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Eudo, from whom the Zouches, Barons Zouch,

of Harynworth (EXTANT) derive. Alan le Zouche d. in 1269, and was s. by his elder son,

ROGER LE ZOUCHE, who m. Ela, daughter and co-heir of Stephen de Longespee, second son of William, Earl of Salisbury, and dying in 1285, was s. by his son,

ALAN LE ZOUCHE. This feudal lord having distinguished himself in the wars of Gascony and Scotland, temp. EDWARD I., was summoned to parliament by that monarch, as a BARON, on 26th January, 1297, and he had regular summonses from that period, until 7th Edward II., 26th November, 1313. In the 5th Edward II. his lordship was constituted governor of Rockingham Castle, in Northamptonshire, and steward of Rockingham forest. He d. in 1314, leaving three daughters, his co-heirs, viz.

Elene, m. first, to Nicholas St. Maur, and secondly, to Alan de Charlton.

Maud, m. to Robert de Holland.

Elizabeth, a nun, at Brewode, in Staffordshire.

Amongst those ladies a partition was made, in the 8th of Edward IK, of their father's lands, excepting the manor of ASHBY DE LA ZOUCHE, which the deceased lord gave to his kinsman, WILLIAM DE MORTIMER, who thereupon assumed the surname of ZOUCHE. Upon the decease of Lord Zouche the BARONY OF ZOUCHE, of Ashby, fell into ABEYANCE between his daughters, as it still continues with their representatives.

ARMS. Gules ten bezants, or.

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Robert Mortimer, of Richard's Castle, by Joice, daughter and heir of William Zouche, having obtained the lordship of Ashby de la Zouch, from his kinsman Alan, Lord Zouche, of Ashby, assumed the surname of ZOUCHE; and was summoned to parliament as BARON ZOUCHE, of Mortimer, from 26th December, 1323, to 14th January, 1337. In the reign of Edward III., his lordship was made justice of all the forests, south of Trent, and constable of the Tower of London. He m. first, Alice de Tony, widow of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and had a son, ALAN, his successor. He wedded, secondly, Alianore, daughter and heir of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by whom he had a son, Hugh. His lordship d. and was 8. by his son,

ALAN LE ZOUCH, one of the eminent warriors of the reign of Edward III,, but never summoned to parliament. He was constantly engaged in the French and Scottish wars, and was in the celebrated battle of CRESSy, shortly after which he died, and was s. by his son,

HUGH LE ZOUCHE, who left issue,
HUGH, who died 8. p.

JOICE, who, upon the decease of her brother,
inherited the estates. She m. Sir John
Botetourt, of Weoly-Castle, and had a son,
JOHN BOTETOURT, who left a daughter
and heir,

JOICE BOTETOUKT, who m. Sir

Hugh Burnet, Knt., who died seised of the manor of Ashby de la Zouch, without issue. The manor came afterwards into the the possession of the Earls of Ormonde, and upon the attainder of John Butler, fifth Earl of Ormonde, and Earl of Wiltshire, fell to the crown. It was subsequently granted to William de Hastings, ancestor of the family of Hastings, Earls of Huntingdon. ARMS.-Gu. ten bezants, or.

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FRANCIS BACON, second son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper in the reign of Elizabeth, having been brought up to the bar, was appointed queen's counsel in 1558; and soon after the accession of King James I., honoured with knighthood. In 1613, he was made attorney-general, and subsequently sworn of the privy council. In 1617, Sir Francis was constituted LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL, and the next year he was entitled LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR of England. Within a few months afterwards, he was elevated to the peerage, 11th of July, 1618, in the dignity of BARON VERULAM, and created 27th January, 1621, VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN'S. His lordship was subsequently convicted of corruption in the exercise of his judicial functions, upon his own confession, and sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, to be imprisoned during the king's pleasure, and to be ever afterwards incapacitated from holding office under the crown. Having in pursuance of this judgment, suffered a brief incarceration, and the fine being eventually remitted, his lordship withdrew into retirement, and devoted the remainder of his life to the most splendid literary labours. He m. Alice, daughter and co-heir of Benedict Barnham, Esq., an alderman of London, but died without issue, 9th April, 1626, when his honours became EXTINCT. The learned Bayle calls Lord St. Alban's one of the greatest geniuses of his age: Voltaire styles him the father of experimental philosophy, and Walpole terms him the prophet of arts, which Newton was sent afterwards to reveal. The latter author adds: "It would be impertinent to the reader to enter into any account of this amazing genius or his works; both will be universally admired as long as science exists. As long as ingratitude and adulation are despicable, so long shall we lament the depravity of this great man's heart! alas! that he, who could command immortal fame, should have stooped to the little ambition of power."

