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ABERGAVENNY

or (as it was at one time styled) BERGAVENNY

On account of the notoriety of this dignity, and to assist in forming a judgment as to how far the possession of the castle and demesne of Abergavenny could be supposed to constitute a Barony by tenure, a brief account is here given of its possessors previous to 1392, the date when the (then) possessor was first summoned as "de Bergavenny." Before the period when a writ of summons converted a Barony into a personal instead of a territorial dignity, the owner of this castle, &c. doubtless by its tenure possessed a Feudal Barony, which was, however, but one among very many others.^[1]

OWNERS of the LORDSHIP I. temp. Will. II.	Hamelin de Ballon[2] received the lordship of Over Gwent, including the castle of Abergavenny,[3] from William Rufus.[4] He m. Agnes, and had two sons, William and Matthew. He was living in 1103, and d. 5 Mar. 11—.[5]
II. temp. Henry I.	Brien fitz Count, or of Wallingford, illegit. s. of Alan Fergent, Duke, or Count, of Britanny, was a Welsh magnate before 16 Oct. 1119, being then possessed of the honour of Abergavenny (i.e. Over Gwent), which he held either by grant to him and his wife, Maud, Lady of Wallingford,[6] or else solely in her right. They transferred the honour to Miles, Earl of Hereford,[7] in 1141–2, to be held of them and their heirs by the service of 3 knights.
III. 1141–2.	Miles of Gloucester, hereditary sheriff thereof, and the King's Constable, s. and h. of Walter fitz Roger de Pîtres, who held the former office. He was cr. Earl of Hereford, 25 July 1141. He m., 1121, Sibyl, da. and h. of Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon,[8] and d. 24 Dec. 1143. See fuller account under "Hereford."
IV. 1143.	Roger, Earl of Hereford and the King's Constable, s. and h. He was confirmed in all his father's possessions by Henry II in 1155; this must be held to have included the honour of Abergavenny. He m. in 1137–8, Cicely, 1st. da. and coh. of Payn fitz John, by Sibyl.[9] He d. a monk of Gloucester, in 1155, s.p. See fuller account under "Hereford."
V. 1155.	Walter of Hereford,[10] the King's Constable, next br. and h.; Sheriff of Gloucester and Hereford 1155–57, and of Hereford 1157–1159. He d. s.p.
VI. 1160?	Henry of Hereford,[10] the King's Constable, next br. and h. He d. s.p., being slain by Seisyll ap Dyvnwal, on an Easter Eve between 1159 and 1163, at Castle Arnold, near Abergavenny. He was bur. at Llanthony in Wales (or at Llanthony without Gloucester). His widow, Isabel, held 5 knights' fees in dower from her sister-in-law, Margaret de Bohon, in 1166.
VII. 1163?	Mahel of Hereford, the King's Constable, next br. and h. He was present at the Council of Clarendon, Jan. 1163/4. He d. s.p., and was bur. at Llanthony without Gloucester.
VIII. 1164?	William of Hereford, the King's Constable, next br. and h. He held the honour for about a year, and d. s.p. before 1166, being mortally hurt by a stone dropped from Bronllys Tower, co. Brecon.
[In 1165, the King's household officers were in garrison at Abergavenny, apparently under the command of Walter de Beauchamp.[11] According to Fane's Case, "the lands of Over-went were by Henry II betaken to the custody of Seisill ap Yago, whom Seisill ap Dunwall slew."]
IX.	H[ugh] de Beauchamp, br. of Walter abovenamed,[12] confirmed to the monks of Abergavenny all that "antecessores mei Hamelinus de Balon et Brientius filius comitis et alii domini de Bergeveni eis impenderunt. His testibus Gauterio et Richerio fratribus domini."[13]
X. 1173?	William de Briouze,[14] Lord of Briouze in Normandy, and of Bramber, Sussex, s. and h. of Philip de B., of the same, by Aenor, da. and h. of Juhel son of Alvred, Lord of Barnstaple and Totnes. He m., in or before 1150, Bertha, 2nd sister and coh. of William of Hereford abovenamed. Sheriff of Hereford, Easter 1173–1175, at which earlier date probably he already possessed the Lordship of Over Gwent. He was living in 1179.
XI.	William de Briouze, Lord of Briouze, Bramber, Brecon, Over Gwent, &c., s. and h.[15] He m. Maud de St. Valery, "Lady of La Haie." In consequence of his well-known quarrel with King John, his lands were forfeited in 1208, and his wife and 1st s. starved to death in the dungeons of Corfe (or of Windsor) in 1210. He d. at Corbeil near Paris, 9, and was bur. 10 Aug. 1211, in the Abbey of St. Victor at Paris.
XII. 1215.	Giles de Briouze, 2nd s.. Bishop of Hereford, 1200–1215. He seized his father's Welsh possessions in 1215, which seizin was, however, confirmed by the King, 21 Oct. 1215, on payment of a fine. He d. 13 Nov. 1215 [not 1216], at Gloucester, and was bur. in Hereford Cathedral.
XIII. 1216.	Reynold de Briouze, next br. He had seizin of his father's lands 26 May 1216, but gave up Bramber in or after 1220 to his nephew John, s. and h. of his 1st br. William. He m., 1stly, Grecia, da. and in her issue coh. of William Brieguerre or Briwere, by Beatrice de Vaux. He m., 2ndly, 1215, Gwladus Du, da. of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales, by his 2nd wife, Joan, illegit. da. of King John. He d. between 5 May 1227 and 9 June 1228. His widow m., 2ndly, Ralph de Mortimer, of Wigmore, who d. 6 Aug. 1246, and was bur. at Wigmore Abbey. She d. at Windsor in 1251.
XIV. 1228.	William de Briouze, s. and h. by 1st wife. He m. Eve, da. and in her issue coh. of William (Marshal), Earl of Strigul and Pembroke. He d. 2 May 1230, being hanged by Llewelyn abovenamed. His widow d. before 1246.
XV.	Eve de Briouze, da. and coh., heiress of Abergavenny. She m., after 25 July 1238 (when his father, William de C., obtained her wardship and marriage together with the custody of Abergavenny and the other lands falling to her share), and before 15 Feb. 1247/8, William de Cantelou,[16] of Calne, Wilts, and Aston Cantlow, co. Warwick. He d. at Calstone, Wilts, 25, and was bur. 30 Sep. 1254, at Studley Priory, co. Warwick. Writ of extent 15 Oct. 1254. She d. in 1255, about 20 and before 28 July.
XVI. 1255.	George de Cantelou, only s. and h.; b. 29 Mar. 1252, at Abergavenny. He m. (cont. ratified by the King, 1 Sep. 1254) Margaret, da. of Edmund (de Lacy), Earl of Lincoln, by Alasia, da. of Manfredo, Marquis of Saluzzo. He was knighted 13 Oct. 1272, and had seizin of his lands 25 Apr. and 1 May 1273. He d. s.p., 18 Oct. 1273.[17] His widow was bur. in the Church of the Black Friars at Pontefract.
XVII. 1273.	John (Hastings), Lord Hastings, nephew and coh., being s. and h. of Sir Henry Hastings of Ashill, Norfolk, by Joan, sister and coh. of the last owner of Abergavenny. He was b. 6 May 1262, suc. his father in 1268/9,[18] and was sum. to Parl., 1295 to 1313, by writs directed "Johanni de Hastinges."[19] Writ of diem cl. ext., 28 Feb. 1312/3. See fuller account under "Hastings."
XVIII. 1313.	John (Hastings), Lord Hastings, s. and h., b. 30 Sep. 1286. He was sum. to Parl., 1313 to 1325, by writs directed "Johanni de Hastinges,"[19] and d. 1325. See fuller account under "Hastings."
XIX. 1325.	Laurence (Hastings), Lord Hastings, s. and h., cr. EARL OF PEMBROKE, 1339. He d. 30 Aug. 1348. See fuller account under "Pembroke."
XX. 1348.	John (Hastings), Earl of Pembroke, s. and h.[20] He d. 16 Apr. 1375.[21] See fuller account under "Pembroke."
XXI. 1375.	John (Hastings), s. and h., never invested as Earl of Pembroke. He d. a minor, unm., 30 Dec. 1389. See fuller account under "Pembroke."
XXII. 1389. BARONY. I. 1392.	I. William Beauchamp, cousin (i.e. s. of a sister of the grandmother)[22] of the last owner, (but in no way connected with any of the former owners previous to the marriage of his maternal aunt with the then Lord), suc. to the Castle and Honour of Abergavenny by virtue of the entail, made by John, Earl of Pembroke, abovenamed.[21] He was 4th s. of Thomas, Earl of Warwick, by Katharine, da. of Roger (Mortimer), Earl of March. He served under the gallant Chandos, and subsequently, in the wars with France, with great distinction, and in 1375 (or 1376) was, by Edward III, nominated K.G. In 1383 he was Captain of Calais. Having suc., as above mentioned, to the lands of Abergavenny, he was sum. to Parl., 23 July (1392), 16 Ric. II to 18 Dec. (1409) II Henry IV,[23] as a Baron, [LORD BERGAVENNY, or BEAUCHAMP DE BERGAVENNY[24], all the writs being directed "Willelmo Beauchamp de Bergeveny,"[25] In 1399 he was appointed Justiciary of South Wales and Governor of Pembroke. By deed, 20 Feb. (1395/6) 19 Ric. II, he entailed the Castle, &c., of Abergavenny on himself and his wife, and their issue male, with rem. to (his br.) Thomas, Earl of Warwick, and his heirs male for ever. He m. Joan, sister and eventually (1415) coh. of Thomas (Fitzalan), Earl of Arundel, da. of Richard, Earl of Arundel, by Elizabeth, da. of William (Bohun), Earl of Northampton. He d. 8 May 1411. Will dat. 25 Apr. 1408, in which he directs to be bur. at the Black Friars, Hereford, pr. at Lambeth.[26] Inq. p. m. 5 June 1411, at Hereford. His widow, who was b. 1375, held the Castle and Honour of Abergavenny in dower till her death. She d. 14 Nov. 1435. Will dat. 10 Jan. 1434/5, pr. 19 Nov. 1435.[27] In it she directs to be bur. by her husband. Inq. p.m. at the Guildhall, London, 15 Dec. 1435.
