258 BASSET. His widow Obtained in 1307 a «r:mt of the Honour of Richmond (formerly iililo dispute with the Earl of Stafford), ninny of which remained in the Shirley family till the death of Earl Ferrers in 18*27. Isabel, the mother of Hugh Shirley, appeal* to have been sister of the last Lord Basset — possibly of the half blood — which, even were she his paternal sister, would at that time have precluded heirship; but inasmuch as Alicia, the mother of the last Lord, in- secondly Hugh do Meynell. she might not, improbably, be (merely) a uterine sister by th.it alliance. Again, it is possible, that she might be ft battttrd sister, and "the late Francis Townsend. Esq., Windsor Herald P 784-181 9], on the authority of Robert Glover, Somerset, a moat learned and skilful herald, considered the illegitimacy of Isabel Shirley to lie indisputable; quoting a pedigree drawn on t in 1883 by that herald [Glover J fur Sir George Shirley, her lineal deseeudent and heir, in which she is called natural sister of the last Karon, ar.d the coat assigned to her is debrilined by a baton. If the illegitimacy of Isabel be established, this dignity [the Barony of Basset] would be in abeyance between the representatives of Thomas. Earl of Stafford (who is presumed to he the present Damn Stafford), and of the said Dame Alice Chaworth, who (upon the 'lee. of her great-granddau. and h.), in 1807, were (11 .loan, wife of Sir Thomas Hynham : [S] Elizabeth, wife of Anthony Bubingtou ; and Anne, wife of William Meriug, who died s.p." A tabular pedigree of the coheirs of this Barony (on the supposition that Isabel Shirley was a bastard) is in "Col. Top. et Ben.," vol. vii, p. 287, while at p. 3112 uf the same vol., are given the arguments in favour of her Ivjitimarij : which are also urged (with, perhaps, still greater force) by Sir Egcrtoii Brydges in ' Collins," vol. iv, p. 01. See also some remarks thereon in Beltz's " Order of the Garter," p. 161, note " 4 : " and Shirley's " Stemmata Shirleiana," 2nd edit., pp. 2S-32. .Mr. G'ourthope adds this note, which shews a belief (right or wrong' in the Shirley family that the Barony of Basset hail vested in them :— "It may here be remarked as an instance of unaccountable negligence or ignorance, that in the Patent creating George Townshend, Lord Ferrers of Chartley and Lord Cuiupton (heir general of the above Sir Thomas Shirley and Isabel Basset 1. to be Earl of Leicester in 17S-1, he ia called Bakon de Ferrers of ChaRTLKY, Baijon Boi ittHlF.lt, Lovaink, llassd, and Com PTOa. " In 1731 it is unquestionable that the Baronies of Ferrers of Chartley and OomptoU were Tested, jure mains, in the Hon. George Townshend, but it is confidently alleged that he was not legally possessed either of the Baronies of Bourehier, Lovaim-, or Basset. As it would scarcely be imagined that titles of honour should he lightly attributed in a patent under the Great Seal, this assertion requires to be supported by facts, and the following brief account of each of the Baronies in question may he deemed satisfactory. "First, BoTJRCHUSB.— The Barony of Bourehier, as will be found more fully stated under that head, became merged in that of Ferrers of Chartley, and, together with that dignity, fell into abeyance in 1646 ; and, notwithstanding that the Abeyance of the Barony of Ferrers of Chartley was terminated in Dec. 1677 in favour of Sir Robert Shirley, the youngest coheir (from whom Mr. Townshend derived his right to that dignity), no act is stated to have taken place relative to the Barony of Bourehier ; nor does it appear that the Abeyance of that dignity has ever been terminated, unless the fact .>f George Townshend Lord Ferrers of Chartley. who was then the youngest coheir of that Barony, having on that occasion been styled under the Great Seal " Baron Bourehier," be considered to have vested that dignity in him and the hoirs of his body. "Secondly, Lovaine.— This dignity seems never to have been a Parliamentary Barony, in the modern acceptation of that term, as only one Writ of Summons was ever issued to f he ancestor from whom the dignity was pretended to have been derived ; and, moreover, it is very doubtful if that Writ was a Summons to a WW Parliament. It is thus manifest that no Barony of Lovaine could, according to modern decisions uf the House of Lords, then have been held to lie in existence ; and even it such diil exist, the Earl of Leicester was onlv a coheir of the dignity. See Lovain'e. "Thirdly, Basset of Drayton.— This title, though frequently assumed by the family of Shirley, and consequently by its representative the Earl of Leicester, ** never, it is believed, vested in them. Their claim to it was, as is fully related W in virtue of their descent from Isabel Basset, the sister of Ralph the last Lord Basset of Drayton, but a rational doubt cau scarcely be entertained that the said Isabel was