ARMS.-Gu. on a chief ar. two mullets sa. a crescent for difference.

BARON BRAOSE, OF
GOWER.

By Writ of Summons, dated 29th December, 1299, 28 Edward I.

Lineage.

WILLIAM DE BRAOSE came into England with the CONQUEROR, and held at the general survey considerable estates in the counties of Berks, Wilts, Surrey, Dorset, and Sussex. He was &. by his son,

PHILIP DE BRAOSE, who m. Berta, daughter of Milo de Gloucester, Earl of Hereford, and coheir of her brother, William, Earl of Hereford, by whom he acquired Brecknock, with other extensive territorial possessions. He had two sons, William and Philip, and was 8. by the elder,

WILLIAM DE BRAOSE, who likewise inherited the large estates of his mother. This feudal lord was a personage of great power and influence during the reigns of HENRY II. and RICHARD I., from the former of whom he obtained a grant of the "whole kingdom of Limeric, in Ireland," for the service of sixty knights' fees, to be held of the king and his younger son, JOHN. After the accession of the latter prince to the throne, as King JOHN, upon levying the scutage assessed subsequent to his coronation, De Braose accounted thirty marks for the scutage of John de Monmouth, and fortyfive marks and a half for that of Adam de Port. In the next year he had a special charter from the king, dated at Faleise, granting to him and his heirs the privilege that no sheriff or other officer of the crown, should for the execution of their offices, lodge within the lands of his Honour of Braose, in Normandy; but that his own officers should give summons for all the pleas there, belonging to the king: as also that the king's justices itinerant, whensoever they were to come into the bailiwick of Faleise, should sit at Braose, and there hold plea of all matters belonging to the king, receiving entertainment for one day at the feudal lord's charge. His tenantry were also relieved by this charter from all "carriages and aid to the sheriff, or constables of Faleise;" and from all custom of victual whatsoever, which should be brought to or sold at that place. For several years after this period he appears to have enjoyed the

favour of King JOHN, and his power and possessions were augmented by divers grants from the crown. But in the 10th of the king's reign, when the kingdom laboured under an interdiction, and JOHN deemed it expedient to demand hostages from his barons to insure their allegiance, should the pope proceed to the length of absolving them from obedience to the crown, his officers who came upon the mission to the Baron de Braose, were met by MAUD, his wife, and peremptorily informed that she would not intrust any of her children to the king, who had so basely murdered his own nephew, Prince ARTHUR. De Braose rebuked her, however, for speaking thus, and said that if he had in any thing offended the king, he was ready to make satisfaction, according to the judgment of the court, and the barons his peers, upon an appointed day, and at any fixed place, without however giving hostages. This answer being communicated to the king, an order was immediately transmitted to seize upon the baron's person, but his lordship having notice thereof fled with his family into Ireland. This quarrel between De Braose and King JOHN, is, however, differently related by other authorities. The monk of Lanthony states, that King JOHN disinherited and banished him for his cruelty to the Welsh, in his war with Gwhenhunewyn, and that his wife Maud, and William, his son and heir, died prisoners in Corfe Castle. While another writer relates, "that this William de Braose, son of Philip de Braose, Lord of Buelt, held the lands of Brecknock and Went, for the whole time of King HENRY II., RICHARD I., and King JOHN, without any disturbance, until he took to wife the Lady Maud de St. Waleric; who, in revenge of Henry de Hereford, caused divers Welshmen to be murthered in the castle of Bergavenny, as they sate at meat: and that for this, and for some other pickt quarrel, King JOHN banished him and all his out of England. Likewise, that in his exile, Maud, his wife, with William, called Gam, his son, were taken and put in prison; where she died, the tenth year after her husband fought with Wenhunwyn, and slew three thousand Welsh." From these various relations, says Dugdale, it is no easy matter to discover what his demerits were; but what usage he had at last, take here from the credit of these two historians, who lived near that time. "This year, viz. anno 1240," quoth Matthew of WESTMINSTER, "the noble lady Maud, wife of William de Braose, with William, their son and heir, were miserably famished at Windsore, by the command of King JOHN; and William, her husband, escaping from Scorham, put himself into the habit of a beggar, and privately getting beyond sea, died soon after at Paris, where he had burial in the Abbey of St. Victor." And Matthew Paris, putting his death in anno 1212, (which differs a little in time,) says, "That he fled from Ireland to France, and dying at Ebula, his body was carried to Paris, and there honourably buried in the Abbey of St. Victor." "But after these great troubles in his later days," continues Dugdale, "I shall now say something of his pious works. Being by inheritance from his mother, Lord of Bergavenny, he gave to the monks of that priory, all the tithes of his castle there, viz. of

