ABERCROMBY-LORD GLASFORD.

By Letters Patent, dated 5 July, 1685.

Lineage.

ALEXANDER ABERCROMBY, of Fetterneir, younger brother of James Abercromby, of Birkenbog, in Banffshire (ancestor of the ABERCROMBYS, Baronets of Birkenbog), m. Jean, dau. of John Seton, of Newark, and had three sons, FRANCIS, John, and Patrick a physician, author of the "Martial Achievements of the Scottish Nation," as well as of "Memoirs of the Family of Abercromby." The eldest son and heir,

FRANCIS ABERCROMBY, of Fetterneir, having married Anne, Baroness Sempill in her own right, was created a peer of Scotland, for life only, 5 July, 1685, as LORD GLASFORD. He had several children (of whom Francis, 9th Lord Sempill, was the eldest, and Hugh, 11th Lord Sempill (great grandfather of the present BARONESS SEMPILL), the 4th son), but the dignity of Glasford became, of course, EXTINCT at Lord Glasford's decease. (See SEMPILL, BURKE'S Extant Peerage.) Arma-Arg., a chev., gu., between three boars' heads, crased, az., langued of the second.

ABRINCIS-EARLS OF CHESTER. Created by WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, anno 1070.

Lineage.

Upon the detention, a prisoner in Flanders, of GHERBOD, a Fleming who first held the Earldom of Chester, that dignity was conferred, A.D. 1070, by the CONQUEROR, upon (his halfsister's son)

HUGH DE ABRINCIS,* surnamed LUPUS, and called by the Welch, Fras, or "the Fat." "Which Hugh," says Dugdale, "being a person of great note at that time amongst the Norman nobility, and an expert soldier, was, for that respect, chiefly placed so near those unconquered Britains, the better to restrain their bold incursions: for it was, consilio prudentium, by the advice of his council, that King WILLIAM thus advanced him to that government; his power being, also, not ordinary; having royal jurisdiction within the precincts of his earldom-which honor he received to hold as freely by the sword as the King himself held England by the crown. But, though the time of his advancement was not till the year 1070, certain it is, that he came into England with the CONQUEROR, and thereupon had a grant of Whitby, in Yorkshire, which lordship he soon afterwards disposed of to William de Percy, his associate in that famous expedition." In the contest between WILLIAM RUFUS, and his brother ROBERT CURTHOSE, this powerful nobleman sided with the former, and remained faithful to him during the whole of his reign. He was subsequently in the confidence of HENRY I., and one of that monarch's chief councillors. "In his youth and flourishing age," continueth the author above quoted, "he was a great lover of worldly pleasures and secular pomp; profuse in giving, and much delighted with interludes, jesters, horses, dogs, and

1

* Or Avranches, in Normandy.

other like vanities; having a large attendance of such persons, of all sorts, as were disposed to those sports: but he had also in his family both clerks and soldiers, who were men of great honor, the venerable Anselme (abbot of Bec, and afterwards archbishop of Canterbury) being his confessor; nay, so devout he grew before his death, that sickness hanging long upon him, he caused himself to be shorn a monk in the abbey of St. Werburge, where, within three days after, he died, 27 July, 1101." His lordship m. Ermentrude, dau. of Hugh de Claremont, Earl of Bevois, in France, by whom he had an only son,

RICHARD, his successor.

Of his illegitimate issue were Ottiwell, tutor to those children of King HENRY I. who perished at sea; Robert, originally a monk in the abbey of St. Ebrulf, in Normandy, and afterwards abbot of St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk; and Geva.* the wife of Geffery Riddell, to whom the earl gave Drayton Basset, in Staffordshire.

That this powerful nobleman enjoyed immense wealth in England is evident, from the many lordships he held at the general survey; for, besides the whole of Cheshire, excepting the small part which at that time belonged to the bishop, he had nine lordships in Berkshire, two in Devonshire, seven in Yorkshire, six in Wiltshire, ten in Dorsetshire, four in Somersetshire, thirty-two in Suffolk, twelve in Norfolk, one in Hampshire, five in Oxfordshire, three in Buckinghamshire, four in Gloucestershire, two in Huntingdonshire, four in Nottinghamshire, one in Warwickshire, and twenty-two in Leicestershire. It appears too, by the charter of foundation to the abbey of St. Werburge, at Chester, that several eminent persons held the rank of baron under him. The charter runs thus :"Hæc sunt itaque dona data Abbatiæ S. Werburge, quæ omnia ego Comes HUGO et RICHARDUS filius meus et Ermentrudis Comitissa, et mei Barones, et mei homines dedimus, &c.," which Barones et Homines mentioned therein, were the following:

