbell KT 1725; PC 1726 |
1 Jan 1675 | 27 Feb 1740 | 65 | |
27 Feb 1740 to 10 Jan 1794 |
3 | Hugh Hume-Campbell MP for Berwick upon Tweed 1734‑1740; PC 1762 On his death the peerage became dormant |
15 Feb 1708 | 10 Jan 1794 | 85 | |
MARCHWOOD | ||||||
8 Jun 1937 13 Sep 1945 |
B V |
1 1 |
Sir Frederick George Penny, 1st baronet Created Baron Marchwood 8 Jun 1937 and Viscount Marchwood 13 Sep 1945 MP for Kingston upon Thames 1922‑1937 |
10 Mar 1876 | 1 Jan 1955 | 78 |
1 Jan 1955 | 2 | Peter George Penny | 7 Nov 1912 | 6 Apr 1979 | 66 | |
6 Apr 1979 | 3 | David George Staveley Penny | 22 May 1936 | 3 Oct 2022 | 86 | |
3 Oct 2022 | 4 | Peter George Worsley Penny | 8 Oct 1965 | |||
MARGADALE | ||||||
1 Jan 1965 | B | 1 | John Granville Morrison Created Baron Margadale 1 Jan 1965 MP for Salisbury 1942‑1964; Lord Lieutenant Wiltshire 1969‑1981 |
16 Dec 1906 | 25 May 1996 | 89 |
25 May 1996 | 2 | James Ian Morrison | 17 Jul 1930 | 6 Apr 2003 | 72 | |
6 Apr 2003 | 3 | Alastair John Morrison | 4 Apr 1958 | |||
MARGESSON | ||||||
27 Apr 1942 | V | 1 | Henry David Reginald Margesson Created Viscount Margesson 27 Apr 1942 MP for Upton 1922‑1923 and Rugby 1924‑1942; Secretary of State for War 1940‑1942; PC 1933 |
26 Jul 1890 | 24 Dec 1965 | 75 |
24 Dec 1965 | 2 | Francis Vere Hampden Margesson | 17 Apr 1922 | 11 Nov 2014 | 92 | |
11 Nov 2014 | 3 | Richard Francis David Margesson | 25 Dec 1960 | |||
MARISCHAL | ||||||
c 1458 | E[S] | 1 | William Keith Created Earl Marischal c 1458 |
after 1458 | ||
after 1458 | 2 | William Keith | 1483 | |||
1483 | 3 | William Keith | c 1527 | |||
c 1527 | 4 | William Keith | 7 Oct 1581 | |||
7 Oct 1581 | 5 | George Keith He subsequently [c 1593] succeeded as 2nd Lord Altrie |
1554 | 2 Apr 1623 | 68 | |
2 Apr 1623 | 6 | William Keith | c 1585 | 28 Oct 1635 | ||
28 Oct 1635 | 7 | William Keith Lord Privy Seal of Scotland 1660‑1661 |
1614 | 1671 | 57 | |
1671 | 8 | George Keith | Mar 1694 | |||
Mar 1694 | 9 | William Keith | c 1664 | 27 May 1712 | ||
27 May 1712 to 1716 |
10 | George Keith He was attainted and the peerages forfeited |
1693 | 28 May 1778 | 84 | |
MARJORIBANKS | ||||||
12 Jun 1873 to 19 Jun 1873 |
B | 1 | David Robertson Created Baron Marjoribanks 12 Jun 1873 MP for Berwickshire 1859‑1873; Lord Lieutenant Berwickshire 1860‑1873 Peerage extinct on his death |
2 Apr 1797 | 19 Jun 1873 | 76 |
MARKHAM | ||||||
7 Oct 2022 | B[L] | Nicholas Francis Markham Created Baron Markham 7 Oct 2022 |
13 Feb 1968 | |||
MARKS | ||||||
16 Jul 1929 to 24 Sep 1938 |
B | 1 | Sir George Croydon Marks Created Baron Marks 16 Jul 1929 MP for Launceston 1906‑1918 and Cornwall North 1918‑1924 Peerage extinct on his death |
9 Jun 1858 | 24 Sep 1938 | 80 |
MARKS OF BROUGHTON | ||||||
10 Jul 1961 | B | 1 | Sir Simon Marks Created Baron Marks of Broughton 10 Jul 1961 For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page |
9 Jul 1888 | 8 Dec 1964 | 76 |
8 Dec 1964 | 2 | Michael Marks | 27 Aug 1920 | 9 Sep 1998 | 78 | |
9 Sep 1998 | 3 | Simon Richard Marks | 3 May 1950 | |||
MARKS OF HALE | ||||||
8 Mar 2024 | B[L] | Stuart Adam Marks Created Baron Marks of Hale for life 8 Mar 2024 |
11 Sep 1966 | |||
MARKS OF HENLEY-ON-THAMES | ||||||
11 Jan 2011 | B[L] | Jonathan Marks Created Baron Marks of Henley-on-Thames for life 11 Jan 2011 |
19 Oct 1952 | |||
MARLAND | ||||||
8 Jun 2006 | B[L] | Jonathan Peter Marland Created Baron Marland for life 8 Jun 2006 |
14 Aug 1956 | |||
MARLBOROUGH | ||||||
5 Feb 1626 | E | 1 | Sir James Ley, 1st baronet Created Baron Ley 31 Dec 1625 and Earl of Marlborough 5 Feb 1626 Lord High Treasurer 1624‑1628; Lord President of the Council 1628 |
1552 | 14 Mar 1629 | 76 |
14 Mar 1629 | 2 | Henry Ley | 3 Dec 1595 | 1 Apr 1638 | 42 | |
1 Apr 1638 | 3 | James Ley | 28 Jan 1618 | 3 Jun 1665 | 47 | |
3 Jun 1665 to 1679 |
4 | William Ley Peerage extinct on his death |
12 Mar 1612 | 1679 | 67 | |
9 Apr 1689 14 Dec 1702 |
E D |
1 1 |
John Churchill Created Baron Churchill 21 Dec 1682 and 14 May 1685, Earl of Marlborough 9 Apr 1689, Marquess of Blandford and Duke of Marlborough 14 Dec 1702 MP for Newtown 1679; Lord Lieutenant Oxfordshire 1706‑1712; PC 1689; KG 1702 |
24 Jun 1650 | 16 Jun 1722 | 71 |
16 Jun 1722 | 2 | Henrietta Godolphin | 20 Jul 1681 | 24 Oct 1733 | 52 | |
24 Oct 1733 | 3 | Charles Spencer, 5th Earl of Sunderland Lord Privy Seal 1755; Lord Lieutenant Oxford and Buckingham 1739‑1758; KG 1741; PC 1749 |
22 Nov 1706 | 20 Oct 1758 | 51 | |
20 Oct 1758 | 4 | George Spencer Lord Privy Seal 1763‑1765; Lord Lieutenant Oxford 1760‑1817; PC 1762; KG 1768 |
26 Jan 1739 | 29 Jan 1817 | 78 | |
29 Jan 1817 | 5 | George Spencer-Churchill MP for Oxfordshire 1790‑1796 and Tregony 1802‑1804 He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of Acceleration as Baron Spencer of Wormleighton 12 Mar 1806 |
6 Mar 1766 | 5 Mar 1840 | 73 | |
5 Mar 1840 | 6 | George Spencer-Churchill MP for Chippenham 1818‑1820 and Woodstock 1826‑1831, 1832‑1835 and 1838‑1840; Lord Lieutenant Oxford 1842‑1857 |
27 Dec 1793 | 1 Jul 1857 | 63 | |
1 Jul 1857 | 7 | John Winston Spencer-Churchill MP for Woodstock 1844‑1845 and 1847‑1857; Lord Lieutenant Oxford 1857‑1883; Lord President of the Council 1867‑1868; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1876‑1880; PC 1866; KG 1868 |
2 Jun 1822 | 5 Jul 1883 | 61 | |
5 Jul 1883 | 8 | George Charles Spencer‑Churchill | 15 May 1844 | 9 Nov 1892 | 48 | |
9 Nov 1892 | 9 | Charles Richard John Spencer‑Churchill Paymaster General 1899‑1902; Lord Lieutenant Oxfordshire 1915‑1934; PC 1899; KG 1902 |
13 Nov 1871 | 30 Jun 1934 | 62 | |
30 Jun 1934 | 10 | John Albert Edward William Spencer‑Churchill | 18 Sep 1897 | 11 Mar 1972 | 74 | |
11 Mar 1972 | 11 | John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer‑Churchill | 13 Apr 1926 | 16 Oct 2014 | 88 | |
16 Oct 2014 | 12 | Charles James Spencer‑Churchill | 24 Nov 1955 | |||
MARLESFORD | ||||||
7 Jun 1991 | B[L] | Mark Shuldham Schreiber Created Baron Marlesford for life 7 Jun 1991 |
11 Sep 1931 | |||
MARLEY | ||||||
16 Jan 1930 | B | 1 | Dudley Leigh Amon Created Baron Marley 16 Jan 1930 |
16 May 1884 | 29 Feb 1952 | 67 |
29 Feb 1952 to 13 Mar 1990 |
2 | Godfrey Pelham Leigh Amon Peerage extinct on his death |
6 Sep 1913 | 13 Mar 1990 | 76 | |
MARMION | ||||||
26 Jul 1313 | B | 1 | John Marmion Summoned to Parliament as Lord Marmion 26 Jul 1313 |
1322 | ||
1322 | 2 | John Marmion | c 1292 | 30 Apr 1335 | ||
30 Apr 1335 to c 1360 |
3 | Robert Marmion On his death the peerage fell into abeyance |
c 1360 | |||
MARNY | ||||||
9 Apr 1523 | B | 1 | Henry Marny Created Baron Marny 9 Apr 1523 KG 1510 |
c 1457 | 24 May 1523 | |
24 May 1523 to 27 Apr 1525 |
2 | John Marny Peerage extinct on his death |
c 1493 | 27 Apr 1525 | ||
MARPLES | ||||||
8 May 1974 to 6 Jul 1978 |
B[L] | Alfred Ernest Marples Created Baron Marples for life 8 May 1974 MP for Wallasey 1945‑1974; Postmaster General 1957‑1959; Minister of Transport 1959‑1964; PC 1957 Peerage extinct on his death |
9 Dec 1907 | 6 Jul 1978 | 70 | |
MARSH | ||||||
15 Jul 1981 to 29 Jul 2011 |
B[L] | Sir Richard William Marsh Created Baron Marsh for life 15 Jul 1981 MP for Greenwich 1959‑1971; Minister of Power 1966‑1968; Minister of Transport 1968‑1969; PC 1966 Peerage extinct on his death |
14 Mar 1928 | 29 Jul 2011 | 83 | |
MARSHAL | ||||||
8 Dec 1309 | B | 1 | William Marshal Summoned to Parliament as Lord Marshal 8 Dec 1309 |
24 Sep 1277 | 24 Jun 1314 | 36 |
24 Jun 1314 to 12 Aug 1316 |
2 | John Marshal On his death the peerage fell into abeyance |
1 Aug 1292 | 12 Aug 1316 | 24 | |
