General history: Nobility

Nobility of the County.

The noble family of Howard became possessed of the manor of Glossop in this county, by marriage with one of the coheiresses of Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury. Having been settled on a younger branch of the family, Glossop-hall was the property, and occasionally the residence, of Bernard Howard, Esq., before he succeeded to the title of Duke of Norfolk, on the death of his cousin the late Duke, in 1815.

Arms: — Gules, on a bend, between six cross-crosslets, fitchee, Argent, an escutcheon, Or; therein a demi-lion rampant (pierced through the mouth with an arrow), within a double tressure, flory counter-flory.

Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. — Sir William Cavendish, descended from an ancient family who took their name from Cavendish in Suffolk (fn. n1), the place of their residence, settled in Derbyshire in consequence of his marriage with the heiress of Hard wick, about the year 1544; by which match he became possessed of Hardwick-hall, and other estates. Having been an active and useful instrument in the business of the Reformation, he obtained several grants of manors and lands in this county, which had belonged to religious houses; was raised to the dignity of a Privy-counsellor, and appointed by King Henry VIII. to the office of Treasurer of the Chamber. In the reign of Edward VI. he purchased Chatsworth, ever since one of the principal seats of his noble descendants, of the family of Agard, and began to build on the site of the old hall a mansion, which was finished by his widow. This lady, more celebrated as the Countess of Shrewsbury, built a new mansion at Hardwick, which appears to have been the chief seat of Sir William Cavendish, their elder son : this Sir William was created Baron Cavendish, of Hardwick, in 1605, and in 1618, Earl of Devonshire. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl, one of the first and most zealous promoters of the Revolution, was, in 1694, created Marquis of Hartington, and Duke of Devonshire, which titles are now enjoyed by his immediate descendant William George, the sixth Duke, and ninth Earl, whose chief country seat is at Chatsworth. Hardwick-hall is occasionally inhabited by the family, and is still kept up in its original style, with the ancient furniture.

Arms: — Sable, three harts' heads caboshed, Argent, attired, Or.

Crest: — On a wreath, a snake noue, Proper.

Supporters: — Two harts, Proper, each gorged with a garland of roses, Arg. and Az. attired, Or.

Manners, Duke of Rutland. —Sir John Manners, second son of the first Earl of Rutland, became possessed of Nether-Haddon, and large estates in Derbyshire, in consequence of his marriage with the coheiress of Sir George Vernon who died in 1561. Upon the death of George, seventh Earl of Rutland, in 1641, the elder branch of that noble family having become extinct, John Manners of Nether-Haddon, grandson of Sir John above-mentioned, succeeded to the title, and Haddon-hall became, for some time, one of the principal seats of the Earls of Rutland, as it was of the first Duke, who was raised to that dignity in 1703: it is now the property of his Grace, John Henry, the present Duke, but has not been for many years inhabited by the family. The first Duke of Rutland, during the life of his father, John, eighth Earl of Rutland, was summoned to parliament by writ, as Baron Manners of Haddon. Sir Roger Manners, a younger son of Sir John, who married the coheiress of Vernon, settled at Whitwell in this county; he died without issue.

Arms of Manners, Duke of Rutland : — Or, two bars Azure; a chief quarterly of the second and Gules, the first and fourth charged with two fleurs de lis of the first, and the second and third with a lion passant-guardant of the same, being an augmentation given to the family, in consequence of their descent from King Edward IV.

Crest: — On a chapeau, Gules, turned up Erm. a peacock, in pride, Proper.

Supporters : — Two unicorns, Arg, their horns, manes, tufts, and hoofs, Or.

Bentinck, Duke of Portland. - The grandfather of the present Duke became possessed of Bolsover castle, in this county, by his marriage with the representative of Henry Cavendish (fn. n2), last Duke of Newcastle of that family. The old mansion above-mentioned is Kept up and furnished , though not inhabited by its present noble owner.

Arms of Bentinck, Duke of of Portland : — Azure, a cross moline , Argent .

Crest : — Out of a marquis's coronet, Proper, two arms counter-embowed and vested, Gules, gloved, Or, and holding each an ostrich feather, Argent.

Supporters:—Two lions, double quevee: the dexter, Or, the other Sable.

Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield:— The Stanhope family were originally of the County of Durham : they came into Nottinghamshire in the reign of Edward III., in consequence of a marriage with the heiress of Maulovel. Sir Michael Stanhope had grants of abbey lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Shelford, in the former county, was for several generations, the chief seat of this family. Sir Thomas Stanhope, son of Sir Michael, became possessed of considerable estates in Derbyshire, in consequence of his marriage with the coheiress of Sir John Port, who was one of the representatives of the Montgomerys of Cubley; and in the year 1585, he purchased the manor and park of Bretby, now the principal seat of this noble family. Philip, the grandson of Sir Michael, was created, in 1616, Baron Stanhope of Shelford, and in 1628, Earl of Chesterfield. The title of Chesterfield is now enjoyed by George Augustus Frederick, a minor, who is the sixth Earl, and only son of Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, who died in 1815.

Arms of Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield : — Quarterly, Ermine and Gules.

Crest: — On a wreath, a tower, Azure, with a demi—lion rampant, issuing from the battlements,.crowned ducally, Gules, and holding between his paws, a grenade, firing, Proper.

Supporters: — Dexter, a talbot guardant, Ermine; sinister, a wolf, Erminois, both gorged with chaplets of oak, Proper.

Shirley, Earl Ferrers: —Fulcher, the son of Sewall de Etingdon, who held large possessions in Derbyshire and other counties, under Henry de Ferrars, had five sons, two of whom were founders of ancient families in this county, the Shirleys and Iretons, each having been denominated from the place of their residence. Sewall, who having settled at Shirley, took the name of De Shirley, died about the year 1129; his son married the heiress and assumed the arms of Clinton; his grandson, Sewall, married a coheiress of Meynell. Sir Ralph, grandson of the last-mentioned Sewall, married a coheiress of Waldeshef; Sir Thomas, son of Sir Ralph, married the heiress of Lord Bassett of Drayton, his son, Sir Hugh, the heiress of Braose or Breus, of Gower; Sir Ralph, the next in succession, the heiress of Basssett, of Brailsford; his son Ralph, the heiress of Staunton. Ralph Shirley, who died in 1517, being grandson of Ralph last-mentioned, had four wives; by a coheiress of Walsh, he had an only daughter, who married an ancestor of Pulteney, Earl of Bath. John, grandson of the last-mentioned Ralph, married the heiress of Lovett. His son George was created a Baronet in 1611. Sir Henry Shirley, the second baronet, married a coheiress of Devereux, Earl of Essex, through whom the barony of Ferrars of Chartley came into the family. Sir Robert Shirley, grandson of Sir Henry, (being the seventh baronet,) was declared, in 1678, Lord Ferrars of Chartley (fn. n3), and, in 1711, was created Viscount Tamworth and Earl Ferrers; the two last-mentioned titles are now enjoyed by his grandson, Robert, the present and seventh Earl Ferrers. The old seat of the family, at Shirley, has long been destroyed. Ednaston, another mansion in this county belonging to the family, is now a seat of the Honourable Washington Shirley, brother of the present Earl.

Arms of Shirley, Earl Ferrers: — Paly of six, Or and Azure, a canton, Ermine.

Crest: — On a wreath, the bust of a Saracen, side-faced and couped, Proper, wreathed about the temples, Or and Az.

Supporters: — On the dexter side, a talbot, Ermine, eared, Gules, and gorged with a ducal coronet, Or; on the sinister side, a rein-deer of the second, attired and gorged in like manner, Or, and charged on the shoulder with a horse-shoe, Argent.

Stanhope, Earl of Harrington. — Sir John Stanhope, elder son of Sir John Stanhope of Shelford, and great grandson of Sir Michael, was settled at Elvaston, in this county. John, son of Sir John Stanhope, the younger, married a coheiress of Agard of Foston; Thomas, the elder surviving son of John, a coheiress of Thacker, of Repton-priory. Charles, the next brother of Thomas, succeeded him in the Elvaston estate, was some time Secretary to the Treasury, and Treasurer of the Chamber. On his death, without issue, in 1760, Elvaston passed to his nephew, William, Earl of Harrington, whose father (younger son of John Stanhope, Esq., who married the coheiress of Agard) had been created an Earl in 1742. Elvastonhall is now the seat of Charles Stanhope, third Earl of Harrington.

