258
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. ix. MARCH 29, 1902,
THE DUCHY OF BERWICK (9 th S. viii. 439
534 ; ix. 130). I think that on further inquiry
H. will discover that the dukedom of BeVwicl
has no claim to be a Spanish title. Th
attainder of the English Parliament in 169
was not recognized in the French and Spanisl
Courts, and to create as a foreign dignity an
English dukedom which, in the opinion o
the Spanish king, had never been legally
forfeited, would not have been regarded as a
compliment by the recipient. The * Almanach
de Gotha' for 1902 says James FitzJames
"fut cree Duke of Berwick (Ecosse
meridionale ; titre angl.) 1688, Granc
d'Espagne de I re cl. au titre de Duque de
Liria et de Xerica, 16 oct. 1707." The
'Almanach ' makes a mistake with regard to
the date of the creation, which was 1687; but
it correctly expresses the fact that it was an
English title, and that therefore James
FitzJames was an English "duke" as well as
a Spanish "duque." On 23 May, 1710, he
was further created a French "due," with the
title of 4t Due de FitzJames-Warty " ; but
the lands of Warty, which constituted the
pairie, no longer belonging to the family,
the second part of the title has been dropped,
and a second pairie was created by
Louis XVIII. on 4 June, 1814.*
I agree with H. that the prefix "Fitz" is by no means a sign of illegitimacy. In early times it was rather a proof of legitimate status ; but there were, of course, exceptions. One of the illegitimate sons of Henry I. was known as Robert FitzEdith.
The information given by H. regarding the marquisate of Jamaica is exceedingly inter- esting, but the ' Almanach de Gotha ' does not record it as one of the titles of the present Duke of Berwick.
The Order of the Garter has been very seldom conferred on any foreign subjects since the days of the Plantagenets. I can only find the following instances : Philippe de Chabot, Comte de Neublanche, 1532: Anne de Montmorency, Comte de Beaumont and Due de Montmorency, 1532 ; Francois, Due de Montmorency, 1572; Claude de Lorraine, Due de Chevreuse, 1625 : Bernard de Nogaret de Foix, Due d'Epernon, 1644-5 Henri Charles de la Tremouille, Prince de Tarent, 1653 ; and Jean Gaspar Ferdinand de Marcmn, Comte de Graville, 1657-8 The last two knights, having been created by Charles II. during his exile, were installed
- Since writing this note, I have read a couple of
excellent articles in the Royalist on the Dukes of FitzJames. The designation of FitzJames seems to have been given to lands of Warty by the first
by dispensation in 1661. The Duke of
Berwick was elected a Knight of the Garter
in 1688, but he was never installed, and his
election was declared void in 1689-90. I
presume that Louis de Duras, Marquis de
Blanquefort, who was created Baron Duras
by Charles II. in 1673, and succeeded his
father-in-law as Earl of Feversham in 1677,
was technically a British subject when he
received the Garter in 1685. After his abdi-
cation, I believe, King James II. bestowed the
Garter on the Due de Lauzun and some other
foreigners, but these appointments were not
officially recorded. W. F. PRIDEAUX.
Though this heading may be slightly mis- leading, yet my remarks bear on the subject discussed, for it comes under the category of British subjects bearing titles taken from foreign places.
The late Marquess of Dufferin was also Marquess of Ava ; the great naval hero was Viscount Nelson in the peerage of England, and Duke of Bronte in Sicily ; the Bennets are Earls of Tankerville, a place, I believe, in Normandy. At the coronation of Wil- liam IV. in 1831, Alexander Humphreys, ilias Alexander, claimed to do homage as lereditary lieutenant of Nova Scotia. He asserted that he was lineally descended from William Alexander, created by Charles I. Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada, and with these titles had the right of creating ^ova Scotia baronets, a right which he exercised. It may be worth noting here that ^ova Scotia was formerly called Acadia or A.cadie.
The trial connected with this claim took )lace before the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh in 1839, and is one of the most remarkable in criminal jurisprudence. The locuments put in as evidence were proved to be forgeries; but there was some doubt as to whether the panel had knowingly uttered hem, and a verdict of "Not proven" was eturned. There are full accounts of this mportant trial, which lasted for six days, iven in ' Modern State Trials ' (vol. ii.) ; by N. C. Townsend, and in 'Miscellanies' Critical, Imaginative, and Juridical ' (vol.ii.)' y Samuel Warren.
JOHN PICKFOED, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.
At the last reference H. asks whether there ,vas any earlier instance of the use of Fitz in England to denote illegitimate descent from oyalty than that of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of iichmond, son of Henry VIII. by Elizabeth Slount. Henry Tudor was only following he example of his ancestor, the first Henry
