PEERAGE
Last updated 10/02/2024
Date Rank Order Name Born Died  Age
EAMES
25 Aug 1995 B[L] 1 Robert Henry Alexander Eames 27 Apr 1937
Created Baron Eames for life 25 Aug 1995
OM 2007                                                          
EARDLEY
24 Sep 1789 B[I] 1 Sir Sampson Eardley,1st baronet 10 Oct 1744 25 Dec 1824 80
to     Created Baron Eardley 24 Sep 1789
25 Dec 1824 MP for Cambridgeshire 1770-1780 and Coventry
1784-1796
Peerage extinct on his death
EARLSFORT
20 May 1784 B[I] 1 John Scott 8 Jun 1739 23 May 1798 58
Created Baron Earlsfort 20 May 1784,
Viscount Clonmell 18 Aug 1789 and
Earl of Clonmell 6 Dec 1793
See "Clonmell"
EASTNOR
17 Jul 1821 V 1 John Sommers Cocks,2nd Baron Somers 6 May 1760 5 Jan 1841 80
Created Viscount Eastnor and Earl 
Somers 17 Jul 1821
See "Somers" - this peerage extinct 1883
EATON
21 Jul 2010 B[L] 1 Dame Ellen Margaret Eaton 1 Jun 1942
Created Baroness Eaton for life 21 Jul 2010
EATWELL
14 Jul 1992 B[L] 1 John Leonard Eatwell 2 Feb 1945
Created Baron Eatwell for life 14 Jul 1992
EBBISHAM
5 Jul 1928 B 1 Sir George Rowland Blades,1st baronet 15 Apr 1868 24 May 1953 85
Created Baron Ebbisham 5 Jul 1928
MP for Epsom 1918-1928
24 May 1953 2 Rowland Roberts Blades 3 Sep 1912 12 Apr 1991 78
to     Peerage extinct on his death
12 Apr 1991
EBRINGTON
1 Sep 1789 V 1 Hugh Fortescue,3rd Baron Fortescue 12 Mar 1753 16 Jun 1841 88
Created Viscount Ebrington and Earl
Fortescue 1 Sep 1789
See "Fortescue"
EBURY
15 Sep 1857 B 1 Lord Robert Grosvenor 24 Apr 1801 18 Nov 1893 92
Created Baron Ebury 15 Sep 1857
MP for Shaftesbury 1822-1826, Chester
1826-1847 and Middlesex 1847-1857. 
PC 1831
18 Nov 1893 2 Robert Wellesley Grosvenor 25 Jan 1834 13 Nov 1918 84
MP for Westminster 1865-1874
13 Nov 1918 3 Robert Victor Grosvenor 28 Jun 1868 5 Nov 1921 53
5 Nov 1921 4 Francis Egerton Grosvenor 8 Sep 1883 15 May 1932 48
15 May 1932 5 Robert Egerton Grosvenor 8 Feb 1914 5 May 1957 43
For information on his death, see the note
at the foot of this page
5 May 1957 6 Francis Egerton Grosvenor 8 Feb 1934
He succeeded to the Earldom of Wilton
(qv) in 1999 when the peerages merged
ECCLES
14 Jan 1964 V 1 Sir David McAdam Eccles 18 Sep 1904 24 Feb 1999 94
Created Baron Eccles 1 Aug 1962 and
Viscount Eccles 14 Jan 1964
MP for Chippenham 1943-1962. Minister of
Works 1951-1954. Minister of Education 
1954-1957. President of the Board of Trade
1957-1959. Minister of Education 1959-1962
Paymaster General 1970-1973  PC 1951  CH 1984
24 Feb 1999 2 John Dawson Eccles  [Elected hereditary peer 20 Apr 1931
2005-]
ECCLES OF MOULTON
10 May 1990 B[L] 1 Diana Catherine Eccles [wife of 2nd Viscount 
Eccles] 4 Oct 1933
Created Baroness Eccles of Moulton for life
10 May 1990
ECHINGHAM
19 Dec 1311 B 1 William de Echingham Jun 1326
to     Summoned to Parliament as Lord
Jun 1326 Echingham 19 Dec 1311
Peerage extinct on his death
EDDISBURY
12 May 1848 B 1 Edward John Stanley 13 Nov 1802 16 Jun 1869 66
Created Baron Eddisbury 12 May 1848
He succeeded to the Barony of Stanley of
Alderley (qv) in 1850 with which title this
peerage then merged
EDEN
12 Jul 1961 E 1 Robert Anthony Eden 12 Jun 1897 14 Jan 1977 79
Created Viscount Eden and Earl of
Avon 12 Jul 1961
See "Avon"
EDEN OF NORWOOD
21 Dec 1839 B 1 George Eden,2nd Baron Auckland 25 Aug 1784  1 Jan 1849 64
to     Created Baron Eden of Norwood and 
1 Jan 1849 Earl of Auckland 21 Dec 1839
These peerages extinct on his death
EDEN OF WINTON
3 Oct 1983 B[L] 1 Sir John Benedict Eden,9th baronet 15 Sep 1925 23 May 2020 94
to Created Baron Eden of Winton for life  
23 May 2020  3 Oct 1983
MP for Bournemouth West 1954-1983.
Minister of State,Technology 1970. Minister
for Industry 1970-1972. Minister of Posts
and Telecommunications 1972-1974. PC 1972
Life peerage extinct on his death
EDGCUMBE
20 Apr 1742 B 1 Richard Edgcumbe 23 Apr 1680 22 Nov 1758 78
Created Baron Edgcumbe of Mount
Edgcumbe 20 Apr 1742
See "Mount Edgcumbe"
EDINBURGH
26 Jul 1726 D 1 Frederick Lewis 20 Jan 1707 20 Mar 1751 44
Created Baron of Snowdon,Viscount of
Launceston,Earl of Eltham,Marquess of the
Isle of Ely and Duke of Edinburgh 26 Jul 1726
In the London Gazette which includes notice of the
creation of these titles (issue 6494,page 1) the
barony is shown as "Snaudon",the viscountcy as
"Lanceston" and the dukedom as "Edenburgh." In
addition,the marquessate is shown as "of the Isle
of Wight" but later issues of the Gazette - e.g. 
issue 6741 of 4 Jan 1728 and issue 9050 of 16
Apr 1751 - amend the title to "Marquess of the 
Isle of Ely."
Eldest son of George II
20 Mar 1751 2 George William Frederick,Duke of Cornwall 4 Jun 1738 29 Jan 1820 81
to     He succeeded to the throne as George III
25 Oct 1760 when the peerage merged with the Crown
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24 May 1866 D 1 Alfred Ernest Albert 6 Aug 1844 30 Jul 1900 55
to     Created Earl of Ulster,Earl of Kent 
30 Jul 1900 and Duke of Edinburgh 24 May 1866
KG 1863  KT 1864  PC 1866  KP 1880
Peerages extinct on his death
For information on the attempted assassination of
the Duke in Sydney in 1868,see the note at the
foot of this page
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20 Nov 1947 D 1 Philip Mountbatten 10 Jun 1921 9 Apr 2021 99
to Created Baron Greenwich,Earl of
9 Apr 2021 Merioneth and Duke of Edinburgh
20 Nov 1947
KG 1947  KT 1952  OM 1968
9 Apri 2021 2 Charles Philip Arthur George 14 Nov 1948
Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay
to     He succeeded to the throne as Charles III
8 Sep 2022 when the peerage merged with the Crown
                                                  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
10 Mar 2023 D 1 HRH Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis 10 March 1964
Earl of Wessex and Forfar, KG
Created Duke of Edinburgh for Life
EDIRDALE
29 Jan 1488 E[S] 1 James Stewart,1st Earl of Ross Mar 1476 17 Jan 1504 27
to     Created Lord Brechin and Navar,Earl
17 Jan 1504 of Edirdale,Marquess of Ormond and
Duke of Ross 29 Jan 1488
Second son of James III of Scotland
Peerages extinct on his death
EDMISTON
14 Jan 2011 B[L] 1 Robert Norman Edmiston 6 Oct 1946
Created Baron Edmiston for life 14 Jan 2011
EDMUND-DAVIES
1 Oct 1974 B[L] 1 Sir (Herbert) Edmund Edmund-Davies 15 Jul 1906 26 Dec 1992 86
to     Created Baron Edmund-Davies for life
26 Dec 1992 1 Oct 1974
Lord Justice of Appeal 1966-1974. Lord
of Appeal in Ordinary 1974-1981  PC 1966
Peerage extinct on his death
EDNAM
5 Oct 1827 E 1 John William Ward,4th Viscount Dudley 9 Aug 1781 6 Mar 1833 51
to     Created Viscount Ednam and Earl of
6 Mar 1833 Dudley of Dudley Castle 5 Oct 1827
Peerages extinct on his death
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17 Feb 1860 V 1 William Ward,11th Baron Ward 27 Mar 1817 7 May 1885 68
Created Viscount Ednam and Earl of
Dudley of Dudley Castle 17 Feb 1860
See "Dudley of Dudley Castle"
EDRINGTON
22 Jan 1336 B 1 Henry de Edrington after 1336
to     Summoned to Parliament as Lord
after 1336 Edrington 22 Jan 1336
The peerage presumably became extinct
on his death
EFFINGHAM
11 Mar 1554 B 1 Lord Thomas Howard c 1510 11 Jan 1573
Created Baron Howard of Effingham
11 Mar 1554
Lord Privy Seal 1572-1573. Lord Lieutenant
Surrey 1559-1573  KG 1554
11 Jan 1573 2 Charles Howard,later [1596] 1st Earl of Nottingham 1536 14 Dec 1624 88
19 Mar 1603 3 William Howard 27 Dec 1577 28 Nov 1615 37
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Howard of Effingham
19 Mar 1603
On his death the peerage reverted to his father
(see above)
14 Dec 1624 4 Charles Howard,2nd Earl of Nottingham 17 Sep 1579 3 Oct 1642 63
3 Oct 1642 5 Charles Howard,3rd Earl of Nottingham 25 Dec 1610 26 Apr 1681 70
26 Apr 1681 6 Francis Howard 17 Sep 1643 30 Mar 1695 51
Governor of Virginia 1683
30 Mar 1695 7 Thomas Howard 7 Jul 1682 13 Jul 1725 43
PC [I] by 1723
13 Jul 1725 8 Francis Howard 20 Oct 1683 12 Feb 1743 59
8 Dec 1731 E 1 Created Earl of Effingham 8 Dec 1731
12 Feb 1743 9 Thomas Howard 1714 19 Nov 1763 49
2
19 Nov 1763 10 Thomas Howard 13 Jan 1746 19 Nov 1791 45
3 Master of the Mint 1784-1789. Governor of
Jamaica 1789-1791  PC 1782
19 Nov 1791 11 Richard Howard 21 Feb 1748 10 Dec 1816 68
to     4 MP for Steyning 1784-1790
10 Dec 1816 On his death the Earldom became extinct
whilst the Barony passed to -
10 Dec 1816 12 Kenneth Alexander Howard 29 Nov 1767 13 Feb 1845 77
27 Jan 1837 E 1 Created Earl of Effingham 27 Jan 1837
13 Feb 1845 2 Henry Howard 23 Aug 1806 5 Feb 1889 82
MP for Shaftesbury 1841-1845
5 Feb 1889 3 Henry Howard 7 Feb 1837 4 May 1898 61
4 May 1898 4 Henry Alexander Gordon Howard 15 Aug 1866 6 May 1927 60
6 May 1927 5 Gordon Frederick Henry Charles Howard 18 May 1873 7 Jul 1946 73
7 Jul 1946 6 Mowbray Henry Gordon Howard 29 Nov 1905 22 Feb 1996 90
22 Feb 1996 7 David Peter Mowbray Algernon Howard 29 Apr 1939 26 Feb 2022 82
26 Feb 2022 8 Edward Mowbray Nicholas Howard 11 May 1971
EGERTON OF TATTON
15 Apr 1859 B 1 William Tatton Egerton 30 Dec 1806 21 Feb 1883 76
Created Baron Egerton of Tatton
15 Apr 1859
MP for Lymington 1830-1832 and Cheshire
North 1832-1858. Lord Lieutenant Cheshire
1868-1883
21 Feb 1883 2 Wilbraham Egerton 17 Jan 1832 16 Mar 1909 77
22 Jul 1897 E 1 Created Viscount Salford and Earl 
to     Egerton of Tatton 22 Jul 1897
16 Mar 1909 MP for Cheshire North 1858-1868 and
Cheshire Mid 1868-1883. Lord Lieutenant
Cheshire 1900-1905
On his death the Earldom and Viscountcy became
extinct whilst the Barony passed to -
16 Mar 1909 3 Alan de Tatton Egerton 19 Mar 1845 9 Sep 1920 75
MP for Cheshire Mid 1883-1885 and
Knutsford 1885-1906
9 Sep 1920 4 Maurice Egerton 4 Aug 1874 30 Jan 1958 83
to     Peerage extinct on his death
30 Jan 1958
EGLINTON
Jan 1507 E[S] 1 Hugh Montgomerie,2nd Lord Montgomerie 1460 Jun 1545 84
Created Earl of Eglinton Jan 1507
Jun 1545 2 Hugh Montgomerie 3 Sep 1546
3 Sep 1546 3 Hugh Montgomerie 1531 3 Jun 1585 53
3 Jun 1585 4 Hugh Montgomerie 1563 18 Apr 1586 22
18 Apr 1586 5 Hugh Montgomerie 1584 4 Sep 1612 28
4 Sep 1612 6 Alexander Montgomerie 1588 7 Jan 1661 72
7 Jan 1661 7 Hugh Montgomerie 8 Apr 1613 Feb 1669 55
Feb 1669 8 Alexander Montgomerie 1701
1701 9 Alexander Montgomerie c 1660 18 Feb 1729
For information on this peer's third wife,
see the note at the foot of this page.
18 Feb 1729 10 Alexander Montgomerie 10 Feb 1723 25 Oct 1769 46
For information on this peer's death,
see the note at the foot of this page.
25 Oct 1769 11 Archibald Montgomerie 18 May 1726 30 Oct 1796 70
MP for Ayrshire 1761-1768. Lord Lieutenant
Ayrshire 1794-1796
30 Oct 1796 12 Hugh Montgomerie 5 Nov 1739 14 Dec 1819 80
Created Baron Ardrossan 21 Feb 1806
MP for Ayrshire 1780-1781,1784-1789 and
1796.  KT 1812. Lord Lieutenant Ayrshire
1796-1819
14 Dec 1819 13 Archibald William Montgomerie 29 Sep 1812 4 Oct 1861 49
Created Earl of Winton 23 Jun 1859
Lord Lieutenant Ayrshire 1842-1861. Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland 1852-1853 and 1858-
1859. PC 1852  KT 1853
For further information on this peer, and on the
Eglinton Tournament in particular, see the note
at the foot of this page.
4 Oct 1861 14 Archibald William Montgomerie  (also 2nd Earl 
of Winton) 3 Dec 1841 30 Aug 1892 50
30 Aug 1892 15 George Arnulf Montgomerie  (also 3rd Earl 
of Winton) 23 Feb 1848 10 Aug 1919 71
Lord Lieutenant Ayrshire 1897-1919
10 Aug 1919 16 Archibald Seton Montgomerie  (also 4th Earl
of Winton) 23 Jun 1880 22 Apr 1945 64
22 Apr 1945 17 Archibald William Alexander Montgomerie
(also 5th Earl of Winton) 16 Oct 1914 21 Apr 1966 51
21 Apr 1966 18 Archibald George Montgomerie  (also 6th Earl
of Winton) 27 Aug 1939 14 Jun 2018 78
14 Jun 2018 19 Hugh Archibald William Montgomerie  (also 7th
Earl of Winton) 24 Jul 1966
EGMONT
6 Nov 1733 E[I] 1 Sir John Perceval,5th baronet 12 Jul 1683 1 May 1748 64
Created Baron Perceval 21 Apr 1715,
Viscount Perceval 25 Feb 1723 and 
Earl of Egmont 6 Nov 1733
MP for Harwich 1727-1734. PC [I] 1704
1 May 1748 2 John Perceval 24 Feb 1711 4 Dec 1770 59
Created Baron Lovell and Holland 
7 May 1762
MP for Westminster 1741-1747, Weobly 
1747-1754 and Bridgewater 1754-1762.
Postmaster General 1762-1763. First Lord
of the Admiralty 1763-1766.  PC 1755
4 Dec 1770 3 John James Perceval 23 Jan 1738 25 Feb 1822 84
MP for Bridgewater 1762-1769
25 Feb 1822 4 John Perceval 13 Aug 1767 31 Dec 1835 68
31 Dec 1835 5 Henry Frederick Joseph James Perceval 3 Jan 1796 23 Dec 1841 45
MP for East Looe 1826
For information on the court case relating
to the disposition of this peer's estates,see the
note at the foot this page
23 Dec 1841 6 George James Perceval,3rd Baron Arden 14 Mar 1794 2 Aug 1874 80
MP for Surrey West 1837-1840
2 Aug 1874 7 Charles George Perceval 15 Jun 1845 5 Sep 1897 52
MP for Midhurst 1874
5 Sep 1897 8 Augustus Arthur Perceval 4 Jun 1856 11 Aug 1910 54
For further information on this peer, see the
note at the foot of this page.
11 Aug 1910 9 Charles John Perceval 29 Jun 1858 10 Jan 1929 70
10 Jan 1929 10 Frederick Joseph Trevelyan Perceval 27 Apr 1873 16 May 1932 59
For further information on this peer, and on rival
claimants for the title, see the note at the foot of 
this page
16 May 1932 11 Frederick George Moore Perceval 14 Apr 1914 10 Dec 2001 87
For further information on this peer, see the
note at the foot of this page.
10 Dec 2001 12 Thomas Frederick Gerald Perceval 17 Aug 1934 6 Nov 2011 77
to     Peerages extinct on his death
6 Nov 2011
EGREMONT
20 Nov 1449 B 1 Sir Thomas Percy 29 Nov 1422 10 Jul 1460 37
to     Created Baron Egremont 20 Nov 1449
10 Jul 1460 Peerage extinct on his death
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3 Oct 1749 E 1 Algernon Seymour,7th Duke of Somerset 11 Nov 1684 7 Feb 1750 65
Created Baron Cockermouth and Earl
of Egremont 3 Oct 1749
For details of the special remainder included
in this creation, see the note at the foot of
this page
7 Feb 1750 2 Sir Charles Wyndham,4th baronet 19 Aug 1710 21 Aug 1763 53
MP for Bridgewater 1735-1741, Appleby
1742-1747, and Taunton 1747-1750. Lord
Lieutenant Cumberland 1751-1759 and
Sussex Jan-Aug 1763. Secretary of State
1761  PC 1761
21 Aug 1763 3 George O'Brien Wyndham 18 Dec 1751 11 Nov 1837 85
Lord Lieutenant Sussex 1819-1835
11 Nov 1837 4 George Francis Wyndham 30 Aug 1785 2 Apr 1845 59
to     Peerage extinct on his death
2 Apr 1845
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27 Nov 1963 B 1 John Edward Reginald Wyndham 5 Jun 1920 6 Jun 1972 52
Created Baron Egremont 27 Nov 1963
He succeeded to the Barony of 
Leconfield (qv) 1967,with which title this
peerage then merged
ELBOTTLE
1646 B[S] 1 Sir James Maxwell 19 Apr 1650
to     Created Lord Elbottle and Earl of
19 Apr 1650 Dirletoun 1646
Peerages extinct on his death 
ELCHO AND METHELL
25 Jun 1633 B[S] 1 John Wemyss,1st Lord Wemyss 1586 22 Nov 1649 63
Created Lord Elcho and Methell and 
Earl of Wemyss 25 Jun 1633
See "Wemyss"
ELDER
19 Jul 1999 B[L] 1 Thomas Murray Elder 9 May 1950 24 Oct 2023 73
to Created Baron Elder for life 19 Jul 1999
24 Oct 2023 Peerage extinct on his death 
ELDON
7 Jul 1821 E 1 John Scott 4 Jun 1751 13 Jan 1838 86
Created Baron Eldon 18 Jul 1799 and
Viscount Encombe and Earl of Eldon
7 Jul 1821
MP for Weobly 1783-1796 and Boroughbridge
1796-1799. Solicitor General 1788-1793.
Attorney General 1793-1799. Lord Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas 1799-1801
Lord Chancellor 1801-1806 and 1807-1827
PC 1799
For further information on this peer,see the note 
at the foot of this page
13 Jan 1838 2 John Scott 10 Dec 1805 18 Sep 1854 48
MP for Truro 1829-1832
For further information on this peer,see the note 
at the foot of this page
18 Sep 1854 3 John Scott 8 Nov 1845 10 Aug 1926 80
10 Aug 1926 4 John Scott 29 Mar 1899 20 Oct 1976 77
20 Oct 1976 5 John Joseph Nicholas Scott 24 Apr 1937 30 Jan 2017 79
30 Jan 2017 6 John Francis Thomas Marie Joseph Columbia
Fidelis Scott 9 Jul 1962
ELGIN
21 Jun 1633 E[S] 1 Thomas Bruce,3rd Lord Bruce of Kinloss 2 Dec 1599 21 Dec 1663 64
Created Lord Bruce of Kinloss and
Earl of Elgin 21 Jun 1633,and Baron
Bruce of Whorlton 30 Jul 1641
21 Dec 1663 2 Robert Bruce 19 Mar 1626 20 Oct 1685 59
MP for Bedfordshire 1660-1664
  Created Baron Bruce of Skelton,  
Viscount Bruce of Ampthill and Earl of  
Ailesbury 18 Mar 1664  
   