MARSHALL OF CHIPSTEAD | ||||||
14 Jan 1921 to 29 Mar 1936 |
B | 1 | Sir Horace Brooks Marshall Created Baron Marshall of Chipstead 14 Jan 1921 PC 1919 Peerage extinct on his death |
5 Aug 1865 | 29 Mar 1936 | 70 |
MARSHALL OF GORING | ||||||
22 Jul 1985 to 20 Feb 1996 |
B[L] | Sir Walter Charles Marshall Created Baron Marshall of Goring for life 22 Jul 1985 Peerage extinct on his death |
5 Mar 1932 | 20 Feb 1996 | 63 | |
MARSHALL OF KNIGHTSBRIDGE | ||||||
20 Jul 1998 to 5 Jul 2012 |
B[L] | Sir Colin Marsh Marshall Created Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge for life 20 Jul 1998 Peerage extinct on his death |
16 Nov 1933 | 5 Jul 2012 | 78 | |
MARSHALL OF LEEDS | ||||||
11 Jul 1980 to 1 Nov 1990 |
B[L] | Sir Frank Shaw Marshall Created Baron Marshall of Leeds for life 11 Jul 1980 Peerage extinct on his death |
26 Sep 1915 | 1 Nov 1990 | 75 | |
MARSHAM | ||||||
22 Jun 1801 | V | 1 | Charles Marsham Created Viscount Marsham and Earl of Romney 22 Jun 1801 See "Romney" |
28 Sep 1744 | 1 Mar 1811 | 66 |
MARTIN | ||||||
23 Jun 1295 | B | 1 | William Martin Summoned to Parliament as Lord Martin 23 Jun 1295 |
1257 | 1325 | 68 |
1325 to 1326 |
2 | William Martin On his death the peerage fell into abeyance |
1295 | 1326 | 31 | |
MARTIN OF SPRINGBURN | ||||||
25 Aug 2009 to 29 Apr 2018 |
B[L] | Michael John Martin Created Baron Martin of Springburn for life 25 Aug 2009 MP for Springburn 1979‑2005 and Glasgow North East 2005‑2009; Speaker of the House of Commons 2000‑2009; PC 2000 Peerage extinct on his death |
3 Jul 1945 | 29 Apr 2018 | 72 | |
MARTONMERE | ||||||
13 May 1964 | B | 1 | Sir John Roland Robinson Created Baron Martonmere 13 May 1964 MP for Widnes 1931‑1935, Blackpool 1935‑1945 and Blackpool South 1945‑1964; Governor of Bermuda 1964‑1972; PC 1962 |
22 Feb 1907 | 3 May 1989 | 82 |
3 May 1989 | 2 | John Stephen Robinson | 10 Jul 1963 | |||
MARYBOROUGH | ||||||
17 Jul 1821 | B | 1 | William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington Created Baron Maryborough 17 Jul 1821 See "Mornington" |
20 May 1763 | 22 Feb 1845 | 81 |
MASHAM | ||||||
5 May 1955 | B | 1 | Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Viscount Swinton Created Baron Masham and Earl of Swinton 5 May 1955 See "Swinton" |
1 May 1884 | 27 Jul 1972 | 88 |
MASHAM OF ILTON | ||||||
12 Feb 1970 to 12 Mar 2023 |
B[L] | Susan Lilian Primrose Cunliffe‑Lister Created Baroness Masham of Ilton for life 12 Feb 1970 Peerage extinct on her death |
14 Apr 1935 | 12 Mar 2023 | 87 | |
MASHAM OF OTES | ||||||
1 Jan 1712 | B | 1 | Samuel Masham Created Baron Masham of Otes 1 Jan 1712 MP for Ilchester 1710‑1711 and Windsor 1711‑1712 For information on his wife Abigail, see the note at the foot of this page |
c 1679 | 16 Oct 1758 | |
16 Oct 1758 to 14 Jun 1776 |
2 | Samuel Masham Peerage extinct on his death |
Nov 1712 | 14 Jun 1776 | 63 | |
MASHAM OF SWINTON | ||||||
15 Jul 1891 | B | 1 | Samuel Cunliffe-Lister Created Baron Masham of Swinton 15 Jul 1891 |
1 Jan 1815 | 2 Feb 1906 | 91 |
2 Feb 1906 | 2 | Samuel Cunliffe-Lister | 2 Aug 1857 | 24 Jan 1917 | 59 | |
24 Jan 1917 to 4 Jan 1924 |
3 | John Cunliffe-Lister Peerage extinct on his death |
9 Aug 1867 | 4 Jan 1924 | 56 | |
MASON OF BARNSLEY | ||||||
20 Oct 1987 to 20 Apr 2015 |
B[L] | Roy Mason Created Baron Mason of Barnsley for life 20 Oct 1987 MP for Barnsley 1953‑1983 and Barnsley Central 1983‑1987; Minister of State, Board of Trade 1964‑1967; Minister of Defence (Equipment) 1967‑1968; Postmaster General 1968; Minister of Power 1968‑1969. President of the Board of Trade 1969‑1970; Secretary of State for Defence 1974‑1976; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1976‑1979; PC 1968 Peerage extinct on his death |
18 Apr 1924 | 20 Apr 2015 | 91 | |
MASSEREENE | ||||||
21 Nov 1660 | V[I] | 1 | John Clotworthy Created Baron of Loughneagh and Viscount Massereene 21 Nov 1660 |
23 Sep 1665 | ||
23 Sep 1665 | 2 | Sir John Skeffington, 4th baronet PC [I] 1690 |
21 Jun 1695 | |||
21 Jun 1695 | 3 | Clotworthy Skeffington MP [I] for Antrim County 1692‑1693 |
1661 | 14 Mar 1714 | 52 | |
14 Mar 1714 | 4 | Clotworthy Skeffington MP [I] for Antrim County 1703‑1715 |
c 1681 | 11 Feb 1738 | ||
11 Feb 1738 | E[I] |
5 1 |
Clotworthy Skeffington Created Earl of Massereene 28 Jul 1756 PC [I] 1746 |
17 Sep 1757 | ||
17 Sep 1757 | 6 2 |
Clotworthy Skeffington For further information on this peer, see the note at the foot of this page |
28 Jan 1742 | 28 Feb 1805 | 63 | |
28 Feb 1805 | 7 3 |
Henry Skeffington MP [I] for Belfast 1768‑1797 and Antrim Borough 1798‑1800 |
1744 | 12 Jun 1811 | 66 | |
12 Jun 1811 | 8 4 |
Chichester Skeffington MP [I] for Antrim Borough 1776‑1798 On his death the Earldom became extinct, whilst the Viscountcy passed to - |
c 1746 | 25 Feb 1816 | ||
25 Feb 1816 | 9 | Harriet Skeffington | 2 Jan 1831 | |||
2 Jan 1831 | 10 | John Foster-Skeffington He succeeded as 3rd Viscount Ferrard in 1843 KP 1851 |
30 Nov 1812 | 28 Apr 1863 | 50 | |
28 Apr 1863 | 11 | Clotworthy John Eyre Foster-Skeffington (also 4th Viscount Ferrard) Lord Lieutenant Louth 1879‑1898 |
9 Oct 1842 | 26 Jun 1905 | 62 | |
26 Jun 1905 | 12 | Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington (also 5th Viscount Ferrard) Lord Lieutenant Antrim 1916‑1938 |
28 Nov 1873 | 20 Jul 1956 | 82 | |
20 Jul 1956 | 13 | John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte‑Melville Skeffington (also 6th Viscount Ferrard) | 23 Oct 1914 | 27 Dec 1992 | 78 | |
27 Dec 1992 | 14 | John David Clotworthy Whyte‑Melville Foster Skeffington (also 7th Viscount Ferrard) | 3 Jun 1940 | |||
The special remainder to the Earldom of Mansfield created in 1792 | ||
From the London Gazette of 24 July 1792 (issue 13444, page 586):- | ||
The King has been pleased to grant the Dignity of an Earl of the Kingdom of Great Britain to the Right Honourable William Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Name, Style and Title of Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Middlesex; with Remainder to the Right Honourable David Viscount Stormont, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten. | ||
The Earldoms of Mar | ||
Why are there two Earldoms of Mar? The following extract, taken from The Great Historic Families of Scotland by James Taylor [2 vols, J S Virtue & Co. London 1889] is as good an explanation as I have found:- | ||
On the death of John Francis, sixteenth Earl of Mar and eleventh Earl of Kellie, in 1866, his cousin, Walter Coningsby Erskine, inherited the family estates along with the earldom of Kellie, which were entailed on heirs male ; while the ancient earldom of Mar was claimed by John Francis Goodeve, the only son of the late earl's sister, who thereupon assumed the name of Erskine. His claim was at first universally admitted. He was presented at Court as Earl of Mar, his vote was repeatedly received at the election of representative peers, and his right to the title was conceded even by his cousin, Walter Coningsby Erskine, the new Earl of Kellie. By-and-by, however, Lord Kellie laid claim also to the earldom of Mar, but he died before his petition could be considered by the House of Lords. It was renewed by his son, and was in due course referred to the Committee for Privileges. In support of the claim it was pleaded that the title of Earl of Mar, conferred by Queen Mary on John, Lord Erskine, in 1565, was not the restoration of an ancient peerage, but the creation of a new one; that the original earldom of Mar was purely territorial, one of the seven ancient earldoms of Scotland, and was therefore indivisible; that