1 William Malbanc; 2 Robert, son of Hugo; 3 Hugo, son of Norman; 4 Richard de Vernun; 5 Richard de Rullos; 6 Ranulph Venator; 7 Hugo de Mara; 8 Ranulph, son of Ermiwin; 9 Robert de Fremouz; 10 Walkelinus, nephew of Walter de Vernon; 11 Seward; 12 Gislebert de Venables; 13 Gaufridus de Sartes; 14 Richard de Mesnilwarin; 15 Walter de Vernun.

The charter concludes-"Et ut hæc omnia essent rata et stabilia in perpetuum, ego Comes Hugo et mei Barones confirmavimus (&c.), ita quod singuli nostrum propriâ manu, in testimonium posteris signum in modum Crucis facerunt:"-and is signed by the earl himself,

Richard, his son; Hervey, bishop of Bangor; Ranulph de Meschines, his nephew, who eventually inherited the earldom; Roger Bigod; Alan de Perci; William Constabular; Ranulph Dapifer; William Malbanc; Robert FitzHugh; Hugh FitzNorman; Hamo de Masci; and Bigod de Loges.

The legitimacy of this lady is maintained from the circumstance of her father having bestowed upon her the manor of Drayton, in free marriage, which the lawyers say could not be granted to a bastard; but had she been legitimate, she would surely have succceded to the carldom before her aunt.

B

Those barons, be it remembered, were each and all of them men of great individual power, and large territorial possessions. Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, was 8. by his only son (then but seven years of age),

RICHARD DE ABRINCIS, as 2nd earl. This nobleman, after he had attained maturity, attached himself faithfully to King HENRY I., and never subsequently swerved in his allegiance. He m. Maud, dau. of Stephen, Earl of Blois, by Adela, dau. of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, but had no issue-himself and his countess being soon afterwards amongst the victims of the memorable shipwreck (Dec., 1119), wherein the king's two Eons, WILLIAM and RICHARD, with their tutor Ottiwell, the carl's bastard brother, Geffery Riddell, his sister Geva's husband, and many others of the nobility perished. Upon the demise thus of Richard de Abrincis, 2nd Earl of Chester, the male line of the family becoming EXTINCT, the earldom passed to the deceased nobleman's 1st cousin, RANULPH DE MESCHINES, son of Ralph de Meschines, by Maud de Abrincis, sister of Earl Hugh Lupus-(se Meschines, Earls of Chester).

drms-Az., a wolf's head, erased, arg.

AGAR-BARON CALLAN.

By Letters Patent, dated 4 June, 1790.
Lineage.

JAMES AGAR, Esq., of Gowran Castle, co. Kilkenny, M.P., son and heir of Charles Agar, Esq., of York, left by Mary, his 2nd wife (who d. 1771, aged 106), eldest dau. of Sir Henry Wemyss, Knt., of Danesfort, two sons and two daus., viz.,

1. HENRY, of Gowran Castle, M.P., father of JAMES, 1st VISCOUNT CLIFDEN, and of CHARLES, 1st EARL OF NORMANTON. (See BURKE's Peerage and Baronetage.)

II. JAMES, of whom presently.

Her

1. ELLIS, m. 1st, March, 1726, Theobald, 7th Viscount Mayo; and 2ndly, 7 August, 1745, Francis, Lord Athenry. ladyship was created COUNTESS OF BRANDON, 1 August, 1758, but d. 8. p. in 1789, when the peerage became EXTINCT.

Norfolk and other counties. Of these grants was the lordship of Bokenham, to be holden by the service of being BUTLER to the Kings of England on the day of their coronation, and in consequence we find this William styled in divers charters, "Pincerna Henrici Regis Anglorum." William de Albini founded the abbey of Wymondham in Norfolk, and gave to the monks of Rochester the tithes of his manor of Elham; as also one carucate of land in Achestede, with a wood called Acholte. He likewise bestowed upon the abbey of St. Etienne at Caen, in Normandy, all his lands lying in Stavell, which grant he made in the presence of King HENRY and his barons. He m. Maud, dau. of Roger Bigot, with whom he obtained ten knights' fees in Norfolk, and had issue,

Nigel.

Oliver.