20 Oct 1685 3 Thomas Bruce,2nd Earl of Ailesbury 1656 16 Dec 1741 85
16 Dec 1741 4 Charles Bruce,3rd Earl of Ailesbury 29 May 1682 10 Feb 1747 64
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Bruce of Whorlton
29 Dec 1711
10 Feb 1747 5 Charles Bruce 26 Jul 1732 14 May 1771 38
He had succeeded to the Earldom of
Kincardine (qv) in 1740
14 May 1771 6 William Robert Bruce  (also 10th Earl of Kincardine) 28 Jan 1764 15 Jul 1771 7
15 Jul 1771 7 Thomas Bruce  (also 11th Earl of Kincardine) 20 Jul 1766 14 Nov 1841 75
PC 1799. Lord Lieutenant Fife Mar-May 1807
14 Nov 1841 8 James Bruce  (also 12th Earl of Kincardine) 20 Jul 1811 20 Nov 1863 52
Created Baron Elgin [UK] 13 Nov 1849
MP for Southampton 1841. Governor 
of Jamaica 1842-1846. Governor General
of Canada 1846-1854 and India 1862-1863
Lord Lieutenant Fife 1854-1863. Postmaster
General 1859.  KT 1847  PC 1857
20 Nov 1863 9 Victor Alexander Bruce  (also 13th Earl of
Kincardine) 16 May 1849 18 Jan 1917 67
First Commissioner of Works 1886. Viceroy
of India 1894-1899. Secretary of State for
Colonies 1905-1908.  Lord Lieutenant Fife
1886-1917. PC 1886  KG 1899
18 Jan 1917 10 Edward James Bruce  (also 14th Earl of Kincardine) 8 Jun 1881 27 Nov 1968 87
Lord Lieutenant Fife 1935-1965. KT 1933
27 Nov 1968 11 Andrew Douglas Alexander Bruce  (also 15th 
Earl of Kincardine) 17 Feb 1924
KT 1981  Lord Lieutenant Fife 1987-1999
ELIBANK
18 Mar 1643 B[S] 1 Sir Patrick Murray,1st baronet 12 Nov 1649
Created Lord Elibank 18 Mar 1643
12 Nov 1649 2 Patrick Murray 13 Feb 1661
13 Feb 1661 3 Patrick Murray 1687
1687 4 Alexander Murray 9 Mar 1677 6 Feb 1736 58
6 Feb 1736 5 Patrick Murray 27 Feb 1703 3 Aug 1778 75
3 Aug 1778 6 George Murray 14 May 1706 12 Nov 1785 79
12 Nov 1785 7 Alexander Murray 24 Apr 1747 24 Sep 1820 73
MP for Peebles 1783-1785. Lord Lieutenant
Peebles 1794-1820
24 Sep 1820 8 Alexander Murray 26 Feb 1780 9 Apr 1830 50
9 Apr 1830 9 Alexander Oliphant-Murray 23 May 1804 31 May 1871 67
31 May 1871 10 Montolieu Fox Oliphant-Murray 27 Apr 1840 20 Feb 1927 86
3 Jul 1911 V 1 Created Viscount Elibank 3 Jul 1911
Lord Lieutenant Peebles 1896-1908
20 Feb 1927 11 Gideon Oliphant-Murray 7 Aug 1877 11 Mar 1951 73
2 MP for St.Rollox 1918-1922. Lord
Lieutenant Peebles 1934-1945
11 Mar 1951 12 Arthur Cecil Murray 27 Mar 1879 5 Dec 1962 83
to     3 MP for Kincardineshire 1908-1918 and 
5 Dec 1962 Kincardine and Western 1918-1923
On his death the Viscountcy became extinct
whilst the Barony passed to -
5 Dec 1962 13 James Alastair Frederick Campbell
Erskine-Murray 23 Jun 1902 2 Jun 1973 70
2 Jun 1973 14 Alan D'Ardis Erskine-Murray 31 Dec 1923 30 Nov 2017 93
30 Nov 2017 15 Robert Francis Alan Erskine-Murray 10 Oct 1964
ELIOT OF ST.GERMANS
13 Jan 1784 B 1 Edward Eliot 8 Jul 1727 17 Feb 1804 76
Created Baron Eliot of St.Germans 13 Jan 1784
MP for St Germans 1748-1768 and 1774-1775,
Liskeard 1768-1774 and Cornwall 1775-1784
17 Feb 1804 2 John Eliot 30 Sep 1761 17 Nov 1823 62
Created Earl of St.Germans (qv) 28 Nov 1815
See "St.Germans"
                      ***************
14 Sep 1870 William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot 14 Dec 1829 19 Mar 1881 51
He was summoned to Parliament by a Writ of
Acceleration as Baron Eliot 14 Sep 1870
He succeeded as Earl of St.Germans (qv) in 1877
ELIS-THOMAS
18 Sep 1992 B[L] 1 Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas 18 Oct 1946
Created Baron Elis-Thomas for life
18 Sep 1992
MP for Merioneth 1974-1983 and Merionnydd
Nant Conwy 1983-1992  PC 2004
ELLENBOROUGH
19 Apr 1802 B 1 Edward Law 16 Nov 1750 13 Dec 1818 68
Created Baron Ellenborough 
19 Apr 1802
MP for Newtown 1801-1802. Attorney
General 1801. Lord Chief Justice 1802-1818
PC 1802
For further information on this peer,see the
note at the foot of this page
13 Dec 1818 2 Edward Law 8 Sep 1790 22 Dec 1871 81
22 Oct 1844 E 1 Created Viscount Southam and Earl of
to     Ellenborough 22 Oct 1844
22 Dec 1871 MP for St.Michaels 1813-1818. Lord Privy
Seal 1828-1829. President of the Board of
Control 1834-1835, 1841 and 1858.
Governor General of India 1841-1844
First Lord of the Admiralty 1846  PC 1828
For further information on the Earl's second wife, 
see the note at the foot of this page.
On his death the Earldom became extinct
whilst the Barony passed to -
22 Dec 1871 3 Charles Edmund Towry-Law 17 Nov 1820 9 Oct 1890 69
9 Oct 1890 4 Charles Towry Hamilton Law 21 Apr 1856 26 Jun 1902 46
26 Jun 1902 5 Edward Downes Law 9 May 1841 9 Dec 1915 74
9 Dec 1915 6 Cecil Henry Law 25 Nov 1849 22 Jan 1931 81
22 Jan 1931 7 Henry Astell Law 11 Jul 1889 19 May 1945 55
19 May 1945 8 Richard Edward Cecil Law 14 Jan 1926 7 Jun 2013 87
7 Jun 2013 9 Rupert Edward Henry Law 28 Mar 1955
ELLES
2 May 1972 B[L] 1 Diana Louie Elles 19 Jul 1921 17 Oct 2009 88
to     Created Baroness Elles for life 2 May 1972
17 Oct 2009 Peerage extinct on her death
ELLESMERE
21 Jul 1603 B 1 Thomas Egerton 1540 15 Mar 1617 76
Created Baron Ellesmere 21 Jul 1603
and Viscount Brackley 7 Nov 1616
See "Brackley"
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6 Jul 1846 E 1 Lord Francis Egerton 1 Jan 1800 18 Feb 1857 57
Created Viscount Brackley and Earl of
Ellesmere 6 Jul 1846
MP for Bletchingley 1822-1826, 
Sutherlandshire 1826-1831 and Lancashire
South 1835-1846. Lord Lieutenant 
Lancashire 1855-1857.  PC 1828  PC [I] 1828
KG 1855
For information about the "Great Ellesmere Jewel
Robbery" of 1856,see the note at the foot of
this page
18 Feb 1857 2 George Granville Francis Egerton 15 Jun 1823 19 Sep 1862 39
MP for Staffordshire North 1847-1851
19 Sep 1862 3 Francis Charles Granville Egerton 5 Apr 1847 13 Jul 1914 67
13 Jul 1914 4 John Francis Granville Scrope Egerton 14 Nov 1872 24 Aug 1944 71
24 Aug 1944 5 John Sutherland Egerton 10 May 1915 21 Sep 2000 85
He succeeded as 6th Duke of Sutherland (qv)
in 1963 with which title this peerage then
merged
ELLIOT OF HARWOOD
26 Sep 1958 B[L] 1 Dame Katharine Elliot 15 Jan 1903 3 Jan 1994 90
to     Created Baroness Elliot of Harwood for life
3 Jan 1994 26 Sep 1958
Peerage extinct on her death
ELLIOT OF MICKLE FELL
6 Feb 2024 B[L] 1 Matthew Jim Elliott 12 Feb 1978
     Created Baron Elliot of Mickle Fell for life
ELLIOTT OF MORPETH
16 May 1985 B[L] 1 Sir (Robert) William Elliott 11 Dec 1920 20 May 2011 90
to     Created Baron Elliott of Morpeth for life
20 May 2011 16 May 1985
MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North 1957-
1983
Peerage extinct on his death
ELMLEY
1 Dec 1815 V 1 William Lygon,1st Baron Beauchamp 25 Jul 1747 21 Oct 1816 69
Created Viscount Elmley and Earl
Beauchamp 1 Dec 1815
See "Beauchamp"
ELPHINSTONE
14 Jan 1509 B[S] 1 Alexander Elphinstone 9 Sep 1513
Created Lord Elphinstone 14 Jan 1509
9 Sep 1513 2 Alexander Elphinstone 22 May 1510 10 Sep 1547 37
10 Sep 1547 3 Robert Elphinstone 9 Sep 1530 18 May 1602 71
18 May 1602 4 Alexander Elphinstone 28 May 1552 11 Jan 1638 85
11 Jan 1638 5 Alexander Elphinstone 13 Nov 1577 27 Aug 1648 70
27 Aug 1648 6 Alexander Elphinstone Dec 1654
Dec 1654 7 Alexander Elphinstone 30 Mar 1647 11 May 1669 22
11 May 1669 8 John Elphinstone 28 Aug 1649 24 Mar 1718 68
24 Mar 1718 9 Charles Elphinstone 6 Dec 1676 20 Feb 1757 80
20 Feb 1757 10 Charles Elphinstone 6 Aug 1711 2 Apr 1781 69
2 Apr 1781 11 John Elphinstone 26 Jan 1737 19 Aug 1794 57
Lord Lieutenant Dumbarton Mar-Aug 1794
19 Aug 1794 12 John Elphinstone 1764 20 May 1813 48
Lord Lieutenant Dumbarton 1794-1813
20 May 1813 13 John Elphinstone 23 Jun 1807 19 Jul 1860 53
21 May 1859 B 1 Created Baron Elphinstone [UK]
to     21 May 1859
19 Jul 1860 Governor of Bombay 1853-1860. PC 1836
On his death the creation of 1859 became
extinct whilst the 1509 creation 
passed to -
19 Jul 1860 14 John Elphinstone-Fleeming 11 Dec 1819 13 Jan 1861 41
13 Jan 1861 15 William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone 18 Nov 1828 18 Jan 1893 64
30 Dec 1885 B 1 Created Baron Elphinstone [UK]
30 Dec 1885
18 Jan 1893 16 Sidney Herbert Elphinstone 27 Jul 1869 28 Nov 1955 86
  KT 1928
28 Nov 1955 17 John Alexander Elphinstone 22 Mar 1914 15 Nov 1975 61
 