this dignity terminated at the death of Earl Thomas in 1377; that William, first Earl of Douglas, his sister's husband, must have obtained the earldom by charter and not by right of his wife, as at his death the title and estates descended to their son James, second Earl of Douglas, while his mother was still living; that her daughter, Isabella, became the wife Sir Malcolm Drummond, who was styled Lord of Mar and of the Garioch, not earl; that her second husband, Alexander Stewart, obtained possession of the territorial earldom of Mar in right of his wife, but did not become earl until he obtained seizen under the Crown; that he survived the Countess for many years, and acted, and was treated by the Crown, as the owner in fee of the earldom, and that on his death the Crown entered into possession of the estates in terms of the charter granted to the earl by King James I; that from this period downwards the lands had been broken up and disposed of by the Sovereign at his pleasure, different portions of them having been granted at various times to royal favourites, and that the title had been in succession upon several persons who had no connection with its original possessors. The territorial earldom, it was asserted, was indivisible, and could not be separated from the title, and as the former had ceased to exist, the ancient dignity could not be revived. It was, therefore, contended that Queen Mary must have created a new dignity when on her marriage to Darnley in 1565 she raised Lord Erskine to the rank of an earl; that the fact that throughout Queen Mary's reign he ranked as the junior and not the premier earl, as must have been the case if the title had been the old dignity revived in his person, shows that his earldom was a new creation, and that as there is no charter in existence describing the dignity conferred upon Lord Erskine, the prima-facie presumption is that it descended to heirs male. | ||
On the other hand, it was pleaded by Mr. Goodeve Erskine, who opposed Lord Kellie's claim, that inasmuch as the earldom of Mar was enjoyed by two countesses, mother and daughter, it could not be a male fief; and that as Sir Robert Erskine is admitted to have been second heir 'of line and blood' to the Countess Isabel through his mother, Janet Keith, great-granddaughter of Donald, third earl, he was de jure Earl of Mar, though excluded from the title and estates by an act of tyranny and oppression on the part of James I, who was at this time bent of breaking down the power of the nobles, and for that reason illegally seized the land and suppressed the dignity of this great earldom; that the Erskines never relinquished their claim to the earldom, while it remained 'in the simple and nakit possession of the Crown without ony richt of property therein', and made repeated though unsuccessful efforts to recover their rights; that Queen Mary, therefore, it was contended, did not create a new peerage but had in express terms recognised the right of Sir Robert Erskine's descendant, John, Lord Erskine, to the earldom of which his ancestor had been unjustly deprived, as she said, through 'the troubles of the times and the influence of corrupt advisers', and had declared that, 'moved by conscience, as it was her duty to restore just heritages to their lawful heirs, she restored to John, Lord Erskine, the the earldom of Mar and the lordship and regality of Garioch, with all the usual privileges incident and belonging thereto, together with the lands of Strathdon, Braemar, Cromar and Strathdee'. Queen Mary, therefore, it was contended, did not create a new peerage but restored an old one; and even if the title conferred upon Lord Erskine had been a new creation, the presumption is that, like the original dignity, it would have descended to heirs female as well as male. With regard to the assumption that Queen Mary must have granted a patent or charter conferring the 'peerage earldom' on Lord Erskine, it was pointed out that there is no proof that any such document ever existed, that there is not the remotest allusion to it in any contemporary history, and that Lord Redesdale's suggestion that the deed may have been accidentally destroyed, or that the Earl of Mar may have destroyed it to serve some sinister purpose, is a mere conjecture, wholly unsupported by evidence. When it was proposed to restore the forfeited title, in 1824, to John Erskine of Mar, it was remitted to the law officers of the Crown, one of whom was Sir John Copley, afterwards Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, to investigate whether he had proved himself to be heir to his grandfather, the attainted earl. They reported in the affirmative, and the attainder was reversed in his favour. It was noted as an important fact that John Erskine was declared in the Act to be the grandson and lineal heir of his grandfather through his mother - a striking proof, it was said, that the earldom restored by Queen Mary was not limited to heirs male. Mr. Goodeve Erskine rests his claim to be the heir of his uncle on the very same ground on which his grandfather based his claim to be the heir of the Jacobite earl, viz., through his mother; and it was argued that, since the claim was regarded as valid in the one case, it ought to be so held in the other also. Great stress was laid on the position which the earldom occupies in the Union Roll, as showing that it has all along been regarded as the original dignity, and not a new creation. In 1606 commissioners were appointed by James VI to prepare a roll of the Scottish peers, according to their precedence, and the document prepared by them, which was corrected by the Court of Session, is known in Scottish history as the 'Decreet of Ranking' - the official register of the peerage of Scotland — the basis, in fact, of the Union Roll. Now in this nearly contemporary document the earldom of Mar has a much higher antiquity assigned to it than the date of 1565, the earl being placed above several earls whose titles were conferred in the fifteenth century. On the Union Roll it has the date of 1457 prefixed to it. | ||
These arguments, however, failed to satisfy the Committee for Privileges, consisting of Lords Redesdale, Chelmsford, and Cairns, who decided that the dignity conferred by Queen Mary on Lord Erskine was a new and personal honour, and is held on the same tenure as the other peerages possessed by the Erskine family, all of which are limited to heirs male. This decision which are limited to heirs male. This decision has not given universal satisfaction. A considerable number of influential Scottish peers, including the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, Stair, Galloway and Mansfield, the Marquis of Huntly, Viscounts Strathallan and Arbuthnot, and Lord Napier of Ettrick, have repeatedly protested against the Earl of Kellie's claim to vote as the Earl of Mar, whose name stands fifth on the Union Roll. An elaborate work in two volumes octavo was prepared by the late Earl of Crawford and Balcarres to prove that a miscarriage of justice has taken place in consequence of the decision of the Committee for Privileges on the Mar peerage case. Mr. Goodeve Erskine, who has at last regained the title of Ear; of Mar and Baron Garioch, asserted that though the Committee for Privileges had unwarrantably authorised the Earl of Kellie to assume a title which never had an existence and is a mere figment of their own imagination, their decision had no bearing on his right to the ancient earldom of Mar, which is claimed by no one but himself, and of which he is the undoubted lineal heir. | ||
