(630) Bingham of Castlebar House and Laleham House, baronets and Earls of Lucan

Bingham, Earls of Lucan

In the later 16th century, several of the sons of Robert Bingham (d. 1561) of Bingham's Melcombe [for whom see my previous post] went to Ireland as soldiers and military governors in Queen Elizabeth's army. One of these sons, Sir John Bingham (fl. 1609) seems to have obtained a grant of lands at Castlebar (Co. Mayo), and in 1609 had a licence for a weekly market there and also an annual fair. In 1613 the town obtained a measure of self-government as an incorporated borough, and also the right to return two members to the Irish parliament, although in practice the parliamentary seats were controlled by the Binghams. Sir John died without issue and his Mayo property passed to his nephew, Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt., the son of his brother Sir George Bingham, with whom the genealogy below begins. Sir Henry Bingham was, like his uncle, a soldier in the king's service in Ireland, and in 1634 he was rewarded with a baronetcy. He was succeeded at Castlebar by his only son, Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt., who evidently spent at least some time in England, as his second and third marriages took place there. His only known children were two sons, by his first and third marriages, who succeeded him in turn as Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt., and Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt.  The 3rd baronet, who was childless, was educated at the Middle Temple and was the first of the family to sit in the Irish parliament for Co. Mayo, rather than for Castlebar. Sir George was an officer in the Jacobite army during the Williamite wars of 1689-91, but deserted at the decisive Battle of Aughrim in 1691. He inherited Castlebar on his brother's death in 1714, but seems never to have entered parliament or held other local public office, whereas most heads of the family served their turn as High Sheriff, if not as Governor, of Co. Mayo. He seems to have died in about 1730, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., who was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and the Middle Temple, and played a full part in public life in Co. Mayo. Before 1720 he had married Anne Vesey (1698-1761), whose mother Charlotte was the only daughter and heiress of William Sarsfield of Lucan Manor (Co. Dublin) and niece of Patrick Sarsfield (d. 1693), the Jacobite commander who was created Earl of Lucan in the Jacobite peerage in 1691. It was this connection which caused Sir John's son to choose Lucan as a title when he was raised to the peerage in 1776, although the Binghams never owned Lucan Manor, which descended in the Vesey family through a half-brother of Anne Vesey.

Sir John died in 1749 and was succeeded briefly by his eldest son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt., who survived him by less than two years. When he died towards the end of 1750, he was succeeded by his brother, Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., who is not known to have attend a university but who did undertake a Grand Tour, visiting Rome and Florence in 1755. In 1756 the family's castle at Castlebar was badly damaged by an accidental fire, and although two surviving towers were converted into a temporary residence, it was perhaps after this that he settled in England, maintaining a house in London and also a suburban villa at Wimbledon (Surrey), although he maintained his public appointments in Ireland. He was married in 1760 to Margaret Smith, an accomplished amateur artist from Devon, and over the next ten years they had one son and four daughters. From 1761-76 he was MP for Co. Mayo in the Irish parliament, and although he was instinctively a Tory, his ambition for honours eventually led him to support the administration. For this he was rewarded in 1776 with a peerage, as Baron Lucan, and later, in 1795, with promotion to be 1st Earl of Lucan. In 1778-79 he took his wife, son and two of his daughters for an eighteen-month long tour to Paris, Florence and Rome, where his wife was made an honorary member of the Accademia di S.Luca and his daughters' abilities as artists were also greatly admired.  In 1782-84 he was briefly MP for Northampton to oblige his son-in-law, Lord Althorp, whose family controlled the seats for that borough, but he was not re-elected in 1784 and did not seek another seat. In 1798, shortly before his death, the house at Castlebar was burned down during the engagement known as the 'Battle of Castlebar' when a combined force of French troops and Irish rebels defeated a larger Crown force and declared a Republic of Connaught, which lasted some twelve days before the town was retaken.