II. 1411.	2. Richard Beauchamp, who, unless the Peerage be considered as one incident to the tenure of the Castle (which he never possessed), must be considered as Lord Bergavenny, or Beauchamp de Bergavenny, s. and h., b. in or before 1397, being 14 years old and upwards in June 1411. K.B. 8 Apr. 1413. Joint Warden of the Welsh Marches 1415. Capt. of Lances and Archers in Normandy 1418. He does not appear among the fourteen Barons in the Parl. of 16 Nov. 1417, nor among the thirteen Barons in that of 16 Oct. 1419,[28] but (in his 23rd or 24th year), viz. in Feb. 1420/1,[29] was cr. EARL OF WORCESTER. He m., 27 July 1411, at Tewkesbury, Isabel, sister and eventually (1414) sole h. of Richard Le Despenser, apparently de jure Lord Burghersh, being da. of Thomas, [the attainted] Earl of Gloucester (Lord Le Despenser), by Constance, da. of Edmund, Duke of York. He d. s.p.m. (being mortally wounded at the siege of Meaux in France, 18 Mar. 1421/2), and was bur. 25 Apr. 1422 in Tewkesbury Abbey. At his death, his vast estates and the representation of his Barony devolved on his only da. and h. (as below), but the Earldom of Worcester apparently reverted to the Crown. His widow, (who was b. (posthumous) 26 July 1400, at Cardiff, and who was apparently suo jure Baroness Burghersh, and, but for the attainder, would have been suo jure Baroness Le Despenser) m. (by papal disp.) 26 Nov. 1423, at Hanley Castle, co. Worcester, as 2nd wife, her husband's cousin, Richard (Beauchamp) 5th Earl of Warwick, who d. 30 Apr., and was bur. 4 Oct. 1439, at Warwick. M.I. Will dat. 8 Aug. 1435. She d. 27 Dec. 1439, at the Friars Minoresses, London, and was bur. 13 Jan. 1439/40, in Tewkesbury Abbey. M.I. Will. dat. 1 Dec. 1439, pr. 4 Feb. 1439/40. Inq.p.m. at Abingdon, June 1441.
III 1422.	3. Elizabeth Beauchamp, who, unless the Peerage be considered as one incident to the tenure of the Castle, must be considered as Baroness Bergavenny, or Beauchamp de Bergavenny, only da. and. h.; b. at Hanley Castle, co. Worcester, 16 Sep. 1415. She m., when very young, before 18 Oct. 1424[30] [in 1426 her husband (as "Dominus de Bourgevenny")[31] had summons to take, with the King himself, the order of Knighthood], Edward Nevill, 11th and yst. s. of Ralph, 1st Earl of Westmorland, being 9th s. by his 2nd wife, Joan (Beaufort), Dowager Lady Ferrers de Wemme, the legitimated da. of John "of Gaunt," Duke of Lancaster. In (1435) 14 Hen. VI, she was found h. to her grandmother (who had held the lands of Abergavenny and others in dower), when she and her husband had livery of the lands of her inheritance, but not of the castle and lands of Abergavenny, to which her right did not accrue till 11 June 1446, even on the most favourable interpretation to the Nevill family of the entail of 1395/6,[32] unless, indeed, that entail is, from some unknown cause, to be considered as invalid, against her right as heir at law to her grandfather, the maker of the entail. She d. 18 June 1448,[33] aged 32, and was bur. at the Carmelites, Coventry.[34]
III (bis). 1450.	Sir Edward Nevill,[35] a year after the death of his wife (as above), obtained, on 14 July 1449, licence from Henry VI to enter on the lands, &c., of Abergavenny, and, from 5 Sep. (1450) 29 Hen. VI to 19 Aug. (1472) 12 Edw. IV, was sum. to Parl.[36] as a Baron [LORD BERGAVENNY],[37] by writs directed "Edwardo Nevill domino de Bergevenny militi," and on and after 30 July 38 Hen. VI., "Edwardo Neville de Bergevenny chivaler," though he does not appear to have been seized, except for a short time, of the Castle and lands of that name. He m., 2ndly, (by spec. disp., 15 Oct. 1448) Katharine, da. of Sir Robert Howard, by Margaret, da. of Thomas (Mowbray), Duke of Norfolk; she, with whom he had cohabited in the lifetime of his 1st wife, was related to him in the third degree. He d. 18 Oct. 1476.[38] His widow was living 29 June 1478.
IV. 1476.	4. George (Nevill) Lord Bergavenny, 2nd but 1st surv. s. and h. by 1st wife, b. at Raby Castle, and bap. at Staindrop, co. Durham. He was knighted at Tewkesbury, by Edward IV, 4 May 1471; was aged 36 and more[39] in 1476. On 12 Jan. 1476/7, he had livery of the lands of his parents, but he never had seizin of Abergavenny. He was one of the Barons at the coronation of Richard III.[40] He was sum. to Parl.[41] 15 Nov. 1482 to 12 Aug. 1492, by writs directed Georgio Nevyle de Bergevenny chr. He m., 1stly, Margaret, da. and h. of Sir Hugh Fenne, of Sculton Burdeleys, Norfolk,[42] and of Braintree, Essex, Treasurer of the Household to Henry VI. She d. 28 Sep. 1485. He m., 2ndly, as her 4th husband, Elizabeth, widow of John Stokker, of St. George's, Eastcheap, (whose will was pr. 1485) and before that, widow of Richard Naylor[43], citizen of London (who was bur. at St. Martin's Outwich, London, and whose will was pr. 1483), and before that widow of Sir Robert Bassett, Lord Mayor of London [1475–6.]. He d. 20 Sep. 1492, and was bur. at Lewes Priory, Sussex. Will dat. 1 July 1491, pr. 1492.[44] She d. 1500, and was bur. at St. Martin's Outwich afsd.[45] Will, in which she describes herself as of Berghdenne, in the parish of Chartham, Kent, widow, dat. 14 Apr. 1500, pr. 19 June following.[46]
V. 1492.	5. George (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, s. and h. by 1st wife, aged 16 and more at his mother's death. He was dubbed K.B., 4 July 1483, v.p. He was sum. to Parl.[41] 16 Jan. 1496/7 to 5 Jan. 1533/4. He served in the wars against France, and was in the battle of Blackheath, 17 June 1497, against the Cornish rebels. Was Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. Chief Larderer at the coronation of Henry VIII, 24 June 1509, and again at that of Anne Boleyn, Queen Consort, 1 June 1533.[47] K.G. 23 Apr., and installed 7 May 1513. To him, 18 Dec. 1512,[48] Henry VIII granted the castle and lands of Abergavenny, &c.,[49] which, in 1389, had been inherited by William Beauchamp, Lord Bergavenny (1392), whose representative he was through his grandmother. His vast estates, derived chiefly from the Beauchamp family, he entailed on himself and the heirs male of his body, with rem. to his brothers Thomas and Edward respectively in like manner, and this entail, made by his will, being confirmed by Act of Parl. (31 Jan. (1555/6) 2 and 3 Philip and Mary),[50] preserved them intact to the succeeding Lords. P.C. 1516. He m., 1stly, Joan, da. of Thomas (Fitzalan), Earl of Arundel, by Margaret, da. of Richard (Widville), Earl of Rivers. She d. s.p.m., 14 Nov.[51] He m., 2ndly, Margaret, da. of William[52] Brent, of Charing, Kent, 'gentleman.' She was living 1515, but d. s.p.s. He m., 3rdly, about June 1519, Mary, da. of Edward (Stafford), Duke of Buckingham, by Eleanor, da. of Henry (Percy), Earl of Northumberland. He m., 4thly, Mary Brooke, otherwise Cobham, who had formerly been his mistress, and who survived him. He d. 1535, and was bur. at Birling (his heart being bur. at Mereworth), Kent. Will dat. 4 June 1535, pr. 24 Jan. 1535/6.
VI. 1535.	6. Henry (Nevill) Lord Bergavenny, s. and h. by third wife, b. after 1527. He was sum. to Parl. 23 Jan. 1551/2 to 15 Oct. 1586. He was one of the 26 peers who signed the letters patent, 16 June 1553, settling the Crown on Lady Jane Grey; K.B. 29 Sep. 1553; Chief Larderer at the coronation of Queen Mary 1 Oct. 1553. On 6 Oct. 1586 he was one of the Peers who tried Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringhay.[53] He m., 1stly, before 31 Jan. 1555/6, Frances, da. of Thomas (Manners), Earl of Rutland, by his 2nd wife, Eleanor, da. of Sir William Paston. She is mentioned as being among the "noble authors." She was bur. Sep. 1576, at Birling. He m., 2ndly, Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Stephen Darrell, of Spelmonden, in Horsmonden, Kent, Chief Clerk of the Royal Kitchen, by Philippe, da. of Edward Weldon, Clerk of the Green Cloth. He d. s.p.m., 10Feb., at Comfort, in Birling, Kent, and was bur. 21 Mar. 1586/7, at Birling.[54] Admon. 9 May 1587, wherein he is styled "Sir Henry Nevill, Baron of Abergavenny" to "Lady Elizabeth Nevill," the widow: Lady Mary Fane, the da., renouncing. His widow m. Sir William Sedley, 1st Bart., of Southfleet, Kent, (who d. 27 Feb. 1618) and was living Feb. 1601/2.