Arms: — Quarterly Ermine and Gules, with a crescent on a crescent for difference.

Crest: — On a wreath, a tower Azure, a demi-lion rampant issuing from the battlements, Or, holding between his paws a grenade firing, Proper.

Supporters: — On the dexter side, a talbot guardant, Arg. gutté de poix; on the sinister, a wolf Erminois; each supporter gorged with a chaplet of oak, Vert, fructed, Or.

Curzon, Lord Scarsdale. — The ancient family of Curzon, or as it is frequently spelt in records, Curson, were settled at Kedleston, their present seat, and at Croxall, as early as the reign of Henry I. The Croxall branch, which appears to have been the elder, became extinct by the death of Henry Curzon, Esq. in 1639. The daughter and sole heiress of Sir George Curzon, Knt. (elder brother of Henry), who died in 1622, married Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset, ancestor of the present Duke. Richard, the common ancestor of both branches, married the heiress of Camville. Sir John Curzon, of Kedleston, the ninth in descent after the separation of the branches, married the heiress of Twyford, and was common ancestor of Lords Scarsdale and Curzon, of Sir Robert Curzon (who was created a Baron of the Empire by the Emperor Maximilian, in the year 1500, and died without issue), the Curzons of Water-Perry, in the county of Oxford, now extinct, and the Curzons of Letheringset, in Norfolk. John Curzon, the immediate descendant (being the ninth in descent) from Sir John abovementioned, was created a Baronet in 1641. Sir Nathaniel Curzon, the fifth Baronet, was, in 1761, created Baron Scarsdale, and was father of Nathaniel, the present Lord Scarsdale. The coheiresses of Vernon of Stokesay, in Shropshire, and Ashton of Middleton, in Lancashire, have married into the Curzon family.

Arms: — Argent on a bend, Sable, three popinjays, Or, collared, Gules.

Crest,: — On a wreath, a popinjay rising, Or, collared, G.

Supporters: — On the dexter side, the figure of Prudence, represented by a woman, habited Argent, mantled Azure, holding in her sinister hand a javelin, entwined with a remora, Proper; and on the sinister, the figure of Liberality, represented by a woman habited Argent, mantled Purpure, holding a cornucopia, Proper.

Vernon, Lord Vernon. — The first connection of the ancient family of Vernon with this county was by the marriage of Richard, a younger son of one of the Barons of Shipbrooke, in Cheshire, with a coheiress of the Avenells, of Nether-Haddon. This Richard died without male issue, leaving a daughter and heiress, married to Gilbert le Francis, whose son Richard (fn. n4) took the name of Vernon, settled at Haddon-hall, and was common ancestor of the Vernons of Haddon, Stokesay, Hodnet, Sudbury, &c. The elder line of the Haddon branch of the Vernons became extinct in 1561, by the death of Sir George Vernon, one of whose coheiresses brought Haddon, as before-mentioned, to Sir John Manners, ancestor of the Duke of Rutland. A coheiress of Camville, the heiresses of Pembrugge, and Ap-Griffith (who married the heiress of Stackpoole), and a daughter of Swynfen, who was heiress to Pype and Spernore, married into the Haddon branch of the Vernon family.

Sir John Vernon, a younger son of Sir Henry Vernon, of Haddon, settled at Sudbury in the reign of Henry VIII., in consequence of having married one of the coheiresses of Montgomery; his grandson, John, dying without issue, this branch of the family became extinct. He bequeathed his estates to the issue of his widow by her first husband, Walter Vernon, of Houndshill, in Staffordshire. Sir Edward Vernon, the elder son, who settled at Sudbury, married the heiress of a younger branch of the Vernons, who were of Hilton, in Staffordshire; Henry, his son, married the heiress of Sir George Vernon, of Haslington, in Cheshire, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, by which match his posterity became the representatives of the original elder male line of the Vernons, Barons of Shipbrooke. His grandson, Henry, married the heiress of Pigot, and representative of the ancient family of Venables, Barons of Kinderton, in Cheshire. George Venables, the son, was, in 1762, created Lord Vernon and Baron of Kinderton. His son, George Venables, the second Lord Vernon, married the heiress of Lord Mansell, by whom he left an only daughter. On his death, in 1813, the title of Vernon, and the Sudbury estate, devolved to his next brother, Henry Venables, who had previously taken the-name and arms of Sedley, but since his coming to the title has resumed those of Vernon.