WILLIAM. Oliva, m. to Raphe de Haya, a feudal baron of great power. At the obsequies of Maud, William de Albini gave to the monks of Wymondham, the manor of Hapesburg, in pure alms, and made livery thereof to the said monks by a cross of silver, in which (says Dugdale) was placed certain venerable reliques, viz., "part of the wood of the cross whereon our Lord was crucified; part of the manger wherein he was laid at his birth; and part of the sepulchre of the blessed Virgin; as also a gol ring, and a silver chalice, for retaining the holy eucharist, admirably wrought in form of a sphere; unto which pious donation his three sons were witnesses, with several other persons." The exact time of the decease of this great feudal baron is not ascertained, but it is known that he was buried before the high altar in the abbey of Wymondham, and that the monks were in the constant habit of praying for his soul, by the name of "William de Albini, the king's butler." He was 8. by his eldest son,

WILLIAM DE ALBINI, surnamed "William with the strong hand," from the following circumstance, as related by Dugdale:

"It happened that the Queen of France, being then a widow, and a very beautiful woman, became much in love with a

low.

John, deceased.

Mary, m. 30 August, 1761, to Lieut. Philip Savage (of General John Campbell's dragoons), and was mother of JAMES SAVAGE, Esq., of Kilgibbon, co. Wexford, whose only dau. and heiress, MARGARET, M. HARRY ALCOCK, Esq., of Wilton, co. Wexford.

Mr. Agar (whose will is dated 20 October, 1761) d. 3 August, 1769, and was s. by his son,

THE RT. HON. GEORGE AGAR, of Ringwood; b. 4 December, 1751, M.P. for Callan in 1789; who was raised to the peerage of Ireland, as BARON CALLAN, of Callan, co. Kilkenny, 4 June, 1790. His lordship d. however, without issue, 29 October, 1815, when the title became EXTINCT.

Arm-Az., a lion rampant, or.

AGAR-COUNTESS OF BRANDON. (See AGAR, Lord Callan.)

AIRMINE-BARONESS BELASYSE.

(See ARMINE.)

ALAN, FERGAUNT, EARL OF RICHMOND. (See DE DREUX, Earls of Richmond.)

ALBINI-EARLS OF ARUNDEL.
By feudal tenure of ARUNDEL CASTLE, A.D. 1139.
Lineage.

WILLIAM DE ALBINI, surnamed Pincerna, son of Roger de Albini, and elder brother of Nigel de Albini, whose posterity assumed, and attained such eminence under the name of MOWBRAY, accompanied the CONQUEROR into England, and acquired extensive territorial possessions by royal grants in

flower of his youth and because she thought that no man excelled him in valour, she caused a tournament to be proclaimed throughout her dominions, promising to reward those who should exercise themselves therein, according to their respective demerits; and concluding that if the person whom she so well affected should act his part better than others in those military exercises, she might marry him without any dishonour to herself. Hereupon divers gallant men, from forrain parts hasting to Paris, amongst others came this our William de Albini, bravely accoutred, and in the tournament excelled all others, overcoming many, and wounding one mortally with his lance, which being observed by the queen, she became exceedingly enamoured of him, and forthwith invited him to a costly banquet, and afterwards bestowing certain jewels upon him, offered him marriage; but, having plighted his troth to the Queen of England, then a widow, he refused her, whereat she grew so much discontented that she consulted with her maids how she might take away his life; and in pursuance of that designe, inticed him into a garden, where there was a secret cave, and in it a fierce lion, unto which she descended by divers steps, under colour of shewing him the beast; and when she told him of its fierceness, he answered, that it was a womanish and not a manly quality to be afraid thereof. But having him there, by the advantage of a folding door, thrust him in to the lion; being therefore in this danger, he rolled his mantle about his arm, and putting his hand into the mouth of the beast, pulled out his tongue by the root; which done, he followed the queen to her palace, and gave it to one of her maids to present her. Returning thereupon to England, with the fame of this glorious exploit, he was forthwith advanced to the EARLDOME OF ARUNDEL, and for his arms the LION given him."