The feeling that injustice was done to Mr. Goodeve Erskine by the decision of the Committee was so strong that a Bill, entitled 'Earldom of Mar Restitution Bill', was brought into the House of Lords, by command of the Queen, for the purpose of restoring the ancient earldom to Mr. Erskine. It was read a second time on the 20th of May, 1885, and referred to a Select Committee, who reported that the preamble had been proved. The Bill passed through both Houses of Parliament without opposition, and became law before the close of the session. | ||
John Francis Miller Erskine, 25th Earl of Mar | ||
The Earl found himself in a spot of bother in late 1831, when he appeared in court charged with an assault by shooting in the direction of a man named John Oldham. The following account of the trial appeared in The Examiner of 25 December 1831:- | ||
High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, Dec 19. | ||
Trial of the Earl of Mar - The Earl of Mar was accused of assault, by shooting in the direction of John Oldham, Esq., on the moor of Cochrage, Perth, on the 12th August last. John Oldham, Esq., stated that he had a shooting on Cochrage Moor, of which he went to take possession on the 12th August. Andrew Michie pointed out the boundary to him, and shortly afterwards, he observed that there were three men shooting upon his moor. He rode up to them, when one of them, which proved to be the Earl of Mar, seized hold of the bridle of his poney [sic], and asked who and what he was, and what business he had there? Witness said he was on his own moor - when his lordship replied that he was a poacher and a thief, and that he would as lief shoot his horse as him. He thought, from his lordship's manner, that he must be drunk; and, therefore, merely asked him what was the name of his moor. He said it was Blackcraig, and witness answered that this is not Blackcraig, but Mr. Campbell's moor. Lord Mar then threatened to prosecute witness, insisted on knowing who he was, and seeing his license. The witness continued, "I said I should like first to know who he was: one of his men came forward, and said, this is the Earl of Mar. Lord Mar immediately added, do you know who I am? I was a great deal irritated at this, that he should suppose I should care more for him that Douglas, and I answered that I knew not, nor cared who he was. I had never seen him before. I told him he was off his own ground, and I was not. I said I was no poacher nor thief, and that he was a liar and scoundrel. There was some repetition of these words; and he also said that I had robbed him; it was his moor, and he had paid for it. At this time my men came up. I then said to Lord Mar, here is a man (A. Michie) who is well acquainted with the moor: I should like to have the limits of the moor defined. Lord Mar seemed quite furious at the proposal to have the limits of the moor defined. He kicked my pony, let go of the bridle, and separated himself about five or six yards. He then said he would fire at us if we did not leave the moor immediately, and began to wave about the gun in all directions. A short parley took place between Lord Mar and his own men who earnestly begged of him not to fire, and put the gun aside. As soon as the men ceased to put aside the gun, his lordship put the gun to his shoulder and fired. The charge passed near me, I instantly got off the poney [sic], expecting that he would fire the other barrel, but his men prevented him. One of Lord Mar's men, Salmon, begged that we should leave the moor; if we did not, he was sure mischief would happen. I rather demurred to be driven off my ground in this way, but fearing to be shot said, 'We are going'. I went off, leaving his lordship standing, and when they had got away about 120 or 130 yards, I heard two shots fired. Robert Stewart looked about, and said he was firing at us again, but I did not see him fire. Three witnesses corroborated this statement. | ||
Lord Mar admitted firing, with a view to scaring the party away, but not in the direction of Mr. Oldham. Two witnesses gave his lordship a character for kindness, mildness and humanity. The jury, after a few minutes' conversation, unanimously found the assault proven - Lord Gillies after adverting to the distressing nature of the case that a young nobleman, the representative of a most ancient family, should be convicted of crime, and to the necessity of dispensing equal justice to the high and to the low, sentenced his lordship to imprisonment for two months, and thereafter to find security to the extent of £5,000 to keep the peace for five years, or to be confined for a further period of six months. | ||
Robert Mortimer, 1st Earl of March | ||
The following sketch of the downfall of the Earl of March is taken from Chambers' Book of Days published in 1869:- | ||
To the traveller approaching Nottingham by rail from the Derbyside, the commanding position of its ruined castle cannot but be an object of interest. Though commerce has completely surrounded the rock it stands upon with workshops, wharves, and modern dwelling houses, the castle seems literally "to dwell alone". Associations of a character peculiar to itself cluster round it. It has a distinctive existence, claims a distinct parentage from the puny, grovelling erections beneath it and soars as much beyond them by the events it calls to mind, as by its proud and lofty position. Its history, in fact, is interwoven in the history of the nation; and part of the glory and shame of its country's deeds rests upon it. | ||
The old castle must have frowned with unusual gloominess when Isabella, queen of Edward II, and her unprincipled paramour, Mortimer, took up their abode in it. The queen had rebelled against and deposed her husband. Mortimer had accomplished his death. And with the young king, Edward III, in their tutelage, they tyrannised over the country, and squandered its treasures as they pleased. | ||
As a fresh instance of her favour, the frail princess had recently elevated Mortimer to the earldom of March. But the encroaching arrogance of the haughty minion was awakening in the minds of the barons a determination to curb his insolence and overgrown power. The spirit of revenge was still further excited by the execution of the king's uncle, [Edmund Plantagenet] the Earl of Kent, who appears to have been slain merely to shew that there was no one too high to be smitten down if he dared to make himself obnoxious to the profligate rulers. The bow, however, was this time strained beyond its strength. The blow that was intended to quell the rising storm of indignation rebounded, with increased force, on the guilty Mortimer, and proved his own destruction. For all parties, weary of his insolence and oppression, were forgetting their former feuds in the common anxiety to work his overthrow, and this last savage act of his government aroused them to a full sense of their danger, and gave increased intensity to their hatred and desire of vengeance. Besides which, they saw in the young king, now in his eighteenth year, signs of growing impatience of the yoke which Mortimer, as regent, had imposed on his authority. Daily they poured complaints into the royal ear of the profligacy, the exactions, and the illegal practices of the paramour, and found in Edward a willing listener. At length he was brought to see his own danger, to look upon Mortimer as the murderer of his father and uncle, the usurper of power which ought to be in his hands, the spoiler of his people, and the man who was bringing daily dishonour to himself and the nation by an illicit connection with his royal mother. He determined, accordingly, to humble the pride of the arrogant chief, and redress the public grievances. | ||