Arms: — Quarterly, 1 and 4, Azure, two bars Argent, Venables; 2, Argent, a fret, Sable, Vernon; 3, Or, on a fess Azure, three garbs of the field.

Crest: —A boar's head, erased, Sable, ducally gorged, Or. Supporters: —On the dexter side, a lion, Gules, collared and chained, Or; on the sinister, a boar, Sable, ducally collared and chained, Or.

Upon the death of the late Earl of Newburgh without issue, that Scottish title being inheritable through heirs female, Francis Eyre, Esq. of Hassophall, assumed it, as being the son of Lady Mary, the younger daughter and coheiress of Charlotte, Countess of Newburgh, by Charles RadclifFe, a younger son of Francis, Earl of Derwentwater; Prince Justiniani, son of the elder daughter, being incapable of inheriting as an alien. Francis Eyre is the immediate descendant of Stephen Eyre, a younger son of Ralph Eyre, Esq., of Padley, who settled at Hassop in the reign of Henry VII.

Arms: — Quarterly, 1 and 4. Eyre. (fn. n5) —2. RadclifFe. (fn. n6) — 3. Arg. on a bend, G. between three gillyflowers, slipped, Proper, an anchor of the first, all within a double tressure, Vert. Livingston.

Crest of Livingston: —A moor's head, couped at the shoulder, Proper, banded, Gules and Argent, with pendants at the ears, of the last. — This crest is borne together with those of Eyre and Radcliffe.

Supporters: —On the dexter side, a savage man; on the sinister, a horse, Argent, caparisoned, Gules.

Irish Peers who have Seats in Derbyshire.

Butler, Marquis of Ormond. — Walter, Earl of Ormond, became possessed of Sutton-hall and manor by marriage with the granddaughter and representative of Godfrey Bagnall Clarke, Esq. He was created a Marquis in 1815.

Arms: — Or, a chief indented, Gules.

Crest: — Out of a plume of feathers an eagle issuing.

Supporters: — On the dexter side, an eagle; on the sinister, a griffin.

Cavendish, Lord Waterpark. — Henry, a natural son of Sir Henry Cavendish (elder brother of the first Earl of Devonshire), became possessed of the Doveridge estate by his father's gift, and was immediate ancestor of Henry Cavendish, Esq., who was created a Baronet in 1755, and was grandfather of Richard, Lord Waterpark, whose mother was, during her widowhood, created a Baroness in her own right, in the year 1792.

Arms: — Sable, three bucks' heads, caboshed, Arg. attired, Or. within a border of the second.

Crest: — On a ducal coronet, a snake nowed, Proper,

Supporters: — Two bucks, Proper.

Extinct Peerages.

Cavendish and Holles, Dukes of Newcastle. — Sir Charles Cavendish, younger son of Sir William Cavendish, of Chatsworth, became possessed of Bolsover Castle by purchase in 1613; his son William, by the coheiress of Ogle (who became Baroness Ogle in her own right), was, in 1628, created Baron Cavendish, of Bolsover, and Earl of Newcastle-on-Tyne; in 1644, Marquis of Newcastle; and in 1664, in consequence of his long and loyal services, Earl of Ogle, and Duke of Newcastle. Henry, Earl of Ogle and Duke of Newcastle, son of the second Duke, having died without issue by his wife (the heiress of Percy, Earl of Northumberland), John Holies, Earl of Clare, who married Lady Margaret Cavendish, one of the Duke's daughters and coheiresses, possessed Bolsover Castle, and was, in 1694, created Duke of Newcastle. That title became again extinct at his death, in 1711, and Bolsover passed with his heiress to Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford, and with that Earl's heiress to the Duke of Portland, as before mentioned.

Arms of Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, and Crest: — The same as the Duke of Devonshire, with due difference.

Supporters: —On the dexter side, a bull, Or, gorged with a ducal coronet, G.; on the sinister, a lion per fesse, O. and G., ducally crowned, Or.

Arms of Holies, Duke of Newcastle: — Ermine, two piles, Sable.

Crest:—On a chapeau, G., turned up, Ermine, a boar passant, Az., bristled, hoofed, and armed, Or.