15 Nov 1975 18 James Alexander Elphinstone 22 Apr 1953 19 Dec 1994 41
 
19 Dec 1994 19 Alexander Mountstuart Elphinstone 15 Apr 1980
 
ELTHAM
26 Jul 1726 E 1 Frederick Lewis 20 Jan 1707 20 Mar 1751 44
Created Baron of Snowdon,Viscount
of Launceston,Earl of Eltham,
Marquess of the Isle of Ely and Duke
of Edinburgh 26 Jul 1726
See "Edinburgh"
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16 Jul 1917 E 1 Adolphus Charles Alexander Ladislaus
Cambridge 13 Aug 1868 24 Oct 1927 59
Created Viscount Northallerton,Earl
of Eltham and Marquess of Cambridge
16 Jul 1917
See "Cambridge"
ELTISLEY
15 Jan 1934 B 1 Sir George Douglas Cochrane Newton 14 Jul 1879 2 Sep 1942 63
to     Created Baron Eltisley 15 Jan 1934
2 Sep 1942 MP for Cambridge 1922-1934
Peerage extinct on his death
ELTON
16 Jan 1934 B 1 Godfrey Elton 29 Mar 1892 18 Apr 1973 81
Created Baron Elton 16 Jan 1934
18 Apr 1973 2 Rodney Elton  [Elected hereditary peer 1999-2020] 2 Mar 1930 19 Aug 2023 93
19 Aug 2023 3 Edward Paget Elton 28 May 1966
ELVEDON
30 Sep 1919 V 1 Edward Cecil Guinness,1st Viscount Iveagh 10 Nov 1847 7 Oct 1927 79
Created Viscount Elvedon and Earl of
Iveagh 30 Sep 1919
See "Iveagh"
ELWORTHY
9 May 1972 B[L] 1 Sir Samuel Charles Elworthy 23 Mar 1911 4 Apr 1993 82
to     Created Baron Elworthy for life 9 May 1972
4 Apr 1993 Marshal of the RAF 1967.  KG 1977. Lord
Lieutenant Greater London 1973-1978. Chief of
the Defence Staff 1967-1971
Peerage extinct on his death
ELWYN-JONES
11 Mar 1974 B[L] 1 Sir Frederick Elwyn Elwyn-Jones 24 Oct 1909 4 Dec 1989 80
to     Created Baron Elwyn-Jones for life
4 Dec 1989 11 Mar 1974
MP for Plaistow 1945-1950, West Ham South
1950-1974 and Newham South 1974. Attorney 
General 1964-1970. Lord Chancellor 1974-
1979  PC 1964  CH 1976
Peerage extinct on his death
ELY
10 May 1622 V[I] 1 Sir Adam Loftus 1568 1646 78
Created Viscount Loftus of Ely
10 May 1622
Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1619-1638
1646 2 Edward Loftus  1599 11 Apr 1680 80
Lord Lieutenant Kildare
11 Apr 1680 3 Arthur Loftus 18 Jun 1644 6 Nov 1725 81
to     Peerage extinct on his death
6 Nov 1725
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
19 Jul 1756 V[I] 1 Nicholas Loftus 1687 31 Dec 1763 76
Created Baron Loftus 5 Nov 1751 and
Viscount Loftus of Ely 19 Jul 1756
PC [I] 1753
31 Dec 1763 2 Nicholas Hume-Loftus 1714 31 Oct 1766 52
23 Oct 1766 E[I] 1 Created Earl of Ely 23 Oct 1766
Lord Lieutenant Wexford 1764.  PC [I] 1764
31 Oct 1766 3 Nicholas Hume-Loftus 11 Sep 1738 12 Nov 1769 31
to     2 On his death the Earldom became extinct
12 Nov 1769 but the Viscountcy passed to -
12 Nov 1769 4 Henry Loftus 18 Nov 1709 8 May 1783 73
2 Dec 1771 E[I] 1 Created Earl of Ely 2 Dec 1771
to     PC [I] 1771  KP 1783
8 May 1783 Peerages extinct on his death
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
29 Dec 1800 M[I] 1 Sir Charles Tottenham Loftus,2nd baronet 23 Jan 1738 22 Mar 1806 68
Created Baron Loftus 28 Jun 1785,
Viscount Loftus of Ely 28 Dec 1789,
Earl of Ely 2 Mar 1794,Marquess of
Ely 29 Dec 1800 and Baron Loftus [UK]
19 Jan 1801
PC [I] 1783  KP 1794
22 Mar 1806 2 John Loftus 15 Feb 1770 26 Sep 1845 75
MP for Wexford 1802-1806.  KP 1807
PC [I] 1800
26 Sep 1845 3 John Henry Loftus 19 Jan 1814 15 Jul 1857 43
MP for Woodstock 1845
15 Jul 1857 4 John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus 20 Nov 1849  3 Apr 1889 39
3 Apr 1889 5 John Henry Loftus 6 Mar 1851 18 Dec 1925 74
18 Dec 1925 6 George Herbert Loftus 19 Apr 1854 10 Apr 1935 80
10 Apr 1935 7 George Henry Wellington Loftus 3 Sep 1903 31 May 1969 65
31 May 1969 8 John Charles Tottenham Loftus 30 May 1913 1 Feb 2006 92
1 Feb 2006 9 Charles John Tottenham Loftus 2 Feb 1943
ELYSTAN-MORGAN
27 May 1981 B[L] 1 Dafydd Elystan Morgan 7 Dec 1932 7 Jul 2021 88
to Created Baron Elystan-Morgan for life  
7 Jul 2021 27 May 1981
MP for Cardiganshire 1966-1974
     Peerage extinct on his death
EMERTON
17 Feb 1997 B[L] 1 Dame Audrey Caroline Emerton 10 Sep 1935
Created Baroness Emerton for life 17 Feb 1997
EMLY
12 Jan 1874 B 1 William Monsell 21 Sep 1812 20 Apr 1894 81
Created Baron Emly 12 Jan 1874
MP for Limerick 1847-1874. President of the
Board of Health 1857. Vice President of the
Board of Trade 1866. Postmaster General
1870-1873. Lord Lieutenant Limerick 1871-1894
PC 1855
20 Apr 1894 2 Thomas William Gaston Monsell 5 Mar 1858 24 Nov 1932 74
to     Peerage extinct on his death
24 Nov 2021      
 
Robert Egerton Grosvenor, 5th Baron Ebury
Lord Ebury was killed when he lost control of his car during a hill climb, the car overturning 
and crushing him beneath it. His death was reported in "The Times" on 6 May 1957:-
'Lord Ebury, aged 43, the fifth baron, was killed instantly when his racing car hit a bank and 
turned over while he was competing at the Bugatti Owners' Club first national hill climb of the
season at Prescott, Cheltenham to-day.
'Well known at Prescott in past seasons as the driver of an E[nglish].R[acing].A[utomobile]., 
Lord Ebury was making his first climb of the day, in his British racing green "C" type Jaguar.
Track conditions were excellent and Lord Ebury was making a fine run. He had just gone through
the "S" bends and was taking the right-hand turn into the finishing straight when the Jaguar
hit the offside bank. It rolled over on to the track, pinning the driver beneath it.
'Officials and spectators lifted the car and extricated Lord Ebury. His body was taken by ambul-
ance men down the return road to the foot of the hill. The accident was described over the
loudspeaker system as "serious," but the fact of Lord Ebury's death was not disclosed and
thousands of spectators did not know of it when the programme was resumed after nearly an 
hour.
'Comparatively few spectators saw the accident, for most of them were at the more spectacular
of the bends, lower on the half-mile climb. Mechanics pushed the car away and it was taken to 
the pits. The wings were damaged and the steering wheel was broken.
'The accident happened at almost the same spot where, during practice on Saturday, B.D.R.
Bartlett hit the side while driving a Triumph TR2. Mr. Bartlett was admitted to Cheltenham
Hospital with broken ribs and other injuries. To-day's fatality is the first at Prescott, which was
opened as the Bugatti Owners' Club speed hill climb course shortly before the war.'
H.R.H. Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh was the second son of Queen Victoria. During a tour of Australia in 1868
he was shot in the back by a would-be assassin, but he later recovered from his wound. The
following edited report on the attempted assassination appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald
on 13 March 1868:-
'It is with the deepest sorrow that we have to announce a most determined attempt to 
assassinate his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. When the Prince left the luncheon tent
at the Sailors' Home Picnic, he escorted the Countess of Belmore [wife of the Earl of Belmore,
the then Governor of New South Wales] to the door of the Royal tent, and then turned to
converse with his Excellency the Governor, the Chief Justice [Sir Alfred Stephen], and Sir
William Manning [President of the Sydney Sailors' Home]. They remained talking a few seconds, 
and then his Royal Highness and Sir William Manning sauntered across the green towards the 
clump of trees bordering the beach, and under which the Galatea Band was stationed. [The 
Galatea was the ship commanded by the Duke]. The subject of conversation was the Sailors'
Home, and his Royal Highness, to mark his appreciation of the institution, handed Sir William
a cheque as a donation to the institution. Sir William made his acknowledgements for the
donation, and then asked his Royal Highness whether he would go round to Cabbage Tree
Beach to see the aboriginals, as they were then ready for some sports. Before his Royal
Highness could reply a treacherous assailant, who had just left the crowds of persons
congregated under the shade of the trees, stole up behind him and when he had approached
to within five or six feet pulled out a revolver, took deliberate aim, and fired. The shot took
effect about the middle of the back of his Royal Highness, an inch or two to the right of the
spine. He fell forward on his hands and knees, exclaiming. "Good God, my back is broken."
Sir William Manning, hearing the discharge, and seeing his Royal Highness fall, turned and
sprang at the would-be assassin, who then jumped back and aimed the murderous weapon
at Sir William. Seeing the pistol directed towards him, Sir William stooped to evade the shot,
and, losing his balance, fell. Fortunately the charge did not explode; but as Sir William Manning
was in the act of rising, the ruffian took aim a third time; just at the moment Mr. Vial, who
happened to be behind, sprang upon the dastardly assailant, pinioned his arms to his side, and
thus the aim of the pistol was diverted from the body of Sir William Manning to the ground. The
weapon was discharged, however, and the shot entered the foot of Mr. George Thorne, senior,
who fainted, and was taken away by Mr. Hassall, and other friends.
'In the meantime a number of people, attracted by the discharge of firearms, and seeing his
Royal Highness fall, ran to the spot, and three or four of them, among whom was Mr. T. Hales
and a young gentleman names McMahon, lifted his Royal Highness to carry him into his tent.
It was evident from the demeanour of his Royal Highness that he was suffering great pain,
and he asked his bearers to carry him gently. This wish was complied with as far as possible,
and thus he was borne into his tent. The dress of his Royal Highness was removed, and upon
an examination of the wound it was found that the bullet had penetrated the back, near the
middle, and about two inches from the right side of the lower part of the spine, traversing the
course of the ribs, round by the right to the abdomen, where it lodged, immediately below
the surface. No vital organ, fortunately, appeared to be injured, the course of the bullet
being, to all appearance, quite superficial.
'While this painful examination was in progress another scene, which almost defies description,
was going on in another part of the ground. No sooner had Mr. Vial grasped the arms of the man
who had fired the shots, than Mr. Benjamin Mortimer (an American gentleman), Mr. Whiting (of
the firm Drynan and Whiting), A.L. Jackson, and other gentlemen seized him; and, had it not 
been for the closing in around them of the police and other persons, they would speedily have
placed him beyond the reach of the Law Courts. The people shouted "lynch him," "hang him,"
"string him up," and so on, and there was a general rush to get at him. The police, headed by 
Superintendent Orridge, got hold of the assassin, and they had the greatest difficulty in
preventing the infuriated people from tearing him limb from limb. In this the police were ably 
assisted by the Chief Justice, Lord Newry, and the men of the Galatea Band. Both Lord Newry
and Sir Alfred Stephen exerted themselves to get the prisoner on board the steamer lying at
the wharf, while Mr. Orridge, with herculean strength, kept back the crowd as much as possible.
The task of putting the prisoner on board the ship was not an easy one, and it was fully ten
minutes before they could get him on to the wharf. By that time all the clothing from the upper
part of his body was torn off, his eyes, face, and body were much bruised, and blood was 
flowing from various wounds; and when he was dragged on to the deck of the Paterson, he
appeared to be utterly unconscious. No sooner was he on board than a number of sailors had
a rope ready to string him up, and it was only by the interference of Lord Newry that his life
was spared. Some of the police were very roughly used, detective Powell getting about the 
worst of it. In the scuffle he fell over some stones, and had a chance of being trampled to
death. The whole of the police on the ground were under the command of Mr. Fosbery.
'The people, out of whose hands the prisoner had been rescued, immediately gave vent to
their disappointment, and at an indignation meeting, summarily convened, determined to bring
him back from the steamer, and dispatch him at the scene of his crime. A rush was then made
for the steamer, which had just hauled off a few feet from the wharf, and they shouted to the
captain to haul in.  For a moment this officer appeared to waver, but the Hon. John Hay, who
was on the bridge, doubtless divining the intentions of the crowd, peremptorily ordered the
captain to haul off. This he did, and the vessel accordingly proceeded on her way to Sydney.
'The effect of this dastardly attempt at assassinating the Prince, among the immense number
of persons congregated at Clontarf, may be more easily imagined than described.  A large 
number of ladies fainted, others were seized with hysterics, and the whole multitude was
convulsed. Suddenly a joyous throng had been converted into a mass of excited people, in
whose breasts sympathy for the Royal sufferer, and indignation for his murderous assailant,
alternately prevailed; while pallid faces and tearful eyes told of the deep anxiety that was felt
in reference to the extent of the injuries which his Royal Highness had sustained. People 
crowded by hundreds around the tent in which the sufferer lay, until they were informed that
they must keep back, in order to allow free ventilation; they at once fell back thirty or forty
yards and formed a complete cordon around the tent, and anxiously awaited the result of the
examination. Finding the people so anxious about him his Royal Highness said "Tell the people
I am not much hurt, I shall be better presently." His Royal Highness, who never lost
consciousness, although feeling faint and weak from the shock to his nervous system, and from
loss of blood, described to his attendants the sensation he experienced when struck by the
bullet. He said he felt as though he was being lifted off the ground.
'At about five o'clock his Royal Highness was placed on a litter, and borne by men of the 
Galatea to the deck of the Morpeth, a solemn silence being preserved by the people, who
stood on either side while the cortege passed......Prior to this the little steamer Fairy had been
sent up to Sydney with a message for the officer in charge of the Galatea, to be prepared
with a boat to convey the Royal sufferer to the shore; and when the Morpeth arrived off Farm
Cove a barge from the Galatea came alongside. The Prince, who was lying upon a stretcher
with a soft mattress under him, and his head supported by pillows, was lowered into his barge,
which was manned by a number of his own sailors. On arriving at the landing place he was
carefully raised out of the boat. Rumours of the occurrence having reached town, large numbers
of persons rushed to the jetty in front of Government House, where it was presumed the Prince
would land. Here a body of police and marines were posted - some of them guarding the 
approach from the wharf to Government House, and others forming near the landing-place, in 
order to escort his Royal Highness. The crowd [was] forced back to the high ground, and kept
at some distance from the chosen line of route. The Prince was surrounded by a guard of
marines, and the sight of his prostrate and helpless condition called forth from the crowd many
expressions of sympathy.'
The would-be assassin was Henry James O'Farrell, who had been born in Dublin in 1833 and who
had arrived in Melbourne in 1841 with his family. After completing his education in a seminary he 
returned to Europe for further study, but upon his return to Australia in 1855, he had a dispute 
with Bishop James Goold and, as a result, was never ordained. Over the next 12 years he failed
in a number of business ventures, took to drink, and gradually descended into paranoia. In 
September 1867 he went to Sydney where he stayed until his attempt on the life of the Duke
of Edinburgh.
 
Initially O'Farrell claimed that he was acting on behalf of a group of Fenians, but he later 
withdrew this statement. He was found guilty of attempted murder and hanged on 21 April 1868.
In August 1882, O'Farrell's brother Peter attempted to murder the same Bishop Goold [by that
time Archbishop Goold] following an argument over money allegedly owed to him by Goold. He 
was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
For further information regarding the death of the Duke of Edinburgh's son, Prince Alfred of Saxe
Coburg, see his entry under the page containing details of the Knights of the Garter.
Susannah Kennedy, 3rd wife of the 9th Earl of Eglinton
Susanna Kennedy was the daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy, of Culzean, who had been created
a baronet in 1682. Around June 1709, she married, as his third wife, Alexander Montgomerie, 
9th Earl of Eglinton.
She was one of the great beauties of the 18th century. The Countess, who died in 1780 at an
advanced age, claimed that she had never received true gratitude except from animals, 
particularly rats. It is said that she kept hundreds of rats, summoning them to the dining room
at meal times by tapping on an oak panel. When they heard the tapping, dozens of rats would
appear from the woodwork and join her at table. After dinner, at a quiet word of command, the
rats would retire in an orderly fashion.
Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton
The 10th Earl of Eglinton was fatally wounded by Mungo Campbell in October 1769. The 
following account of the affair is taken from the Newgate Calendar.
'The unhappy subject of this narrative was protected by an uncle, who gave him a learned
education; but this generous friend died when the youth was about eighteen years of age,
leaving him sixty pounds, and earnestly recommending him to the care of his other relations.
The young man was a finished scholar, yet seemed averse to making the choice of any of the
learned professions. His attachment appeared to be to the military life, in which line many of
his ancestors had most gloriously distinguished themselves.
'Mr. Campbell entered as a cadet in the royal regiment of Scots Greys, then commanded by a
relation, General Campbell, and served during two campaigns at his own expense, in the fond
hope of military preferment.
'After the battle of Dettingen [in 1743], at which he assisted, he had an opportunity of being
appointed quartermaster if he could have raised one hundred pounds, but this place was
bestowed on another person while Campbell was making fruitless application for the money.
 