VII. 1587.	7. Edward Nevill, of Newton St. Loo, Somerset, cousin and h. male, who[55] in the grant of livery (1588) of the lands of Henry, late Lord Bergavenny deed., is styled "Edwardus Nevill, armiger, alias dictus Edwardus Nevill, dominus Bergavenny" and who (according to the decision of 1604, and the place assigned to his son in the House of Lords) may perhaps be considered entitled to be reckoned as Lord Bergavenny. He was s. and h. of Sir Edward Nevill, of Addington Park, Kent, by Eleanor, Dowager Lady Scrope of Upsall, da. of Andrews (Windsor), Lord Windsor, which Edward was 3rd son of George 4th, and br. of George 5th, Lord Bergavenny. He inherited the Castle, &c., of Abergavenny and the entire estates of the family, under the entail thereof to heirs male made by his uncle, the 5th Lord (as abovenamed), notwithstanding the attainder of his father, being enabled so to do under Act of Parl. beforementioned,[56] 2 and 3 Philip and Mary. He is spoken of as having been deaf. He m., 1stly, Katharine, da. of Sir John Brome, of Halton, Oxon, by Margaret, da. of John Rowse, of Ragley, co. Warwick. She was Maid of Honour to Queen Mary. He m., 2ndly, Grisold, da. of Thomas Hughes, of Uxbridge, Midx. He d. at Uxbridge, 10 Feb. 1588/9. Inq.p.m. at Maidstone, 7 July 1589, in which he is styled "Edward Nevill, decd., s. and h. of Sir Edward Nevill, Knt., also decd." Admon., in which he is styled "Edward, Lord Abergavenny, alias Edward Nevill, Esq.," granted 15 May 1590 to his s. Henry Nevill. His widow m., about 1589, Francis (Clifford), 4th Earl of Cumberland, who d. 21 Jan. 1640/1. She d. 15 June 1613, at Londesborough, and was bur. there. M.L
VIII. 1589. " 1604.	8 or 1. Edward Nevill, who on the same grounds as his father, may, on his death, be considered as entitled to be reckoned as Lord Bergavenny, s. and h. by first wife.[57] He was 38 years old in 1588/9. M.P. for Windsor 1588–89 and 1593. "Being seised of an estate in tail male by virtue of the Act of Restoration, 2 and 3 Philip and Mary (1555/6) in the Castle and Lordship of Bergavenny, he claimed in 1598 the dignity of Baron of Bergavenny, not, as has been generally supposed, on the sole ground that the dignity was attached to the Castle of Bergavenny, but that he, as being seised of that Castle, and as h. male of the last Lord, was the more eligible person. On this occasion the Lord Chief Justice of England (Sir John Popham) determined that there was 'no right at all in the h. male, and therefore he must wholly rely on the favour of the Prince—the common custom of England doth wholly favour the h. gen.—that Her Majesty may call by new creation the h. male, and omit the h. gen. during her life, but yet a right to remain to her [i.e. the h. general's] son, having sufficient supportacion. No entail can carry away dignity but by express words or patent;' the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was of the same opinion. Upon these opinions Lady Fane, who, as da. and h. of Henry, Lord Bergavenny, claimed as h. gen., prayed to be allowed the Barony, but nothing further took place until 1604, when the claims being renewed, the House of Lords avoided a formal decision, being 'not so perfectly and exactly resolved as might give clear and undoubted satisfaction to all the consciences and judgements of all the Lords for the precise point of Right;' it was agreed therefore that suit should be made to the King for ennobling both parties by way of restitution, the one to the Barony of Le Despencer, the other to the Barony of Bergavenny; and by a further resolution it was determined that Bergavenny should go to Nevill, and Le Despencer to Fane; this arrangement was approved of by the King, and a Writ of Summons was directed Edwardo Neville de Bergavenny Chr., 25 May, 2 Jas. 1604, and letters patent dated the same day confirmed the dignity of Le Despencer to Lady Fane."—Courthope, p. 17.[58] This Edward (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, so sum. 1604 as above, though neither h. nor even coh. of any Barony cr. by writ of 1392, was allowed the same precedency[59] as had been enjoyed by the former lords.[60] This precedency was certainly not on account of his having been held to be a Baron by tenure, for the decision of the House was, "that the place, seat, precedency and pre-eminence of the Barons Le Despencer, anciently was, and is and ought to be before and above that of the Barons of Bergavenny," i.e. that a Barony cr. by writ of 1264, was entitled to the precedence of one, which, if by tenure, must have been long before that date, "for the territory of Bergavenny undoubtedly existed in the hands of tenants in chief of the Crown, before (1264) 49 Hen. III and, of persons who were certainly esteemed Barons of the Realm." (Report of the Lords Committees on the Dignity of a Peer, vol. i, p. 440.). Unless we accept the theory that this writ was incidental either (i) to a Patent (hitherto undiscovered) of this date, or (ii) to the tenure of the Castle, it must (according to all modern Peerage law) have cr. a Barony in fee, and one de novo of the date of 1604. He m. Rachel, 3rd da. of John Lennard, of Knole, near Chevening, Kent, by Elizabeth, da. of William Harman, of Ellam, in Crayford, in that co. She was bur. 15 Oct. 1616, at Birling, Kent. He d. at his house in Great St. Bartholomew's, London, 1, and was bur. 3 Dec. 1622, at Birling afsd. Will dat. 19 Jan. 1618/9 to 24 Nov. 1622, pr. 2 Dec. 1622.
IX. 1622.	9 or 2. Henry (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, s. and h., b. before 1580. M.A. Oxford (incorp. from Cambridge) 9 July 1594. He was first sum. to the Parl. which met 12 Feb. 1623/4, and last to the "Long" Parl., which met 3 Nov. 1640. An intermediate writ, however, to the Parl. that met, 20 Jan. 1628/9, is directed (doubtless in error), "Johanni Nevill de Abergavenny." He m., 1stly, before 1601, Mary, da. of Thomas (Sackville), 1st Earl of Dorset, Lord Treasurer of England, by Cecily, da. of Sir John Baker, of Sisinghurst, Kent. He m., 2ndly, before 1616, Catharine, yst. da. of George Vaux, by Elizabeth, da. of John (Roper), 1st Lord Teynham, which George was s. and h. ap. of William, 3rd Lord Vaux of Harrowden. He was bur. 24 Dec. 1641, at Birling. His widow, who was under 12 in 1604, was bur. there 10 July 1649.
X. 1641.	10, 3, or 1. John (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, 1st surv. s. and h. male,[61] being 1st s. by 2nd wife. He was 8 years old in 1622. He appears to have sat in Parl.,[62] his name being among those sum. 8 May (1661) 13 Car. II. He m. Elizabeth, da. and coh. of John Chamberlaine, of Sherborne Castle, Oxon, by Katharine, da. of Francis Plowden, of Plowden, Salop. He d. s.p., 23 Oct. 1662. Will dat. 2 Aug. 1661 (remaining, apparently, among the family deeds), devising his lands to his wife to sell for payment of his debts, &c. His widow d. between Nov. 1669 and 1694. Admon. 5 Jan. 1693/4 (wherein she is styled "Elizabeth, Baroness Dowager of Abergavenny," of Sherborne, Oxon, widow), to a creditor; Lady Mary Goring, sister and next of kin, renouncing.
XI. 1662.	11, 4, or 1. George (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, br. and h. He appears never to have been sum. to Parl. He m. Mary, sister of Sir Henry Gifford, of Burstall, co. Leicester, Bart., da. of Thomas Gifford, M.D., of Dunton Waylett, Essex, by Anne, da. and h. of Gregory Brooksby, of Burstall afsd. He d. 2, and was bur. 14 June 1666, at Birling. Will dat. 18 May 1666, pr. 16 July following. His widow m. (as his 2nd wife) Sir Charles Shelley, of Michelgrove, Sussex, 2nd Bart., who d. 1681. She was bur. 14 Nov. 1699, from St. Giles'-in-the-Fields, at St. Pancras, Midx. Will, in which she describes herself as seized of the manor of Portslade, Sussex, dat. 10 and pr. 22 Nov. 1699.
XII. 1666.	12, 5, or 2. George (Nevill) Lord Bergavenny, only s. and h., b. 21 Apr. 1665, suc. to the title at a year old. His name appears in the roll of the Parl. of 1685 as "under age." The anomalous precedency of this barony in Parl. (as the premier one) was challenged, 8 Mar. 1669/70, by Lord Fitzwalter, who sat under a writ of 1295.[63] He was chief Larderer at the coronation of James II, 23 Apr. 1685. He m. Honora, da. of John (Belasyse), 1st Lord Belasyse of Worlaby, by his 3rd wife, Anne, da. of John (Paulet), 5th Marquess of Winchester. He d. s.p., 26 Mar., and was bur. 1 Apr. 1695, at St. Giles'-in-the-Fields, Midx. Will, in which he mentions no relations but speaks of his "now wife," dat. 30 July 1694, and pr. 29 Mar. 1695.[64] His widow d. 1, and was bur. 9 Jan. 1706/7, at St. Giles' afsd. M.I. Will dat. 5 June 1706, pr. 9 Jan. 1706/7 by Dame Barbara Webb, the sister.
XIII. 1695.	13, 6, or 1. George (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, cousin and h. male, 7 years old in Dec. 1666, being s. and h. of George Nevill, of Sheffield, Sussex (by Mary, da. of Sir Bulstrode Whitelock), who was only s. and h. of Richard or Edward Nevill, the s. and h. ap. of Sir Christopher Nevill, of Newton St. Loo, Somerset, K.B., who was yst. s. of Edward, 8th, and br. of Henry, 9th Lord. He suc. his father in 1665, thirty years before he suc. to the Peerage. He took his seat in the House of Lords, 1 May 1695. Except on the theory that his writ was incidental either (i) to a Patent (hitherto undiscovered) of 1604 to his ancestor, or of 1695 to himself, or (ii) to the tenure of the Castle, such writ must (according to all modern Peerage law) have cr. a Barony in fee and one de novo of the date of 1695. Gent, of the Bedchamber to George, Prince of Denmark. He m., 22 Oct. 1698,[65] at St. Anne's, Soho, Anne, da. of Nehemiah Walker, of Midx., "a sea captain," from whom he apparently was separated after 8 Jan. 1711/12.[66] He d. 11, and was bur. 19 Mar. 1720/1, in his 63rd year, at Sheffield, Sussex. Will, in which he revokes all benefits hitherto made to his wife, Anne, dat. 16 Dec. 1708 (with a cod. 24 Nov. 1720), pr. 17 Aug. 1723.[67] His widow m., (as his 2nd wife) 15 June 1744, John (West), 1st Earl de la Warr, who d. 16 Mar. 1766. She d. at Balderwood Lodge, Hants, 26 June 1748.