He subsequently obtained the hand of the Queen ADELIZA. relict of King HENRY I., and daughter of Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine, which Adeliza had the castle of Arundel in dowry from the deceased monarch, and thus her new lord became its feudal earl. The earl was one of those who solicited the Empress Maud to come to England, and received her and her brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester, at the port of Arundel, in August 1139, and in three years afterwards (1142), in the report made of King STEPHEN's taking William de Mandevil at St. Albans, it is stated-"that before he could be laid hold on. he underwent a sharp skirmish with the king's party, wherein the Earl of Arundell, though a stout and expert souldier, was unhorsed in the midst of the water by Walkeline de Oxeai, and almost drowned." In 1150, his lordship wrote himself Earl of Chichester, but we find him styled again Earl of Arundel, upon a very memorable occasion - namely, the reconciliation of Henry Duke of Normandy (afterwards HENRY II.) and King

Erskine, Knt., parson, of Campsie, commendator of the bishopric of Glasgow, and had issue,

1. WILLIAM, Viscount Canada, who m. Lady Margaret Douglas, eldest dau. of William, 1st Marquess of Douglas; and dying in the lifetime of his father, in March, 1638, left issue, I WILLIAM, successor to the honours.

2 CATHERINE, m. Walter, Lord Torphichen, and left two daus.,

Anne, m. Robert Menzies, Esq., and had a dau., Katherine, m. to John Menzies, M.D., of Culterallers, and a son, Sir Robert Menzies, Bart., of Menzies, who m. Christian, dau. of Lord Neil Campbell, and had a son, Sir Robert, who d. . p., and a dau., Christian, who also d. s. p., wife of Mackintosh, of Mackintosh. Catherine, m. to David Drummond, of Cultmalindie, 8. p. 3 MARGARET, m. to Sir Robert Sinclair, Bart., of Longformacus.

4 LUCY, m. to Edward Harrington, Esq., page of honour to
the Prince of Orange in 1630.

II. Anthony (Sir), d. 8. p. 1637.
III. HENRY, who 8. as 3rd earl.

IV. JOHN. It was from this John that ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS pretended that he was maternally descended; his claim to the title of Earl of Stirling has long been disproved and set

VI. Ludovic, d. 8. p.

VII. James, left a dau., Margaret.

1. Jean, m. to Hugh, Viscount Montgomery, of Great Ardes, co. Down, and had a son,

Hugh, created EARL OF MOUNT ALEXANDER.

11. Mary, m. 3 August, 1620, to Sir William Murray, Bart., of Clermont.

The earl d. in 1640, and was s. by his grandson,

WILLIAM, 2nd earl; who d. in three months after, and was 8. by his uncle,

HENRY, 3rd earl. This nobleman m. a dau. of Sir Peter Vanlore, an alderman of London; and dying in 1650, was 8. by his son,

HENRY, 4th carl; who m. Judith, dau. of Robert Lee, Esq.. of Binfield, Berks, and had four sons, who all d. s. p., and two daus., viz.,

Mary, m. to Phillips, Esq., and had a son,
William Phillips-Lee, of Binfield and York.
Jadith, . to Sir William Trumbull, of East Hampstead Park,

Berks, and had a son,

WILLIAM TRUMBULL, who m. Mary, dau. of Montagu, Lord
Blundell, and left an only dau.,

MARY, m. to the Hon. Martyn Sandys, and left an only
dau, and heiress,

MARY, who m. 1786, to Arthur, 2nd Marquess of Downshire, and was created BARONESS SANDYS in 1802, Her ladyshipd. 1 August, 1836, leaving several children, of whom the eldest. Arthur-Blundell-Sandys-Trumbull, 3rd MARQUESS OF DOWNSHIRE, K.P., was father of the present MARQUESS OF DOWNSHIRE, K.P.

His lordship d. in 1690, and was 8. by his eldest son,

HENRY, 5th earl. This nobleman m. Elizabeth, widow of John Hobey, Esq.; but d. s. p. in 1739, since which time the Earldom of Stirling has remained unacknowledged, although it was claimed and borne by WILLIAM ALEXANDER, commanderin-chief of the American forces, who d. 1795.

There are several families of Alexander settled in Ireland who claim descent from the noble house of Stirling; among these are the ALEXANDERS, of Foyle Park, co. Derry, of Ahilly, co. Donegal, of Milford, co. Carlow, of London, of Portglenone, co. Antrim, of Forkhill, co. Armagh, and of Somerhill, co. Kent; the ALEXANDERS, Earls of Caledon, the ALEXANDERS, Baronets, and the ALEXANDERS, of Maryville, co. Galway. Of this lastnamed family, the first ancestor in Ireland, JAMES ALEXANDER, is stated to have been cousin-german of the 1st Earl of Stirling, and only son of James Alexander, of Lancarse, 3rd son of Andrew Alexander, of Menstrie, co. Clackmannan, the grandfather of the 1st earl. The present representative of the Alexanders, of Maryville, is ARTHUR ALEXANDER, of Maryville, only surviving son of the late John Alexander, Esq., of Maryville; his heir presumptive is his cousin, the Rev. JOHN ALEXANDER, D.D., of Carne, co. Wexford.