Supporters:—On the dexter side, a lion, Azure; on the sinister, a wolf, Or.

Ferrars, Earl Ferrars and of Derby. — Henry de Ferrars possessed numerous manors in Derbyshire, by gift of William the Conqueror; his son, Robert, appears to have been the first Earl Ferrars. Robert, the second Earl Ferrars, was, according to Vincent (on the authority of Orderieus Vitalis), created Earl of Derby, in 1138. His son, William, Earl Ferrars and of Derby, married the heiress of Peverel. William, the third Earl of Derby, married the coheiress of Blundeville; his son, the fourth Earl, one of the coheiresses of Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, by whom he had seven daughters, and afterwards one of the co-heiresses of Quincy, Earl of Winchester, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. Robert, the succeeding and fifth Earl of Derby, was dispossessed of his estates, and deprived of his Earldom, for his repeated acts of rebellion, in the reign of Henry III.: he died in 1278. His descendants enjoyed the title of Lord Ferrars, of Chartley, but had no longer any connection with this county. The last Lord Ferrars, of Chartley, died in or about the year 1449. His daughter and heiress married Sir Walter Devereux; and the barony, having passed through the families of Shirley and Compton, is now enjoyed by Marquis Townshend. The Earls of Derby had a castle at Duffield. After the title of Earl of Derby had been taken from the Ferrars family, it was given, with that of Lancaster, to several of the blood-royal of the Plantagenets. Melbourne Castle was one of the seats of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. King Henry VII. conferred the title of Earl of Derby on the Stanley family, in whom it has ever since continued. The Tamworth branch of the Ferrars family had for some time a seat at Walton-upon-Trent, in this county. The heiress of this branch having married Robert Shirley, his descendant Marquis Townshend is representative of this branch, as well as that of Ferrars of Chartley.

Arms of the Earls Ferrars and of Derby:—The three first Earls bore, Arg, six horse-shoes, Sable. William, the fourth Earl, bore, Vaire, O. and G., a border, Azure, semee of horse-shoes, Arg.

The two last Earls bore only Vaire, Or and Gules.

Leake, Earl of Scarsdale. —This ancient family derived their descent from Alan de Leca (Leak in Nottinghamshire,) who was living in 1141. William Leake, who first settled at Sutton, in Derbyshire, early in the fifteenth century, was a younger son of Sir John Leake, of Gotham in Nottinghamshire. Sir John Leake, the younger, married the heiress of Hilary, alias Grey; his father, the heiress of Towers. Francis Leake (the fifth indescent from William above-mentioned, and son of Sir Francis, who married a coheiress of Swift, of Rotheram) was created a Baronet in 1611; in 1624, Lord Deincourt, and in 1645, Earl of Scarsdale. These titles became extinct by the death of Nicholas, the fourth Earl, and the last of the Leake family, in 1736. A younger branch of this family, descended from Thomas, second son of William Leake who first settled at Sutton, was for some descents of Hasland, in the parish of Chesterfield.

Arms: — Arg. on a saltier engrailed, Sable, nine annulets, Or.

Crest: —Two popinjays, rising, Or, supporting a peacock's tail, Proper.

Supporters: —Two angels, Proper.

Grey, Lord Grey of Codnor. —Richard Grey who settled at Codnor, was son of Henry de Grey, of Turroc, in Essex, by the heiress of Bardolf. This Richard was one of the Barons in the interest of King John: he married the heiress of De Humez; his grandson Henry was summoned to parliament as a Baron in the reign of Edward 1., Richard Lord Grey, K. G. Lord Treasurer of England, (grandson of Henry) married the heiress of Bassett, of Sapcote, Henry his son, the heiress of Percy, Lord of Athol.

Henry, the last Lord Grey of Codnor, died without issue, in the year 1496, when the title became extinct. A branch of the Zouch's of Harringworth, possessed the Codnor estate, and became representatives of the family, in consequence of the marriage of Sir John Zouch, a younger brother of William Lord Zouch, of Harringworth, with Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lord Grey, and aunt of the last Lord Grey.

Arms: —Barry of six Arg. and Azure.

Crest:—Out of a ducal coronet, Or, a demi-peacock displayed with wings elevated, Argent.

Supporters:— Two boars.