'Thus disappointed of what he thought a reasonable expectation, he quitted the army and
went into Scotland, where he arrived at the juncture when the rebels had quitted Edinburgh,
in 1745, Lord Loudoun having then the command of loyal Highlanders, who exerted so much
bravery in the suppression of the Rebellion; and Mr. Campbell, having the honour to be related
to his lordship, went and fought under him with a bravery that did equal credit to his loyalty
and courage.
'Not long after the decisive battle of Culloden, Lord Loudoun procured his kinsman to be 
appointed an officer of the excise, and prevailed on the commissioners to station him in the
shire of Ayr, that he might have the happiness of residing near his friends and relations.
'In the discharge of his new duty Mr. Campbell behaved with strict integrity to the Crown, yet
with so much civility as to conciliate the affections of all those with whom he had any
transactions. He married when he was somewhat advanced in life, and so unexceptionable was
his whole conduct that all the nobility and gentry in the neighbourhood (the Earl of Eglinton
excepted) gave him permission to kill game on their estates. However, he was very moderate
in the use of this indulgence, seldom shooting but with a view to gratify a friend with a present;
hardly ever for his own emolument.
 
'Mr. Campbell had a singular attachment to fishing; and, a river in Lord Eglinton's estate
affording the finest fish in that country, he would willingly have angled there, but his lordship
being as strict with regard to his fish as his game, Campbell, unwilling to offend him, gave away
his fishing-tackle, which was excellent in its kind. He was likewise in possession of a fine pointer,
which he sold; but would not part with his gun, which produced him the greatest pleasure of 
his life. 
'Campbell, being in search of smugglers, and having his gun with him, was crossing part of Lord
Eglinton's estate when a hare started up, and he shot her. His lordship hearing the report of the
gun, and being informed that Campbell had fired it, sent a servant to command him to come to
the seat. Campbell obeyed the disagreeable summons, but was treated very cavalierly by his
lordship, who even descended to call him by names of contempt. The other apologised for his
conduct, which he said arose from the sudden starting of the hare, and declared that he had no
design of giving offence. This might have been a sufficient apology to any other man than Lord
Eglinton.
 
'A man named Bartleymore was among the servants of Lord Eglinton, and was a favourite of his
lordship, and this man dealt largely in contraband goods. Mr. Campbell passing along the
seashore, met Bartleymore with a cart containing eighty gallons of rum, which he seized as
contraband; and the rum was condemned, but the cart was restored, being the property of
Lord Eglinton.
 
'In this affair it will appear evident that Mr. Campbell did not exceed his duty; but Bartleymore
was so incensed against him that he contrived many tales to his disadvantage, and at length
engaged his lordship's passions so far that he conceived a more unfavourable opinion of
Campbell than he had hitherto done.
'About ten in the morning of the 24th of October, 1769, Campbell took his gun and went out
with another officer with a view to detecting smugglers. Mr. Campbell took with him a licence
for shooting, which had been given him by Dr. Hunter, though he had no particular design of
killing any game, but intended to shoot a woodcock if he should see one.
 
'They crossed a small part of Lord Eglinton's estate, in order to reach the seashore, where 
they intended to walk. When they arrived at this spot it was near noon, and Lord Eglinton came
up in his coach, attended by Mr. Wilson, a carpenter, and followed by four servants on 
horseback. On approaching the coast his lordship met Bartleymore who told him there were
some poachers at a distance, and that Campbell was among them. Lord Eglinton quitted his
coach and, mounting a led horse, rode to the spot, where he saw Campbell and the other
officer whose name was Brown. His lordship said: "Mr. Campbell, I did not expect to have found
you so soon again on my grounds, after your promise when you shot the hare." He then 
demanded Campbell's gun, which the latter declared he would not part with.
 
'Lord Eglinton now rode towards him, while Campbell retreated, with his gun presented, desiring
him to keep at a distance. Still, however, his lordship advanced, smiling, and said: "Are you
going to shoot me?" Campbell replied: "I will, if you do not keep off." Hereupon Lord Eglinton
called to his servants to bring him a gun, which one of them took from the coach, and delivered
to another to carry to their master.
 
'In the interim Lord Eglinton, leading his horse, approached Mr. Campbell and demanded his gun,
but the latter would not deliver it. The peer then quitted his horse's bridle and continued
advancing, while Campbell still retired, though in an irregular direction, and pointed his gun 
towards his pursuer.
'At length Lord Eglinton came so near him that Campbell said: "I beg your pardon, my lord, but
I will not deliver my gun to any man living, therefore keep off, or I will certainly shoot you." At
this instant Bartleymore, advancing, begged Campbell to deliver his gun to Lord Eglinton, but 
the latter answered he would not, for he "had a right to carry a gun."
 
'His lordship did not dispute his general right, but said that he could not have any to carry it
on his estate without his permission. Campbell again begged pardon, and still continued 
retreating, but with his gun in his hand, and preparing to fire in his own defence. While he was
thus walking backwards his heel struck against a stone and he fell, when he was about the 
distance of three yards from his pursuer. Lord Eglinton observed him fall on his back, and 
stepped forward, as if he would have passed by Campbell's feet. The latter, observing this, 
reared himself on his elbow, and lodged the contents of his piece in the left side of his lordship's
body.
 
'A contest now ensued, during which Bartleymore repeatedly struck Campbell. Being observed by
Lord Eglinton, he called out: "Do not use him ill." Campbell, being secured, was conducted to the 
wounded man, then lying on the ground, who said: "Mr. Campbell, I would not have shot you."
But Campbell made no answer. His hands were tied behind him, and he was conducted to the 
town of Saltcoats, the place of his former station as an excise man.
'Lord Eglinton dying, after languishing ten hours, Mr. Campbell was, on the following day. 
committed to the prison of Ayr, and the next month removed to Edinburgh, in preparation for
his trial before the High Court of Justiciary. The trial commenced on the 27th of Fenraury,1770,
and the jury having found Mr. Campbell guilty he was sentenced to die.
 
'On his return to prison he was visited by several of his friends, among whom he behaved with
apparently decent cheerfulness, and, retiring to his apartment, he begged the favour of a visit
from them on the following day. But in the morning he was found dead, hanging to the end of a
form which he had set upright, with a silk handkerchief round his neck.
''The following lines were found upon the floor, close to the body:-
 
