Nobility of the County.
Title of Cumberland
Ranulph de Meschines (fn. 1) , is by some, said to have been made Earl of
Cumberland by William the Conqueror; others say Earl of Carlisle. Henry,
Lord Clifford (fn. 2) , was created Earl of Cumberland in 1525. The title became
extinct by the death of Henry, the fifth Earl, in 1643. The following year
King Charles created his cousin, Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland; the
title became extinct at his death, in 1682. Prince George of Denmark,
created Duke of Cumberland in 1689, died in 1708. Prince William
Augustus, son of King George II. was created Duke of Cumberland in
1723; dying without issue in 1765, the title was revived in the person
of Prince Henry Frederick, His present Majesty's brother, who died without
issue in 1790. In 1799 Prince Ernest Augustus, His Majesty's fifth son,
was created Duke of Cumberland, and still enjoys that title.
Howard, Duke of Norfolk. — The noble family of Howard first became
connected with this county by the marriage of Philip, Earl of Arundel, and
Lord William Howard, sons of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded
in 1572, with Anne and Elizabeth, sisters and coheiresses of George, Lord
Dacre, Baron of Greystock and Gilsland, who died in 1569. On a partition
of the property the Earl of Arundel became possessed of Greystock, which
barony (fn. 3) has ever since been one of the titles of his noble descendants.
Henry Frederic, Earl of Arundel, who died in 1652, father of Thomas, Earl
of Arundel, who was restored to the title of Duke of Norfolk, settled the
Greystock estate on his fourth son, the Honourable Charles Howard. Upon
the death of Edward, Duke of Norfolk, without issue, in 1777, Charles
Howard, Esq. of Greystock, grandson of the above-mentioned Charles,
succeeded to the dukedom, and was father of Charles, the present duke,
who occasionally resides at the ancient castellated mansion of Greystock.
Arms:—Quarterly 1. Gules, on a bend, between six cross crosslets, fitchee, Argent, an
escutcheon Or, therein a demi-lion rampant,
(pierced through the mouth with an arrow,)
within a double tressure, flory-counter-flory,
Gules, (being an augmentation granted in remembrance of the victory over the Scots at
Floddon Field). Howard. 2. G. three lions
passant-guardant in pale. O, a label of three
points in chief Argent. Brotherton. 3. Checky
O. and Az. Warren. 4. G. a lion rampant
Arg. armed and langued Az. Mowbray. Behind the whole, two marshals,
staves in saltire, O. enamelled at each end, Sab. having the King's arms at
the upper, and those of Howard at the lower end, being the badge of the
hereditary office of Earl Marshal.
Crest:—On a chapeau G. turned up, Erm. a lion statant guardant O.
(his tail extended) gorged with a ducal coronet Arg.
Supporters:—On the dexter side a lion, and on the sinister a horse,
both Arg. the latter holding a slip of oak, fructed, Proper.
Howard, Earl of Carlisle.—Charles Howard, great great grandson of
Lord William, who, as before-mentioned, married one of the coheiresses
of Lord Dacre of Gilsland; after that title had lain dormant nearly a
hundred years (fn. 4) , was in 1661 created Baron Dacre of Gilsland, and Earl
of Carlisle. The present Earl, Frederick Howard, is the fifth lineal possessor of these honors, and proprietor of the barony of
Gilsland, and of Naworth Castle, the ancient baronial seat,
in which he keeps a few rooms, fitted up for his occasional
residence.
Arms and crest: — The same as those of the Duke of
Norfolk, with a mullet for difference.
Supporters: — On the dexter side a lion Arg. with a
mullet, on the sinister a bull, G. armed, unguled, and
ducally gorged and chained, Or.
Wyndham, Earl of Egremont. — Algernon Seymour, Duke of Somerset,
having inherited from his mother, the heiress of Percy, Earl of Northumberland, the barony of Lucy, and the honours of Cockermouth and Egremont, in Cumberland, was in 1749 created Baron Cockermouth of Cockermouth, and Earl of Egremont, with remainder to his nephew Sir Charles
Wyndham, Bart. of Orchard-Wyndham, in the county of Somerset. The
duke died in 1750, when Sir Charles Wyndham became Earl of Egremont,
and dying in 1763, was succeeded by his son George, the second Earl, who
possesses a considerable estate in this county, and the ancient castles of
Cockermouth and Egremont. The latter is wholly in ruins;
in the former are one or two rooms, occasionally occupied
by its noble owner.
Arms:—Azure, a chevron between three lions' heads,
erased, Or.
Crest: — A lion's head, erased, within a fetterlock, Or.
Supporters—On the dexter side a lion rampant, Azure,
winged, Or; on the sinister side, a griffin, Argent, gutté
de Sang.
Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale. — The ancient family of Lowther, who, from
a remote period, had been seated at Lowther, in the adjoining county of Westmorland, appear to have been first connected with this county in the reign
of Edward I. when Sir Hugh Lowther, the King's Attorney General, was possessed of the manor of Wythorp, and purchased Newton-Regny of Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells. There were mansions on both these estates;
Wythorp-hall was certainly for a considerable time one of the seats of the
Lowther family. From the time above-mentioned the Lowthers frequently
appear in the lists of sheriffs and knights of the shire. In the list of gentry
of the county returned by the commissioners in the 12th year of Henry VI.
we find four branches of this ancient family described as resident in Cumberland; Sir Hugh Lowther, who was at the field of Agincourt with King
Henry V.; William Lowther (fn. 5) , of Crookdake; John Lowther, of Allerby (in
Aspatria); and William Lowther, of Rose. These probably are all long
ago extinct, except that of Sir Hugh, who was then the head of the family.
Sir Christopher, the second son of his immediate descendant Sir John
Lowther, of Lowther, who died in 1637, settled at Whitehaven, and was
created a baronet in 1641. This branch became extinct by the death of
Sir James, the fourth baronet, in 1755, when the Whitehaven estate devolved
under his will to Sir James Lowther (fn. 6) , who had before succeeded to the
Lowther estate and a baronet's title on the death of Henry Viscount Lonsdale (fn. 7) , in 1750. Sir James Lowther was in 1784, created Baron Lowther,
of Lowther, Baron of Kendal, baron of the barony of Burgh, in the county
of Cumberland, Viscount Lonsdale and Lowther, and Earl of Lonsdale.
In 1797 he was created Baron and Viscount Lowther, of Whitehaven, with
remainder to the heirs male of his cousin, the late Rev. Sir William Lowther,
of Swillington, Bart. (fn. 8) Upon his death, in 1802, Sir William Lowther, Bart.
son of Sir William last-mentioned, succeeded by devise to his large possessions
in Cumberland and Westmorland, and to the entailed titles of Baron and Viscount Lowther, of Whitehaven: in 1807 he was created Earl of Lonsdale.
The mansion at Whitehaven, which had been rebuilt by
the late earl, is his lordship's occasional residence.
The ancestors of Lord Lonsdale have married the heiresses
of Quale, Strickland, and Lancaster.
Arms of Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale: — Or, six annulets,
Sable.
Crest:—On a wreath a dragon passant, Argent.
Supporters:—Two horses, Argent, each gorged with a
chaplet of laurel, Proper.
Baron Greystock. See Duke of Norfolk.
Baron Dacre of the South.—Ranulph de Dacre, who married the heiress
of Multon, of Gilsland, was summoned to parliament in the first year
of Edward II. After the death of Thomas, the sixth Lord Dacre, Sir
Richard Fynes, who married the daughter and heir of Thomas, his elder son,
and became possessed of Dacre castle the ancient seat of the family, was in
1459, declared by the King's patent to be Lord Dacre; and his posterity were
known by the description of the Lords Dacre of the South. This ancient
barony having passed by female heirs through the families
of Lennard and Roper, is now possessed by Gertrude, only
sister and heir of the late Charles Trevor Roper, the eighteenth Lord Dacre, who was married in 1771 to Thomas
Brand, Esq. of the Hoo, in Hertfordshire, by whom she
has two sons and a daughter.
Arms of Dacre:—Gules, three escallops Argent.
Supporters:—A wolf dog argent, collared Or, and a bull
Gules, ducally gorged and armed, Or.
Baron Dacre of the North. See Earl of Carlisle.
Baron Lucy, of Cockermouth. — Anthony de Lucy, whose father Thomas
Multon, had assumed that name on marrying one of the coheiresses of
Lucy of Egremont; was summoned to parliament 14 Edward II. Maud,
aunt, and heir of Anthony Lord Lucy, who died in 1389,
settled her large inheritance upon her second husband Hugh
Percy, and his heirs male, on condition that they should
always bear the arms of Lucy quartered with those of Percy.
This ancient barony having passed by heirs female to the
families of Seymour and Smithson, is now possessed by his
Grace the Duke of Northumberland.
Arms of the Barons Lucy: — Gules, three fish (luces)
hauriant, Argent.
Law, Lord Ellenborough. — The present Lord Chief Justice of the
King's Bench having attained by his eminent abilities the highest honours
of his profession, was in the year 1802 advanced to the peerage, when he
took the title of Ellenborough, a well known place near Maryport in this
county, the site of a Roman station, and the property of his intimate friend,
the late Humphrey Senhouse, Esq. of Nether-hall. This eminent lawyer
is a native of Cumberland, having been born in the year
1750 at Great-Salkeld, of which parish his father, then
archdeacon, and afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, was rector.
Arms:—Erm. a bend engrail'd, G. charged with three
mullets, Arg. between two cocks of the second.
Crest: — A cock, Gules.
Supporters:—Two eagles, each charged on the breast
with a mitre.
Pennington, Lord Muncaster. — This ancient family took their name
from Pennington, in Lancashire, at which place and at Mulcastre, now
Muncaster, in this county, they were settled before the reign of Henry II.
