Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England. He is the eighth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Constable and above the Lord High Admiral; the marshal was responsible, along with the constable, for the monarch's horses and stables including connected military operations. As a result of the decline of chivalry and sociocultural change, the position of Earl Marshal has evolved and among his responsibilities today is the organisation of major ceremonial state occasions like the monarch's coronation in Westminster Abbey and state funerals, he is a leading officer of arms and oversees the College of Arms. The current Earl Marshal is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the position in 2002. There was an Earl Marshal of Ireland and Earl Marischal of Scotland; the office of royal marshal existed in much of Europe, involving managing horses and protecting the monarch.
In England, the office became hereditary under John FitzGilbert the Marshal after The Anarchy, rose in prominence under his second son, William Marshal Earl of Pembroke. He served under several kings, acted as regent, organised funerals and the regency during Henry III's childhood. After passing through his daughter's husband to the Earls of Norfolk, the post evolved into "Earl Marshal" and the title remained unchanged after the earldom of Norfolk became a dukedom. In the Middle Ages, the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Constable were the officers of the king's horses and stables; when chivalry declined in importance, the constable's post declined and the Earl Marshal became the head of the College of Arms, the body concerned with all matters of genealogy and heraldry. In conjunction with the Lord High Constable, he had held a court, known as the Court of Chivalry, for the administration of justice in accordance with the law of arms, concerned with many subjects relating to military matters, such as ransom and soldiers' wages, including the misuse of armorial bearings.
In 1672, the office of Marshal of England and the title of Earl Marshal of England were made hereditary in the Howard family. In a declaration made on 16 June 1673 by Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, the Lord Privy Seal, in reference to a dispute over the exercise of authority over the Officers of Arms the powers of the Earl Marshal were stated as being "to have power to order and determine all matters touching arms, ensigns of nobility and chivalry. Additionally it was declared that no patents of arms or any ensigns of nobility should be granted, no augmentation, alteration, or addition should be made to arms, without the consent of the Earl Marshal; the Earl Marshal is considered the eighth of the Great Officers of State, with the Lord High Constable above him and only the Lord High Admiral beneath him. Nowadays, the Earl Marshal's role has to do with the organisation of major state ceremonies such as coronations and state funerals. Annually, the Earl Marshal helps organise the State Opening of Parliament.
The Earl Marshal remains to have charge over the College of Arms and no coat of arms may be granted without his warrant. As a symbol of his office, he carries a baton of gold with black finish at either end. In the general order of precedence, the Earl Marshal is the highest hereditary position in the United Kingdom outside the Royal Family. Although other state and ecclesiastical officers rank above in precedence, they are not hereditary; the exception is the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, notionally higher than Earl Marshal and hereditary, but as it is held by a marquess, is lower in the general order of precedence. The holding of the Earl Marshalship secures the Duke of Norfolk's traditional position as the "first peer" of the land, above all other dukes; the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that the persons holding the office of Earl Marshal and, if a peer, the Lord Great Chamberlain continue for the time being to have seats so as to carry out their ceremonial functions in the House of Lords.
Among the men who have held the title of Earl Marshal of Ireland are: - William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke John Marshal William Marshal'who joined the Barons against King Henry III and d. 1264' John Marshal, son of the last-mentioned and father of the next-mentioned. William Marshal, 1st Baron Marshal John Marshal, 2nd Baron Marshal Robert de Morley, 2nd Baron Morley William de Morley, 3rd Baron Morley Thomas de Morley, 4th Baron Morley Thomas de Morley, 5th Baron Morley Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. See A view of the legal institutions, honorary hereditary offices... Walter Lynch, 1830, P 71 Unpublished statute entered on the Chancery Roll, Dublin, in the year 1460, relative to the independence of Ireland Family Tree of the Marshal family, from J. H Round, "The king's serjeants & offic
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, reigned over Scotland from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567. Mary, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V, was six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne, she spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents, in 1558, she married the Dauphin of France, Francis. He ascended the French throne as King Francis II in 1559, Mary became queen consort of France, until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Four years she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and in June 1566 they had a son, James. In February 1567, Darnley's residence was destroyed by an explosion, he was found murdered in the garden. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was believed to have orchestrated Darnley's death, but he was acquitted of the charge in April 1567, the following month he married Mary. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle.