bread, wine, beer, cider; all manner of flesh, fish, salt, honey, wax, tallow; and in general, of whatsoever should be brought thither, and spent there: and moreover two marks of silver out of his lordship of Espines; and two marks of silver yearly out of his lands in England, as soon as God should enlarge them to forty pounds per annum: as also the toll on the market day, within the gates of that his castle. Which gift he so made to those monks of Bergavenny, conditionally, that the abbot and convent of St. Vincenti, in MAINE, (to which this priory of Bergavenny was a cell) should daily pray for the soul of him, the said William, and the soul of Maud, his wife."

This great, but unfortunate personage, had issue by his wife, Maud de St. Waleric,

William, who perished by starvation with his mother, at Windsor. He m. — daughter of the Earl of Clare, with whom he had the town of Buckingham, in frank marriage, and left a son,

JOHN, surnamed Tadody, of whom hereafter.

Giles, bishop of Hereford.

Reginald, who succeeded his brother, the bishop, in the representation of the family. John (Sir), who had from his father the manor of Knylle or Knill, in the marches of Wales, and thence adopted the surname of KNILL. The lineal descendant of this Sir John de Knill, in the sixth degree.

SIR JOHN DE KNILL, of Knill, was grandfather of

WILLIAM KNILL, Esq., of Knill, who was 8. by his son,

JENKIN KNILL, Esq., of Knill, who m. Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard Devereux, second son of William, Lord Ferrers, K.G., and dying in 1508, was 8. by his eldest son,

JOHN KNILL, Esq., of Knill, sheriff of the county of Radnor, in 1561. He m Margery, daughter of Sir John Whittington, Knt. (who served the office of sheriff for Gloucestershire, temp. HENRY VII.) and was s. by his son, FRANCIS KNILL, Esq., of Knill, a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire, temp. Elizabeth, m. Joane, daughter of Thomas Lewis, Esq., of Harpton Court, in Radnorshire, and dying in 1590, was 8. by his only son,

JOHN KNILL, Esq., of Knill, who d.
unmarried, in 1609, when his estates
devolved upon his sister and heiress,
BARBARA KNILL, who conveyed them to
her husband, John Walsham, Esq., of
Presteigyne, by whose lineal descendant,
SIR JOHN WALSHAM, Bart., they
are still possessed.

Joane, m. to Richard, Lord Percy.
Loretta, m. to Robert Fitz-Parnell, Earl of
Leicester.

Margaret, m. to Walter de Lacy.

Maud, m. to Griffith, Prince of South Wales. Regarding his lands, it appears that in the 11th of

JOHN, the sheriff of Devon accounted for those in that shire, and the stock of cattle upon some other, was sold for the king's use; for in the next year, William de Nevill accounted for eighty-four pounds and five shillings, for three hundred and thirtyseven kine, which came from those lands, each cow then rated at five shillings. When the contest between John and the barons broke out, GILES DE BRAOSE, Bishop of Hereford, arraying himself under the baronial banner, was put in possession by the people, of Bergavenny, and the other castles of the deceased lord; and eventually, King JOHN, in the last year of his reign, his wrath being then assuaged, granted part of those lands to the bishop's younger brother and heir,

REGINALD DE BRAOSE, which grant was confirmed by King HENRY III., and he had livery of the castle and honour of Totness, with the honour of Barnstaple, having had previous possession of other estates. He m. Græcia, daughter of William de Bruere, and dying in 1221, was s. by his son,