In 1790s, Lord Lucan fell out with his only son, Richard Bingham (1764-1839), later 2nd Earl of Lucan, presumably over the latter's scandalous elopement with Elizabeth Howard, who was divorced by her husband (a future Duke of Norfolk) in consequence and subsequently married Richard. The couple began their married life 'in close retirement' in rented accommodation at Washingley Hall (Hunts), but in about 1804 they separated. Richard had bought a small property - some 25 acres - at Laleham (Middx, but now Surrey) on the River Thames, where he commissioned a new house from the rising young architect, John Buonarotti Papworth (1775-1847), which was completed by 1806. It was later altered twice by Papworth, in the 1820s for the 2nd Earl and in 1839 for his son. In the 1820s, the Earl also obtained designs from Papworth for a plainer house at Castlebar, although it is not clear that the house eventually built there was to Papworth's designs. 

The heir to Laleham and Castlebar was George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan, who embarked on a military career in 1816, and who had, within ten years, purchased his way to a lieutenant-colonelcy. Despite his promotion not having been on merit, he was regarded as an effective soldier. From 1837 he was on half-pay for nearly twenty years, but continued to be promoted in line with his seniority, and he came out of retirement in 1854 as a Major-General to command a cavalry division in the Crimean War. He was one of the commanders responsible for the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, and was blamed by the overall commander of British forces, Lord Raglan, for this debâcle and sent home, but he made a spirited defence of his actions in a speech in the House of Lords which largely retrieved his reputation. His ruthlessness as a landlord at the time of the famine, and his stubborn, hectoring manner, ensured that he was widely hated, and after some twenty years of marriage his wife left him in about 1850. He died in 1888, by which time he was a Field Marshal, and was succeeded by his eldest child, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan. A soldier like his father, the 4th Earl continued to live chiefly in England and to visit his Irish estates occasionally, but he ran into debts. He made an arrangement with his creditors in 1898 but in 1900 he handed over the family estates to his eldest son, Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), later the 5th Earl of Lucan. The 5th Earl lived at Laleham in the early 20th century, was MP for Chertsey, 1904-06, and fought in the First World War as Colonel of the London Rifle Volunteers. After the death of his father in 1914 he was elected as a representative Irish peer with a seat in the House of Lords, and in 1934, after serving two terms as a Government whip, he was rewarded with a UK peerage as Baron Bingham, so that he and his successors could sit in the House of Lords as of right. In the 1920s he transferred his estates to the Lucan Estate Co., which sold Castlebar in 1924, after the Irish civil war, and Laleham House in 1928. These measures, together with his years of service in parliament and the armed forces, retrieved the family's fortunes, and he was worth over £130,000 at his death in 1949. His eldest son and successor, Col. George Charles Patrick Bingham (1898-1964), 6th Earl of Lucan, was a socialist in politics, and became a junior member of the Attlee Government and later an opposition whip in the House of Lords. He died comparatively young, and was succeeded by his son, John Bingham (b. 1934), 7th Earl of Lucan, who placed himself at the centre of one of the most famous unsolved criminal cases of the 20th century when he mysteriously disappeared after the murder of his children's nanny and the attempted murder of his estranged wife in 1974. Despite numerous reported but unproven sightings from around the world over the following years, Lord Lucan was never traced, and in 2016 the High Court ruled that his death could be presumed, allowing his son, George Bingham (b. 1967) to succeed as 8th Earl of Lucan in the Irish peerage and 4th Baron Bingham in the UK peerage.

Castlebar House, Co. Mayo

The original home of the Bingham family at Castlebar was a castle which was reported as 'burned to the ground' with all the pictures, furniture and plate 'to the amount of £50,000' after an accidental fire in November 1756. All that remained of it when Dr Beaufort visited it in 1787 were 'two great round towers', one of which had had rooms added to it on either side of a long corridor by the 1st Earl of Lucan. Dr. Beaufort described them as 'tolerably good and convenient, furnished with some pictures of which a few have merit', though he regarded the furnishing as far from elegant and was clearly not impressed with the 'large heavy chimneypiece of black marble' in one of the rooms.