On 24 July 1567 she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southwards seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own, was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving her as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586, she was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle. Mary was born on 8 December 1542 at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland, to King James V and his French second wife, Mary of Guise, she was said to have been born prematurely and was the only legitimate child of James to survive him. She was the great-niece of King Henry VIII of England, as her paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor, was Henry VIII's sister.
On 14 December, six days after her birth, she became Queen of Scotland when her father died from the effects of a nervous collapse following the Battle of Solway Moss, or from drinking contaminated water while on campaign. A popular tale, first recorded by John Knox, states that James, hearing on his deathbed that his wife had given birth to a daughter, ruefully exclaimed, "It cam wi' a lass and it will gang wi' a lass!" His House of Stuart had gained the throne of Scotland by the marriage of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce, to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. The crown had come to his family through a woman, would be lost from his family through a woman; this legendary statement came true much later—not through Mary, but through her descendant Queen Anne. Mary was baptised at the nearby Church of St Michael. Rumours spread that she was weak and frail, but an English diplomat, Ralph Sadler, saw the infant at Linlithgow Palace in March 1543, unwrapped by her nurse, wrote, "it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, as like to live."As Mary was an infant when she inherited the throne, Scotland was ruled by regents until she became an adult.
From the outset, there were two claims to the regency: one from Catholic Cardinal Beaton, the other from the Protestant Earl of Arran, next in line to the throne. Beaton's claim was based on a version of the king's will. Arran, with the support of his friends and relations, became the regent until 1554 when Mary's mother managed to remove and succeed him. King Henry VIII of England took the opportunity of the regency to propose marriage between Mary and his own son and heir, hoping for a union of Scotland and England. On 1 July 1543, when Mary was six months old, the Treaty of Greenwich was signed, which promised that, at the age of ten, Mary would marry Edward and move to England, where Henry could oversee her upbringing; the treaty provided that the two countries would remain separate and that if the couple should fail to have children, the temporary union would dissolve. Cardinal Beaton rose to power again and began to push a pro-Catholic pro-French agenda, angering Henry, who wanted to break the Scottish alliance with France.
Beaton wanted to move Mary away from the coast to the safety of Stirling Castle. Regent Arran resisted the move, but backed down when Beaton's armed supporters gathered at Linlithgow; the Earl of Lennox escorted her mother to Stirling on 27 July 1543 with 3,500 armed men. Mary was crowned in the castle chapel on 9 September 1543, with "such solemnity as they do use in this country, not costly" according to the report of Ralph Sadler and Henry Ray. Shortly before Mary's coronation, Scottish merchants headed for France were arrested by Henry, their goods impounded; the arrests caused anger in Scotland, Arran joined Beaton and became a Catholic. The Treaty of Greenwich was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland in December; the rejection of the marriage treaty and the renewal of the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland prompted Henry's "Rough Wooing", a military campaign designed to impose the marriage of Mary to his son. English forces mounted a series of raids on French territory. In May 1544, the English Earl of Hertford raided Edinburgh, the Scots took Mary to Dunkeld for safety.
In May 1546, Beaton was murdered by Protestant lairds, on 10 September 1547, nine months after the death of Henry VIII, the Scots suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. Mary's guardians, fearful for her safety, sent her t
Barlow Woodseats Hall
Barlow Woodseats Hall is a Grade II* listed manor house situated at Barlow Woodseats, on the edge of the village of Barlow, in Derbyshire. It remains the only manor house in the Parish of Barlow, the current house dates from the early 17th century, although there are much earlier origins to before 1269. Manorial tenure began with Ascoit Musard in 1086 and ownership passed through members of several families including the Earl of Shrewsbury from 1593; the present hall dates from the 17th century but there has been a house here from at least 1269 when it was called Barlew Woodsets meaning ‘a house in the wood belonging to Barley’. The deeds dated June 1368 and dates refer to Barley Wodesetes, it is believed to be once occupied by one of Derbyshire’s best-known daughters Bess of Hardwick who married the owner of the Hall. This was the first of her four husbands though she was only 14; the main house was built by local yeoman Arthur Mower, it is believed this was around the time he married in 1620.