XIV. 1721.	14, 7, or 2. George (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, or Abergavenny, 2nd, but ist surv. s. and h., b. 16 May and bap. 26 Aug. 1702, at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. Matric. at Univ. Coll. Oxford, 13 Sep. 1722. He m., 21 Feb. 1722/3, at St. Mary Magd., Old Fish Str., Elizabeth, 1st sister and coh. of Gideon Thornicroft, of Dodington and Linstead, Kent, and da. of Col. Edward Thornicroft, of Westm., by Mary, only da. and eventually sole h. of Sir William Delaune, of Sharsted, Kent. He d. s.p., 15 Nov. 1723, of the small pox, in Soho Sq., and was bur. at Sheffield, Sussex.[68] His widow (by whom he had two posthumous daughters, both of whom, b. 20 Nov., d. 1 Dec. 1723) m. Alured Pincke, of Lincoln's Inn, and Tottenham High Cross, Midx., who was bur. 6 Dec. 1755, at Tottenham afsd. She d. 4, and was bur. 12 Mar. 1778, aged 85, at Tottenham afsd. Will dat. 26 Oct. 1770, pr. 14 Mar. 1778, by her s., Alured Pincke of Sharsted Court afsd.[69]
XV. 1723.	15, 8, or 3. Edward (Nevill), Lord Bergavenny, or Abergavenny, br. and h. Ed. at Wadham Coll., Oxford. He m., 6 May 1724,[70] at the Fleet Chapel, London, Katharine, 2st da. of Lieut. Gen. William Tatton, of St. Margaret's, Westm., (who d. June 1736) by his 1st wife, who was dead before 1717. He d., also of the small pox, s.p. 9 Oct. 1724,[71] in his 19th year, at his father-in-law's house, at Cowley near Uxbridge. Admon. 27 Oct. 1724, to "Gideon Harvey, Esq., curator of Katharine, Baroness Dowager of Abergavenny"[72] till her age of 21. His widow m., 20 May 1725, his successor, William, Lord Abergavenny, as under.
XVI. 1724.	16, 9, or 4. William (Nevill), Lord Abergavenny,[73] cousin and h. male, being only s. and h. of Edward Nevill, Capt. R.N. (by Hannah, da. of Jervois Thorpe), who was br. to George, 13th Lord. He suc. his father 12 Sep. 1701, twenty three years before he suc. to the Peerage. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 12 Nov. 1724. In 1730 he built a residence at Kidbrook in East Grinstead, Sussex (an estate purchased by sale of outlying lands), and ceased to inhabit the old mansion of the family at Birling. Capt. of the Yeomen of the Guard 1737. Master of the Jewel Office 10 Feb. 1738/9. He m., 1stly, 20 May 1725, Katharine, Dowager Lady Abergavenny, (widow of the last Lord) abovenamed. She d. 4,[74] and was bur. 12 Dec. 1729, at Kensington.[75] Shortly after her death he recovered £10,000 damages in an action against "Richard Lyddel, Esq., her Lord's intimate friend," for crim. con. He m., 2ndly, 20 May 1732, Rebecca, da. of Thomas (Herbert), 8th Earl of Pembroke, by his 1st wife, Margaret, da. of Sir Robert Sawyer. He d. at Bath, 21, and was bur. 30 Sep. 1744, at East Grinstead, Sussex. Admon. 20 Nov. 1744 to his widow. She d. 20 Oct. 1758, at Gaddesden, Herts, and was bur. with her husband. Will dat. 1 Apr., pr. 7 Nov. 1758.
XVII. 1744. EARLDOM. I. 1784	1. George (Nevill), Lord Abergavenny, only surv. s. and h., by 1st wife, b. 24 June, and bap. 14 July 1727, at St. Margaret's, Westm., the King, George II, being his godfather. Matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 14 Feb. 1744/5. In July 1757 he was appointed Lord Lieut. of Sussex, but resigned July 1761. On 17 May 1784 he was cr. VISCOUNT NEVILL of Birling, Kent, and EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, co. Monmouth.[76] He m., 5 Feb. 1753, at Stanmer, Sussex, Henrietta, widow of the Hon. Richard Temple, of Romsey, Hants, sister of Thomas, 1st Earl of Chichester, being da. of Thomas Pelham, of Stanmer afsd., by Annetta, da. of Thomas Bridges.[77] She, who was b. 1, and bap. 22 Aug. 1730, at St. Anne's, Westm., d. at Bristol, 31 Aug., and was bur. 8 Sep. 1768, at East Grinstead. Admon. 24 July 1779 to her husband. He d. 9 Sep. 1785, and was bur. at East Grinstead. Will pr. Sep. 1785. (£1,200 p.a. and £20,000.)
EARLDOM II. 1785. BARONY. XVIII. 1785.	2. Henry (Nevill), Earl of Abergavenny, &c., only s. and h., b. 22 Feb. and bap. 19 Mar. 1755, at St. Geo., Han. Sq.; ed at Ch. Ch., Oxford; M.A. 8 Mar. 1776; M.P. for Seaford 1784, and for co. Monmouth 1784–85. Recorder of Harwich. K.T. 23 May 1814. About 1790 he repaired the old family place of Eridge (where Queen Elizabeth had in 1573 been entertained by his ancestor), and adopted it as his chief residence. In 1805, he sold the newly acquired estate of Kidbrook. He m. (spec, lic.), 3 Oct. 1781,[78] at Isleworth, Midx., Mary, only child of John Robinson, D.C.L., of Sion Hill and Wyke House in that parish,[79] many years Secretary to the Treasury, by Mary, da. of (—) Crowe, of Barbados. She d., aged 36, at the Hot Wells, Clifton, co. Gloucester, 26 Oct., and was bur. 5 Nov. 1796, at Isleworth. He d. aged 88, at Eridge Castle, 27 Mar., and was bur. 4 Apr. 1843, at East Grinstead.[80] Will pr. Apr. 1843.
[Henry George Nevill, styled Viscount Nevill, s. and h. ap., b. 22 May, and bap. 20 June 1785, at Isleworth. He d. unm. v.p., 8 Apr. 1806, at Moorgate, near Rotherham, co. York, and was bur. at East Grinstead.]
[Ralph Nevill, styled Viscount Nevill, 2nd, but eventually 1st surv. s. and h. ap., b. 21 Dec. 1786, and bap. 22 Jan. 1787, at Isleworth. Capt. R.N. 1811, having served on the Victory at Trafalgar. He m., 2 Feb. 1813, at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, Mary Anne, da. of Bruce Elcock, of Sloane Str., Chelsea. He d. s.p. and v.p., 20 May 1826, at Boulogne-sur-mer. Will pr. Sep. 1826. His widow d. 6 June 1828, aged 32, at Kensington. Will pr. Sep. 1828. Both were bur. at East Grinstead.]
EARLDOM. III. 1843. BARONY. XIX. 1843.	3. John (Nevill), Earl of Abergavenny, &c., 3rd, but 1st surv. s. and h., b. 25 Dec. 1789, and bap. 27 Feb. 1790, at Isleworth afsd. Ed. at Christ's Coll., Cambridge; M.A. 1818. In holy orders; Rector of Burgh Apton with Holveston, Norfolk, 1818–1831, and Rector of Otley, Suffolk, 1818–31. Chaplain to the Prince Regent 1818. Being in delicate health he sat but once in the House of Lords. He d. unm., 12 Apr. 1845, aged 55, at Eridge Castle, Sussex. Will pr. May 1845.
EARLDOM. IV. 1845. BARONY. XX. 1845.	4. William (Nevill), Earl of Abergavenny, &c., youngest br. and h., b. 28 June and bap. 5 Aug. 1792, at Isleworth afsd. Ed. at Magd. Coll., Cambridge. M.A. 1816. In holy orders; sometime Rector of Birling, Kent, and Vicar of Frant, Sussex. Chaplain to William IV. He m., 7 Sep. 1824, Caroline, 2nd da. of Ralph Leeke, of Longford Hall, Salop, by Honoria Frances, only da. of Walter Harvey Thursby. He d. 17 Aug. 1868, at Birling Manor, Kent, in his 77th year, and was bur. there. Will pr. 14 Oct. 1868, under £300,000. His widow d. 19 May 1873, at Birling Manor afsd. Will pr. 17 July 1875, under £35,000.
EARLDOM. V. 1868 BARONY. XXI. 1868.	5. William (Nevill), Earl of Abergavenny, Viscount Nevill, and Lord Abergavenny, 2nd, but 1st surv. s. and h., b. 16, and bap. 19 Sep. 1826, at Longford. Ed. at Eton. An officer in the 2nd Life Guards, 1849. On 14 Jan. 1876 he was cr. EARL OF LEWES,[81] Sussex, and MARQUESS OF ABERGAVENNY, co. Monmouth.[82] K.G., inv. at Windsor 22 Feb. 1886. He m., 2 May 1848, at St. Geo., Han. Sq., Caroline, sister of Harcourt, Lord Derwent, and 1st da. of Sir John Van-den-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Bart., by Louisa Augusta, da. of the Hon. Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York. She, who was b. Apr. 1826, d. 13 Sep. 1892, at Eridge Castle, and was bur. at Eridge. Will pr. at over £9,200 gross, and over £2,100 net.
[Reginald William Bransby Nevill, styled Earl of Lewes, 1st s. and h. ap., b. 4 Mar. 1853. Ed. at Eton. Lieut. West Kent Yeomanry, 1873–76. J.P. for Kent 1880.]
Family Estates.—These, in 1883, consisted of 15,364 acres in Sussex; 5,854 in Kent; 2,683 in co. Warwick; 2,639 in co. Monmouth; 1,664 in co. Worcester; 319 in co. Hereford, and 11 in Norfolk. Total, 28,534 acres, worth £30,325 a year. Principal Residence.—Eridge Castle, near Frant, Sussex.

1. The editor desires to express his obligation to G.W. Watson for having entirely rewritten the account of these early owners of the Castle, as also for many valuable corrections and additions to the accounts of the early Lords Bergavenny.
2. For the earliest lords of Abergavenny see the paper on "The Family of Ballon," in J. H. Round's Studies in Peerage and Family History, pp. 189 et seq., where Dugdale's errors are corrected. It is there shown that Hamelin, who took his name from his birthplace, Ballon in Maine, received his lands in England from William Rufus. He founded a Priory at Abergavenny. V.G.
3. The Castle "taketh his name from the river of Gevenny, whereon it is situate, and the British word Abber which signifieth a mouth," being built where the "Gevenny doth open itself to the end of the Uske." (Bird, A Treatise of the Nobilitie, enlarged by Serjeant Doderidge, 1642, p. 144.) V.G.
4. It appears from some charters of St. Vincent at Le Mans, printed by Dom Martène (Amplissima Collectio, vol. i, 1724, c. 577–9), and analysed by J. H. Round (Documents etc., nos. 1045–8), that "vir quidam nobilis et prudentissimus Hamelinus de castro Baladone natus atque propter industriam a rege Anglorum Wilhelmo filio opinatissimi regis Wilhelmi amplissimis muneribus atque honoribus sublimatus" gave to the Abbey "capellam sui castelli quod sibi supradictus gloriosus rex jam dederat quod lingua Britannica Bergeuenis nominant." He also gave all the tithes of all Over Gwent (Weneiscoit). These gifts were confirmed by King Henry I. (ex inform. G.W. Watson.) V.G.
5. The fundatoris genealogia of Abergavenny (Monasticon, vol. iv, p. 615) says that he was s. of Dru de Baladun, and that he d. s.p., and gave Abergavenny and Over Gwent to Brien (filio comitis de Insula), s. of his sister Lucy. But J.H. Round has proved (Peerage Studies, pp. 198–206) that he left a da., Emmeline, who m. Reynold, s. of Roger, Earl of Hereford, and was mother of William, who, in 1166, entered a claim to Abergavenny. The genealogia, which, however, as Round elsewhere remarks, breaks down completely on being tested, states that Earl Miles was s. of Emma, another sister of Hamelin. (ex inform. G.W. Watson.) V.G.
6. According to an inquisition in the Testa de Nevill (p. 115), she was widow of Miles Crespin (a Domesday tenant, who d. 1107), and da. and h. of Robert d'Oilly of Wallingford (another Domesday tenant) by the da. and h. (Ealdgyth) of Wigod, Lord of Wallingford temp. King Harold. But this inquisition is of too late a date to be implicitly relied on. (ex inform. G.W.Watson.) V.G.
7. J.H. Round has edited in his Ancient Charters (Pipe Roll Soc.) pp. 43–5, the charter by which the Empress Maud granted to Miles, Earl of Hereford, and his heirs the Castle and Honour to be held of Brien fitz Count and Maud of Wallingford his wife and their heirs. Round infers from this important charter that Brien held the castle in right of his wife. It will be observed that the charter merely creates an under-tenancy. V.G.
8. Round, Ancient Charters, no. 6.
9. Idem, nos. 21, 22.
10. William de Briouze [no. XI] confirmed to the monks of Abergavenny all the donations made by "Hamelinus de Balon et Brientius comitis filius et Walterus de Herefort et Henricus de Herefort" (Monasticon, vol. iv, p. 616). The genealogia, besides erroneously making Walter junior to Henry, states that the latter received Over Gwent from his grandfather Walter—who never held it. (ex inform. G.W.Watson.) V.G.
11. Pipe Roll, 11 Hen. II. The King's troops occupied the Castle till Easter 1166.
12. They were probably brothers of William de Beauchamp, Sheriff of Hereford 1160–69, and sons of Walter de Beauchamp of Elmley. V.G.
13. Monasticon, vol. iv, p. 616.
14. Briouze-Saint-Gervais (formerly Braiose), arrond. of Argentan, dept. of Orne. His descendants spelt the name Brewes. In some 25 early references to this name, not in charter latin, it appears as Breouse, Breuse, or Brewys (the last of which still exists as a surname), but never as Braose, the form adopted in peerages, for which it seems doubtful if there be any good authority. For some discussion on mediæval English names see vol. iii. Appendix C. V.G.
15. He slaughtered Seisyll ap Dyvnwal (abovenamed) and a host of unarmed Welshmen, in the castle of Abergavenny in 1175, in revenge for the death of his uncle Henry of Hereford [Brut y Tywysogian, R. de Diceto, etc.). Seisyll was owner of Castle Arnold, and is said in an inaccurate version of the Brut to have captured Abergavenny in 1172, the slaughter being dated 1177 (The Gwentian Chronicle, Cambrian Arch. Assoc, p. 137). But the better version of the Brut (Rolls Ser., p. 218; Y Brutieu, in Welsh Texts, ed. Rhys and Evans, 1890, p. 330) on the contrary, states that Seisyll was captured in 1172 by the garrison of Abergavenny. (ex inform. G. W. Watson.) V.G.
16. In the case for Lady Fane and her husband claiming the title (Collins, Baronies by Writ, &c., 1734, pp. 61–96) it is stated that "It pleased King Henry III to create Sir William de Cantelupe Lord of Bergavenny, by his writ of summons to Parl, by the name of William Cantelupe of Bergavenny, chevalier, as by the name of his chiefest mannor and seigniory." There is, however, not the slightest proof of the existence of this writ, which (as the said William d. in 1254) would be many years earlier than the earliest writ on record.
17. His heirs were his sister Milicent, then of full age and wife of Eudes la Zouche, and his nephew John, the next owner of Abergavenny. Oswald Barron writes, "I question the accuracy of the form de Cantilupe; all my notes give Cantelowe or Cantlow as the accepted english version of this surname." Indeed Cantilupe has the air of being an anglicization of a lantinization rather than a real name. For some discussion on mediæval English names see vol. iii. Appendix C. V.G.
18. In 1301 he signed the letter to the Pope as "Johannes de Hastinges, dñs de Bergeveny." Considerable stress is laid on this fact in a small work by Bird, (see note "d" p. 19) at the end whereof is a statement, "That the Barony of Aburgavenny is a Barony by tenure." Any person, however, who looks at the list of these Barons (given in Nicolas, p. 762) will see how many of them were but feudal Lords of the place, whereof they wrote themselves "Domini." The very next Baron to Lord Hastings is Henry Percy, "dñs de Topclive," yet no one, probably, would contend that the Barony of the Percy family was styled "Topcliffe;" that of Lovel, "de Dakking" (i.e. Docking, in Norfolk); that of de Vere, "de Swanschaumpis," &c., &c. John de Hastings was undoubtedly styled "Dominus de Bergeveny," "Seigneur de Bergeveny," &c., in many contemporary documents, but doubtless only from that Castle being his chief residence.
19. As Nicolas points out (see post, p. 25, note "c") the word 'Bergavenny' never appears on any of the numerous writs issued to these two Barons. The Barony they held was that of "Hastings," which Barony in 1841 was allowed, with the precedence of the sitting in 1290, to Sir Jacob Astley, Bart., the junior coheir of the junior coheiress thereof.
20. As to his styling himself Seigneur de Weiseford, see under "Wexford," in Ireland, in Appendix A in this volume.
21. In pursuance of a royal licence, dated 20 Feb. (1368/9) 43 Edw. III, the Earl enfeoffed certain persons of all his estates, except the manor of Ashill, Norfolk, and the feoffees redemised to him for 5 years from 20 Mar., 43 Edw. III. On 15 Apr. (1372) 46 Edw. III, styling himself Johan de Hastynges conte de Pembrok seignur de Weiseford et Bergeveny, he confirmed and granted the same estates to these feoffees and their heirs for ever. Finally, by letters patent written in his hostel in London, 5 May 1372, he directed the feoffees that, if he d. abroad, his debts should be paid, and that if he d. s.p. [he had then no child], the King should be enfeoffed of the castle and county of Pembroke, the castles and lordships of Tenby and Kilgerran, and the commote of Oysterlowe: and that they should give and grant the other castles, manors etc., which they had of his feoffment ove la reversione du chastel la ville et seignurie de Bergev' etc., to his cousin Monsieur William de Beauchamp and his heirs for ever, on condition that he bore the Earl's arms undifferenced (enteres), and that he took proceedings before the King q'il port non̄ de cont de Pembrok a lui et a ses heirs, and that if William declined these terms, they should enfeoff the Earl's cousin, William de Clynton, on the same conditions. Wherefore, in the quinzaine of St. Michael (1375) 49 Edw. III, the Earl being dead in parts beyond seas, the feoffees appeared before the King's Council at Westm., and afterwards, in the same presence, William de Beauchamp accepted the above terms. But since the Earl had an heir of his body then living under age, it was decreed that the King should have the custody of the castles, manors, etc., till the age of the said heir. (Exemplification on the Patent Roll, 5 Mar. 1377, 51 Edw. III, m. 29). (ex inform. G. W. Watson.) V.G.
22. His precise relationship to the Earls of Pembroke is that his mother's sister, Agnes Mortimer (wife of Laurence, Lord Hastings, cr. Earl of Pembroke), was mother of John, Earl of Pembroke (who, in 1372, executed in his favour the deed of entail), and grandmother of John Hastings, who d. unm. in 1389.
23. There is proof in the Rolls of Parl. of his sitting.
24. In Pat. Roll 21 Mar. 1401/2 he is called "Lord Pembroke and Bergaveny."
25. The following note by Sir N. Harris Nicolas states that much doubt exists in his mind "whether, until the Writ of Summons of the 29th Hen. VI. to Edward Nevill, as 'Domino de Bergavenny,' the proper designation of the previous barons was not that of their family name. The first possessor of that territory after Writs of Summons were regularly issued was John de Hastings, who d. 6 Edw. II. and was suc. by his s. John de Hastings, who d. 18 Edw. II.; to these personages nearly thirty Writs of Summons were directed, and in no instance, in this number, does the word 'Bergavenny' occur, in addition to which the said John de Hastings was entitled to Summons to Parl. as s. and h. of his father Henry, Lord Hastings, a Baron of great note, and the barony in which they sat passed away upon the death of the last Earl of Pembroke, and was separated from the tenure of Bergavenny. From the creation of the 1st Earl of Pembroke till the death of the last, no inference on the subject is to be drawn, until the Writ of Summons to William Beauchamp, 16 Ric. II., who was sum. as 'Willielmo Beauchamp de Bergavenny.' This William Beauchamp not being related to the preceding Barons, and being summoned as 'de Bergavenny,' certainly affords at the first view strong grounds for the generally received opinion that he was sum. as Lord Bergavenny, by tenure of that Castle. On looking attentively into the point, however, a conclusion equally strong may be drawn, that it was merely an addition used to distinguish him from 'John de Beauchamp de Kydderminster.' In the previous reign, a John de Beauchamp was sum. as 'de Somerset,' and another John de Beauchamp, a younger son of Guy Earl of Warwick, as 'de Warwyck;' and before, contemporary with, and after this William de Beauchamp de 'Bergavenny,' numerous Barons were named in Writs of Summons with the addition of their place of residence, without such ever being supposed to be the title of their Baronies: as, therefore, in the only instances which occur of Writs of Summons being issued to the possessor of the Castle of Bergavenny, previous to that to William de Beauchamp, in the 16th Ric. II. they were never designated as 'de Bergavenny,'—and as examples of such additions were exceedingly frequent, without any similar inference being deduced from them,—there does not appear any greater cause for supposing that the designation in question was intended to express the title of the Barony, than there is for concluding such to have been the case either in the instances of John de Beauchamp 'de Somerset,' 'de Warwyk,' or in either [sic] of the numerous examples alluded to. In order, however, to obtain as much information as possible on the subject, it was necessary to inquire in what manner the Barons in question were described in the Rolls of Parliament previous to the reign of Henry VI., and the result of the examination is certainly in favour of William Beauchamp's being considered as Baron Bergavenny, though it does not positively establish the fact, whilst it confirms the opinion that his predecessors in the Lordship of Bergavenny never bore that name as the title of their dignity. The earliest instance when Bergavenny occurs as a title in the Rolls of Parl. is in the 21st Ric. II. 1397, five years after William Beauchamp was sum. to Parl. as 'Willielmo Beauchamp (de Bergavenny),' when he was described as 'W^m Beauchamp, S^r de Bergavenny.' In the 1st Hen. IV. the names of 'Dns. de Roos, de Willoghby, de Bergeveney,' occur; and in the following year we find among the Barons then present, 'le S^r de Abergavenny.' In the 2nd Hen. IV. he is mentioned as 'William Sire de Bergavenny,' and in a similar manner on subsequent occasions. It must, however, be observed, on the other hand, that on the last and most solemn occasion when his name occurs in the Rolls of Parl., viz. among the Peers present at the settlement of the Crown in the 8th Hen. IV., he is in both places styled 'Will'mi Beauchamp de Bergevenny; and at the same time Henry Lord Scrop of Masham is mentioned as 'Henrici le Scrop de Masham whilst other Barons are styled 'Reginaldi Domini de Grey de Ruthyn, Wiliam Domini de Ferrers, Thomæ Domini de Furnyvel,' &c. Richard Beauchamp, his s. and h., was never sum. to Parl. as a Baron, as he was cr. Earl of Worcester four years after he became of age; and though he is sometimes styled 'Lord of Bergavenny,' and his mother, both in the Rolls of Parl. and in her will, is called 'Lady of Bergavenny,' no conclusion is to be drawn therefrom, for this expression was more frequently applied to designate important manors and lordships than Parliamentary Baronies. On Edward Nevill's being sum. in the 29th Hen. VI. as 'Domino de Bergavenny,' such certainly became the title of his Barony: but it is to be considered that this occurred in the reign of Henry VI., a period, as is remarked elsewhere, fruitful in anomalies on subjects connected with the Peerage, and when even, as is stated in a subsequent page, some instances occur of the addition of 'Domino de,' &c., being used, without such designation being the title of the dignity possessed by the Baron to whose name it was appended. Vide the observations on this subject under Charleton, Dudley, and Grey of Powis."—Nicolas, p. 9, note.
26. See Test. Vet., p. 171.
27. Idem, p. 224.
28. This is one of the arguments urged as to the right of the Writ of Summons being incident to the tenure of the feudal Barony which was then in possession of (his mother) the widow of the late Baron. The able and learned author of the Authorities, &c. (1862), in the Berkeley claim (in his zeal for establishing the existence of territorial Peerages), actually asserts (p. 188, and elsewhere) as a fact that this Richard "was a commoner until created an Earl," arguing, from the mere circumstance of his being styled Richard Beauchamp of Bergavenny, Knight" in the same instrument in which his mother is spoken of as "Lady Bergavenny," that the Peerage (which, it should be remarked, was undoubtedly possessed by her late husband) was vested (suo jure) in her (and not in the s. and h.) by her tenure of the Castle. At that time, however, and long afterwards, Peers were frequently (if, indeed not generally) described as above; and in the writ to the escheator for the Inq. post mortem of this very Lady she is styled merely "Johanna, quæ fuit uxor Will'i de Bello Campo, militis," though, in the inquisition itself, her husband is alluded to as "nuper Dominus de Bergevenny." (Berkeley Case, Appendix 2, p. 59.)
29. The charter or patent for this creation does not seem to have been enrolled.
30. Will of her husband's father.
31. Foedera, vol. x, p. 356. His name, however, does not occur in the chroniclers' lists of those knighted, consequent on this summons, by Henry VI, at Leicester, on Whitsunday, 19 May 1426. (See Chron. of London, ed. Kingsford, 1905, pp. 95 and 130).
32. On 11 June 1446 the male line of the Beauchamp family, who [under the entail 20 Feb. 1395/6, of William (Beauchamp), 1st Lord Bergavenny] were entitled to the castle and lands of Abergavenny, became extinct by the death, s.p.m., of Henry (Beauchamp), Duke and Earl of Warwick. A grave question however remains as to what title the Earls of Warwick had therein. The words of the entail are, "Thomas, Earl of Warwick, and his heirs male for ever." Under the construction that such estate constituted one in fee, the castle, &c, is stated to have been held in fee, in the Inq. post mortem of Richard, Earl of Warwick (who d. 1439), and of Henry, Duke of Warwick, his s. and h. It is to be noted that Coke says "where lands are given to a man and his heirs male he hath a fee simple, because it is not limited, by the gift, of what body the issue male shall be." Anyhow, the castle, &c., was for a long time afterwards withheld from this branch of the Nevill family by Anne, da. and h. of this Duke Henry, and Anne, sister of the said Duke, who m. Richard (Nevill), Earl of Warwick and Salisbury [on whose seal, of date 1 Feb. 4 Edw. IV (1464/5) is Sigillum : ricardi : neuill : comitis : warrewici : domini : de : bergeuenny : See Visit. of co. Huntingdon, 1613, Camden Soc, p. 74.]. Besides these, it was asserted in Fane's case that George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, his [i.e. the Earl of Warwick and Salisbury's] sons-in-law, were successively seized of the castle and lordship as in right of their wives; that Henry VII granted the castle &c., to Jasper, Duke of Bedford; and that after the death of Jasper s.p., the property was restored by Henry VIII to George Nevill, Lord of Bergavenny, upon a petition of right. (Collins, Baronies by Writ, p. 79.) "The fact seems to have been as thus stated, and therefore the Nevill family, during the seisin of the several persons before named, could not have been sum. to Parl, in consequence of their seisin of the Castle and Lordship of Bergavenny, not having such seisin." (Lords' Reports, vol. i, p. 443.) Sir Edward Nevill, however, asserted his wife's right as heir at law (notwithstanding the entail) and "Undeuly entred upon us in the place and Castel of Bergevenny, whereof the heir is our warde." See commands for his expulsion therefrom issued to the Duke of York by Henry VI on 15 Oct. [qy. 1447?] printed in Bentley's Excerpta Historica (1831), p. 6.
33. On the petition of Edward Nevill, lord of Bergevenny:—showing that he and Elizabeth late his wife as in her right were seized in their demesne as of fee of the castle, lordship, and manor, of Bergevenny, until by Richard, late Earl of Warwick, contrary to law and equity they were disseized, on which they forthwith claimed the premises, and, on Richard's death, Henry, late Duke of Warwick, entered therein, on which they entered and were seized thereof, and had issue George: and afterwards Henry disseized them, and had issue Anne. And after Henry's death they entered and were seized thereof until they were expelled under colour of an inquisition, by which it was found that Henry d. seized of the premises, that the sd. Anne was his da. and h. and under age, and that the premises were held of the King and Crown. And Anne d. when the premises were in the King's hands:—the King gave him licence, 14 July 1449, to enter and possess the sd. castle, lordship, and manor. (Patent Roll, 27 Hen. VI, pars ii, m. 7). If Edward Nevill ever actually obtained seizin under this grant, he must have been again disseized, by Anne, Countess of Warwick, sister of Henry abovenamed. (ex inform. G. W. Watson). V.G.
34. P. Enderbie (Cambria Triumphans, 1661, bk. iii, between pp. 278 and 285) recites a deed whereby "Edwardus Nevill miles et Elizabetha de Beauchamp domina de Burgavenny" gave to Philip Thomas the advowson of the Church of [St. Bride] "beate Frigitte in nostro dominio de Burgavenny… Sigilla nostra apposuimus in castro nostro de Burgavenny vicessimo secundo die Julii anno regni Regis Henrici sexti post conquestum vicessimo septimo [1449]." This charter, if genuine, must be incorrectly transcribed, the date being some thirteen months after Elizabeth Beauchamp's death. (ex inform. G. W. Watson.) V.G.
35. The origin of the Nevills is shewn by J. H. Round in his Feudal England to be from Dolphin Fitz Uchtred (who received 'Staindropshire' from the Prior of Durham in 1131), whose grandson, Robert fitz Meldred, of Raby, m. Isabel de Nevill, and by her was father of Geoffrey de Nevill (who took his mother's name) from whom the Lords Abergavenny deduce a direct male descent. Some dates and facts (not to be found elsewhere) are in an Account of the noble family of Nevill, particularly of the House of Abergavenny, by Daniel Rowland, Esq., London, 1830, folio. The account in Drummond's Noble British Families of this branch of the Nevill family is very jejune.
36. There is proof in the rolls of Parl. of his sitting.
37. The Nevills, Lords Bergavenny, differenced the arms of Nevill of Raby with a red rose on the saltire. (ex inform. Oswald Barron.) V.G.
38. The monument in the Priory Church at Abergavenny, formerly supposed to be his, is now recognised as being of an earlier date. V.G.
39. In the 17 inquisitions taken after his father's death, it is uniformly stated that "dictus Edwardus obiit die Jovis decimo octavo die mensis Octobris predicto anno [r. R. Edwardi] sexto decimo et quod Georgius Nevill miles est suus filius et heres propinquior et est etatis triginti et sex annorum et amplius" (Ch. Inq. p. m., Edw. IV, file 58, no. 66). 18 Oct. 1476 was, however, a Friday. (ex inform. G. W. Watson). V.G.
40. For a list of the 35 peers there present see note sub ii (1) Lord Dacre de Gillesland.
41. There is proof in the Rolls of Parl. of his sitting.
42. This manor is held by Grand Serjeanty "as Chief Larderer." Service was performed accordingly by the Lords Abergavenny, or their deputies, at the coronations of James II, Queen Anne, and George I, George II, George III, and George IV. Hugh Fenne d. in 1476.
43. "Alicia Naylor vidua Baronis de Abergavenny" is shown in the Visit. of Kent (1619) as wife of Walter Roberts. Query if this refers to this lady. V.G.
44. See Test. Vet. p. 406.
45. There has been much confusion as to the order of this lady's husbands. V.G.
46. See Test. Vet. p. 441.
47. Sir Roger Wilbraham, temp. Eliz., relates a smart retort, made apparently by this Lord, to Henry VIII. "The L. of Burgaveny had morgaged that house; the King having an ynkling thereof at his meeting with him said 'God morow my L. of Burgaveny without Burgaveny;' the Lord more boldly than discreetly said to the King 'God morow my liege Lord, King of France without France.' This tale is not only amusing, but has a practical bearing; for if Abergavenny were a Barony by tenure, and if the fond "conceipt that the Castle and Lordship of A. should draw the stile and dignity" were true, then a mortgage, which transfers the legal ownership, would have also transferred the peerage; but the Lords having no notice of the transfer would have continued to summon Mr. Nevill, and by so doing would, (according to modern peerage law) have conferred a new peerage on him of the same date as the summons, while as soon as the mortgagee had foreclosed on Abergavenny and taken possession, they could not refuse him his writ of sum. to the ancient Barony. It is clear that such a process might recur, and that by now we might have a collection of Lords Abergavenny of various dates, which, as Euclid says, is absurd.
    If it were possible for a Barony by tenure to exist in modern days, we should have from time to time the scandal of sales, and see advertisements such as this.—"At the Mart, Tokenhouse Yard, on Tuesday the 21st, will be sold the castle of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire carrying with it the right to a seat in the H. of Lords with high precedence." Later on there would be the Newspaper account of the auction, "We have to chronicle quite a "slump" in feudal Baronies since the "record" price

    obtained for this unique lot in 18—. We understand that "Abergavenny" did not reach the reserve, and that, like so many of our treasures, it will probably be disposed of privately in America. The fall in values is explained by the fact that the present Government freely supply a very similar though of course modern article, and have practically cleared the Market of buyers." V.G.

48. On the death of Richard III, 22 Aug. 1485, the lordship of Abergavenny appears to have been vested in the s. and h. of Isabel, Duchess of Clarence. For, 1 Feb. 1485/6, one of the servants of that lordship was appointed during the minority of Edward, Earl of Warwick (Privy Seals, 1 Hen. VII, no. 667: Patent Roll, pars ii, m. 13). However, shortly afterwards, 27 Feb. 1485/6, a grant in tail male was made to Jasper, Duke of Bedford, of all the castles, lordships, and manors, of Glamorgan, Morgannwg, Abergavenny, etc., to hold the same as from 21 Aug. last (Privy Seals, 1 Hen. VII, no. 725: Patent Roll, pars ii, m. 5). This grant was repeated 15 and 21 Mar. 1487/8 (Privy Seals, 3 Hen. VII, no. 124: Patent Roll, pars ii, m. 20), subsequent to a grant and confirmation, 13 Dec. 1487, to the King and his heirs male, by Anne, Countess of Warwick, of all her castles, lordships, manors, etc. (including the three abovenamed) except the manor of Erdington, co. Warwick (Close Roll, 3 Hen. VII, m. 11d). Jasper d.s.p. in 1495, when Abergavenny escheated to the Crown. Finally, 18 Dec. 1512, there is an order for George Nevile, Lord Bergevenny, to have livery of lands as s. and h. of George, s. and h. of Edward, Lord Bergevenny, and Elizabeth, his wife, which Edward and Elizabeth were seized in right of the sd. Elizabeth of the castle and manor of Bergevenny, and disseized by Richard, Earl of Warwick, against whom they claimed the premises, and on his death entered on the same, and were again disseized by Henry, Duke of Warwick, s. and h. of the sd. Earl, who d. seized of the premises in fee, leaving issue Anne, his da. and next h. (Patent Roll, 4 Hen. VIII, pars ii, m. 9). In the R.O. there is a roll endorsed "A bill of lands and possessions assigned by the King's Highness to divers uses," wherein, under "Lands and possessions restored," occurs "to Lord Burgavenny £253-7-11½" (Cal. of Letters and Papers, temp. Hen. VIII, vol. ii, no. 1363). (ex inform. G. W. Watson). V.G.
49. It had been granted by Henry VII to his 2nd s., Henry, Duke of York, who is spoken of, 19 Apr. 1496, as Lord of Abergavenny (Ancient Deeds). The statement that this George Nevill was not seized of the castle, made in Nicolas, p. xxxvii, is, of course, not true as to him, though, as is correctly stated by Nicolas, it is true as to his immediate predecessor; the passage therein referred to, as being in Collins' Baronies by Writ (p. 96), only says, "It shall be proved," &c., but does not give any proof. The account of the Barony of Bergavenny given in Nicolas (pp. xxx to xxxvii), is much fuller than that given in the subsequent edition, edited by Courthope, as regards the nature of its tenure and the proceedings concerning it in 1604.
50. The "Act concerninge the restitucion of the heirs males of Sir Edward Nevyll knight" recites the petition of his eldest son Edwarde Nevill esquier, that the sd. Sir Edward, 4 Dec, 30 Hen. VIII, was atteynted of highe treason and for the same was putt to execucion of deathe, and in the Parl. 28 Apr.–28 June 31 Hen. VIII attainted and all his estates forfeited: that in the Parl. 22 Jan. 33 Hen. VIII–12 May 35 Hen. VIII, the pet^r. was restored in name and blood and made h. to the sd. Sir Edward and to all others to whom the sd. Sir Edward was h. or might have been h. if he had not been attainted: and also enabled to inherit all such honours, lordships, etc., which at any time should descend to him as h. of the body of the sd. Sir Edward or of any of his ancestors, but not to any honours etc. which were the late sd. Sir Edward the father or which the King then had or was intitled to have by reason of the atteyndour. The pet^r. now seeks that, for lack of heirs male of the body of Henry N., now Lord a Burgavenny, he may have etc. all the honours, baronies, etc., which by the will of George N. kt., Lord a B. decd., were for lack of heirs male of his body, or of the body of Sir Thomas N. kt., decd., entailed etc. on Sir Edward N. kt. and the heirs male of his body. And that for lack of heirs male of the body of the pet^r., the rem. should be to his br. Henry and the heirs male of his body, rem. to his br. George and the heirs male of his body, rem. to the heirs of the body of the sd. George, Lord a B., rem. to the heirs of the body of Sir Thomas N. kt., rem. to the Queen—Soit baille aux communz—A ceste bill lez communz sount assentuz—31 Jan. [1555/6] 2 and 3 Ph. and Mary. (ex inform. G. W. Watson.) V.G.
51. Coll. Top. et Gen., vol. i, p. 281.
52. In the Visit. of Kent (1619) his name is given as William John Brent, but the date seems too early for a man to have borne two Christian names. V.G.
53. For a list of these see note sub Henry, Earl of Derby, [1572].
54. Mary, his da. and sole h. (by his 1st wife), who, at the time of his death, was aged 32, and the wife of Sir Thomas Fane, was unquestionably entitled to any Barony in fee possessed by her late father. She, however, by patent 25 May 1604, was granted the Barony of Le Despenser (a Barony originating by writ of 1264), of which she was a coh. [see pedigree, p. 41]. As this was a much more ancient Barony than the Barony of Bergavenny, under the writ of 1392, which was all she could claim (being neither the representative nor even a descendant of any of the former holders), this practically put an end to her claim to the latter Barony. Whether or no her claim, and that of her representatives thereto, is legally barred by this, or by the subsequent proceedings of the Crown and the House of Lords, as to such Barony, is open to grave doubt. The Barony "came with a lass" (the h. gen. of the Beauchamps of Abergavenny) to the Nevills, and ought apparently to have left them "with a lass" (the h. gen. of the Nevills), and gone to the Fanes, more especially as the subsequent proceedings of the House in giving it a precedency inferior to that of Le Despenser (cr. by writ of 1264) shew that their Lordships held it to be personal dignity of the Beauchamp family, and not one attaching to the tenure of the Castle, whose owners were Barons at a much earlier period.

    This Lady inherited, though only by agreement with the heir of entail (confirmed by Act of Parl. 35 Eliz.), the estate of Mereworth, Kent (which had come to the Nevills through the Beauchamps and Fitzalans), and also the manor and park of Althorne, Essex. Her s. and h., Francis Fane, was, in 1624, cr. Earl of Westmorland, in which title till 1762 (when the h. male was no longer the h. gen.) the Barony of Le Despenser continued merged.

55. In Coke's Reports (vol. xii, p. 70) it is stated that this Edward had summons to Parl. 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, but d. before Parl. met; the writ is given at length, and Coke takes occasion to state that it was decided 8 Jac. I (1610–11) that the direction and delivery of the writ did not make him a Baron or Noble until he came to Parl. and there sat according to the commandment of the writ, and hence that no hereditary dignity was cr. by the writ directed to him in consequence of his never having sat under it. (See Lord's Reports, vol. i, pp. 482–486). As to Coke's statements, it should be noted that (i) no writ was addressed to "Edward Nevill de Abergavenny" for that Parl., though there is one, of the alleged date, 21 Jan., to "Henry Nevill de Bergavenny." (ii) In this same Parl., 31 Jan., is the petition above related [note "a" p. 33] of this same Edward as "Edward Nevill esquier." (iii) This Edward did not die, as Coke falsely asserts, in 1555/6, but lived till 1588/9, as in the text. Charity itself cannot suppose that such a wholesale misrepresentation of facts, which must indeed have been common knowledge, was anything but wilful. This, which is famous as "Lord Abergavenny's case," is the foundation of the doctrine that a writ does not create a barony unless a sitting under it is proved. It is discussed at some length in J. H. Round's Peerage and Pedigree, where the facts alleged by Coke are shown to be fictitious and a different version of the case is suggested. V.G.
56. See p. 33, note "a".
57. A survey of his numerous estates in the counties of Sussex and Monmouth, together with some in Kent, Surrey, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Warwick, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, Wilts, and Somerset, including "Burgavenny House" in the parish of St. Martin, Ludgate, London, is given in Rowland's Nevill Family, p. 151; see Ibid. p. 104.