'"Farewell, vain world, I've had enough of thee,
And now am careless what thou say'st of me,
Thy smiles I count not, nor thy frowns I fear,
My cares are past, my heart lies easy here,
What faults they find in me take care to shun,
And look at home, enough is to be done." '
Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton
Archibald Montgomerie was only 7 when he succeeded his grandfather as the 13th Earl of 
Eglinton, together with the title's enormous wealth. He grew up a romantic, high-spirited youth,
arrogantly proud of his birth and with a taste for hunting, steeplechasing and devouring
medieval chronicles. In politics, he was a violent Tory, regarding the Reform Bill and the 
Industrial Revolution as unmitigated disasters. He became a man with a mission, determined to 
revive the ideals of chivalry among the younger aristocracy before it was too late.
The result was the Eglinton Tournament, staged at Eglinton Castle, a vast imitation Gothic
mansion built by his grandfather on his Scottish estate in Ayrshire.
In March 1839, he sent out invitations to his intended guests, all peers, or sons or 
relations of peers. Each recipient was invited to appear in authentic armour and test their
prowess with sword and lance in the lists at Eglinton Castle. The knights were summoned to
assemble at the Castle on 28 August 1839, bringing with them their womenfolk and retinues
of squires, grooms and servants, all dressed in appropriate medieval garb. Many of Eglinton's
noble friends tore up the invitation cards in derision. Some branded the scheme 'senseless
ostentation' and 'childish buffoonery.' Eventually, only about 15 accepted the summons, but
Eglinton was not dismayed, for they included people with the bluest blood in the land, if
not the brightest minds.
The 'Mad Marquess' of Waterford, notorious for his brawls with draymen in the streets of 
London, announced that he had purchased a costly suit of German armour specially for the
occasion. The Earl of Craven resurrected a magnificent suit of Milanese armour, inlaid with
gold, that an ancestor had worn at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The helmet alone weighed
more than 40 lb. Country houses were ransacked for armour and weapons that had rusted
unused for generations. Others scoured the Continent for suitable equipment. The richer
peers lavished fortunes on dressing themselves, their wives and troops of followers. The
Marchioness of Londonderry was reputed to have spent £1,000 on three velvet and brocade
gowns.
Meanwhile 200 workmen toiled to transform the park of Eglinton Castle into a setting worthy of
knightly pomp. Adjoining the Castle, there rose a sumptuous banqueting pavilion 350 feet long,
hung with tapestries and crimson cloths. Each knight had a private pavilion with his banner 
floating above it. The enclosure for the jousting was 300 yards long and a five-foot wooden
barrier down the centre to prevent the horses colliding as the knights rode headlong at each
other with their lances. In the main grandstand, which held 1500 spectators, was the damask-
canopied seat of the Queen of Beauty, who was to present prizes to the winning knights.
By July, Eglinton was ready to announce the names of the chief officials and their high-flown
titles. The Queen of Beauty was the young Lady Seymour, wife to the heir to the Duke of
Somerset - an appointment that caused acrimonious squabbles among the less fortunate
contenders. The King of the Lists was the Marquess of Londonderry, Lord Saltoun was the
Judge of the Lists and Sir Charles Lamb was Knight Marshal, with the task of ensuring that the
combats did not become too realistic. Included among the knights were Viscount Alford [son
of Earl Brownlow], the Earls of Cassilis and Craven, Viscount Glenlyon [later Duke of Atholl],
the Marquess of Waterford and assorted sprigs of the aristocracy.
By now the tournament had become a national sensation. London newspapers reported the
preparations in stories of rumour and gossip that stirred up the populace into violently opposed
factions. Some regarded the tournament as the harmless whim of a half-mad nobleman; others
passionately attacked it as the crowning example of aristocratic folly and arrogance. In 
Scotland, dour Presbyterian parsons prayed for rain to ruin the ungodly spectacle. Radicals
prophesied that hungry mobs from Glasgow would descend upon Eglinton and tear the Castle
down about its owner's head. In London, excitement was kept alive by practice bouts staged
by some of the knights in a field behind a tavern.
By mid-July, thousands of gaping Londoners were gathering each day to watch these practice
sessions. By now the knights had been joined by the exiled Prince Louis Napoleon of France
[later Emperor Napoleon III] and the Hungarian Baron Esterhazy, whom Eglinton had invited to
uphold the honour of Europe in the lists. Newspapers gleefully reported that the spectators
had burst into roars of laughter when Prince Louis tumbled off his horse and rolled on the
grass in his unwieldy armour like a capsized beetle.
It was estimated that by 25 August, three days before the tournament, 50,000 people had
swarmed into the neighbourhood of Eglinton Castle. They filled every inn for miles around, and
many camped in the Castle park. Most were respectable folk, although one observer lamented
that every pickpocket from London to Glasgow had gathered for the harvest. On 26 August, 
the knights and their retainers began arriving and the huge crowd watched with emotions
ranging from awe to derision as each pageant wound its way through the park to the Castle.
The Marquess of Waterford was followed by 20 squires in black and silver livery; Viscount
Glenlyon led a band of 70 Highlanders armed with claymores.
But, after all the grand preparations, the tournament itself was a dismal anti-climax. Rain
began to fall and continued throughout the four days of the program.  Hooves soon churned 
the ground into a quagmire. The horses slithered and skidded wildly as they charged up the 
lists. The armour-clad knights were plastered with mud from visor to spur. But Eglinton and
the other participants refused to be dismayed, with heralds splashing between the pavilions
bearing challenges and pair after pair rode out to tilt in the lists. In their concern for safety,
the tournament officials had insisted that the lances be flimsy wooden poles. As a result,
no knight was unhorsed and catcalls of boredom rose from the spectators as the lances
splintered harmlessly against the knights' armour. 
On the last day Eglinton tried to enliven the proceedings by a 'Grand Equestrian Free for All'
in which four Scottish champions challenged four Englishmen to combat with blunted broad-
swords. By this time, tempers among the mud-spattered knights had also become frayed.
Before long they were hacking at each other in earnest, to the delight of the few remaining
onlookers. The Marquess of Waterford reeled in his saddle with a gashed shoulder and the 
Hon. Edward Jerningham [son of Baron Stafford] left the field with blood streaming down his
arm before the Knight Marshal managed to ride into the fray and separate the rest of the
combatants.
That was the final act of the Eglinton Tournament. Even the sumptuous banquet had to be
abandoned because rain had flooded the outdoor pavilion. It was estimated that the whole
exercise had cost the Earl between £30,000 and £40,000. For the rest of his life, Eglinton
spent his time in politics and horse-racing, where he found jockeys in silks far more rewarding
than knights in armour.
The Earls of Egmont
This family, which appears to have had more than its fair share of bad luck, includes a number
of interesting individuals, including
Henry Frederick Joseph James Perceval, 5th Earl of Egmont - according to tradition, the
5th Earl of Egmont was appealed to by a widow on his estates in the south of Ireland to
postpone her eviction owing to the fact that her only son was dangerously ill. However, the
Earl was relentless, and had the widow and her son thrown out onto the roadside, where the 
sick son died a few hours later as a result of exposure and the rough treatment to which he
had been subjected.
The widow went down upon her knees by the body of her son and cursed the Earl, praying that
neither he or his successors would ever have a son given to them to inherit the peerage.
Whether it is coincidental or not, the 5th Earl died childless and was succeeded by his cousin,
the 6th Earl, who also died childless. He was succeeded by his nephew, the 7th Earl, who died
childless, to be succeeded by his cousin, the 8th Earl, who also died childless. He, in turn, was
succeeded by his brother, the 9th Earl. He, too, died childless in 1929, when the Earldom
became dormant for a period, until the 11th Earl established his claim in 1939. The 11th Earl
was the son of the de jure 10th Earl, a distant kinsman of the 9th Earl; it appears that by this
time the effect of the widow's curse had worn off, although it should be noted that the current
Earl has no children (although he appears to have an adopted son), and that the peerage will
become extinct on his death.
For information on the battle for the 5th Earl's estates, see the note below headed "The Egmont
Estates Case."
Spencer Perceval - he was the seventh son of the 2nd Earl and, on 11 May 1812, became the
only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
Henry Godfrey Perceval - cousin of the 7th Earl, who fell victim to foul play in America in 
1884. The following report is from the 'Liverpool Mercury' of 29 October 1884:-
Mr. F. Lennard Shaw, writing from Lone Tree, Nance County, Nebraska, says: - "This is a correct
account of the tragedy enacted on September 29 [1884] near Fullerton, Nance County, 
Nebraska. All that is known of the following murders I will give in as few words as possible, for 
the sake of the relatives and friends of the deceased, who were English. On Tuesday morning,
the 30th of September, two insurance agents went up to Henry Perceval's farm and thence to
George Furnivall's, but finding both houses locked up they returned to Fullerton and called again
at Perceval's on Thursday; but everything being in the same state as on Tuesday, and a fearful
smell coming from the house, they suspected foul play, and started in quest of more men to
investigate the matter. I was one of these men, being a near neighbour, and on Thursday night
several of us started off to Perceval's and managed to get through a window. In one room we
found Perceval's wife [Mary Cornelia, nee Tanner] and child [Ellen Mary] in bed, shot. Perceval
and Baird (a man boarding there) could not be found, but eventually, by the aid of a stable
lamp, Perceval was discovered at the butt of a haystack, shot in the head and breast. We
then went to Furnivall's house, and in a room upstairs found Mayer (Furnivall's partner) in bed,
shot. Furnivall and Baird were still missing. The next morning (Friday) people from all quarters
helped to search the prairie, and at last found a body in the creek, which was identified as
Baird's. About fifteen of us on horseback scoured the prairie for miles and dragged the creek,
three of us diving the deep pools, but with no result. Furnivall is still missing and is believed
to be murdered. One of Perceval's horses was ridden into Fullerton on the morning of the 30th
by a stranger, who put it up at Roberts's stables, and caught the first train; he has since been
tracked to Council Bluffs. No motive for these horrible deeds can be alleged, as Perceval,
Furnivall, Baird and Mayer were quiet, inoffensive young fellows. The weapons used were a
38-calibre, a 22 revolver, and a shot gun. I knew Perceval and Furnivall intimately, having sailed
with them from England; and if any of the relatives or friends of the murdered people wish for
further particulars I shall be glad to answer any inquiries in my power."
Augustus Arthur Perceval, 8th Earl of Egmont - the following is an extract from the 'Chicago
Daily Tribune' of 29 May 1910:-
'Lord Egmont….had a varied career before he succeeded to the earldom and to the historic
Cowdray estates in Sussex, which he sold a year ago for a large sum to Sir Weetman Pearson,
a millionaire contractor from America. Born in New Zealand, Lord Egmont received his education
on the training ship Worcester on the Thames, but, failing to graduate as mate in the merchant
marine, he shipped as a sailor before the mast. Tiring of the sea he joined the London fire 
brigade as a fireman, married an American girl, a Miss Kate Howell of South Carolina, who was 
earning her living as a barmaid at the Sloane Square station on the underground railroad, and 
then got employment as janitor of the Chelsea town hall. He lost his berth there through having
been led by his pronounced Tory sympathies to turn the hose upon the members of a Radical
political meeting being held in the hall.
'Then he worked as a labourer in a salt mine in Cheshire and was a sergeant of the Natal police
when the death of a remote cousin sent him home to England as eighth Earl of Egmont and as
chief of the historic house of Percival [sic] which figures so largely in the annals of England…'
The claims made for the peerages following the death of the 8th Earl
On the death of the 8th Earl in 1929, three claimants emerged for the titles and estates. They
were Frederick Joseph Trevelyan Perceval (the successful claimant), James William Perceval
and Robert Pownall.
The claim made by James William Perceval is examined at length in the following two articles.
The first article appeared in the London "Daily Mail" on 18 May 1929:-
'The Daily Mail learns that the right of the present Earl of Egmont - the "Rancher Earl" - to the
title is disputed. A claim to the earldom has been made by Mr. James William Perceval, a
baker, 66 years of age, living in Birkbeck-road, Hornsey, and legal proceedings are being 
instituted. He alleges that the earldom has been in the wrong hands since 1897.
'It was only last January that the ninth earl died, and in March a distant kinsman, Mr. Frederick
Perceval, for 25 years a Canadian rancher, returned to England as the heir. 
'Mr. James William Perceval, the claimant, states that he is the son of Augustus George Perceval,
son of the sixth earl. He has been legally advised that if this can be proved he should have been
the eighth earl and ought to have succeeded to the title in 1897. If his claim is upheld it will
mean, therefore, that the 8th Earl of Egmont, who died in 1910, and the 9th Earl, who died in
January, had no right to the title which enabled them to sit and vote in the House of Lords, nor
to Avon Castle and estate, near Ringwood, Hampshire. It will mean, also, that the "Rancher 
Earl" is not entitled to be called "Earl of Egmont, Baron Perceval, Baron Arden, Baron Lovel and
Holland, and Sir Frederick Perceval, baronet." His 14-year-old son will not be entitled to be known
as Viscount Perceval.
'It is understood that the present holder of the title has not yet received any money from the
estate, and that it is unlikely that anything will be done until the question of the claim is settled.
Already a widespread search is being made in Australia on behalf of Mr. James William Perceval
to find a birth certificate which would, his legal advisers have informed him, settle the question of
succession beyond doubt.
'Mr. Perceval gives the following statement in support of his claim: "In 1852 Augustus George and
Charles John, first and second sons of Arthur Philip, brother of the then earl, went to New
Zealand, and met on their voyage two sisters, who they married. In 1863 Augustus George 
returned to England with his wife. He returned to Australia the same year, leaving his wife in 
England. The family gave his wife money to go after him. She went to Sydney, where I was born. 
My father told me the date was December 11, 1863. After my birth, she found her husband, and,
as he refused to leave a woman with whom he had gone away, handed me over to him. She
returned to Sydney, where she died on March 27, 1873. 
"In 1875 we three came to England, my father and the woman being married on the way in 
Sydney, at St. Phillip's Church. We reached England on June 25, 1875. My father took a house at
109, Finborough-road, Kensington. Afterwards we moved to Langfords, known as the White House,
at Buckhurst Hill, Essex. About 1878 we moved to Bournemouth. Three or four years later we
returned to London. While living there - at Clapham - I went to King's College, Strand, in the
name of James William Perceval. I was taken away from King's College because Augustus Arthur,
who was afterwards earl, was at the fire brigade headquarters and used to visit me too often.
"At the age of 18 I was apprenticed to a pastry-cook and confectioner, E. Cresswell, of Park-
street, Camden Town, in the name of James William Offley (the name of his Australian nurse).
I served less than two years because the firm changed hands. When I was unemployed I went
back to live with my father at Clapham. A few years later Augustus George and Margaret Amelia
Perceval moved to Denmark-villas, Hove, where my father died on August 19, 1896. I used to
stay with them at the address for long periods." [The article simply stops at this point, although
it appears that there is more to tell].
Four years after the death of the 8th Earl, the following article appeared in the Brisbane "Sunday
Mail" on 9 August 1936:-
'Queensland's history is studded with stories of younger sons of the English nobility who came to
the country sixty or seventy years ago in search of 'experience.' If ever these stories are 
collected they will make interesting and romantic reading, but surely none is stranger than the
tale of Augustus George Perceval, heir presumptive to the Earldom of Egmont - and of the little
boy he adopted. That boy, maintaining that he was Perceval's lawful child and not merely his
adopted son, contested the Earldom and settled estates worth £122,000 when the title fell
vacant in 1929. The case, it may be remembered, was won by a Canadian rancher, and was one
of the most famous heard in the Chancery Division.
'To get to the beginning of the story one must turn back to the appearance of Augustus George
in the township of Port Denison (now known as Bowen) in the 60s of last century. Only a few
years had passed since the earliest settlers had come overland from Rockhampton, but it was
already a thriving village. In March, 1864, the late Mr. P.T. Raynor issued the first edition of the
Port Denison "Times," and Perceval was engaged as reporter and sub-editor.
He was a dashing fellow with an aristocratic bearing, a handsome face and a flowing beard.
His evident pride must have had its roots in the knowledge that he was heir to a line that
received its earldom in 1733 and could trace its distinction to a title of 1661 - an exceptional
baronetage which allowed the eldest son or grandson, when 21 years of age, to have the
precedence and rank of a baronet concurrently with the father or grandfather.
'Before coming to Bowen he had kept a boarding house in Gladstone, but a hailstorm so
battered the house that he went to Clermont. He lived also for a time at Princhester and at
Jolimont, near Mackay, before finding his journalistic haven in Bowen. There he lived up to his
rank, for when Governor Bowen, after whom the town was named, visited it in 1865 Perceval
entertained him at dinner.
'The arrival of the boy whom he adopted was so wrapped in mystery that even to this day there
are local people who think he was his rightful son. Others will tell you he was the son of James
Pretlove Offley, who perished of thirst in the bush with two other men. The mother and boy then
joined  a travelling circus or troupe of theatricals. He was seen by Perceval, who was so
struck with his beauty that he gave the woman £200 for a complete surrender of the child. 
This much is certain - that a legal document on these lines - was drawn up and witnessed by
two well-known Bowen residents.
'The records of Holy Trinity Church, Bowen, show that on August 9, 1868, "James William 
Perceval, born December 11th, 1863, son of James Pretlove Offley and Susanna, his wife" was
baptised by the Rev. J.K. Black. The godparents, whose names are entered in the margin, are
shown as Augustus George and Margaret Amelia Frances Perceval. Mrs. Offley is said to have
married again and to have left for distant Georgetown. Whether that is so or not, she
disappeared from the scene, and not even the most diligent search in later years has been able
to trace her subsequent movements.
'There are several people who knew young 'Willie' Perceval in his Bowen days. They say he was 
a spirited lad, with some of the wild characteristics for which the Perceval family had a reputation.
It seems he was a great lover of goats, and persisted in encouraging them to follow him. The 
schoolmaster was distracted at the rapacity of the animals, and at last, in desperation, cut the
throat of a black and tan kid that had devoured the plants in the school garden.
'The boy could run faster than any other lad in the town, and was leader in the 'fox and hounds'
over the surrounding hills but he found it difficult to persuade or coerce him to take an interest
in his lessons. Altogether his contemporaries' recollections of Willie Perceval are very vivid, and
when, as an old man, he made a bid for the earldom there was no difficulty in identifying him as
the boy who had been in Bowen.
'In 1873 his foster father, yielding to a recurrence of the wander fever, packed his belongings in
a wheelbarrow and trudged along the tortuous Don River to the Normanby goldfield, where he is
reputed to have opened a pie shop and later to have published a weekly news sheet. He did not
remain there long, for in December, 1874, the Port Denison "Times" records that 'Mr. Perceval, a
gentleman who has been connected with this paper for over eight years, left by the Florence 
Irving on Thursday for England. The death of his uncle, the late Earl of Egmont, has rendered his
presence necessary at home, and there is little probability of his return. We hope to hear before
long that he is as active there on our behalf as he always was in our midst.' That was the last
Bowen heard of Willie Perceval for many years, except that Mr. Henry Field visited England soon
afterwards and brought back photographs showing the boy wearing the cap of an engineer, for
which profession he was then in training.
'When he made his sensational claim to the earldom seven years ago he was a baker in the West
End of London. His foster father had died in 1896, a year before the seventh Earl, who had 
succeeded in 1874.
'The case set a nice problem for the Master of the Chancery Court. The claimants, all of whom
said they were kinsmen of the former Earl, included Frederick Joseph Trevelyan Perceval, a
rancher of Alberta, who had taken possession of Avon Castle, Hampshire, after the Earl's death;
James William Perceval, and Robert Pownall, a Lancashire optician [see below for more on his
claim].
'This was the story of the ex-Queenslander, with which we are mainly concerned. His father, he
said, deserted his mother in Sydney in 1860 or 1861, and went to England. Returning to Queens-
land about 1863, he eventually came to Bowen with a woman who was his housekeeper. When his
mother visited England during the first six months of 1864 to deliver the two children of her
deceased sister to their people, he was handed over to his father and the housekeeper. He 
claimed that he was Augustus George Perceval's lawful son, who went through the form of
adopting him so that he might have him legally under his care while withholding from the people
of Bowen the fact that his real wife was living in Sydney.
'All the world knows now that he lost his case; that in 1930 the Canadian rancher, after an inquiry
lasting six months, became Earl of Egmont and won legal right to the lordly estates in Hampshire,
Buckinghamshire, and Surrey. But it does not know of the stubborn fight the aged baker made
behind the scenes in an effort to establish his claims. That is revealed now for the first time.
'He had recourse to Mr. George Turner, an old resident of Bowen, who, on account of his historical
bent and wide knowledge, is regarded as the town's oracle. Mr. Turner did not spare himself in
trying to help him.
'Searches revealed that the birth of the Offley child at Princhester on December 11, 1863 - barely
six months after A.G. Perceval returned from England - gave its full name as James William 
Perceval Offley. This, the claimant said, was significant, as the spelling of his surname was rare, 
and A.G. Perceval had paid a substantial sum to adopt him afterwards. Why, he asked, would this
be done unless the man had a deep interest in him?
'The possibility of the child of Mr. and Mrs. Offley having died between 1863 and 1865 was 
explored, as it would have discounted the suggestion that the claimant was the child christened
in Bowen. This led nowhere, and Mr. Turner was obliged to investigate Perceval's claims from the 
Sydney end.
He insisted that he clearly remembered Governor Bowen's visit in 1866, and deduced from this
that he was born before 1863. In one of his letters to Mr. Turner he suggested that he was born 
in Sydney in 1860 or 1861, and mentioned, incidentally, that his mother lived at South Stanley 
Street, Brisbane, from the autumn of 1864 until September, 1865.
'Mr. Turner had a search made at the office of the Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in
Sydney, but although it took in the period from 1859 to 1864, it did not reveal anything 
conclusive. The rector of St. John's, Glebe Point, where was mother was supposed to have lived, 
was unable to find any entry of the name of Perceval from the inception of the charge in 1856 to 
1866.
'Perceval's strongest point appeared to be that a woman at Richmond (Victoria), whose mother
had been lady's maid to the Countess of Egmont, received a letter from Augustus George Perceval
at Glebe Point about 1862, saying: 'My dear wife Emma has given birth to a baby boy, and I have
called him James William Perceval.' She said that the date was December 10 or 13 (the date of
the Offley child's birth was given as December 11).
'Whatever he may have gained from this evidence was offset by the death certificate of Emma
Perceval. She died at George Street, Waterloo (N.S.W.) in March 1873, 'from the effects of lead
poisoning through using water with a lead connection to the well.' It stated that she was married
to A.G. Perceval at Christchurch 18 years before her death, and that her two male children had
predeceased her.
'Challenging the accuracy of this in a later letter, Perceval said he had a certificate of the
marriage in Christchurch in 1852 - three years earlier than the death certificate stated - and of 
the death of her twins, who died in Sydney in November, 1864. "It is fairly certain that Emma 
Perceval had a son at Glebe Point about 1860, although we know there is no record of its 
registration, at least under that name,' he added.
'The records did reveal that Augustus George Perceval, widower, married again at St. Philip's 
Church, Sydney, just before returning to England in 1875. Letter after letter was exchanged, 
search after search was made, photographs were copied and fordwarded in the old baker's effort
to prove that he was the rightful heir. In one of his notes while the case was pending he recalled
the old hotel, which was the last calling place for horse and bullock drays on their way to the
Normanby [gold]field. 'If I have any luck I shall come out and see my old home,' he wrote. But
it was not to be. If the man who romped about Bowen as Willie Perceval is still alive he is over 73
years of age; and, by a queer turn of fate, a 22-year-old youth is now Earl of Egmont, having
succeeded his father, the 'Rancher Earl,' in 1932.'
                                            ******************
Later in 1929, a new claimant, Robert Pownall, entered the lists. Pownall's claim was described in 
the London "Daily Mail" of 22 October 1929:-
'The dispute over the right to the earldom of Egmont and the extensive estates near Ringwood,
Hampshire, has been complicated by the arrival on the scene of a new claimant. He is Mr. R. 
Pownall, a retired optician, of Haydock, Lancashire, and he is the third claimant to the title.
The others are: Mr. Frederick Perceval, for 25 years a Canadian rancher. He returned to England
as heir last March, following the death in January of the ninth earl. He is now in residence at Avon
Castle, Ringwood, Hampshire, as the tenth Earl of Egmont. With him is his 15-years-old son,
Viscount Perceval; [and] Mr. James William Perceval, aged 66, a baker, of Birkbeck-road, Hornsey,
who claims to be a son of the sixth earl and declares that the seventh, eighth and ninth earls had
no right to the title. He has expressed his intention of prosecuting his claim to the fullest extent
with the aid of the Poor Persons Committee of the Law Society.
'Mr. Pownall, a sturdy, determined-looking man, states that the basisof his claim is that he is a
descendant of the Hon. Philip Tufton Perceval, a brother of the fifth earl [actually third son of
the 2nd earl]. He has prepared his family tree and is now in London to complete his investigations.
'The Admiralty has recently furnished Mr. Pownall with what he regards as a vital link. Somerset
House is copying for a fee of £4 11s a will of 180 folios of old English writing. Mr. Pownall has not
yet traced Philip Tufton Perceval in the family pedigree, but, with the help of the Admiralty, he 
says, he has established that Philip Perceval existed and retired as an admiral with distinguished
service.
'Mr. Pownall has obtained a copy of the admiral's marriage certificate, showing he was married at
St. Paul's, Covent Garden, in 1790 to an illiterate woman beneath his station. Mr. Pownall is 
hoping that the will at Somerset House will make a further link. He said: "I have never cared for
money, but I enjoy life. I enjoy this fight for my title. I am determined to establish the rights of
my children so that they will not have this task."
Pownall's application was, however, dismissed by the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, in
July 1930. It should be noted that Pownall's application related to the Egmont estates, rather 
than the peerage itself. 
Frederick Joseph Trevelyan Perceval, 10th Earl of Egmont - the following is an extract
from the "Chicago Daily Tribune' of 17 May 1932:-
'The Earl of Egmont, a Canadian cowpuncher who became an English peer through the death
of a cousin three years ago, died in a hospital…early today [16 May] as the result of injuries
received in an automobile accident. The smash-up occurred while he was driving to Avon Castle,
where he lived with his 17 year old heir, Viscount Perceval. He was 59 years old. 
'The Earl was "out with a bunch of cattle" near Priddis, Alberta, when his cousin died. He
returned to learn he was a chief contender to the title. After some hesitation he finally entered
a claim and was awarded the title two years ago. [This is not correct - he was awarded the
Egmont estates in July 1930, but the descent of the titles was not established until 1939]
'He was a misfit for the English peerage from the beginning. He had emigrated to Canada forty-
four years before his elevation to the earldom and always lived in western Canada. "The 
prospect of adopting the life of an English peer did not appeal to me greatly at first," he said
when he reached England, "but I realize the obligations to be fulfilled and I am not going to
shirk them altogether." He later admitted he "would rather be chopping wood."
Frederick George Moore Perceval, 11th Earl of Egmont - the following obituary appeared
in the London 'Telegraph' on 2 Jan 2002:-
The 11th Earl of Egmont, who has died in Alberta aged 87, became one of the Peerage's most 
romantic figures at the age of 15 when he reluctantly moved from a two-room prairie shack to 
Avon Castle, Hampshire, on his father's inheritance of the earldom.
Members of a junior branch of the Perceval family which had emigrated to Iowa and then 
Alberta in the late 19th century, the boy and his widowed father "bached" together on a 600-
acre ranch at Priddis, near Calgary.
Wearing chaps, boots and stetsons, they contentedly built up a herd of cattle, chopped their 
own wood and cooked their own meals. Then on January 12, 1929 Lord Beaverbrook, the former
owner of a Calgary bowling alley, ordered a Daily Express reporter in London to inform the father 
of his good fortune.
"This is the first I have heard of it," replied the 56-year-old 10th Earl when he was brought to a
telephone station. "I have been out with a bunch of cattle for the past few days and have just 
got in."
His son Frederick George Moore Perceval, who was born at Calgary on April 14 1914, now had 
the courtesy title Viscount Perceval; however, he was unimpressed by the change in the family 
fortunes.
"You taught me to read and write and you taught me to ride and shoot," he told his father,
"We've got a nice home here, and I don't want to leave it."
But the shack had pictures of English scenes on the walls, and they had often talked of the 
inheritance that might one day be theirs. After a sale of their effects in which the boy's two
mongrels, Jack and Rummy, made 25 cents each and his saddle pony, Pat, $3.25, they set off.
Already local reporters were so persistent that they decided to depart from a small station 
outside Calgary. As the pair boarded ship at Montreal the father and son swapped their stetsons
for caps.
When they landed in England they found themselves besieged all day and late at night for
weeks. Even apart from their unfamiliarity with metropolitan life, the weather-beaten 'cowboy 
earl' and his son with their western drawls, were of abiding interest to the press because of 
their genealogy.
An estate agent worked out that around £300,000 went with the Irish Earldom of Egmont, the
Viscountcy of Perceval of Kanturk and the Barony of Arden of Arden, Co Cork as well as the 
Barony of Lovel and Holland in the United Kingdom.
The inheritance came through their descent from Spencer Perceval, the Prime Minister 
assassinated at Westminster in 1812 who was the seventh son of the 2nd Earl.
The new Earl and his son excited a fresh round of press interest when their claim to both the 
land and titles were disputed by two other equally colourful claimants; a Hornsey baker, who 
said he had been born in Australia as the son of the sixth Earl's brother, and a retired 
Lancastrian optician.
Both cases were dismissed in court, but when debts and death duties necessitated the sale of 
silver and pictures, including a little-known Reynolds and a Beechey, the optician caused a 
sensation at Christie's by objecting at the top of his voice on the grounds that they belonged 
to him. 
To add to the confusion, the House of Lords did not formally recognise the father's and son's 
claim until 1939. But they were able to move into Avon Castle, with its private railway halt and
1,300 acres at Ringwood, Hampshire, seven months after their arrival.
By then the Earl was thoroughly bemused by the England he had not seen since the age of six, 
and his son was firmly for returning to Priddis. Instead, they dismissed the servants and moved
into the huge kitchen to re-create their Albertan self-sufficiency.
The gates were closed; the house shuttered; overtures from county neighbours were rebuffed.
The new Earl got on well enough with the villagers he met in the pub and local shop, though he 
didn't care for the way they always called him "sir."
He talked about sending his son to Oxford, but the boy showed no sign of continuing his 
schooling and was left largely to his own lonely devices.
The young Lord Perceval occasionally played with other boys in Ringwood but was more often to
be seen riding alone on his bicycle; later he bought a motorcycle which he enjoyed riding late at 
night along deserted roads at up to 85 mph.
The Earl continued to be of abiding interest to the press which dubbed him "the loneliest peer in 
England"; then fate intervened when he was killed in a motor accident in Southampton.
While the villagers spoke up for their kindly, shy neighbour, the Sunday Express's theatre critic, 
James Agate, excoriated county society: "Doubtless the late earl's accent and manners may, 
like his boots, have been a shade too thick for the fine carpets of Hampshire. Doubtless he was 
no master of small talk, because on an Alberta ranch, if you talk at all, the subjects will probably
be pretty big. They may kittle cattle but they certainly won't be tittle tattle."
The local MP wrote in reply that efforts had been made to get to know the lonely peer. But the 
18-year-old new Earl did not wait to give local society a second chance. He put the estate on 
the market and set out for Canada.
On encountering a Calgary journalist on the train at Winnipeg his first questions were about the 
present owner of his saddle-pony and the date of the annual Stampede.
After kitting himself out with saddle and chaps, the young Egmont set out for Priddis whose 
population turned out to greet him. Yes, he had liked the racing but not the crowds at the 
Derby. London was a tiring place where there were lots of shows, though he couldn't understand
why he had to pay for a programme full of advertisements.
"What English people do not realise," he explained, "is that there is a greater spirit of freedom 
and generosity over here in Canada."
That afternoon, he borrowed a horse and set off for a ride. A few months later, after
participating in the Stampede, Egmont married his cousin, Geraldine Moodie, a dental nurse who 
had been his childhood sweetheart.
The honeymoon involved the usual pursuit by newsmen, who remained fascinated by "the only
member of the House of Lords who could rope, throw and brand a steer." The couple had to 
return home from Victoria, British Columbia, after they had been spotted, and then set off again
for Florida.
However, the new countess was made of stern stuff and dealt with prying reporters by leading
her husband away firmly by the arm before he had time to provide them with any more colourful
copy.
Egmont hardly fulfilled normal expectations of a belted earl when encountered on his ranch in bib 
overalls, and a dusty hat, with six days' beard. He liked his neighbours to address him as "Fred",
but they called him "the Earl" behind his back.
Settling down to develop some of the finest stock in the West on the Priddis ranch, Egmont 
resisted his wife's promptings that they go to England until 1938, after he had rescued their son 
from a fire which destroyed their ranch-house.
He bought a car in London, toured the country and talked about sending his son to Eton. 
Instead, he put Avon Castle on the market and returned to Priddis where he built a 26-room
ranch-house complete with solid oak floors that had to be supported by 12 inch steel girders in
the basement. 
When the farm was sold 21 years later to a property company which came in advance of 
Calgary's spreading suburbs, he told the ever-interested Daily Express that he might consider 
moving back to Britain, where he still had land at Epsom.
However, he used his handsome profit to buy the 5,000-acre Two-Dot Ranch at Nanton, 40 
miles south of the city, which had once belonged to the Earl of Minto, Canada's Governor-
General from 1898 to 1904.
Egmont continued to keep largely to himself, though he was delighted on one occasion to be 
introduced to a member of his family in Britain, who was staying on a neighbouring ranch.
When Canada's constitution was patriated by the repeal of the Westminster British North 
America Act in the early 1980s, a Canadian reporter rang to ask if we would go to England to 
speak in what was expected to be a controversial Lords debate. The countess answered the
phone. 
"You can't speak to him now. He's out doing his chores," she snapped, before venturing her own
opinion that there was no call for the repeal, anyway. Later, Egmont told a neighbour that he 
rather wished he had gone over to take his seat in the House.
The Egmont Estates Case
The following report, which describes the battle for the estates of the 5th Earl of Egmont in
1863, is taken from the Sydney 'Empire' of 15 October 1863:-
'The great Egmont property case, which came before Mr. Justice Keogh and a special jury at the
Cork Assizes on July 31, was brought to a conclusion on August 5 [1863].
'Many circumstances combined to lend to the trial which has so abruptly concluded a peculiar
attraction for the curious public. On its issue depended the ownership of a great property; and 
in its complicated details were involved the history of some strange lives and the names of some
celebrated families. The question to be decided by the assize jury before whom the cause came
for hearing was an issue from the Court of Chancery in Ireland as to the validity of a will by 
which Henry Earl of Egmont devised his freehold and personal estates to Edward Tierney and his
heirs for ever. It so happened that neither of the parties engaged in the cause had been directly
involved in any of the proceedings. The Earl of Egmont, who now claims the estate, is but a
distant relative of the late peer; and the Rev. Sir W[illiam[ L[ionel] Darell [4th baronet], who
resisted the claim, only obtained by marriage the possession of the disputed property. The
families of Earl Egmont and of Edward Tierney became acquainted at Brighton, in the days of 
George IV. The mother of the late Earl was a leading personage in those times, and was deeply
engaged in political intrigue. One of the counsel in the cause described her as an ornament of
the Court of George IV, but on the other side she was spoken of as a devoted supporter of
Queen Caroline. Whomsoever she supported she appears to have paid little attention to the
education or the habits of her son, and Henry Lord Percival grew up a reckless youth, without
mental culture or taste, without practical knowledge of any kind, without any inclination for
a useful career.
'Edward Tierney, a man of great ability, came to be appointed agent to the Egmont estates.
It seems almost superfluous to say that the property was terribly embarrassed. It was for the
most part Irish property, and it seems to have borne the characteristics of Irish property of
that day very broadly written on it. The estates lie in and about the town of Kantark 
[i.e. Kanturk], in the county of Cork. Under the Tierney management the property is said to
have bloomed up remarkably; and it is easy enough to understand that a keen man of 
business, even without further hope of advantage than his legitimate rewards, could make 
something out of property which had only gone from bad to worse under the reckless 
mismanagement bequeathed from one Egmont to another. The difficulties of Lord Percival
were so great that for some time he could not show himself in England or Ireland. He led a
roving, heedless life, flickering about continental watering-places and gaming houses. His father,
the then Earl of Egmont, having the protection of his privileges as a peer, contrived to live
and keep up a sort of appearance in England. The son thought of a mode of getting out of his
immediate dangers which showed the advantages of Hibernian connection. He resolved to get
into Parliament and thus escape the terrors of the bailiffs. He stood for Penrhyn [at the general
election in 1826]; he raised money somehow, and spent it freely in the contest; and he failed.
He found himself therefore minus the money he had raised, deeper in debt than ever, and as
far from the Parliamentary harbour of refuge as before. In all his difficulties he appeared to have
turned to his friend Tierney to advise him, help him, and raise money for him. When he 
succeeded to the title and estates he found a collection of things with which he could not 
grapple. He was so heavily embarrassed that the more he endeavoured to look his difficulties in
the face the more overwhelming they seemed. He fell into the wildest and most eccentric habits.
For a long time he dropped his title, and called himself Mr. Lovell. He sought consolation in drink.
According to the counsel on one side, he sank into utter sottishness; became a lonely, stupid,
and irretrievable drinker. On the other side, indeed, there was the usual kind of conflicting
evidence. Various persons were called, who deposed that they had been in his company at such
and such times; that he was not then drunk; that he did not then drink to excess, and that he
conversed like a rational person.
'Meantime, of course, the usual process of borrowing, mortgaging, and raising money in various
ways was going on. The earl came to look upon Edward Tierney as his sole support, to believe
that the obtaining a meal of food, according to the statement of one of the counsel, depended
upon his friend and agent. The latter is stated to have bought in a great number of the
encumbrances, and to have gone on improving the estate - for himself, say the advocates of
the present Lord Egmont's claim. Henry, the late earl, became, it is alleged, gradually less and
less capable of managing his affairs. When he wrote letters they were only to press for money. 
He would sign, it was stated, numbers of documents without knowing what they were. Ultimately
that occurred which everybody must have expected would occur. He made a will by which he
devised his property of all kinds to Edward Tierney. He died about twenty years ago [in 1841].
Upon this will arose the question lately in dispute. The present earl did not allege that the 
testator was actually insane or idiotic at the time he made the will, but that he was in such a
condition as to have no idea whatever of the value of the property he was devising. This is in
rough and rapid outline a sketch of the cause  which has occupied the attention of the Cork
county assizes for several days back. A sudden arrangement has settled the question. A juror
fell sick and could not continue to attend. The counsel differed as to the legal possibility of
proceeding with eleven jurors in a cause where the rights of minors were concerned. Perhaps
it was the fact of being placed in so embarrassing a position that stimulated the parties to come
to an amicable agreement. The case was settled out of court. The Earl of Egmont takes
possession of the estates in dispute, and pays to Sir W. Darell £125,000 and the costs. Thus
concludes a very remarkable piece of litigation, involving much that was melancholy, much that
was grotesque, and much that was characteristic of a state of society and a kind of character
which are becoming less and less familiar to the public of our day.
'In addition to the £125,000 which the Earl of Egmont is to pay over to Sir Lionel Darell, on the
condition of the surrender of the estates to his lordship, the latter will, we understand, pay the
costs of the record and Chancery suit, amounting to a sum of £14,000. He will also pay the 
costs of obtaining an Act of Parliament, which it will be necessary to obtain in order to legalise
the proceedings here, and render the minors, who are in remainder after Sir Lionel Darell, bound
by the terms of agreement. The value of the disputed estates are worth about £12,000 a year.'
The Egmont Estates Act was passed in 1864 [27 & 28 Vict., c. 4].
The special remainder to the Earldom of Egremont created in 1749
From the "London Gazette" of 23 September 1749 (issue 8887, page 3):-
'His Majesty has....been pleased to grant unto his Grace Algernon Duke of Somerset, the 
Dignities of a Baron and Earl  of the Kingdom of Great Britain, by the Name, Style and Title of
Baron of Cockermouth in the County of Cumberland, and Earl of Egremont, in the said County
of Cumberland; To hold the same to him, and the Heirs Male of his Body; And, in Default of
such Issue, to Sir Charles Wyndham, of Orchard-Wyndham in the County of Somerset, Baronet,
{Nephew to the said Duke of Somerset) and the Heirs Male of his Body; And, in Default of
such Issue, to Percy Wyndham Obrian, of Short-Grove in the County of Essex, Esq; (Brother 
to the said Sir Charles Wyndham, and Nephew to the said Duke of Somerset) and the Heirs
Male of his Body.'
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon and his wife, Elizabeth Surtees (1754-28 June 1831)
 