The Lawn, Castlebar, in the 1920s.

This adequate if somewhat makeshift residence was destroyed in the Rebellion of 1798 and eventually replaced, probably in the 1820s, by a small three-by-five bay house with no pretensions to be a nobleman's seat, although it was set in a fine position high above the river in a verdant park studded with large trees. J.B. Papworth is known to have supplied designs for it at the same time as he was altering Laleham House for the 2nd Earl, but whether he designed the building as constructed is uncertain. The function of this house, known as The Lawn, was no doubt to be an occasional residence on their Irish estate for a family which increasingly spent most of its time in England. The house did, however, possess a large drawing room, which enabled them to entertain the neighbourhood when they did come to Ireland.

The Lawn, Castlebar, as rebuilt after the fire in the 1930s, with later school additions.

The family sold the house after the Irish Civil War, in 1924, and it became a convent school. An accidental fire gutted the house in the 1930s, but it was restored and reopened. An extremely ugly addition was built to the right of the entrance front, on the site of the former service wing, probably in the 1950s or 1960s.

Descent: granted c.1600 to Sir John Bingham, kt. (fl. 1609); to nephew, Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt.; to son, Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt.; to half-brother, Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt.; to son, Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt.; to son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt.; to brother, Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan; to son, Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan; to son, Field-Marshal George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan; handed over estates to son, Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan; transferred to Lucan Estates Co., which sold 1924...

Laleham House (later Laleham Abbey), Middlesex

A compact stuccoed Greek Revival house, of two storeys over a basement, designed by J.B. Papworth in 1803-06 for the 2nd Earl of Lucan and later extended and remodelled by the same architect in c.1824-28 and in 1839, when the 3rd Earl was his client. The initial building was one of Papworth's first independent commissions, and his drawings for the project are now at the Royal Institute of British Architects. The west (entrance) front has long windows in simple moulded frames, a central tripartite window and a Greek key frieze. As first built there was a shallow Greek Doric porch, but the present porch dates from 1828, when it was doubled in depth and given a plain pedimented and open upper storey (since removed). The five-bay south front now has a ground-floor colonnade of square piers, also dating from 1828. 

Laleham House: drawing by J.B. Papworth for the remodelling of the house in 1839. Image: RIBA PB1328/PAP[207](62)

Laleham House: the entrance front in recent years.

Papworth's drawings chart the evolution of the plan from an unexciting triple-pile arrangement to something much more dramatic, with a sequence of three spaces forming the central pile comprising a transverse oval for the entrance hall; a dramatic top-lit D-shaped staircase hall; and an oval dining room behind a bow window on the east front. The interior was largely redecorated in the 1820s remodelling, when screens of black and white marble Ionic columns were introduced into the entrance hall to separate the central vaulted vestibule from half-octagonal lobbies. The staircase hall has a cantilevered staircase and a plaster frieze of Alexander's triumpal entry into Babylon, copied from Thorvaldsen's frieze of 1812 in the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome, so this must date from the 1820s or 1830s; the circular lantern over the staircase dates from 1839. 

Laleham House: the D-shaped staircase hall with the Thorvaldsen frieze.

The rooms along the south front were the drawing room and library, and the latter was redecorated in 1824 and given a top-lit eastern vestibule behind a screen of columns in 1828, decorated with roundels of Night and Day by Thorvaldsen, which were commissioned by the 2nd Earl in 1816. In 1839, the library vestibule was remodelled as an elaborate Ionic-columned aedicule as part of alterations which attached a large conservatory to this south-east corner of the house, an L-shaped service wing of yellow brick to the north-east corner, and a stable court with windows in giant round arches and entrance through a central pavilion with a square cupola.

Laleham House: the cottage orné lodge. Image: Patricia Philpott/Historic England.