The family were sometimes called de Mulcaster, and some of the younger
branches continued that name for several descents. Sir William Pennington, the immediate descendant of the elder branch, was in 1676 created a
baronet. In the year 1783, John, elder son of Sir Joseph Pennington, the
fourth baronet, was created Lord Muncaster of the Kingdom of Ireland,
with remainder to his only brother Lowther Pennington. On the death
of the late Lord Muncaster, in 1813, his brother, General
Lowther Pennington, succeeded to the title.
Arms: — Or, five fusils in fesse, Azure.
Crest: — On a wreath, a cat-a-mountain, passant-guardant, Proper.
Supporters: — On the dexter side, a lion guardant,
Proper, charged on the breast with an oak branch, Vert:
on the sinister side, a horse reguardant, Proper, bridled,
Or.
Extinct Peerages.
Earldom of Carlisle.—Ranulph de Meschines had the Earldom of
Carlisle (fn. 9) given him by William the Conqueror. His son of the same name,
who was also Earl of Chester, surrendered the Earldom of Carlisle to King
Henry I.
Sir Andrew de Hercla or Harcla was created Earl of Carlisle by King
Edward II. in the fifteenth year of his reign. This title he enjoyed but a
short time, for in the following year he was arrested in his castle of Carlisle,
for treasonable correspondence with the Scots, degraded
from his knighthood, by ungirding his sword, and hacking
off his spurs, hanged, drawn, and quartered, his head being
placed on London-bridge, and his four quarters thus disposed, one on the keep of Carlisle Castle, one on the keep
of the castle at Newcastle, a third on York-bridge, and the
fourth at Shrewsbury. (fn. 10)
Arms: — Arg. a cross, Gul. in the first quarter a martlet,
Sable.
Hay, Earl of Carlisle. — Sir James Hay, of a Scots family,
was in 1622 created Earl of Carlisle. The title became extinct by the death of James, the second Earl, without issue,
in 1660. The Earl of Kinnoul is of the same family.
Arms: — Arg. three escutcheons, G.
Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater. — Sir Francis Radcliffe, Bart. of
Dalston, in Northumberland, descended from the Radcliffes of Castlerig,
on Derwentwater lake, whose ancestor had married the heiress of Derwentwater, was in 1688 created Earl of Derwentwater, which title was forfeited
by the attainder of James, third Earl of Derwentwater, beheaded in 1716,
for being concerned in the rebellion of the preceding year. The eldest
branch of this ancient family became extinct in the male line by the death
of Anthony James Radcliffe, Earl of Newburgh, in 1814. The late Earl
of Newburgh, whose father had claimed that Scotch earldom, in right of
his mother, was great nephew of the last Earl of Derwentwater.
An ancestor of the Earls of Derwentwater married the
heiress of Carrington. Some younger branches of the family
have continued the male line.
Arms of Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater: — Arg. a bend
engrailed, Sable.
Crest: — On a ducal coronet, Or, a bull's head erased,
Sable.
Lord Wake, of Liddell. — John, Lord Wake, whose father had acquired the barony of Liddell in marriage with
the heiress of Estoteville or Stuteville; was summoned to
parliament 23 Edw. I. The heiress of Thomas, the second
Lord Wake, married Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent,
whose daughter married Edward the Black Prince.
Arms. — Or, a fesse, Gules, in chief, three torteaux.
Baron Multon of Gilsland. — Thomas de Multon, whose
grandfather had married the heiress of Vaux, Lord of the
barony of Gilsland; was summoned to parliament 25 Edw. I.:
his daughter and heir married Ralph de Dacre.
Arms. — Argent, 3 bars, Gules, with a label of five
points.
Baron Multon of Egremont. — Thomas de Multon,
grandson of Lambert de Multon, who married one of the
two coheiresses of Lucy, baron of Egremont; was summoned to parliament 28 Edw. I. This barony became extinct or dormant, by the death of John, the second Lord
Multon of Egremont, in 1335. His three sisters, married
to Fitz-Walter, Bermicham, and Lucy, were his coheiresses.
Arms. — The same, without the label.
Harington Lord Harington. — This ancient family took their name from
the village of Harington, on the west coast, the manor of which place they
possessed from a very early period, till the extinction of their male line, in
the reign of Henry VI.; John de Harington was summoned to parliament
18 Edw. II.: his grandson, William, Lord Harington
died without male issue in 1458: his daughter and heir
married William Lord Bonville.
The Harington family, before the extinction of the
elder line married the heiresses of Seaton and Cancefield,
and coheiresses of Multon and Loring. From younger
branches of this family, descended the Lords Harington of
Exton, the Haringtons of Rutlandshire, Baronets, &c. &c.
Arms. — Sable, a fret Argent.
Besides the above-mentioned parliamentary Barons, there have been
several ancient baronial families which became extinct, before summonses
to parliament were issued, as the early possessors of the great lordship
of Allerdale; the family of Vaux who had the barony of Gilsland,
before the Multons; the Estotevilles or Stutevilles, who had the barony of
Liddell; the Engaynes and Morvilles, successively Lords of the barony
of Burgh; the Wigtons, who had the barony of Wigton, the FitzSweines, &c.