The following article, which describes Lord Eldon's youthful elopement with his wife, appeared
in "The Queenslander" [Brisbane] on 13 May 1937:-
'In the year 1772 in a street called Sandhill, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, there stood a four-storied
house. It was an old house, built probably before Queen Elizabeth died, but much altered. Its
owners at a later time had installed sash windows to keep abreast with their neighbours. It was
a typical home of a prosperous North of England gentleman merchant, who preferred the 
company and notice of townspeople to the isolation of the country. Here lived Aubone Surtees,
receiver-general for Northumberland and Durham, a father of the corporation and a well-beloved
citizen of Newcastle.
'On the night of Nov. 18 in that year his house was the scene of a romantic adventure that for
years was the talk of the town, and not only the town of Newcastle. As the principal actors in
the affair grew old and famous the story found a firm place in the sentimental hearts of their
contemporaries. And to-day.....the tale may still be taken as an example of the perfect romantic
elopement.
'Twenty-one years before that November night, in a house in Love Lane, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
a boy was born to a coal merchant. This boy was called John Scott. His father had in 1724 been
admitted to the full privilege of the ancient guild of "hoastmen" or, in the local dialect, "coal-
fitters." His was a responsible job. He was middleman between owner and shipper. He prospered
sufficiently to send two sons to Oxford, but not without the aid of scholarships. To the elder at
Oxford he wrote: "Give me always ten or twelve days' notice of want of money, and you'll find
me ready enough to supply you, so as you live comfortably."
'John Scott's school life at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, was nearly marred by a fall
against a heavy desk. It left a permanent dent in his skull, and his family "despaired of his 
intellects." But he was not backward. He won his scholarship to Oxford before he was 15, and 
was elected to a fellowship shortly afterwards.
'Of his B.A. examination he thought little. In later years, when John Scott, B.A., had become
first Earl of Eldon and Lord Chancellor of England, he used to say: "An examination for a degree
at Oxford was a farce in my time. I was examined in Hebrew and History. 'What is the Hebrew
for the place of a skull?' - I replied 'Golgotha.' - 'Who founded the University College?' - I stated
that 'King Alfred founded it,' - 'Very well, sir,' said the examiner. 'You are competent for your
degree.' " So by his own accounts the future Lord Chancellor passed through his Oxford days 
with time on his hands. All through his life he boasted of his gift for procrastination, though 
where his legal work was concerned he lived up to his maxim that a lawyer should live like a
hermit and work like a horse.
'But there was one day coming soon after his Oxford days when he was determined not to
procrastinate. John Scott's father being a prosperous freeman of Newcastle had for some years
been friendly with Mr. Aubone Surtees, but the relationship seems not to have extended far
beyond the limits of business interchanges. Their families were not acquainted - at least the
young John Scott had not in Newcastle met Miss Elizabeth Surtees. But no doubt he had heard
her beauty spoken of.
'The fair "Bessie" Surtees was the toast of Newcastle and the object of admiration not only of
her friends but on London society, of whom she knew little. The Duchess of Northumberland had
taken her arm at her first London ball and had displayed her to her circle as "my Little Newcastle
beauty." She was, however, a quiet, gentle girl with the naive simplicity of a provincial facing
her first London season. She admitted to being frightened out of her wits at having to dance
with the Duke of Cumberland, a brother of King George III.
'John Scott met her for the first time in a church. It was not in Newcastle, but in the village of
Sedgefield, in the county of Durham. Her presence there was easy to explain. One of her aunts
lived there. But John Scott never explained what took him to Sedgefield. After that meeting their
friendship grew. She went early in 1771 to stay with an uncle in London. He had a house in Park
Lane and the two used to take morning walks in Hyde Park. On his way to Oxford for his last
term John Scott stopped in London and was soon to be seen strolling with uncle and niece in
the Park.
'If the Surtees family had hoped by sending their daughter to London to take her mind from her
young Newcastle friend they were unsuccessful. Yet from the points of view of both families
the match was undesirable. Mr. Scott disapproved of his son's romance because he was not yet
started on a career. His elder son suggested that the right solution would be for the father to
use all his influence to secure for John some safe country living, sufficient to support a clergy-
man and his wife in respectable poverty. Mr. Surtees, conscious that his own fortune was in no
way commensurate with his position in the town of Newcastle, and knowing that Elizabeth would
have little private money to support her, was naturally anxious to find a better match than the
son of a local coal-fitter.
'In the middle of these discussions, which were, in fact, by no means hostile but rather regretful
that the young couple could not have their own way, the lovers eloped. As soon as Miss Surtees
made up her mind - the initiative appears to have been hers - John Scott set to work without
delay. With a friendly and romantically-minded ostler he arranged that a ladder should be placed
against the window-sill of Miss Surtees's room, which overlooked the street. He, himself, was to
wait nearby with a carriage and horses. It was by no means an unconventional elopement. It
was true to the traditions in every respect and was the more romantic for that.
'On the night of November 18, 1772, "Bessie" Surtees appeared at her window dressed for the
road, as far as the full-blown skirts and hoops of the period allowed. She climbed down the 
ladder, the ostler hid it away, the coachman whipped up his horses and the couple drove off
to the north.
'But John Scott had not been able to keep his secret entirely. He had told his plans to his young
sister Jane and she had told her elder sister Barbara. Here is sister Barbara's account of the
elopement. "The night that Jack ran away to Scotland I knew nothing about it; but Jenny had 
scarcely got into bed before she took to sobbing and crying at such a rate I could not tell what
was the matter. At last she said, 'Oh, Babby, Jack has run away with Bessie Surtees to Scotland
to be married. What will my father say?' You may be sure there was no sleep for us that night.
I was not over well pleased either that Jack had told Jenny and not told me. When my father 
came in there was a letter from Jack which he read and put into his pocket and never said a 
word about it."
'Meanwhile the lovers were beyond pursuit. The had travelled in their carriage all night and on 
the morning of the next day reached Blackshiels over the Scottish border. There they halted and
were married by a minister of the Scottish Church "according to the form of matrimony 
prescribed and used by the Church of England." Elizabeth Surtees was just 18 and John Scott 21.
The young couple turned about immediately and recrossed the border. Their wedding night was
spent at the Queen's Head Inn, Morpeth. The inn was full but their hosts gave them their own
room. There they had to wait. John had no money. He had to rely on his father's generosity in
reply to the letter that his sister Barbara had seen opened and read so stoically.
'Soon John Scott's brother arrived, bringing his father's forgiveness and a welcome home to the
Scott household in Love Lane. But the bride's father was not so amicable. He refused to see his
daughter and for several days refused to speak with John Scott's father. One day, however,
the two met on the Newcastle Exchange. "Mr. Surtees," said Mr. Scott, "Why should this 
marriage make you so cool with me? I was as little wishing for it as yourself; but since what is
done cannot be undone, for every hundred pounds you put down for your daughter I will cover
it with another for my son." "You are too forgiving, Mr. Scott, you are too forgiving," was the
answer, "that would be rewarding disobedience." But, nevertheless, their disobedience was
rewarded. On January 19 next year, the runaways were remarried in their own Newcastle parish
church with the full approval of both families.
'Only one thing nearly marred the happy outcome. An overgenerous friend in the Scott family,
taking pity on the young jobless husband, offered him a partnership in his grocery business.
Happily John Scott refused, so, in the words of the Lord Chancellor Eldon's biographer, "the year
1772, the year of Mr. Scott's majority, may be considered the most important of his life, as
having been that of the marriage which gave colour to all his after days."
'The next year he was called to the Bar and entered upon his astonishingly successful legal
career. He held the office of Lord Chancellor for 20 [sic] years. Throughout his life he was a
devoted husband. His wife's wishes even came before the traditional duties of his office. At her
request he discontinued the practice of holding official levies. He was an affectionate father
and grandfather, though rather exacting. Perhaps his irascibility may be accounted for by his
capacity, in his later years, for consuming prodigious quantities of port wine. And after his own
conduct at the age of 21 it would be charitable to put down to the same cause his inordinate
rage at his daughter's marrying without his consent.'
John Scott, 2nd Earl of Eldon
The 2nd Earl was found to be insane following an inquiry into his state of mind in January 1853.
The following report on this inquiry appeared in the London 'Daily News' of 17 January 1853:-
'On Friday a commission de lunatico inquirendo, touching the state of mind of the Earl of Eldon,
was held at his lordship's residence, Shirley-park, near Croydon, by Commissioner Winslow and a 
jury of seventeen gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood. Mr. Thomas Tuckle, Chairman of the
Surrey Quarter Sessions, was foreman; Sir F[rederic] Thesiger [later Baron Chelmsford] and Mr.
Hawkins were counsel for the commission, and Mr. Hill watched the case on the part of his
lordship.
'Mr. Commissioner Winslow said that the forming of a commission did not necessarily indicate
that a party was of unsound mind, but the jury might not probably be aware that previous to
the issuing of a commission sufficient evidence is laid before the Lord Chancellor to form a prima
facie case for inquiry. Amongst the points of inquiry would be whether Lord Eldon had alienated
any part of his property, but the usual practice was to lay before the jury evidence touching 
only the state of the party's mind; and that practice would be adopted here, and on all matters
as to which no evidence appeared before them, the jury would be good enough to say that they
were ignorant of them. The main question would be, were they of opinion that his lordship was a
lunatic, of not sufficient capacity to govern himself and his estates. If so, they would name the
time whence the lunacy existed.
'Sir F. Thesiger then addressed the jury, and said that the nobleman whose state of mind was 
the object of their present inquiry, was born in 1804, and was consequently in the 48th year of
his age. In 1831 he married a daughter of Lord Feversham, by whom he had issue six daughters
and one son - Lord Encombe, a boy who was now about seven years of age. He succeeded in
1838, on the death of his grand-father, the Lord Chancellor, to the family honours and estates;
and from that date down to the period to which their attention would be directed, he performed
all the duties of his station in the most exemplary manner. He took the greatest possible interest
in his estate of Encombe, and in this, his present residence; he paid out large sums of money
on the improvement of both properties; he was kind and considerate, and at the same time 
careful and accurate in business; a tender and affectionate husband and parent; and everything
around him seemed to promise a long career of usefulness and happiness. In 1851 his bodily
health began to be seriously affected, and shortly afterwards symptoms appeared which 
rendered it necessary to resort to medical advice, On the 4th of June, 1851, it became 
necessary to call in the assistance of Dr. Sutherland, who continued to attend on Lord Eldon
from the date mentioned above down to the present time. The present proceedings had been
resorted to with extreme reluctance, and most probably they would not have been called to
this painful inquiry but for the lamented death of Lady Eldon on the 8th November last. There
were large possessions to be managed, and those most nearly connected with the family felt 
the responsibility to be too great, unless they were empowered to act by the authority of the
court.
'Dr. Sutherland deposed that he was called to visit Lord Eldon on the 4th of June, 1851, at his
residence at Shirley. He found him literally skin and bone; his speech was hesitating and 
inarticulate; there was trembling in his hands and legs; his conversation was incoherent; he
obstinately refused to take his food; he was unconscious of the calls of nature; there was
inequality in the pupils of his eyes, and the eyes themselves were bloodshot, as in the case of
patients who had been long deprived of food. At that time he thought his lordship was of 
unsound mind. He had seen him since that time, generally thrice a week, and sometimes oftener.
During the first week of his visits he had one day five convulsions. He attributed these to the 
bloodless condition of his brain, arising from want of nourishment, and he found they were
generally produced when he rose from a horizontal position, or when he was at all excited. He
was kept, therefore, for three weeks on a sofa, in a darkened room, and was fed three times a
day. He inhaled ether in order to remove the convulsions, and while inhaling it he called out,
"Hungry! Hungarians? Beef-tea!' The beef-tea was accordingly ordered, and he generally took 
it afterwards. Witness had often before found that inhaling ether had the effect of inducing
patients to take their food; and it certainly had that effect upon his lordship. Witness took pains
to ascertain the cause of this disease, and he was convinced that it had arisen from over study.
At the end of a month there were symptoms of improvement; he became more coherent in his
conversation, his speech was less hesitating, his lips lost their trembling, he took his food well,
and he became conscious of the calls of nature. At first his mind was totally incoherent; then,
as that chaotic state of mind passed off, delusions appeared. He fancied that witness was the
Marquis of Douro [son of the Duke of Wellington] - that he was going to be murdered - that
he had the power of raising the dead, etc. When the chaotic state of mind had passed off, 
and delusions appeared, there was an evidence of the mind gaining strength. As the imagination
became more vivid it created the delusions. His lordship gradually improved in bodily health, and
his mind was improved along with it, until, on the 9th of August 1851, he was able to go out
round the garden, and from that time up to an attack of bronchitis he had in September, 1852, 
he was out daily, except in cold weather. When excitement came on, witness or one of the
family read to him. He was subject to occasional paroxysm of excitement, and the reading had
the effect of soothing him.
'Sir F. Thesiger: Did he exhibit great violence? - Witness: It had more of the appearance of
impotent rage, exhibited in stamping on the floor, or hitting the sofa. Since July last, up to the
present time, he thought there was no improvement. His firm conviction was that from June up
to the present time his lordship was of unsound mind, and incapable of managing his own affairs.
The symptoms are unpromising for a recovery, but the case is not hopeless. It will require great
care and nursing to restore him to any degree of soundness. Witness had seen his lordship that
morning, but had no conversation with him, as he was in a state of excitement. It would be
advisable that only a deputation of the jury should visit him, as the presence of the whole
number might excite him and prove prejudicial.
'A Juror - Has Lord Eldon been on any day since the 4th of June, 1851, capable of taking care of
himself and his property?
'Dr. Sutherland - No. On no day since was Lord Eldon fit to transact business.
'Dr. Forbes Winslow, Dr. Tyler Smith, and Sir Alexander Morison, were also examined, and gave
evidence tending to support the fact of lunacy.
'The Commissioner then, with five of the jury, including the foreman, and one or two gentlemen
who had been personal friends of his lordship, proceeded to visit his lordship. On their return the
foreman stated to the others that there could not be the shadow of a doubt as to the unsound-
ness of his lordship's mind - that he did not recognise his friend Mr. Sutherland (one of the
jury) - and that he took no notice of what was passing around him.
'Dr. Sutherland, in answer to a question from Sir F. Thesiger, said that great care was taken to
keep his lordship's rooms heated in the same degree, so far as possible.
'The Commissioner then said he need not trouble the jury with any observations. Those of the
jury who had seen his lordship would probably come to a conclusion, even without the evidence
of the medical gentlemen. Mr. Hill said the evidence was so conclusive that he would not trouble
the jury with a word on the subject.
 