Arthur Mower was appointed Agent to George Barley, Lord of the Manor in Barlow in 1563 on George's death in 1568 to his son Peter Barley. Mower died in 1652 but several generations of his family occupied the house in subsequent years; the manor of Barlow was held, by the Musards. The family of Barlow, or Barley, possessed it for several generations. James Barley, Esq. sold it to George Earl of Shrewsbury. Having passed by descent to the Duke of Portland, it was in 1813 exchanged with the Duke of Rutland for the manor of Whitwell. In 1843 the house passed to the Thorold family by the marriage of Charlotte Mower; this family can be traced back 900 years to the Sheriff of Lincoln who lived during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Until 2006 the house had been owned for many years by the Milward family, owners of Milward's Needles. With the death of Rosemary Milward, a well-respected local medieval historian and wife of Chesterfield surgeon F. John Milward, the house was put on the open market and sold in 2006.
The house farmland. The medieval cruck barn stands to the west side of the farmland, is believed to be the longest continuous roofed barn in Derbyshire of this age. Damage was caused to the building by a land mine in April 1941; the comprehensive restoration was carried out to the east wall, a sheet of paper was discovered behind a wall plate, thought to have been left there when the house was built in 1624. The property is built over four storeys, featuring several separate cellars, ground floor, first floor and extensive attics in the roof; the house, which has eight bedrooms, still retains the wide fireplaces in both the kitchen and the drawing room. The property is of thinly bedded coursed measured sandstone with ashlar dressings, coped gables, quoins and end ashlar ridge stacks with moulded caps and a stone slated roof. To the north elevation there is a central gabled range with tall chamfer mullioned window set centrally at each floor level beneath a drip mould; the west gable now incorporates a porch internally.
The ground floor rooms retain good 17th-century hearths the pleasant kitchen with its wide segmental ashlar arch. The dining room retains chamfered and quoined surrounds to the hearths and has 17th-century square oak panelling; the staircase with masonry centre wall and oak stairs has a massive oak door at the half landing, secured from the flight above. At the attic floor level, there are four exposed roof trusses, three of which are braced with collar beams and longitudinal braces; the house features a garage/coachhouse attached to the main structure, which shows signs of having been a two-storey arrangement at some point in the past. Within the present garage is a single upper cruck truss
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, England. The town is on the River Severn and the 2011 census recorded a town population of 71,715. Shrewsbury is a market town whose centre has a unspoilt medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery; the town is where he spent 27 years of his life. Located 9 miles east of the Welsh border, Shrewsbury serves as the commercial centre for Shropshire and mid-Wales, with a retail output of over £299 million per year and light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park, on the outskirts; the A5 and A49 trunk roads come together as the town's by-pass, five railway lines meet at Shrewsbury railway station. The town is located 150 miles north-west of London; the town was the early capital of the Kingdom of Powys, known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill".
This name evolved in three directions, into Sciropscire, which became Shropshire. Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place". Over the ages, the geographically important town has been the site of many conflicts between the English and Welsh; the Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession in 778. Nearby is the village of 5 miles to the south-east; this was once the site of the fourth largest cantonal capital in Roman Britain. As Caer Guricon it is a possible alternative for the Dark Age seat of the Kingdom of Powys; the importance of the Shrewsbury area in the Roman era was underlined with the discovery of the Shrewsbury Hoard in 2009. Shrewsbury's known history commences in the Early Middle Ages, having been founded c. 800 AD. It is believed that Anglo-Saxon Shrewsbury was most a settlement fortified through the use of earthworks comprising a ditch and rampart, which were shored up with a wooden stockade. There is evidence to show; the Welsh were repelled by William the Conqueror. Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl.
He founded Shrewsbury Abbey as a Benedictine monastery in 1083. The 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême, was deposed in 1102 and the title forfeited, in consequence of rebelling against Henry I and joining the Duke of Normandy's invasion of England in 1101. In 1138, King Stephen besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the period known as the Anarchy, it was in the late Middle Ages. This success was due to wool production, a major industry at the time, the wool trade with the rest of Britain and Europe, with the River Severn and Watling Street acting as trading routes; the Shrewsbury Drapers Company dominated the trade in Welsh wool for many years. Despite its commercial success, Shrewbury was not immune from the effects of the Black Death. Records suggest the plague arrived in the spring of 1349, was devastating. Examining the number of local church benefices falling vacant due to death, 1349 alone saw twice the vacancies as the previous ten years combined, suggesting a high death toll in Shrewsbury.