In 1932, the house became a convent school and it remained so until 1979, when it was sold to Barratt Developments and converted into flats; the decoration of the hall, staircase and library largely survive. The grounds, which originally extended to some 23 acres but were not part of a larger estate, run down to the River Thames. At the north end of the site is a cottage orné lodge, now known as The Thatched Cottage. It was very probably designed by Papworth, perhaps in the 1820s, although no drawings survive for it. It has a thatched roof and a thatched veranda with rustic tree trunk supports, moulded Tudor chimneys and elaborately carved bargeboards.

Descent: built for Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan; handed over 1900 to son, George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), who transferred it to the Lucan Estates Co. in 1925; sold 1928 to John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston (1873-1930); to son, Richard Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron Churston; sold to Sisters of St Peter the Apostle, Westminster; sold 1981 for conversion into flats. The house was let from 1829 to the exiled Queen Maria II of Portugal, and in 1915 to the Grand Duke Michael of Russia.

Bingham family, baronets and Earls of Lucan

Bingham, Sir George (d. 1599), kt. Fourth son of Robert Bingham (d. 1561) [for whom see my earlier post on the Binghams of Bingham's Melcombe] and his wife Alice, daughter of Thomas Coker of Mappowder (Dorset). A soldier in Ireland who went to Connaught after his brother's appointment as Governor in 1584; sheriff of Clare, 1584-85; acting Governor of Connaught in his brother's absence, 1587-88; military governor of Co. Sligo, 1596. He married, 1569, Cecily (d. 1598), daughter of Robert Martyn of Athelhampton (Dorset), and had issue:

(1) Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt. (q.v.);

(2) John Bingham [for whom see my future post on the Bingham family, Barons Clanmorris]; he may, however, have been a grandson of Sir George rather than his son.

He died in Dublin and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral there, 1599. His wife died in 1598.

Bingham, Sir Henry (1573-1659), 1st bt. Elder son of Sir George Bingham (d. 1599), kt., and his wife Cecily, daughter of Robert Martyn of Athelhampton House (Dorset), baptised at Milton Abbas (Dorset), 1573. High Sheriff of Co. Galway, 1607, and of Co. Mayo, 1639; MP for Castlebar, 1634-36 and 1639-48. He was serving an an officer in the king's army in Ireland when he was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, 7 June 1634. His baronetcy would have come with a grant of 16,000 acres in Nova Scotia, but he seems never to have had seizin of this property. He married Catherine (d. c.1674), daughter of John Byrne of Ballinclough, and had issue (possibly among others):

(1) Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(2) Alice Bingham; married Sir George Browne (1627-98), 2nd bt. of The Neale (Co. Mayo), and had issue two sons and three daughters.

He inherited the Castlebar (Co. Mayo) estate from his uncle, Sir John Bingham, after 1609.

He died before 27 January 1658/9. His widow died between 31 October 1673 and 21 July 1674.

Bingham, Sir George (c.1625-82), 2nd bt. Only recorded son of Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt., and his wife Catherine, daughter of John Byrne of Ballinclough, born about 1625. MP for Castlebar, 1661-66; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1662-63 and 1678-79; custos rotulorum for Co. Mayo, 1663. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet in January 1658/9. He married 1st, [forename unknown] Palmer; 2nd, 6 June 1661 at St Benet, Paul's Wharf, London, Anne Pargiter (c.1630-61), widow; and 3rd, 14 December 1661 at Hadlow (Kent), Rebecca (b. c.1637), second daughter of Sir William Middleton (1603-52), 2nd bt., and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(3.1) Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt. (q.v.).

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1659.

He died by 1 June 1682. His first wife's died in or before 1661. His second wife died without issue within a few weeks of their marriage, between June and September 1661; administration of her goods was granted 11 September 1661. His third wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Sir Henry (1654-1714), 3rd bt. Only son of Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt., and his first wife, born 1654. Educated at the Middle Temple (admitted 1673). Tory MP for County Mayo, 1692-93, 1695-99, 1703-14; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1684-85, 1694; Custos Rotulorum for Co. Mayo, 1682. He succeeded his father as 3rd baronet in May 1682. He married 1st, 1678 (licence 1 February 1677/8), Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Cuffe, and 2nd, Letitia alias Lettice (d. 1728), daughter of Charles Bingham of Newbrook (Co. Mayo), but had no surviving male issue.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1682 and augmented the estate by the purchase of 3,043 acres in Co. Mayo from the Commissioners for the sale of forfeited estates in 1702/3. In 1713 his income was estimated at £600 p.a.