WILLIAM DE BRAOSE. This feudal lord fell a victim to the jealousy of LEWELINE, Prince of Wales, who suspecting an intimacy between him and the princess, his wife, King HENRY'S sister, invited him to an Easter feast, and treacherously cast him into prison at the conclusion of the banquet. He was soon afterwards put to death with the unfortunate princess. He had married Eve, daughter of Walter Mareschal, and sister of Richard, Earl of Pembroke, by whom he had four daughters, his co-heirs, viz.:

ISABEL, m. first, to David, son of Leweline,
Prince of Wales, and secondly, to Peter
Fitz-Herbert.

other great men, to advise regarding the important affairs of the realm. And about the beginning of the ensuing September, was one of those who embarked at Portsmouth, with horse and arms, in the king's service, for Gascony. In the 28th and 29th of the same reign, he was in the wars of Scotland, and in the latter year he had summons to parliament as a BARON. In the 32nd, he was again in the Scottish wars, and then enjoyed so much favour, that the king not only confirmed to him and his heirs, the grant of Gower Land, made by King John to his ancestor, but granted that he and they should thenceforth enjoy all regal jurisdiction, liberties, and privileges there, in as ample a manner as Gilbert de Clare, son of Richard de Clare, sometime Earl of Gloucester, had in all his lands of Glamorgan. For several years afterwards, his lordship appears to have been constantly engaged upon the same theatre of war, and always eminently distinguished. In the 14th Edward II., being, according to Thomas, of Walsingham, "a person who had a large patrimony, but a great unthrift," his lordship put up for sale his noble territory of GOWER LAND, and absolutely sold it under the king's license, to the Earl of Hereford ; but its contiguity to the lands of the younger SPENCER, (who was then high in royal favour, and the king's chamberlain,) attracting the attention of that minion, he forcibly possessed himself of the estate, and thus gave rise to the insurrection headed by Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster. Lord Broase espoused Aliva, daughter of Thomas de Moulton, and had issue,

ALIVA, M. to John de Moubray.

JOANE, m. to John de Bohun, of Midhurst.

MAUD, m. to Roger, Lord Mortimer, of Wig- His lordship, who had regular summons to parlia

more.

EVE, m. to William de Cantilupe.
Eleanor, m. to Humphrey de Bohun.

The line of this branch thus terminating in heiresses, we proceed with that founded by the Bishop of Hereford's nephew,

JOHN DE BRAOSE, surnamed Tadody, who had been privately nursed by a Welch woman, at Gower. This John had grants of lands from King HENRY III., and was also possessed of the Barony of Brembye, in Sussex, where he died in 1231, by a fall from his horse, his foot sticking in the stirrup. He m. Margaret, daughter of Leweline, Prince of Wales, by whom (who afterwards espoused Walter de Clifford) he had a son, his suc

cessor,

In two

WILLIAM DE BRAOSE, who in the 41st HENRY III., when Leweline ap Griffin menaced the Marches of Wales with a great army, was commanded by the king to defend his own Marches about Gower, and the next year he had a military summons to attend the king at Chester. years afterwards, he was again in arms, under Roger de Mortimer, against the Welch; and he was subsequently one of the barons who became pledged for King HENRY, abiding the award of Lewis, King of France. He d. in 1290, and was s. by his son,

WILLIAM DE BRAOSE, who, in the 22nd of Edward I., had summons to attend the king with

590

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SIR THOMAS DE BRAOSE, third baron, who died in his minority, unmarried, when the estates devolved upon his sister,

JOANE DE BRAOSE, who died issueless, when the BARONY OF BRAOSE became EXTINCT, and the estates passed to her cousin, Elizabeth, wife of Sir William Heron, Knt., the niece, through his sister, Beatrix, of the first baron.

ARMS.-Az. semée of cross crosslets, gu. a lion rampant, or armed and langued gu.

DEVEREUX-EARLS OF ESSEX.

By Letters Patent, dated 4th May, 1572.

Lineage.