In 1403 the Battle of Shrewsbury was fought a few miles north at Battlefield. Shrewsbury's monastic gathering was disbanded with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as such the Abbey was closed in 1540. However, it is believed that Henry VIII thereafter intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city after the formation of the Church of England, but the citizens of the town declined the offer. Despite this, Shrewsbury thrived throughout the 17th centuries; as a result, a number of grand edifices, including the Ireland's Mansion and Draper's Hall, were constructed. It was in this period that Edward VI gave permission for the foundation of a free school, to become Shrewsbury School. During the English Civil War, the town was a Royalist stronghold and only fell to Parliament forces after they were let in by a parliamentarian sympathiser at the St Mary's Water Gate. After Thomas Mytton captured Shrewsbury in February 1645; this prompted Prince Rupert to respond by executing Parliamentarian prisoners in Oswestry.
Shrewsbury Unitarian Church was founded in 1662. By the 18th century Shrewsbury had become an important market town and stop off for stagecoaches travelling between London and Holyhead on their way to Ireland. Local soldier and statesman Robert Clive was Shrewsbury's MP from 1762 until his death in 1774. Clive served once as the town's mayor in 176
Battle of Northampton (1460)
The Battle of Northampton was fought on 10 July 1460 near the River Nene, Northamptonshire. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses; the opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, his Queen Margaret of Anjou and their seven-year-old son Edward, Prince of Wales on one side, the army of Edward, Earl of March and Warwick the Kingmaker on the other. The battle was the first. After the disintegration of the Yorkist army at Ludford Bridge in 1459, many of the Yorkist commanders went into self-imposed exile; the Duke of York and his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, retired to the relative safety of Dublin, Ireland. His principal supporters the Earl of Warwick and his father the Earl of Salisbury, York's son Edward, Earl of March reached Calais on 2 November 1459, where Warwick found his uncle Lord Fauconberg. In England, the Lancastrians were quick to exploit the Yorkist flight; the Earl of Wiltshire was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland and the Duke of Somerset became Captain of Calais.
Neither however succeeded in occupying their new posts as the Irish refused to dislodge York and the gates of Calais remained closed to their new'Captain'. The Lancastrians gave Somerset an army to storm Calais, but first they had to cross the Channel, so the construction of a fleet was started at Sandwich in Kent. In January and May 1460, Warwick stole the ships. In June 1460, the Lancastrian invasion was pre-empted by an attack on Sandwich, reinforced with several hundred Lancastrian troops commanded by Osbert Mundford; the Yorkist force under Lord Fauconberg, Sir John Wenlock and John Dynham seized the port, capturing troops and armaments. Mundford was taken to Rysbank tower and executed. Warwick left his uncle, Lord Fauconberg, in Sandwich with a small force of Yorkists to act as a bridgehead for his planned invasion of England. On 26 June 1460, Warwick and Edward landed at Sandwich with 2,000 men at arms. King Henry VI and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou, were at Coventry with their small army.
Warwick entered London on 2 July with an army of supporters numbering 10,000. The King's forces took up a defensive position at Northampton, in the grounds of Delapré Abbey, with their backs to the River Nene and a water-filled ditch in front of them, topped with stakes; the defending army was around 5,000 strong, consisting of men-at-arms. The Lancastrians had some field artillery. While approaching, Warwick sent a delegate to negotiate with the King on his behalf; the Lancastrian commander, the Duke of Buckingham, replied "The Earl of Warwick shall not come to the King's presence and if he comes he shall die." During Warwick's advance to Northampton he was twice more denied access to the King's person. Once in position, he sent a message that read "At 2 o'clock I will speak with the King or I will die". At two o'clock the Yorkists advanced; the men were in column. As they closed with the Lancastrians, Warwick was met by a fierce hail of arrows, but the rain had rendered the Lancastrian collection of cannon quite useless.