Segrave, Baron Segrave.—This noble family, before and after they, were summoned to parliament as Barons, had a seat at Bretby, which John, Lord Segrave, had a licence to castellate in 1228. Elizabeth, sole heiress of John, Lord Segrave, who died 27 Edw. III. married the son and heir of John, Lord Moubray.

Arms of the Barons Segrave:—Sable, a lion rampant, Arg. crowned, Or.

Moubray, Baron Moubray.— John Moubray, who married the heiress of Segrave as above-mentioned, succeeded his father as Lord Moubray, and died seised of Bretby castle, &c. in 1400; his coheiresses married Berkeley and Howard, whose descendants, the Earls of Berkeley, and the Dukes of Norfolk, have borne among their other titles, those of Baron Segrave and Moubray.

Arms of the Barons Moubray: —Gules, a lion rampant, Argent.

Grey, Baron Grey de Wilton. —This noble family, who derived their descent from John de Grey, a younger brother of Richard, the first Lord Grey of Codnor, had, for some generations, a seat at Shirland. Sir Henry Grey was summoned to parliament 50 Edw. III., by the style of Henry Grey de Shirland, Chevalier. Henry, the last Lord Grey de Wilton, of the male line, died in 1614; Shirland had some time before passed out of the family. The title was, in 1784, revived in the Egerton family, who were descended from a sister of the last Lord Grey. This Baronial family took their distinguishing appellation, from Wilton-castle, in Herefordshire, which they had acquired by marriage with the heiress of Longchamp.

Arms: —The same as Grey of Codnor, with due difference.

Crest:—On a gauntlet, Arg., a falcon rising, Or.

Supporters:— Two griffins, Or, langued, Gules.

Cromwell, Baron Cromwell,—The Cromwell family possessed the manor of West-Hallam from an early period; but it does not appear that they had any residence in Derbyshire before Ralph, Lord Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England, inherited the manor of South-Winfield, and built the manorhouse, of which the fine ruins now remain. The Lord Treasurer died without issue, and had, before his death, sold the reversion of the' Winfield estate.

Arms: —Arg. a chief G. over all a bend, Azure.

Tuchet, Baron Audley.—John, son of Thomas Tuchet, (whose ancestors had long possessed a park and seat at Markeaton, near Derby,) by one of the coheiresses of Nicholas, Lord Audley, of Heleigh, became Baron Audley; his descendant, John, Lord Audley, sold this estate to the Mundy family, in the early part of the sixteenth century.

Arms of Tuchet, Lord Audley: — Ermine, a chevron, Gules.

Crest: — On a ducal coronet, Or, a swan naiant, Arg. beaked, G. ducally crowned, Or.

Supporters: — Two griffins, Sable, langued, Gules.

Blount, Lord Mountjoy.—The family of Blount were, for several generations, of Barton-Blount, and of Elvaston near Derby. Sir Walter Blount, of Barton, was Standard-bearer to King Henry IV.; his descendant and name-sake, Lord Treasurer to King Edward IV., was, in 1465, created Lord Mountjoy of Thurvaston. Most of the Derbyshire estates passed out of the family long before the death of the last Lord Mountjoy, who was created Earl of Devonshire in 1603, and died in 1606. Thurvaston, however, appears to have been inherited under his will, by his natural son, Mountjoy Blount, who, in 1627, was created Lord Mountjoy of Thurvaston, and the next year, Earl of Newport. These titles became extinct by the death of Henry the fourth Earl, in 1681.

Arms of Blount, Lord Mountjoy: — Barry, nebulee of six, Or and Sable.

Crest:—On a ducal coronet, Or, a wolf passant, Sable, between two feathers of the first.

Supporters:—Two wolves, Sable.

Frecheville, Lord Frecheville, of Stavely. This ancient family was settled at an early period at Bony in Nottinghamshire. Anker de Frecheville, about the year 1175, married the heiress of Hubert Fitz-Ralph. Another Anker de Frecheville (son of Ralph) having married the heiress of Musard, became possessed of Stavely, in Derbyshire, and settled there. His son Sir Ralph, was summoned to parliament as a Baron 29 Edw. I.; but none of his immediate descendants received a like summons. John Frecheville, the fourth in descent from Sir Ralph, married the heiress of Nuthill. John Frecheville, the sixth in descent from the last mentioned John, was created Lord Frecheville of Stavely, in 1664. The title became extinct at his death in 1682; he left three daughters, coheiresses; the elder married Charles, Duke of Bolton; the second, Philip Warwick, Esq., (son and heir of Sir Philip Warwick,) and afterwards Conyers, Earl of Holderness; the third, Colonel Thomas Colepeper.