A parliament was summoned to meet at Nottingham, about Michaelmas 1330. The castle was occupied by the dowager queen and the Earl of March, attended by a guard of a hundred and eighty knights, with their followers; while the king, with his queen, Philippa, and a small retinue, took up his abode in the town. The number of their attendants, and the jealous care with which the castle was guarded, implied suspicions in the mind of the guilty pair. Every night the gates of the fortress were locked, and the keys delivered to the queen, who slept with them under her pillow. But with all their precautions, justice was more than a match for their villainy. Sir William Montacute [later 1st Earl of Salisbury], under the sanction of his sovereign, summoned to his aid several nobles, on whose loyalty and good faith he could depend, and obtained the king's warrant for the apprehension of the Earl of March and others. The plot was now ripe for execution. | ||
For a time, however, the inaccessible nature of the castle rock, and the vigilance with which the passes were guarded, appeared to present an insuperable obstacle to the accomplishment of their designs. Could Sir William Eland, the constable of the castle, be won over, and induced to betray the fortress into their hands? The experiment was worth a trial, and Montacute undertook the delicate task. Sir William joyfully fell in with a proposition which enabled him at once to testify his loyalty to his sovereign and his detestation of the haughty tyrant. | ||
Everything being now arranged, Edward and his loyal associates were conducted by Sir William Eland through a secret passage in the rock to the interior of the castle. Proceeding at once to a chamber adjoining the queen's apartment, they found the object of their search in close consultation with the bishop of Lincoln and others of his party. The Earl of March was seized; Sir Hugh Turplinton and Sir John Monmouth, two of the state-guards, were slain in attempting to rescue him from the king's associates; and the queen, hearing the tumult, and suspecting the cause, rushed into the room in an agony of terror, exclaiming: "Fair son, fair son, have pity on the gentle Mortimer!" Notwithstanding the cries and entreaties of the weeping Isabella, her beloved earl was torn from her presence, and hurried down the secret passage by which his captors entered, and which has ever since been designated Mortimer's Hole. With so much secrecy and despatch was this stratagem executed, that the guards on the ramparts of the castle were not disturbed, and the good people of Nottingham knew nothing of the enterprise till the following day, when the arrest of Mortimer's sons and several of his adherents by the royalists, gave a significant and acceptable indication that the luxurious and profligate usurpation of the Earl of March had at length been terminated by kingly authority. | ||
Mortimer was conveyed by a strong guard to the Tower of London. Edward repaired to Leicester, whence he issued writs for the assembling of a new parliament at Westminster, for the purpose of hearing charges against the late administration, and redressing the grievances under which the kingdom had laboured. At this parliament Mortimer was impeached and convicted in a most summary manner of high treason and other crimes. No proof in evidence of his guilt was heard, and he was condemned to die as a traitor, by being drawn and hanged on the common gallows; a sentence which was executed at 'The Elms', in Smithfield, on the 29th of November 1330. His body was allowed to hang two days on the gallows, and was then interred in the church of the Greyfriars. | ||
Simon Marks, 1st Baron Marks of Broughton | ||
The following biography of Lord Marks of Broughton appeared in the February 1971 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade:- | ||
Sir Simon Marks, the British retail store colossus, never lost his reverence for the memory of his father, Michael, the Polish Jew who had earned his first shillings in England selling odds and ends from a pack he carried on his back. Michael was a man of absolute integrity, a quality he passed on to his son. And it was the lessons the younger Marks learned from his father that caused him to treat the 28,000 members of his staff in his 240 stores like little princes and princesses. Nothing was too good for these employees. Any humble salesgirl could, during the midday break, have her hair shampooed in the staff hairdressing salon for 3/6 while a 1/- three-course meal was served to her on a tray. | ||
Once a left-wing politician complimented Marks on his staff welfare services. "You're putting socialism into practice," the politician said. Marks looked hard at the man. Quietly he said: "Not exactly. I learned a very fine code of conduct towards my fellow men, not from Karl Marx, but from Michael Marks." | ||
A sad-eyed little man who looked like Eddie Cantor, Simon Marks revolutionised shopping in Britain until his stores were selling 10 per cent of all the clothing in the nation and serving 10 million customers a week. Starting with 50 penny bazaars left him by his father, Simon Marks built Britain's most successful retail chain by selling quality goods at economy prices. His aim in business, he always said, was to see that every shopgirl and typist could dress like a duchess. "And eat like an epicure," he added when the firm began building up sales of food lines as well as clothing. | ||
This romantic story of the creation of a great business began in 1880 when Michael Marks arrived in England having fled his native Poland to escape conscription. Poland was then under the control of Russia and the 17-year-old Jew had made up his mind he was not going to bear arms for a country that was notorious for its anti-Semitism. Michael Marks landed at Hull in Yorkshire and set up as pedlar round nearby villages. He sold buttons, pins, needles, cotton and darning wool from a pack he carried on his back. After four years he had advanced enough to marry Hannah Cohen and open a permanent stall in the Leeds market. The stall sold the same sort of household odds and ends he had previously peddled from door to door. Marks called it the Penny Bazaar and it carried a sign: "Don't ask the price - it's a penny". | ||
On July 9, 1888, Hannah Marks gave birth to a son who was named Simon. Meanwhile, the idea of the penny bazaar had caught on and by 1890 Michael Marks was running five of them in different market towns. In 1894 Michael Marks found himself over-extended financially, so he decided to take in a partner. Tom Spencer [1852‑1905], a cashier at one of the warehouses where Marks bought his goods, agreed to put up £300 for a half-share and the firm Marks and Spencer was born. | ||
Young Simon Marks attended Manchester Grammar School and by the time he was 15, Marks and Spencer had 40 market stalls in the Midlands. With increasing prosperity, Michael Marks was able to go to a workman's club every weekend and present sovereigns to needy members pointed out by the secretary. "God gives to him who gives," Marks used to tell his son. | ||