WALTER DEVEREUX, second Viscount Hereford, was created on the 4th May, 1572, EARL OF ESSEX, in consideration of his descent from the family of BoURCHIER, which had previously held that earldom. His lordship being a military man of high reputation, was appointed, in the 12th Elizabeth, field marshal of the forces sent to suppress the rebellion of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland; and he was afterwards employed in the wars of Ireland, with the title of Earl Marshal of that kingdom; he was also a Knight of the Garter. His lordship m. Lettice, daughter of Sir Francis Knolles, K.G., and had issue,

ROBERT, his successor.

Walter, killed before Roan.

Penelope, m. first, to Robert, Lord Rich, and secondly, to Charles Blount, Earl of Devon. Dorothy, m. first, to Sir Thomas Perrot, Knt., and secondly, to Henry, Earl of Northumberland. The earl d. at Dublin, on the 22nd September, 1576, but not without suspicion of having been poisoned, through the instigation of the infamous Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who soon after repudiated his wife, Lady Douglas Howard, and espoused the widow of his lordship. Lord Essex was 8. by his elder son,

ROBERT DEVEREUX, second Earl of Essex, the celebrated but unfortunate favourite of Queen ELIZABETH. His lordship was first brought to court, in 1585, by his step-father, the Earl of Leicester, and he subsequently attained the hightest honours his sovereign could bestow. He was a privy councillor, a Knight of the Garter, master of the horse, earl marshal of England, and lord deputy of Ireland; he was likewise chancellor of the University of Cambridge. His ultimate fate is so conspicuous an event in history, that it would be impertinent to dwell at any length upon it here. His lordship having conspired against his royal mistress, and made a fruitless effort at insurrection, was taken prisoner, committed to the Tower, and thence, after being convicted by his peers of high treason, led to the scaffold, on the 25th February, 1600. The earl left issue by his wife, Frances, daughter and heir of Sir Francis Walsingham, and widow of Sir Philip Sidney, one son and two daughters, viz.:

ROBERT.

Frances, m. to William Seymour, Duke of
Somerset.

Dorothy, m. first, to Sir Henry Shirley, Bart.,
of Stanton-Harold, and secondly, to William
Stafford, Esq., of Blatherwick, in the
County of Northampton.

His lordship's honours expired under the attainder, but his children being restored in blood, in 1603, his son,

ROBERT DEVEREUX, succeeded to the Earldom of Essex, and his late father's other dignities, This nobleman, who was installed a Knight of the Garter, in 1638, attached himself to the royal cause until 1642, when he accepted a commission in the parliament army, and afterwards distinguished. himself as a parliamentary general. He d. on the 14th September, 1646, and was interred with national obsequies in Westminster Abbey, the two houses of parliament attending the funeral. His lordship espoused first, Lady Frances Howard, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, from whom he was divorced, and that infamous woman m. afterwards, Sir Robert Carr, K.G., Earl of Somerset. The earl wedded secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Paulet, of Eddington, in the county of Wilts, one of the natural sons of William, third Marquess of Winchester, and had a son, Robert, who died in infancy. His lordship leaving no issue, the EARLDOM OF ESSEX, at his decease, became EXTINCT, while his other honours passed according to their respective limitations. (See Viscount Hereford, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage.) ARMS.-A fesse gules, in chief three torteauxes. DUDLEY-BARON DENBIGH, EARL OF LEICESTER.

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SIR ROBERT DUDLEY, a younger son of John, Duke of Northumberland, and brother of Lord Guilford Dudley, the unhappy husband of Lady Jane Grey, was appointed according to his biographist, Sir John Hayward, in the 5th of EDWARD VI., one of the six gentlemen in ordinary of the privy-chamber to that king; and Hayward adds, "that he was the true heir, both of his father's hate against persons of nobility, and cunning to dissemble the same; and afterwards for lust and cruelty, a monster of the court. And, as apt to hate, so a true executioner of his hate; yet rather by practice than by open dealing, as wanting rather courage than wit: and, that, after his entertainment into a place of so near service the king enjoyed his health not long." Upon the accession of MARY, Dudley was sent to the Tower with his father, and attainted; but, escaping the fate of that ambitious nobleman, he was soon afterwards restored, and made master of the ordnance. By QUEEN ELIZABETH he was at once taken into favour, raised to high rank, and invested with wealth and power. In the first year of her majesty's reign, he was made master of

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