When Warwick reached the Lancastrian left flank, commanded by Lord Grey of Ruthin, treachery ensued. Grey had his men lay down their weapons and allow the Yorkists to have easy access into the camp beyond; this treachery was the result of a secret message from Lord Grey to March saying that he would change sides if the Yorkists would back him in a property dispute with Lord Fanhope. Warwick had ordered his men not to lay violent hands on ordinary soldiers – those wearing the black ragged staff of Lord Grey's men. There may have been inducements and promises of high office by Warwick. Grey became Treasurer of England in 1463. After this, the battle lasted a mere thirty minutes; the defenders were unable to manoeuvre inside the fortifications, fled the field as their line was rolled up by attacking Yorkists. The Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Egremont and Lord Beaumont all died trying to save Henry from the Yorkists closing on his tent. Three hundred other Lancastrians were slain in the battle.
King Henry VI was captured by Henry Mountfort. Henry was found in his tent by Warwick and Fauconberg. Showing him proper respect they escorted him to Delapre Abbey Northampton, London, where the tower garrison surrendered soon after. Goodman, Anthony; the Wars of the Roses: Military Activity and English society, 1452–97. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 9780710007285. Griffiths, Ralph A.. The Reign of King Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, 1422–1461. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520043725. Hicks, Michael; the Wars of the Roses. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300114232. Wagner, John A. ed.. Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576075753. Haigh, Philip A.. Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses. Far Thrupp, Gloucestershire: A. Sutton. ISBN 9780750914307
Duke of Leinster
Duke of Leinster is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Offaly, Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, Baron Offaly and Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare; the viscounty of Leinster is in the Peerage of Great Britain, the barony of Kildare in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, all other titles in the Peerage of Ireland. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Duke of Leinster is Marquess of Kildare. General The 3rd Duke of Schomberg, K. G. was created The 1st Duke of Leinster in 1691. However, that creation became extinct upon Schomberg's death in July 1719; the family seat of the current Duke of Leinster is now Oakley Park, near Oxfordshire. This branch of the Cambro Norman FitzGerald/FitzMaurice dynasty, which came to Ireland in 1169, were created Earls of Kildare; the earldom was created in 1316 for John FitzGerald.
Two senior FitzGeralds, Garret Mór FitzGerald and his son, Garret Óg FitzGerald served as Lords Deputy of Ireland, the representative of the Lord of Ireland in Ireland. The tenth earl, Thomas FitzGerald, known as Silken Thomas, was attainted and his honours were forfeit in 1537. In 1554, Thomas's half-brother and only male heir, Gerald FitzGerald, was created Earl of Kildare in the Peerage of Ireland, he was subsequently restored as 11th earl. The second earldom became extinct in 1599; the family was based in Maynooth Castle in Maynooth in County Kildare. In centuries the family owned estates in Waterford with their country residence being a Georgian house called Carton House which had replaced the castle in County Kildare. In Dublin, the Earl built a large townhouse residence on the southside of Dublin called Kildare House; when the Earl was awarded a dukedom and became Duke of Leinster, the house was renamed Leinster House. One of its occupants was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became an icon for Irish nationalism through his involvement with the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which cost him his life.
Leinster House was sold by the Leinsters in 1815. After nearly a century as the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, which held its famed Spring Show and Horse Show in its grounds, Oireachtas Éireann, the two chamber parliament of the new Irish Free State, rented Leinster House in 1922 to be its temporary parliament house. In 1924 it bought the building for parliamentary use, it has remained the parliament house of the Irish state. The Dukes of Leinster had by the early 20th century lost all wealth, their Carton House seat was sold, as on was their other residence in Waterford. The family now live in a smaller property in Oxfordshire. A controversial claim by the supposed descendants of the 5th Duke was made and failed, with the Lord Chancellor accepting the claim made by the 9th Duke of Leinster. In 2006, a lawsuit was filed with HMG's Department of Constitutional Affairs by Theresa Pamella Caudill, daughter of Eleanor and Maurice F. “Desmond” FitzGerald, on behalf of her nephew, a California builder, Paul FitzGerald, as claimant to be the rightful Duke of Leinster.