Simon left school in 1905 and was packed off to the Continent for two years so that he could learn French and German. That year Tom Spencer died. In a period of constant business growth, this meant overwork and worry for Michael Marks. He was so overworked that in 1907 it killed him. In the same year Simon Marks, back from Europe only a couple of weeks and still a novice in business, had to take control of the 50 penny bazaars run by Marks and Spencer. Yet seven years later he had built the business up to 145 shops and bazaars, 50 of which were in London. Although economy prices were still the firm's watch-word, the price ceiling was being raised progressively, shops were replacing the bazaars and clothing was becoming the principal Marks and Spencer line. | ||
With the outbreak of World War I, Simon Marks left the expanding business for his staff to run and enlisted as a signaller in the artillery. A year later he was seconded from the army to act as assistant to Dr. Chaim Weizmann [later the first President of Israel] in his government-supported campaign to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine. Thus it was 1919 before Simon Marks was able to go back to Marks and Spencer full-time and resume the building of a gigantic retail chain. By the 1930s there was a Marks and Spencer store in every town of any size in England, Scotland and Wales. And sales and profits were growing year by year with almost mathematical progression. | ||
Simon Marks always gave the credit for the firm's success to commercial principles dinned into him by his father. These included ploughing profits back into the business, making direct contact with manufacturers, keeping the lines simple and worrying over the welfare of the staff. As the number of Marks and Spencer stores bounded upwards, the firm became a byword in Britain. Indeed, it was one of the rare commercial names the BBC allowed to be mentioned in broadcasts. | ||
Simon Marks had revolutionised retailing with his passionate belief that "cheap need never be nasty". Thus concentrating on quality he kept quantity soaring. By 1935 the Marks and Spencer Marble Arch branch in London was selling more goods per square foot of space than any other store in the world. | ||
To get the quality and selection of goods Marks wanted, the firm dictated to the 900 manufacturers it dealt with. They had to come up to Mark's standards or their contracts were cancelled. He even bought the output of entire factories after making them conform to his specifications. Virtually every item of clothing sold by Marks and Spencer was tested in laboratories for fabric strength, colour fastness, durability of stitching, quality of buttons and so on. | ||
Marks ran the business like a benevolent dictatorship. "He wants to know about everything, right down to the last button", summed up a staff member. His executives were driven hard but they rarely left the firm. One who had been there 13 years described himself as a "new boy". | ||
Simon Marks was always seeking to reduce prices but not at the expense of the chain's profit margins. Reductions came only from increasing efficiency and cutting expenses. Most of his time was spent visiting stores. And when he got there he spent more time talking to the girls behind the counter than to the executives. "The salesgirls are Marks and Spencer", he used to say. "They know what is selling well or badly - and, above all, why." | ||
Simon Marks had a passion for detail. For instance, he once sent research scientists to Greece and Turkey to persuade the peasants to grow uniform-sized currants. "He was a continuous one-man quality control commission", an associate once said of him and told how would visit a shoe department, pick up the most expensive shoe in stock, detach the lace and try to snap it in two. If he succeeded he would call the store manager and tell him softly: "However fine the shoe, the customer will condemn it if the lace breaks". | ||
Cleanliness was an obsession with Marks. One day he suddenly decided to stop stocking ice cream although the firm was selling £2.5 million worth a year. He could not stand the sight of the empty cartons people dropped on the shop floor. Similarly he banned smoking because it polluted the air and he hated feeling cigarette butts underfoot. Marks's fetish for cleanliness also meant that girls who handled cash could not handle food. Cooks and food-handlers could not wear nail-varnish, or jewellery and had to tuck their hair up in plastic caps. | ||
To the shopgirls who made up most of the staff Simon Marks had a friendly, fatherly manner. To the managers, however, he was always a tough-minded perfectionist. Once he visited a store and asked the manager: "Any rotten apples lately?" This remark resulted from his previous inspection seven years earlier when he had found some of the fruit bearing specks. "I go round the stores making a nuisance of myself", Marks once confessed. "I know what everyone says: 'There goes old so-and-so, interfering again. He's never satisfied.' But that's what I'm there for." | ||
He once visited a store, saw a rail of dresses and asked the manager: "Do we dress pygmies now?" Picking out a dress labelled for a woman of 5ft 2in he called for a tape measure and demonstrated the dress was three-quarters of an inch short. Standing outside one of his stores Marks once saw a woman emerging wearing a print dress with large red chrysanthemums all over it. As she walked away he saw one extra large chrysanthemum covered a prominent part of her anatomy where good taste told him no chrysanthemum should be. The alarmed Marks rushed in to his shop to make sure the woman was not wearing a Marks and Spencer creation. To his relief he was assured she was not. Still not satisfied, he then personally checked every design and pattern of prints in stock to make sure no such chrysanthemum monstrosity disgraced the racks of Marks and Spencer. | ||
In business circles he was generally regarded as having revolutionary ideas on staff relations. In fact he horrified other company heads by spending £2 million a year on staff welfare. From his father, too, he inherited charitable instincts which prompted him to donate more than £1.5 million over the years to causes both in England and Israel. | ||
In 1944 Simon Marks was knighted and in 1961 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Marks [of Broughton]. At that time he told a friend: "I much preferred to be Sir Simon, it had the ring of riding a charger and saving ladies in distress. Lord Marks somehow has a much flatter sound." | ||
Profits of Marks and Spencer mushroomed following a revolutionary anti-paperwork crusade he began in 1957 and which was estimated to have saved £2 million a year immediately. The figure increased progressively in later years because, while eliminating unnecessary records, Marks also eliminated 8,000 jobs out of 28,000. But there were no sackings because he promised the staff when he began the paper purge that no one would suffer. The firm simply did not replace staff when someone left and the numbers dropped gradually. | ||
Lord Marks died at his desk of a heart attack on December 8, 1964. That year the firm he had built from his father's market stalls showed a profit of more than £25 million from sales of £200 million. Perhaps his best obituary was in a current financial journal's summing up of the company: "No firm in Britain is stronger, better managed or more consistently successful". | ||
Abigail Masham (c 1670-6 Dec 1734), wife of the 1st Baron Masham of Otes | ||
The following article is taken from the February 1953 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade:- | ||