Arms-Per pale, arg. and sa., a chev., and in base, a crescent, all counterchanged.

ALINGTON-BARONS ALINGTON, OF

WYMONDLEY.

By Letters Patent, dated 5 December, 1682.
Lineage.

SIR HILDEBRAND DE ALINGTON, Under Marshal to WILLIAM THE NORMAN at the battle of Hastings, had Alington Castle, by gift of the CONQUEROR.

Mr. Alington, of Swinhope, narrates that after the Norman Conquest "The Kentish men, not well suffering the loss of their liberties, and the late loss of their Prince, conferred with Stigurd, archbishop of Canterbury, and others, to entrap the King, which they did at Swannercote, beside North Fleet, in Kent, and there took hostages of the King for the due performance of their liberties. After which Stigurd was sent into Normandie, and there pined in prison, and the lands of the others were confiscated; whereupon Medwaycester, one of the forfeited castles, was given to Sir Hildebrand Alington, Knt. The former proprietor, Sir John, had, however, a fair daughter named Emlyn, who as she sued earnestly for the life of her father, even so, Sir Hildebrand was as earnest a suitor to her for marriage, which taking effect, the inheritance was conferred again to the right heir."

1. WILLIAM, of whom presently.

II. John, m. Mary, dau. and co-heir of John Anstys, and d. 8. p.

III. Robert, of Bottlesham, m. 1st, Mary, dau. of Sir Robert Bruose, of Norfolk; and 2ndly, Joan, sister and heir of Joha Argentine.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM ALINGTON, Esq., high sheriff of the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon, in the reign of EDWARD IV., m. Elizabeth, only dau. and heiress of John de Argentine, and acquired by her the manor of Wymondeley, in the co. of Hertford, held in grand serjeanty, by service of presenting the first cup at the coronation of the kings of England; which service was claimed and allowed at the coronation of King JAMES II., and has ever since been performed by the lords of that manor. From this William Alington and Elizabeth, his wife. derived

SIR GILES ALINGTON, who . Mary, only dau. and heiress of Sir Richard Gardiner, Knt., and had several children, of whom three of the younger sons, George, John, and Richard, were the founders of families; GEORGE ALINGTON, the 2nd son, being the direct ancestor of the ALINGTONS, of Swinhope, co. Lincoln, whose present representative, GEORGE MARMADUKE ALINGTON, Esq., of Swinhope, is also male representative of the family of the LORDS ALINGTON (see BURKE's Landed Gentry). Sir Giles was 8. by his eldest son,

GILES ALINGTON, Esq., of Horseheath, co. Cambridge; high sheriff of that shire in the 22nd of HENRY VIII., and of Huntingdon in the 37th of the same monarch. Mr. Alington appears to have attended King HENRY VIII. as master of the ordnance at the siege of Boulogne, by the inscription of a clock which he brought from that siege, and

affixed over the offices at Horseheath Hall, in which was the alarum bell of the garrison of Boulogne. He d. in 1586, and from him lineally descended

WILLIAM ALINGTON, Esq., of Horseheath Hall, co. Cambridge, who was elevated to the peerage of Ireland, as BARON ALINGTON, of Killard, on 28 July, 1642. His lordship m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Lionel Tollemache, Bart., of Helmingham, by whom he had, with five sons, three daus.; viz.,

Elizabeth, m. to Charles, Lord Seymour, of Troubridge. Catherine, m. to Sir John Jacob, Bart., of Gamlinghay, co. Cambridge.

Diana, d. uam.

Lord Alington was 8. by his 2nd, but eldest surviving son,

WILLIAM ALINGTON, 2nd baron, who was created a peer of England on 5 December, 1682, by the title of BARON ALINGTON, of Wymondley, in the co. of Herts. His lordship m. 1st, Catherine, 2nd dau. of Henry Lord Stanhope, son of Philip, 2nd earl of Chesterfield, by whom he had no issue. He m., 2ndly, Joanna, dau. of Baptist, Lord Campden, and had a dau., JULIANA, who m. Scroope, Lord Howe, and was grandmother of the famous RICHARD EARL HOWE, the great admiral, whose