FitzGerald purported that he is the grandson of Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald, the second son of The 5th Duke of Leinster, recorded as having been killed in action during the First World War while serving with the Irish Guards. When The 6th Duke of Leinster died and childless, in February 1922, the Leinster dukedom – and its considerable wealth and lands – devolved upon his youngest brother Lord Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as The 7th Duke of Leinster. Paul FitzGerald and his supporters claimed that Lord Desmond faked his death and emigrated to California where he lived until his death in 1967, it was further claimed by Mrs Caudill that a package of documents, witnessed by the Prince of Wales and Sir Edgar Vincent, Lord Feversham, had been lodged by her father with the Crown Office of the House of Lords in 1929, the family had been denied access to them. Mrs Caudill believed the documents included evidence that her father agreed to relinquish the title for one generation but made it clear it was to be passed down to his son, her brother Leonard FitzGerald.
Instead, it was passed down through her father's brother's family. It was alleged that an archivist had acknowledged the package had once existed, but the official line was that it was now lost; the Baron Falconer of Thoroton, Lord Chancellor, Harriet Harman, Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, gave due consideration to this claim. The claim was dismissed by Lord Falconer despite a 30-year campaign by Paul FitzGerald's family reputedly costing £1.3 million. The Lord Chancellor adjudicated that the title was to remain with the existing holder, His Grace Maurice, 9th Duke of Leinster. Paul FitzGerald has a right of appeal against the Lord Chancellor's verdict by petitioning Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2010, however, DNA evidence was presented that indicates that Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe; as reported in The Scotsman, "with the help of Dunfermline-based genealogist Lloyd Pitcairn, Mrs FitzGerald Caudill traced Maud Crawf
House of Lords
The House of Lords known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is else by heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster; the full name of the house is the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, members of the House of Lords are appointed; the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England. Of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Membership was once an entitlement of all hereditary peers, other than those in the peerage of Ireland, but under the House of Lords Act 1999, the right to membership was restricted to 92 hereditary peers.
Since 2008, only one of them is female. While the House of Commons has a defined number of seats membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed; the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament in the world to be larger than its lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills, it reviews and amends Bills from the Commons. While it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons, independent from the electoral process. Bills can be introduced into the House of Commons. While members of the Lords may take on roles as government ministers, high-ranking officials such as cabinet ministers are drawn from the Commons; the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queen's Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament.
In addition to its role as the upper house, until the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009, the House of Lords, through the Law Lords, acted as the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom judicial system. The House has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. Today's Parliament of the United Kingdom descends, in practice, from the Parliament of England, though the Treaty of Union of 1706 and the Acts of Union that ratified the Treaty in 1707 and created a new Parliament of Great Britain to replace the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland; this new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland. The House of Lords developed from the "Great Council"; this royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics and representatives of the counties of England and Wales. The first English Parliament is considered to be the "Model Parliament", which included archbishops, abbots, earls and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it.
The power of Parliament grew fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined. For example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, the shire and borough representatives powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not by custom or royal charter, but by an authoritative statute, passed by Parliament itself. During the reign of Edward II's successor, Edward III, Parliament separated into two distinct chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords; the authority of Parliament continued to grow, during the early 15th century both Houses exercised powers to an extent not seen before. The Lords were far more powerful than the Commons because of the great influence of the great landowners and the prelates of the realm; the power of the nobility declined during the civil wars of the late 15th century, known as the Wars of the Roses. Much of the nobility was killed on the battlefield or executed for participation in the war, many aristocratic estates were lost to the Crown.
Moreover, feudalism was dying, the feudal armies controlled by the barons became obsolete. Henry VII established the supremacy of the monarch, symbolised by the "Crown Imperial"; the domination of the Sovereign continued to grow during the reigns of the Tudor monarchs in the 16th century. The Crown was at the height of its power during the reign of Henry VIII; the House of Lords remained more powerful than the House of Commons, but the Lower House continued to grow in influence, reaching a zenith in relation to the House of Lords during the middle 17th century. Conflicts between the King and the Parliament led to the English Civil War during the 1640s. In 1649, after the defeat and execution of King Charles I, the Commonwealth of England was declared, but the nation was under the overall control of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, S