Arms: — Azure, a bend between six escallop shells, Argent.

Crest: — A demi-angel issuing from a wreath, Proper, crined and winged, Or, on his head a cross formée of the last; vested in mail, and the arms in armour, Proper, holding in both hands an arrow in bend, Or, feathered and headed, Argent.

Supporters:— Two angels, habited as in the crest, each holding an arrow.

Baronial Families, extinct.

Peverel. — William Peverel, a natural son of William the Conqueror had large possessions in Derbyshire by his father's gift: he built the castle of the Peak, and either he or his son are supposed to have built that of Bolsover. The heiress of William Peverel the younger married William de Ferrars, the first Earl of Derby.

Arms: — Vaire, Or, and Gules.

Deincourt. — Walter Deincourt possessed several manors in this county by gift of the Conqueror. Edmund Deincourt, the last of the elder branch died in the early part of the reign of Edward III. The chief remaining branch had their principal residence at Park-hall or Park-house, in the parish of Morton. John Deincourt, who died 7 Hen. IV., married the heiress of Grey of Rotherfield. His elder son, William, dying without issue in 1422, and a younger son Robert, in 1442, the male line of the family became extinct. The sisters and coheiresses married Ralph, Lord Cromwell and William Lord Lovell. The heiress of a branch of this family married Barton, about the year 1370.

Arms of Deincourt of Park-hall:—Sable, a fesse dauncettee between ten billets, four above and six below, Argent.

Musard.—Ascuit Musard held Stavely (the place of his residence,) and other manors at the time of the Domesday Survey. Nicholas, the last heir male of the family, died in or about the year 1300. The elder of the coheiresses married Sir Ralph Frecheville; a second left a daughter and heiress, married to William de Chelaston, the name of her husband is not known.

Arms: — Or, two chevrons, Azure.

Fitz-Ralph.—Hubert Fitz-Ralph held numerous manors in Derbyshire at the time of the Domesday Survey, in which he was succeeded by his son Hubert Fitz-Ralph. Crich was the seat of their barony. The heiress of Fitz-Ralph married Anker de Frecheville, ancestor of the Derbyshire family of that name.

There appears to have been another baronial family of Fitz-Ralph, Lords of Alfreton, one of whom was founder of Beauchief-abbey, and one of whose coheiresses married Chaworth.

Noblemen's Seats.

Mr. Kinder, speaking of the Nobility of Derbyshire, says, " No countie in England hath so manie princelie habitations, the theatre of hospitalitie, and seats of fruition; as Bolsover, Haddon, Hardwick, another escurial, Brettby, Sutton, Olcoates. In tymes past, the Castle of the Peake, for the honour of Peverell; Codnor, for the Lord Grey; Elvaston, for the family of Blount, Lord Mountjoye; the Earls of Shrewsbury at Buttons (fn. n7); and Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, at Chatsworth." (fn. n8)

The present noblemen's seats are, Chatsworth, the chief seat, and Hardwick, an occasional residence, of the Duke of Devonshire; Elvaston, the seat of the Earl of Harrington; Sudbury, of Lord Vernon; and Kedleston, of Lord Scarsdale. Bretby, the seat of the Chesterfield family, is shut up, during the minority of the present Earl. Haddon and Bolsover, belonging to the Dukes of Rutland and Portland, although the buildings are kept up, have many years ceased to be inhabited by those noble families. The Duke of Rutland has lately fitted up a Hall on the banks of the Derwent, in the parish of Youlgrave, called Stanton-Woodhouse, for the purpose of an occasional residence during the shooting-season. Sutton is a seat of the Marquis of Ormond, of the kingdom of Ireland, in right of his wife. Doveridge is the seat of Lord Waterpark, of the kingdom of Ireland; Hassop of the Earl of Newburgh, of the kingdom of Scotland.

The only remains of ancient seats of the nobility are those of Codnor Castle, formerly belonging to the Lords Grey, and Winfield manor-house, the seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury.