Earl of Westmorland

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Earldom of Westmorland
heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesBaron Burghersh
Extinction date1571 (first creation)
Former seat(s)Raby Castle (now seat of the Barons Barnard)
Apethorpe Palace
Mereworth Castle
MottoNe Vile Fano ("Disgrace not the altar"; Fane)
Ne vile velis ("Form no mean wish"; Neville)

Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the

Baron Neville de Raby, and that was a subsidiary title for his successors. The current Earl holds the subsidiary title Baron Burghersh
(1624).

1397 creation

Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and his twelve children.

French expedition of 1380, and succeeded to his father's barony in 1388. He had been joint warden of the west march in 1386, and was reappointed for a new term in 1390. In 1391 he was put on the commission which undertook the duties of constable in place of the duke of Gloucester, and he was repeatedly engaged in negotiations with the Scots. His support of the court party against the lords appellant was rewarded in 1397 by the earldom of Westmorland.[2]

Westmorland married as his second wife

Percies were in revolt, with the Earl Marshal, Thomas, 4th Earl of Norfolk, and Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York. Westmorland met them on Shipton Moor, near York, on 29 May 1405, and suggested a parley between the leaders. By pretending accord with the archbishop, the earl induced him to allow his followers to disperse. Scrope and Mowbray were then seized and handed over to Henry at Pontefract on 3 January. The improbabilities of this narrative have led some writers to think, in face of contemporary authorities, that Scrope and Mowbray must have surrendered voluntarily. If Westmorland betrayed them he at least had no share in their execution.[2]

Thenceforward Westmorland was busily engaged in negotiating with the Scots and keeping the peace on the borders. He did not play the part assigned to him by Shakespeare in Henry V., for during Henry's absence he remained in charge of the north, and was a member of Bedford's council. He consolidated the strength of his family through marriage alliances. His daughter Catherine married in 1412

Edward IV and Richard III. The sons by his second marriage were Richard, 5th Earl of Salisbury, William, Baron Fauconberg, George, Baron Latimer, Robert, bishop of Salisbury and then of Durham, and Edward, Baron Abergavenny. The earl died on 21 October 1425, and a fine alabaster tomb was erected to his memory in Staindrop church close by Raby Castle.[2]

Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland (c. 1404–1484), the son of John, Lord Neville (died 1423), succeeded his grandfather in 1425, and married as his first wife Elizabeth Percy, dowager Baroness Clifford, the daughter of Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy, thus forming further bonds with the Percies. The 3rd Earl, Ralph Neville (1456–1499), was his nephew, and the son of John Neville, Lord Neville, who was slain at the Battle of Towton. His grandson Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland (1499–1550), was an energetic border warrior, who remained faithful to the royal cause when the other great northern lords joined the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was succeeded by his son Henry, 5th Earl (c. 1525–1563).[3]

Mary Queen of Scots. On the collapse of the ill-organised insurrection, Westmorland fled with his brother earl over the borders, and eventually to the Spanish Netherlands, where he lived in receipt of a pension from Philip II of Spain, until his death on 16 November 1601. He left no sons, and his honours were forfeited by his formal attainder in 1571. Raby Castle remained in the hands of the crown until 1645.[4]

During the reign of James I, the earldom was claimed by Edward Neville, a descendant of

George Neville, 1st Baron Latymer. Though the claimant was recognised as the heir-male of the first Earl of Westmorland, his claim was not admitted due to the attainder.[5]

Fane shield in Fulbeck.

He died about 1640. "There was issue male existing long after the 17th century from the 1st Lord Latimer of this creation. That from Thomas Nevill, of Pigotts Ardley, co. Essex (who d. 1550 and who was next yr. br. to William Nevill abovenamed and to John, the 3d Lord Latimer), ancestor of the Nevills, of Halstead, in that county, is said to have existed for eight generations in Drummond's "Noble British Families"" [6] See also[7]

1624 creation

Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, with his wife Mary Mildmay.

The title was revived in 1624 in favour of Sir Francis Fane, whose mother, Mary Neville, was a descendant of a younger son of the first Earl of the 1397 creation. He was created Baron Burghersh, in the County of Sussex, and Earl of Westmorland in the Peerage of England 1624, and became Baron le Despencer on his mother's death in 1626. His son Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, at first sided with the king's party in the English Civil War, but was afterwards reconciled with the parliament. John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, served under the Duke of Marlborough, and was made in 1739 lieutenant-general of the British Armies.[4]

Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire, on 16 October 1859. Himself a musician of considerable reputation and the composer of several operas, he took a keen interest in the cause of music in England, and in 1822 made proposals which led to the foundation in the next year of the Royal Academy of Music. His wife Priscilla Anne, daughter of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, was a distinguished artist.[4]

His published works include Memoirs of the Early Campaigns of the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain (1820), and Memoir of the Operations of the Allied Armies under Prince Schwarzenberg and Marshal Blucher (1822).[4]

Crimean Medal. The death of his elder brother in 1851 gave him the style of Lord Burghersh, and after his accession to the earldom in 1859, he retired from the service with the rank of colonel. He died in August 1891 and was succeeded by his son, Anthony Fane, 13th Earl of Westmorland.[4]

Earls of Westmorland; First creation (1397)

Arms of Neville: Gules, a saltire argent

Earls of Westmorland; Second creation (1624)

Heraldic achievement of Fane family, Earls of Westmorland. Latin motto: Ne Vile Fano, generally rendered in English as "Disgrace not the altar";[1] literally translated: "Do not (put something) cheap in the temple". The motto is a play on the names Nevile and Fane, with which former family the crest of a bull's head is shared. The ancient motto of Neville is: Ne vile velis, "form no mean wish",[8] literally: "do not wish for (something) cheap"

The heir presumptive is the present holder's nephew, Sam Michael David Fane (born 1989).

See also

Gallery

  • Fane De Salis Coat of arms
    Fane De Salis Coat of arms
  • Mildmay Fane (1689-1715) by Alexis-Simon Belle
    Mildmay Fane (1689-1715) by Alexis-Simon Belle
  • Portrait by Joshua Reynolds of John Fane 9th Earl, 1764.
    Portrait by Joshua Reynolds of John Fane 9th Earl, 1764.
  • Portrait by Thomas Lawrence of John Fane 10th Earl, 1806.
    Portrait by Thomas Lawrence of John Fane 10th Earl, 1806.
  • Portrait by Julia Goodman of John Fane 11th Earl, 1855
    Portrait by Julia Goodman of John Fane 11th Earl, 1855

Notes

  1. ^ a b Montague-Smith 1968, p. 1148.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 552 cite Wylie 1884–1898
  3. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 552–553.
  4. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911, p. 553.
  5. ^ Burke 1831, pp. 387–388.
  6. ^ The Complete Peerage, 1st edition, Volume 5, page 26, note 'g'
  7. ^ The Complete Peerage, 1st edition,, Volume 8, page 115, note 'e'
  8. ^ Montague-Smith 1968, p. 38, Nevill, Marquess of Abergavenny

References

  • Burke, John (1831). A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. England. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley.
  • Montague-Smith, P.W., ed. (1968). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage. Kingston-upon-Thames: Kelly's Directories Ltd. pp. 38, 1148.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Westmorland, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 552–553. Endnote:
  • Wylie, J. H. (1884–1898). History of England under Henry IV (4 vols ed.).
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