Royal St. James' Palace was in the throes of a minor rebellion one sultry day in 1708. Fat, gouty Queen Anne, described somewhat unkindly as the most stupid monarch in Europe, had plucked up courage to revolt. She gazed with some distaste at the blonde junoesque woman woman who, regardless of her costly gown, grovelled in tears at her feet. "Madame, I will not restore you to favour," she said through primly-pursed lips. Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, brilliant, domineering "Viceroy Sarah" rose to her full height. "You'll suffer for this injustice," she shouted defiantly as she flounced from the room. The skirmish was a victory for the Queen who never spoke to Sarah Churchill again - and for the plain, waspish little woman who quietly entered the royal bedchamber as the angry Duchess swept out. | ||
It was also a turning point in British history. For the waspish woman, Mrs. Masham, was to guide Anne through the welter of intrigue and fear engendered by rising Stuart pretensions. In the dying queen's last lucid moment, she persuaded her to hand the rod of office to an incorruptible statesman who assured the succession to George of Hanover and removed the threat of all-out civil war from the land. | ||
History has never solved the enigma of Mrs. Masham. Some describe her as colourless, insipid, mousy; others as a wily, treacherous, venomous woman who betrayed her greatest benefactor. Whatever the verdict, she played a greater part behind the scenes than any of the noble soldiers and statesmen who jockeyed for power in an age of unbridled graft and corruption, when the very throne of England trembled. | ||
Mrs. Masham was the daughter of a modest London merchant named Hill, who died unexpectedly, leaving his two sons and two daughters penniless. They were running wild and rapidly sinking to the level of slum children when rescued by Sarah Jennings, their cousin. Sarah had been the friend since childhood of dumpy Princess Anne, second daughter of James II. She had married secretly a brilliant young strategist, John Churchill, who, by deserting to the enemy with his troops on the eve of battle, had sent his royal friend and patron, James II, fleeing overseas, and placed James' daughter Mary, and her foreign husband, William of Orange, firmly on the throne. | ||
Sarah Churchill did well by her poor relations, particularly the dejected Abigail Hill - the future Mrs. Masham, whom she pitied. Though notoriously mean and tight-fisted, she took the girl into her own home and heaped presents on her. With the death of William and the accession of Anne, the Marlboroughs became the most powerful couple in the land. It was understandable for, in addition to their long personal friendship, Anne owed everything to them. They had forestalled her father's attempt to kidnap her when he fled and then incurred the displeasure of the new king by winning her a parliamentary income of £50,000 a year. | ||
As Anne's 15 children died one after the other, the unhappy woman leant more and more on the lively, vivacious Sarah. Their friendship was so close that they called each other Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman. Anne therefore stood meekly by when, on her accession, the Marlboroughs seized power and became virtual rulers. Sarah, as Lady of the Bedchamber and of the Privy Purse, amassed a fortune by selling preferments and public offices. She even deducted a pension for herself from the Queen's private funds. | ||
To make her position secure she surrounded the Queen with her own minions. Prominent among them was the mousy Abigail Hill, the cousin she had picked from the gutter, whom she badgered Anne into accepting as a woman of the bedchamber. Sarah had the utmost confidence in Abigail. Demure, self-effacing, she appeared to be passionately devoted to her. She was deferential almost to the point of servility. Even the flabby Queen could not understand why the Duchess insisted on forcing such a dull creature, with lacklustre eyes, into the royal suite. | ||
The star of Marlborough began to set before he reached his peak of glory. The stolid people of England, particularly the taxpayers, though outwardly impressed by his victories at Ramillies, Oudenarde and, finally, Blenheim, began to doubt the wisdom of pouring wealth into a war merely to decide which of two impossible princes - French or Austrian - should inherit the throne of Spain. | ||
To keep her family in power against this growing hostility, the Duchess of Marlborough began to bully Anne. When the Queen protested the Duchess would stamp her feet and shout: "Lor, Ma'am, it must be so." She even told the Queen frankly that she was a "fool" and "ignorant". The Duchess had misplaced confidence in her palace minions. Frequently absent, she could not know that the Queen had drawn closer to the humble woman of the bedchamber, Abigail Hill. Anne became so attached to her that when her consort died [in 1708], leaving her a childless widow, she had little Abigail Hill to sleep on the floor of the royal bedroom. | ||
As the Duchess' bullying increased, Abigail turned against her. She stressed to the Queen that the Duchess held her in contempt. She began to dabble in politics. The tide of popular feeling was running fast against the Marlboroughs and their war party, and she decided to unseat them. Among her cousins was Robert Harley, brilliant son of a Herefordshire squire, who had become Speaker of the House of Commons, then cabinet minister, but who was in temporary eclipse after being falsely charged with revealing the contents of secret documents. As a result he was a bitter enemy of the Marlboroughs and their Whig friends and willingly entered the plots of Abigail. On many evenings Abigail would admit Harley by a back stairway to the private suite of the Queen, where in long political talks, they would plan the overthrow of the Whigs. | ||
Suddenly the Duchess of Marlborough noticed that Abigail Hill was avoiding her. It was the first hint of treachery. Then she heard that Abigail had been privately married to Mr. Samuel Masham, a gentleman of the household and a Tory enemy. Angrily she demanded why, as Lady of the Bedchamber, she had not been informed or invited. Abigail pleaded shyness, whereupon the Duchess forgave her and offered to tell the Queen. | ||
The Duchess was not satisfied. She delved further and, to her rage, discovered that the Queen had actually attended the marriage and had given the bride a large sum of money which the Duchess herself had disbursed. It was obvious from such a snub that Abigail was now the reigning favourite. The Duchess' rage became the greater when she discovered that she was also the confederate of her husband's mortal enemy, Robert Harley. With a view to bullying her into submission, she ordered Abigail before her. Abigail ignored the command. | ||
The quarrel came to a head when the Queen attended a thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral for Marlborough's victories against the French. As usual, the Duchess, in her role of Lady of the Bedchamber, selected and laid out the jewels the Queen was to wear. At the last moment she discovered that her selection had been discarded for another prepared by Mrs. Masham. The Duchess was so enraged that she had a violent quarrel with the Queen on the steps of the Cathedral before a crowd. As a result the Duchess was summarily dismissed from her positions at court. The Marlboroughs were tumbled out of office. The country returned a Tory pro-peace Parliament. | ||