'The jury then at once returned a verdict, finding that Lord Eldon was of unsound mind, and
that he had been of unsound mind from the 4th June, 1851.'
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
The following biography of Lord Ellenborough appeared in the Australian monthly magazine
"Parade" in its issue for May 1957:-
'On December 19, 1817, a heavy coach jolted to a halt outside a fish shop in Charing Cross, 
London. The howling crowd that followed closed round the wheels with fury. The frightened 
coachman called down to his passenger, "Shall I not drive on, my Lord? The mob is threatening!"
A head that seemed all gigantic wig and shaggy eyebrows protruded from the carriage window.
"Damn the mob!" the passenger growled. "This shop has the best herrings in London. Go and buy
me a dozen!" With that, Lord Ellenborough, Lord Chief Justice of England, ducked his venerable
head as another stone crashed against his coach. 
'As supreme judge in the British criminal courts, Ellenborough was the legal executioner of the
Tory diehards who ruled Britain in the social upheavals during and after the Napoleonic Wars. He
was the most feared and ruthless man who ever donned the crimson and ermine of Lord Chief
Justice. 
'Lord Ellenborough was born Edward Law, son of a country parson, at Great Salkeld, Cumberland,
on November 16, 1750. He was educated for the law and entered Lincoln's Inn at the same time
as young William Pitt, the future Prime Minister. For five years he practised as a special pleader,
then, in June, 1780, joined the Northern Circuit of the Assizes. His family was influential in the
North of England. He rapidly built up a rich practice. He might have remained a successful but
obscure lawyer had not Fate pitchforked him into the middle of the long and sensational trial of
Warren Hastings, the cause celebre of the century. From then, his reputation was made.
'Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India for the old East India Company, had been impeached
by the Whig statesmen, Burke and Fox, for extortion and gross corruption in his dealings with the
Indian Princes. When Lord Erskine refused to lead the defence, Hastings' friends handed the brief
over to 38-years-old Edward Law. With remorseless legal skill, Law tore to pieces the glittering
rhetoric of Burke and Fox. After a trial that dragged on for seven years, Hastings was acquitted.
'When the trial ended in April, 1795, Law was the most famous advocate in Britain. He had a 
private practice worth £7000 a year. He was idolised by the Tories and became Attorney-
General in Pitt's Ministry [1801]. He had not yet hardened into the reactionary whose name was 
later to terrorise Britain. His house was a centre of wit and fashion. He was a gay boon 
companion. His young wife, Anne, was so beautiful that passers-by used to gather in Bloomsbury 
Square to watch her water the geraniums on her balcony. 
'The bloody excesses of the French Revolution ended the leisurely political life of 18th-century
England. Law, like many of his fellow-countrymen, reacted with a blind hatred and fear of reform
of any kind. As Attorney-General, Law directed the prosecution of the Radicals, Republicans and
other fiery reformers rounded up by the frightened Government to prevent the French contagion
from spreading to the "free soil" of Britain. The gaols and hulks were crammed with suspects
awaiting trial for high treason. Law conducted his cases with a domineering violence that drew
angry protests from the judges on the bench and the Whigs in Parliament. He was not always
successful in browbeating the juries. To Law's fury, the veteran agitator, Horne Tooke, was
Tooke, was acquitted in 1794. In one round of the Northern Assizes, however, he managed to
send half a dozen to the gallows. 
'His first great triumph came in 1799 when Lord Thanet and others were tried for plotting the
escape of the Irish Republican, Arthur O'Connor, from Maidstone Gaol in Kent [For further details
see the note under Thanet]. Thanet had powerful friends among the Whigs, including the 
famous wit and playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who gave evidence on his behalf. The duel
between Sheridan and Law was the sensation of the trial. With rasping, brutal sarcasm, Law
pulverised his opponent. Judge and jury were thundered into submission. Thanet was convicted.
The Government hailed Edward Law as the hero of reaction. A safe "rotten borough" seat was
found for him in the House of Commons. His first speech characteristically supported the bill to 
suspend the ancient liberties of Habeas Corpus. Every measure of repression roused his
passionate enthusiasm.
'In April, 1802, he was created Baron Ellenborough and became Lord Chief Justice of England,
succeeding the mild, homespun Lord Kenyon. For 16 years Ellenborough was to tyrannise over
the courts in the worst era of reaction in British history. Not only in the courts, but in the
House of Lords, Ellenborough used his powerful influence to crush with savage ridicule
proposals for reform in every field. He opposed the bills to remove the humiliating restrictions on
Roman Catholics. Under his leadership, the Lords persistently threw out Romilly's measures to
soften the bloody penal laws and "Humanity" Martin's efforts to protect animals.
'His arguments, fantastic to modern ears, easily swayed the timid and callous who believed that
Romilly, Martin and other "idle dreamers" were seeking to destroy the ancient traditions of 
England in the midst of her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon. When Romilly proposed to
remove the death penalty for stealing goods worth 5/-, Ellenborough roared: "If we suffer this
bill to pass, there will be an end to all property. No man will trust himself out of his house for 
one hour." Every effort to substitute transportation for the gallows in cases of minor theft was
foiled by the House of Lords when Ellenborough thundered that shipment to Botany Bay was "a
pleasant migration to a milder climate."
 