58. The famous and prolonged struggle for the barony of Abergavenny between the heir-general and the heir male after the death of Henry, Lord Abergavenny is described and discussed by Sir Harris Nicolas in his Barony of l'Isle (1829), pp. 384–391. It has also been investigated anew by J. H. Round in his Peerage and Pedigree, where it is shown that all previous accounts of it are inaccurate, and that there were three stages, at successive periods: (i) Sir Thomas Fane, in right of his wife versus the elder Edward Nevill; (ii) Lady Fane, as a widow, versus the younger Edward Nevill, under Queen Elizabeth; (iii) the same parties, under James I. V.G.
59. That is to say a precedency based neither upon writ, nor tenure, but upon usage. V.G.
60. This appears to have been without a Royal Warrant. See Appendix C in this vol. as to precedency of Peers in Parl. granted by Royal Warrant since the Statute of Precedency of 31 Hen. VIII. The award made by Edward IV, 14 April 1473, in the case of the Barony of Dacre, is very similar to that made by James I as to the Barony of Bergavenny. Edward IV, after awarding the old Barony to the h. gen., declares that the h. male should be "called the Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and he and the heirs male of the said Thomas, late Lord Dacre to have place in our Parl. next adjoining beneath the place the said Richard Fenys, Knt., Lord Dacre [the h. gen.] now hath." Here then is a spec. precedency, extending even to Parl. (where, in this case, it has always been allowed), granted by the Crown to a newly created Barony. Neither in the case of Dacre nor of Bergavenny was the King's award carried out by patent, but in both by writ. The effect of this as to the Barony of Dacre of Gillesland was, that this Barony (when claimed in 1569 by Leonard Dacre the h. male of the body of the grantee, as against his nieces, the heirs gen.), was declared by the Commissioners of the Earl Marshal "to have commenced by writ 13 Edw. IV," and so "ought not to descend to the said Leonard as h. male." The royal award which (in the case of Dacre, though not in that of Bergavenny) declared expressly it should be to heirs male, not having been carried out by letters patent, went for nothing. It is difficult to see why the writ of 1604 in the case of Bergavenny (which has not, as in the case of Dacre, the support even of a Royal edict declaring the limitation to be to heirs male), is not to be similarly interpreted. For a list of persons sum. in the name of, and anomalously granted the precedency of, an ancient Barony to which they were not entitled by descent, see Appendix D in this volume.
61. His elder br. (of the half blood), Sir Thomas Nevill, K.B., d. v.p., and was bur. at Birling, 7 May 1628, leaving two sons (both of whom d. unm., one in 1637 and the other in 1639) and one da., viz., Margaret, m. Thomas Brooke of Madeley, Salop, who was aged 49 in 1663, when their grandson and h. ap., Basil Brooke, was aged 4 years. See Visit, of co. Stafford, 1663. Among their numerous descendants would vest any Barony in fee possessed by Edward Nevill, sum. by writ in 1604 as Lord Bergavenny.—See pedigree, p. 41.
62. In Dugdale's Summons it is written in this case "Abergavenny," but in the next (1685) as bergavenny.
63. Lord Fitzwalter on making good his claim to that title claimed, in virtue of the 1295 writ, "precedence of all Barons now sitting as Barons" (some Baronies, such as Mowbray, being then merged), (ex inform. J. H. Round.) V.G.
64. On his death any Barony in fee possessed by his father would have passed to his niece, Frances, da. of Sir John Shelly, of Michelgrove, 3rd Bart., and only child of her mother, Bridget, only da. of George, xith Baron. She m. Richard, 5th Viscount Fitzwilliam [I.], and d. 1777, aged about 90. In 1837 the Earl of Pembroke and Edward Bourchier Hartopp were her representatives. See case of the claim to the Barony of Vaux of Harrowden; see also pedigree, p. 41.
65. The following entry is in the St. Pancras Reg. "George Newton, Gent., and Mrs. Anne Walker married by License. (I understand this was my Lord Abergavenny but he did not own his quality) 10 Apr. 1697." No doubt he m. again at St. Anne's, Soho, 22 Oct. 1698, the validity of the first ceremony being doubted. V.G.
66. Lady Wentworth at that date writes:—"Here is a strange unnatural report of Lady Abargane, that she has in passion killed her own child, about 7 years old; she having been a great while whipping it, my Lord being grieved to hear it cry so terribly, went into the room to beg for it, and she threw it with such a force to the ground, she broke the skull." V.G.
67. His will is signed "Bergavenny," and this appears to be the last signature, so spelt, of any of these Lords. According to Macky (Characters), he (about 1704) "was a little brown man, very lively, 30 [45] years old; with, learning, wit and one of the best libraries in England." He was the "first Protestant Lord that bears that title." (Luttrell, Diary, 30 Mar. 1695.) V.G.
68. "A most ingenious sensible young gentleman, but very muchvdeformed." (T. Hearne, 1723.) VG.
69. See Misc. Gen. et Her., 3rd Series, vol. ii. p. 191, for pedigree of Pincke.
70. Register, in J. S. Burn, Fleet Registers, 1834, p. 94.
71. On his death any Barony in fee possessed by his father (who sat in the House in 1695) would have vested in his sisters, viz., (1) Jane, b. 8 Mar. 1703, m. John Abel Walter, of Busbridge, Surrey, and d. 19 Mar. 1786, leaving numerous descendants; and (2) Ann, b. about 1715, who, like her mother (but unlike her brothers and sister, all of whom were her seniors), received no benefit under her father's will or codicil, and who d. unm. Mar. 1736/7, in her 22nd year.—See pedigree, p. 41.
72. Her father had m. (26 Feb. 1716/7, at St. Mary Aldermary, London) Ann, da. of Gideon Harvey, m.d., Physician to the Tower of London.
73. In Garter's Roll, 13 Jan. 1729/30, the title first appears as "Abergavenny," and continues ever afterwards as such. The death of George, Lord Bergavenny, on 15 Nov. 1723, is noted on a previous roll.
74. The Grub Street Journal has a poem on her death, attributed to the Duke of Dorset, beginning "Young, thoughtless, gay, unfortunately fair." V.G.
75. Her yst. child, Edward, b. shortly before her death 19 Nov., was bap. 3 Dec. 1729, at St. Anne's, Soho.
76. In this patent he is styled "George Lord Abergavenny." The creation of an Earldom of the same place as that of a Barony, but with a different limitation is very objectionable as, in the event of their separating, the anomaly arises of two persons being designated of one and the same place—e.g. in 1717 the Earldom of Ferrers (so cr. 1711) became separated from the Barony of that name, and so continues; and in 1882 the Earldom of Berkeley (so cr. in 1679) became (apparently) separated from the ancient Barony thereof. The Barony of Abergavenny however may be held to have vested in the first Earl, either (1) by a Patent (hitherto undiscovered), granted in 1604 (or even in 1450!) to his ancestor, or in 1724 to his father; or (2) by the Tenure of the Castle. As to the former supposition it is not usual (though not without a precedent) for the House of Lords to imagine a patent to exist, and to regulate the descent of a Peerage accordingly. As to the Peerage being one by tenure, the decision of the House, in 1604, that it was a Peerage less ancient than the Barony of Le Despenser, is certainly greatly against such having been the then theory; and it is one also that has not found greater favour in more modern times. The only other alternative then that remains is (3) that the writ of 1724, (according to the modern law in Peerage) cr. a Barony de novo of that date (1724), to which the House yielded (as it has done in other cases, see Appendix D. at the end of this volume) the precedence due to the ancient Barony of the same name existing (in this case) some 330 years previously.—See pedigree, p. 41.
77. Hor. Walpole, writing to Lord Hertford 12 Feb. 1765, talks of a separation being in contemplation on account of the Earl's infidelity, and remarks that "his Lordship's heart is more inflammable than tender." In 1774 he figures ("Lord A. and Mrs. P.") in the notorious tête à tête portraits in The Town and Country Mag., vol. vi, p. 452, of which a good account is given by Horace Bleackley in N. & Q., 10th Series, vol. iv, pp. 241–2. V.G.
78. "Lord Abergavenny's son is certainly to marry Robinson's daughter. He gives her £25,000 down, which does not pay all the young man's debts. Lord A. gives them £1000 a year. He is a weak good-tempered young man." (George Selwyn to Lord Carlisle, 13 June 1781.) V.G.
79. A copious pedigree of this family of Robinson is entered at the College of Arms in "Norfolk xi." The political correspondence of this John Robinson, important for the secret history of George III's reign, is preserved at Eridge Castle. See Hist. MSS. Com., l0th Report, and App. vi, pp. 3–72. V.G.
80. "Un richard misanthrope octogénaire que la malheur a poursuivi." (Duchesse de Dino, Chronique, 16 Sep. 1831.) V.G.
81. A moiety of the town of Lewes came to the Nevills through the Beauchamps and Fitzalans (who possessed the entirety) from the old Earls of Warren and Surrey. The other moiety went through the other coh. of the Fitzalans to the Mowbrays, Dukes of Norfolk. See note sub Robert, Baron Gerard of Bryn. [1876].
82. His Lordship is not improbably h. male of the body of Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmorland, so cr. 29 Sep. 1397, and, as such, entitled to an Earldom, which (but for the exceptional Earldom of Arundel now vested in the Dukes of Norfolk) would be more ancient than any now existing, supposing the attainder of 1570 was reversed. The attainted Earl d. s.p.m.s., in 1601. Soon after his death, Edmund Nevill, styling himself Lord Latimer (a Barony by writ of which, though he was h. male, he was not h. general), claimed in 1605 the Earldom (being h. male of the body of the 1st Earl, but by the second wife) on the ground that being cousin of the half blood (only) to the attainted Earl, such attainder (being that of a person of whom he could not by the [then] law of half-blood be heir) did not affect him. It was however decided against his claim, and the honour declared to be forfeited. This Edmund d. about 1640 (before 2 Jan. 1645/6) s.p.m.s., when Lord Bergavenny possibly became h. male of the 1st Earl. According, however, to Drummond's Noble British Families, p. 15, the issue male of Thomas Nevill, of Pigotts in Ardleigh, Essex (who was of a senior line to the House of Abergavenny, being yr. s. of the 2nd Lord Latimer), existed long afterwards.