The change brought a vast increase of power to Mrs. Masham, now undisputed power behind the throne. Her cousin, Harley, soon to be Lord Oxford, was appointed Prime Minister. Her husband was made a baron. She became Keeper of the Privy Purse. The war petered out indecisively in the Treaty of Utrecht. The Marlboroughs, hounded as scapegoats, went into exile, the dominant Sarah violently denouncing the ungrateful Mrs. Masham. | ||
Though peace had come to the land, a far greater terror now descended on it. Queen Anne, a gross feeder, was obviously failing. All her 15 children had died. There was no direct succession to the throne. Under the Act of Settlement the throne was due to go to Protestant George of Hanover, a descendant of a daughter of James I, unknown, unpopular, but safe. At St. Germain, in France, however, James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the exiled James II and brother of Queen Anne, had been proclaimed King of England. To many, particularly those of the Catholic faith, he was the true King. | ||
All over England his supporters intrigued for his return. Even Protestant cabinet ministers and, some say, Queen Anne herself, corresponded with him. The Protestant faction knew that if he returned the heads of their leaders would fall. Estates would again be sequestered and re-distributed. There would be bitter religious strife. Civil war as ruthless as Cromwell's would split the land. England panicked. As Queen Anne sank gradually in health, Court, Cabinet and services were split by plot and counter-plot. No one could trust his neighbour. The whole country was in the grip of fear. | ||
It is believed that even Mrs. Masham's cousin, the Prime Minister, Lord Oxford, tentatively approached the Pretender, while his Secretary of State, Lord Bolingbroke, was openly plotting his return. The unhappy, ailing Queen became the shuttlecock of quarrelling factions, The crisis reached a head when Mrs. Masham quarrelled violently with Oxford in the presence, it is said, of the Queen, who then dismissed Oxford. The exultant Bolingbroke prematurely assumed power, appointed his own minions and prepared to repeal the Act of Settlement and restore James Francis Edward Stuart to the throne of his fathers, despite the opposition of the people. | ||
He acted too soon. As a result of the quarrel the Queen became suddenly ill. She went into a coma. When the announcement, "Queen Anne is dead", came on 1 August 1714, it struck fear into the hearts of citizens anxious for life and property. The fear lifted when it was announced that in a moment of returning consciousness, Queen Anne had handed the cloak of office to the incorruptible Whig Duke of Shrewsbury, who could be relied upon to secure the peaceful succession of George of Hanover. | ||
Some authorities maintain that Anne was influenced in this historic act by Mrs. Masham. If that were so, then the self-effacing mousy woman dragged from the gutter by Sarah Churchill was one of the greatest figures in history. In the whirlpool of succession she faded quietly into into obscurity in the country, where she died in 1734. | ||
Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Massereene | ||
Massereene's father died when he was a lad of 15. When he came of age, he inherited the family estates in county Antrim, but by then he had already settled in Paris, leaving the management of his Irish property in the hands of his mother. | ||
His allowance of £200 per month could not, however, cover his tailor's bills, gambling losses and the demands of his many mistresses. Even so, he might have survived had he not become in a business speculation put to him by a crooked merchant named Vidari, who proposed to import salt to France from the Barbary Coast. Massereene signed a number of bills of exchange which he was called upon to honour when the business collapsed. While his mother, the dowager Countess, set about the task of raising the money required to pay his creditors, Massereene himself was thrown into prison. His creditors, aware of his extensive property in Ireland, assumed that he would become sick of imprisonment and pay the £30,000 he owed in order to obtain his liberty. However, Massereene insisted that the debts had been incurred by means of a fraud against himself, and he refused to acknowledge them. Rather than admit his guilt by paying the debts, he decided to stay in prison for 25 years, after which time, according to French law, the debts would be cancelled. | ||
While imprisoned in the Chatelet prison, Massereene married Marie Anne Barcier, daughter of the prison governor. She made two unsuccessful attempts to help him to escape. Finally, in 1789, after 18 years in prison, he was released on the day before the storming of the Bastille by a mob which was partly inspired by bribes paid by Lady Massereene. | ||
After his release, he returned to Antrim Castle, his seat in Ireland. He showed no interest in the way his estates were being run, leaving after a short period for London. Here, he was soon lured into another fraudulent business venture, again resulting in imprisonment for debt. Blaming his wife's extravagance for his problems, he deserted her at a time when her health had been ruined by her exertions on his behalf. | ||
His total lack of feeling for his wife was the result of a new relationship with 19-year-old Elizabeth Blackburn, a servant in the house opposite his lodgings. Being a devotee of nude shadow-boxing, Massereene exposed himself at his window and caught her eye; soon she was living with him. Meanwhile, he had been swindled again to the extent of £9,000, which landed him in prison, where Miss Blackburn was allowed to join him. After a humiliating lawsuit in which he pleaded that he had acted with extreme foolishness, coupled with a loan from his brother-in-law, the Earl of Leitrim, he was eventually freed. | ||
In 1797 he returned to Ireland with Miss Blackburn. Although he owed his own liberty to the rebellious spirit of the French Revolution, he had a horror of Jacobinism and now took an active part in an anticipated uprising in Ireland. He formed a company of yeomen and trained it in his own peculiar fashion. The men were drilled without weapons; they simulated rifle shots by clapping their hands and presented arms in a complicated pantomime involving a series of hand signals. He also developed a number of new drills with names such as Serpentine and Eel-in-the-Mud. All this military activity convinced Massereene that he was a natural leader of men, an assessment not subscribed to the military establishment of the time. | ||
When not drilling his troops, Massereene continued to indulge his personal whims. From time to time he ordered the dining table, completely set, all the chairs and an elaborate dinner, to be hoisted onto the roof by means of a pulley. His guests climbed to the roof by means of a small ladder inside the house, but once they had assembled, Massereene usually declared himself dissatisfied with the arrangements and ordered everything to be taken down again. When one of his dogs died, all the local dogs were invited to its funeral at Antrim Castle. Some 50 of them, provided with white scarves, acted as a guard of honour. | ||
When his loyal and unappreciated first wife died, Massereene married Miss Blackburn who, together with her family, had gained control of his fortune. On his death a few years later, his brothers contested the will and gained the verdict they sought. | ||
Copyright © 2003-2018 Leigh Rayment | ||
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