'RomiIly's attempts to save poor debtors from the horrors of the Fleet Prison met similar blind
wrath from Ellenborough. "This insane measure would destroy the commercial trade of the entire
country," he prophesied, to the applause of their well-fed Lordships lolling on the benches round 
him. If Martin succeeded in his campaign against cruelty to animals, said Ellenborough, no Irish
peasant would dare to strike a pig that was eating his potatoes. In any case, animals were
"insensate brutes" that felt no pain.
'The death of Pitt early in 1806 and the collapse of the short-lived "Ministry of All the Talents"
brought to power a purely Tory regime that was to govern Britain for the rest of the war, and 
for years into the restless misery of the peace that followed. With Castlereagh as Foreign 
Secretary and Sidmouth as Home Secretary, reaction pressed harder than ever on the war-
exhausted country. The hanging judge, Lord Ellenborough, reached the summit of his power.
'One sensational trial followed another as the Government pounced on radical journalists and
agitators and hauled them before Lord Ellenborough at the Old Bailey on charges of treason or
criminal libel. 
'In 1810 Leigh Hunt, publisher of the notorious "Examiner," faced Ellenborough for the first time
for daring to attack the savage system of army floggings. Despite the judge's blatant bullying
of the jury, Hunt was acquitted. Next time Ellenborough made sure of his prey. Two years later
Hunt committed the far more serious offence of describing the august figure of the Prince 
Regent as "a fat Adonis, a libertine, and a companion of gamblers and demi-reps." Ellenborough's
conduct made the trial a grim farce. He snarls at Hunt's counsel, Henry Brougham, for
"inoculating himself with the poison of his client's libel." His summing-up was a furious order to 
the jury to find Hunt guilty. The jury was bludgeoned into submission. Leigh Hunt went to gaol.
His cell became a triumphal reception room for all the radical writers, artists and politicians of
the day.
'A few months later, however, the jury that heard the trial of another "seditious" journalist,
James Perry, stood firm in the face of all Ellenborough's threats and coarse abuse. Perry, an ex-
actor turned newspaper publisher, reprinted one of Hunt's "libels" in his Morning Chronicle. Aided
by Lord Erskine and Romilly, he defended himself with such vigour that Ellenborough was baffled.
'This was an exception. Usually justice was crushed by the spectacle of the Chief Justice glaring
beneath his bushy eyebrows, interrupting counsel and witnesses with harsh sneers, growling
"stand down from the box this instant, sir" at any witness whose evidence displeased him.
Ellenborough treated popular outbursts of hatred with contempt. Several times a mob shattered
the windows of his mansion in St. James' Square. His carriage was pursued with hoots and 
volleys of stones. "Beat the curs off with your whip!" he told his coachman.
 
'The only occasion when his pride was really stung was in 1812 when the famous comedian
Charles Mathews, at Covent Garden, gave an hilarious imitation of Ellenborough addressing a 
jury. London theatregoers rocked with laughter. Ellenborough stormed to interview the Lord
Chamberlain. Mathews was ordered to stop his parody. A few weeks later, Ellenborough was
outraged to hear that the comedian had been invited to Carlton House to give a special
private performance for the Prince Regent.
'In June, 1815, the long agony of the Napoleonic Wars ended on the field of Waterloo. England
was at peace - but it was a peace of famine, machine­smashing, rick-burning, mass 
unemployment among the restless and mutinous disbanded soldiers and seamen. The Government
had no answer but more and harsher repression. In the House of Lords, Ellenborough pushed 
through a bill to add 10 more offences to the already long list that bore the penalty of death.
Those victims spared by the hungry gallows crammed the convict ships to distant New South
Wales. 
'By early 1817 Ellenborough's health was giving way. Sometimes a fellow judge had to read his
summing up, while the Chief Justice himself, his wasted frame swathed in its crimson robes, 
sipped wine and water. Defeat, the most crushing of his career, marked his last appearance.
In December, 1817, the firebrand William Hone was brought to trial at the Guildhall on charges
of publishing three blasphemous libels on church and State. Ellenborough was too ill to sit on
the first day of the trial and Hone was acquitted on the first charge. Deadly sick, but determined
not to let Hone escape his clutches, Ellenborough insisted on hearing the other two charges.
"I know why you are here, my lord," shouted Hone defiantly, as the old judge sank painfully into
his seat. "I am here to see justice done!" said Ellenborough sternly. "No, my lord," retorted Hone,
"you are here to send a poor devil of a printer to rot in your prisons!" Though Ellenborough 
roused himself to a last desperate effort, though he jeered, thundered and threatened, though
he heaped abuse on Hone and his witnesses, the jury set Hone free.
'Three months later he made his last speech in the Lords - opposing the abolition of the archaic
punishment of the pillory. On December 13, 1818, Lord Ellenborough died. He left a fortune of
£240,000 and a name that left bitter memories in the hearts of his countrymen.
Jane Elizabeth Law, Baroness Ellenborough, wife of the 2nd Baron Ellenborough
and 1st (and only) Earl of Ellenborough (3 Apr 1807-11 Aug 1881)
The following biography of Lady Ellenborough appeared in the December 1966 issue of the
Australian monthly magazine "Parade":-
'The beautiful 20-year-old Lady Jane Ellenborough was introduced to Prince Felix Ludwig Johann
van Nepomuk Friedrich zu Schwarzenberg, an attaché at the Austrian Embassy in London, in the
in the summer of 1828. The prince was 28, elegant, handsome and unattached. What followed
was inevitable, for Lady Ellenborough had not been able to resist an attractive man since her 
early teens. At 14 she ran away with a band of gipsies when one of them caught her eye. A 
year later she tried to elope with a good-looking groom. Nor did her early marriage to the ultra-
respectable Lord Ellenborough do anything to rid her of this weakness for attractive members of
the opposite sex. 
'But it was her association with the Austrian prince that finally set her on a round of amours that
scandalised some of the great cities of Europe. As far as the great cities of Europe could be
scandalised, that is. Of all of Lady Jane Ellenborough's lovers and husbands only one - the last -
was able to hold her affection. This was Mijwal, a Bedouin sheik who, when roaming the desert,
treated his high-born spouse as little more than a slave.
'Lady Jane Ellenborough was born in 1808 [3 April 1807], the child of Rear-Admiral Henry Digby 
and the former Viscountess Andover. She matured rapidly. When she made her debut at 16 she
was regarded as one of the most beautiful and desirable young ladies in London society. She 
was also a great worry to her parents and relatives, who took their social positions seriously
and saw in her escapades with the gipsies and the groom a foretaste of worse to come. At a
family council it was decided the best thing for all concerned was to marry her as soon as 
possible to a husband who could keep her in check. They were delighted when Lord Ellenborough,
a nobleman of eminent respectability, with political and diplomatic ambitions, began paying his
respects to the 16-year-old Jane. 
'He was a widower and 17 years older. His great loves were politics and the reading of statistics.
Nor did he change his affections after his marriage. Had the matter been left to Ellenborough he
would probably have remained a widower for the rest of his life. But Lady Londonderry, the 
mother of his late wife, was a domineering woman who wanted to see him settled again. She
cajoled him into proposing. Jane gratefully accepted the offer, which gave her a title, a home 
and the chances of further adventures in the field of romance.
 
'They married in October 1824 and lived amicably. In 1828 Jane had a son. Delighted, 
Ellenborough announced: "Jane has brought me a boy. I put this down as a political occurrence 
for I shall make him a political character. I shall ask the Duke of Wellington to be his godfather.
Princess Esterhazy shall be his godmother - a good diplomatic introduction to the world."
'Ellenborough now threw himself into the study of foreign affairs, leaving his wife much to her
own devices, which consisted almost entirely of dashing from one social engagement to another.
At these functions she was accompanied almost exclusively by her handsome cousin, Colonel
Anson, a gallant who was said to show more than a cousinly interest.
During the summer of 1828, while engaged in the social whirl, Lady Ellenborough met Prince
Schwarzenberg. He was to change the course of her life. She fell in love with the handsome
diplomat and lost no time telling him. She didn't care who knew it and soon London was talking
about the scandal. That was the year that Cadland won the Derby against the king's horse The
Colonel. As a result Schwarzenberg was nicknamed Cadland because he had supplanted the 
colonel (Anson) in Jane's affections.
 
'Ellenborough, engrossed in politics, seemed the only person in London unaware that his wife had
become the mistress of the Austrian. It was not until May 1829 that he learned what was going
on. His uncle [George Law], the Bishop of Bath and Wells, told him his wife was being unfaithful.
Ellenborough questioned her. She admitted indiscretion but denied she had been immoral. He 
accepted the story and, after lecturing her in a fatherly manner, begged her to take care she
did not dishonour the family name. Then he returned to his politics and statistics. The Austrian
Government was not unaware of the scandal. Schwarzenberg was transferred to the Paris 
Embassy.
 
'If Ellenborough now thought the problem was solved he was wrong. Two months later he and
Jane were due to attend a reception at the Foreign Office. Early in the evening of the reception
he returned home to change. Ready to leave, he went to the drawing room, where he had 
arranged to meet his wife. But, he learned from a servant, her ladyship had gone for a drive. It
seemed she did not stop until she reached Paris and her Austrian. In 1830 Lord Ellenborough
won a divorce, but it was the beautiful, faithless Jane who won the public's sympathy. Most
blamed the cold, emotionless Ellenborough for his wife's search for affection elsewhere. Even
when Ellenborough became Governor-General of India he was still known as "that sarcastic fish
who drove his wife away." 
 
'Lady Ellenborough bore Schwarzenberg a daughter but he made no attempt to marry her.
Finally they parted. Schwarzenberg kept the child. Jane began a series of short affairs with 
other men. One of her lovers at this period was the novelist Honore de Balzac, who based on her
character of Lady Arabelle Dudley in his The Lily of the Valley. Later she moved to Munich. She
was accepted in aristocratic circles despite her unconventional background. One among many
who found her beauty fascinating, was King Ludwig I of Bavaria. He had her portrait painted for
his Beauty Gallery and wrote her innumerable flowery love letters.
 
'While accepting Ludwig's infatuation, if not his sincere love, she had an affair with young Baron
Karl van Venningen­Ulner. On November 10, 1832, she married Venningen-Ulner and moved with
him to his country estate in Bavaria. There she had two children and was thoroughly bored. In
1834 she wrote to Ludwig in Munich. She began: "O! My best beloved friend," and ended by 
suggesting he set her up in an establishment in Munich. When Ludwig showed no interest she
set out to cultivate another lover who might rescue her from her dull existence. Again she was
successful.
'Two years earlier Greece had been freed from Turkish control and Ludwig's son Otto had been
crowned King of Greece. As a result of his new liaison there had been an influx of noble Greeks
into Bavaria. Among them was the man destined to be Jane's next target, Count Spiro Theoteki.
The lovely Englishwoman met him at a court ball and as far as he was concerned it was love at
first glance. When Theoteki went to Heidelberg for military training, Jane persuaded her husband
to spend the summer at Schwetzungen, about 10 miles from her lover's station. After a week 
she found the daily journey of 20 miles to and from Heidelberg was tiring. She persuaded
Theoteki to elope. They got away without any trouble, but unknown to them the irate 
Venningen-Ulner heard of the scheme and galloped on their heels. He caught up and forced the
Greek into a roadside duel. Theoteki was severely wounded by a sabre blow above the heart.
Venningen-Ulner arranged for him to be nursed and told his wife she could have a divorce as
soon as she liked. In due course she married the Greek and went to his home at Corfu. After
that little was heard of her for some years. 
'Many stories circulated. One said he left the count and went to Rome, where she so scandalised
society by her immoral adventures that she was hissed in the streets. King Ludwig wrote to King
Otto asking if anything had been heard of her. Otto replied saying she had borne Theoteki a
son who had been accidentally killed. Later they had been divorced and Jane had endured a
Jane had endured a short marriage to General Hadji Petros, 60-year-old governor of a group of
Greek islands.
'After divorcing Petros Jane travelled to Syria. In Damascus she hired a caravan to take her on
a sight-seeing tour in the desert. Her chief guide on this expedition was a sheik of the Mezrab
tribe, a branch of the Anazeh Bedouins. His name was Mijwal. For some reason the Englishwoman
found the nomad irresistible. They were married soon after their first meeting. Jane renounced
Christianity and embraced Mohammedanism. She wore Turkish clothes, complete to veil. Some
time later the maid she had taken on her travels returned to Athens with information. When
Jane's husband had pledged not to take another wife, the strange Englishwoman followed him
in his desert wanderings, milking his camels, preparing his food and sleeping in the open.
'Later she bought a house in Damascus, where she and her husband spent six months of each
year. During their time in Damascus, they lived in European style. Mijwal tried to be the perfect
host to his wife's friends. When Lady Burton, wife of the famous explorer Sir Richard Burton,
arrived to take tea, Mijwal opened the door to her. Lady Burton came to the conclusion that he
was a rather insolent servant. She told Jane: "You must get rid of him." She replied: "I can't. He
is my husband."
 
'But while Mijwal enjoyed waiting on Jane and her friends in Damascus, the position was the
opposite in the desert, where, the Englishwoman revelled in the role of the servile wife. Jane
died quietly in 1881, at the age of 74. Those who saw her towards the end said she was still
remarkably beautiful.'
The "Great Ellesmere Jewel Robbery" of 1856
 
One of the most sensational criminal trials of 1857 involved the theft, in the previous year, of
a quantity of jewels owned by Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere. The following edited report
of the trial appeared in the 'North Wales Chronicle' of 19 December 1857:-
'At the sitting of the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, William Attwell, alias William Walsh,
24, described as a labourer, Edward Jackson, 31, painter, and Anne Jackson, his wife, who
surrendered to take her trial, and who appeared to be very far advanced in the family way, and
was allowed to be seated in the dock, were charged with stealing a diamond necklace, and a
quantity of other articles of jewellery, lace, and other property, valued at £1,000 in the 
indictment, but which was stated to be worth, in reality, nearly £16,000, and said to be the
property of Francis Egerton, Earl of Ellesmere, since deceased.
'The prisoners were also charged with feloniously receiving the property, knowing it to have 
been stolen. The prisoner Attwell pleaded guilty; Jackson and his wife pleaded not guilty.
'[The facts of the case were] that on the 22nd of January, 1856, Lady Ellesmere was about to
proceed on a visit to the Queen at Windsor, and among a great quantity of other luggage, was
a box which contained a large quantity of valuable articles of clothing and jewellery, the
estimated worth being between £15,000 and £16,000. The box was placed on the top of a cab
to be taken to the Great Western Railway station; but upon the arrival of the vehicle at the
station it was discovered that the box containing the valuable property referred to had been
stolen during the transit of the cab from Bridgewater House, the residence of her ladyship,
to the railway station.
'Information was given to the police, and all the necessary inquiries made, but no trace was
discovered of the stolen property until the month of October in the present year [1857], when.
from some information received by a police-sergeant, named Evans, he took the two Jacksons
into custody, and upon searching the house occupied by them, in Leonard-street, Shoreditch,
and where the male prisoner ostensibly carried on the business of an oil and colourman, he
found a considerable quantity of the property that was in the box at the time it was stolen,
and the prisoners gave several unsatisfactory and, at the same time, contradictory statements
as to the manner in which they became possessed of the stolen property.
'The prisoner, Edward Jackson, underwent several examinations by the magistrate, and, upon 
one occasion, after he had been remanded, he expressed a wish to see Evans at the House of
Detention, and upon his going to him he told him that he wanted to get out of prison, and he
would give information respecting the robbery if a promise were made that he should not be
prosecuted. The officer told him that he had no power to make such a promise, and the prisoner
then told him that the box was brought to his house, but he said he could not help it, and when
the box was opened, and he saw what it contained, he said he thought they were theatrical
dresses that were in it, and refused to have anything to do with it. He also said that the
jewellery was taken to pieces, and the diamonds were carried away in a red handkerchief, but
one necklace was sold to a Jew, who lived in Bishopsgate-street, whole, for £300. Other 
portions of the jewellery, he stated, were thrown down a water-closet, and into a field in
Whitechapel, when the discovery of the value of the property was made.
'With regard to the prisoner Attwell……….while he was undergoing a sentence of imprisonment
for felony in Springfield Gaol, he sent for Evans and made a long statement, which amounted to
a confession that he and another man were the parties by whom the robbery was effected, and
detailed the manner in which the property was shared at the house of the other prisoners, and
how the jewellery and the other articles were disposed of. No portion of the jewellery has since
been discovered, the whole of it having been sold and sacrificed for a comparatively small sum
of money.'
Jackson was found guilty and received six months' imprisonment. His wife was acquitted. Attwell,
who had pleaded guilty, received a sentence of 10 years.
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