He died in 1714 and was buried at Castlebar, where he is commemorated by a monument which says he died aged 60; his will was proved in Dublin, 6 October 1714. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow died in 1728, when her will was proved.

Sir George Bingham, 4th bt. 

Bingham, Sir George (d. c.1730), 4th bt. Only son of Sir George Bingham (d. 1682), 2nd bt., and his third wife, Rebecca, daughter of Sir William Middleton, 2nd bt., born in or after 1662. A Jacobite, who was an officer in the army of King James II, but deserted at the Battle of Aughrim, 1691. He succeeded his half-brother as 4th baronet in 1714. He married 1st, 1688, Mary Scott, and 2nd, Phoebe Hawkins, and had issue:

(1.1) Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Rebecca Bingham (fl. 1714);

(1.3) Henrietta Bingham (fl. 1722); married, 1722, as his first wife, John Ormsby (d. c.1745) of Cloghans (Co. Mayo); died before 1732;

(1.4) Lettice Bingham (fl. 1714);

(1.5) George Bingham; probably died young;

(1.6) Henry Bingham (b. c.1706; fl. 1725); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1725);

(2.1) George Bingham.

He inherited Castlebar on the death of his half-brother in 1714.

He died about 1730. His first wife died after 1698. His second wife's date of death is unknown. 

Sir John Bingham, 5th bt.,
attib. to Robert Hunter* 

Bingham, Sir John (1696-1749), 5th bt. Eldest son of Sir George Bingham (fl. 1714), 4th bt., and his first wife, Mary Scott, born at Castle Adair (Co. Mayo), 1696. Educated privately at Galway and at Trinity College, Dublin  (admitted 1713) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1717). Governor of Co. Mayo, 1727-49; MP for Co. Mayo, 1727-49; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1721; a trustee of the Linen Board for Munster, 1732-49; Governor of the Co. Mayo Workhouse, 1733-49; a commissioner of the Tillage Act for Connaught, 1735, 1739-49. He succeeded his father as 5th baronet in about 1730. He married, before 1720, Anne (1698-1761), daughter of Agmondesham Vesey (d. 1738) of Lucan Manor (Co. Dublin), and had issue:

(1) Jane Bingham (d. 1746), eldest daughter; married, 1 November 1745, as his first wife, Rt. Hon. Thomas Bermingham (1717-99), later 15/19th Baron Athenry and 1st Earl of Louth, MP for Co. Galway, 1745-50, but had no issue; died 1746;

(2) Mary Bingham (d. c.1754); married 1st, Capt. Hugh Montgomery (d. 1743); and 2nd, 11 September 1744 at St Anne, Dublin, Vesey Colclough (d. 1745) of Mochary, son of Caesar Colclough MP (1696-1766), and had issue one son, born posthumously; probably the person of this name whose will was disputed in 1754;

(3) Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt. (q.v.);

(5) Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron and 1st Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(4) George Bingham (d. 1752); said to have been an officer in the 23rd Foot (Welsh Fusiliers) (Lt., 1745; Capt.), and to have died unmarried at Dolmin (Germany), 10 October 1752, but these dates seem incompatible with his having been born after 1735; 

(6) Charlotte Bingham; died unmarried;

(7) Henrietta Bingham; died unmarried;

(8) Anne Bingham (d. 1782); married, 28 February 1756, Croasdaile Miller (d. 1783) of Millford (Co. Mayo), High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1750, 1756, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 1782.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in about 1730.

He died 25 July 1749** and was buried at Castlebar. His widow died in February 1761.

* This painting is normally identified as Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., but I suspect it may actually be of his son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt. as the sitte.r appears to be a young man, though the powdered wig makes him look older. The attributed artist's earliest work dates from 1748, when the 5th baronet would have been nearly fifty and his son about 20.

** Some sources give the date as 21 September 1749, but contemporary newspaper evidence shows this is the correct date.

Bingham, Sir John (1728-50), 6th bt. Elder son of Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., and his wife Anne, daughter of Agmondesham Vesey of Lucan (Co. Dublin), born before 29 November 1728. MP for Co. Mayo, 1749-50. He is said to have set aside much of his inheritance to repay debts owed by his parents for which he was not liable. He succeeded his father as 6th baronet, 25 July 1749. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1749.

He died 27 November 1750.

1st Earl of Lucan
Image: National Portrait Gallery

Bingham, Sir Charles (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan. Second son of Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., and his wife Anne, daughter of Agmondesham Vesey of Lucan (Co. Dublin), born 22 September 1735. Education unknown, but he did undertake a Grand Tour in 1755, when he is known to have visited Florence and Rome. High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1756. In 1761 he stood for Parliament in Castlebar (where he controlled both seats) and Co. Mayo, and having been elected for both, chose to sit for the county, which he represented in the Irish parliament 1761-76. Initially a Tory (there was a strong Jacobite tradition in his mother's family), his desire for a place on the Irish privy council led him into support of the viceroy by the mid 1770s, for which he was rewarded with a peerage. Since he was not disabled by his Irish peerage from sitting in the UK House of Commons, his connection with the Spencers led to him being brought in as a stopgap to maintain the Spencer interest as Whig MP for Northampton in the UK Parliament, 1782-84, but he was unpopular with the townspeople and was defeated at the 1784 election. He was Governor of Co. Mayo, 1756-63 and joint Governor, 1766-98, and was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier. He wrote An essay on the use and necessity of establishing a militia in Ireland (1767), and he served as Colonel of the Mayo Legion volunteers and an officer in the Longford (Clanricarde) Cavalry (2nd Lt., 1796). He was a trustee of the Linen Board for Ulster, 1762-99. He succeeded his brother as 7th baronet, 27 November 1750, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Lucan of Castlebar, 24 July 1776, before being further created Earl of Lucan, 1 October 1795. He married, 25 August 1760 at Bath (Som.), with a portion of £20,000, Margaret (d. 1814), an accomplished amateur artist, daughter and co-heir of James Smyth MP of Canonsleigh (Devon) and St Audries (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Lady Lavinia Bingham (1762-1831), born at Castlebar, 27 July 1762; 'a strong-minded and strong-willed woman of great erudition and charm [who became] perhaps the pre-eminent hostess in London society' (ODNB), but who was also capable of being moody, vindictive, hypocritical and jealous; she was also an amateur artist of considerable ability, some of whose drawings were professionally engraved; she married, 6 March 1781 by archbishop's special licence, at her father's house in Charles St. in the parish of St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Rt Hon. George John Spencer (1758-1834), Viscount Althorp and later 2nd Earl Spencer, and had issue six sons and three daughters; died 8 June 1831 and was buried in the Spencer family vault at Great Brington (Northants);

(2) Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(3) Hon. Louisa Bingham (1765-84), born in late 1765; died unmarried, and was buried at Wimbledon, 3 June 1784;

(4) Lady Anne Bingham (c.1767-1840), born about 1767; died unmarried, 6 March and was buried at Richmond (Surrey), 14 March 1840; will proved in the PCC, 7 April 1840;

(5) Lady Eleanor alias Margaret Bingham (c.1768-1839), born about 1768; married, c.1785, Thomas Lindsay (c.1760-1810) of Hollymount House (Co. Mayo), and had issue at least one daughter; died at Portsea (Hants), 27 May 1839.

He inherited Castlebar from his brother in 1752, but lived chiefly at his town house in London and at Oakholm on the south side of Wimbledon Common (Surrey).

He died 29 March 1799; his will was proved 17 April 1799. His widow died at her house in London, 27 February 1814, and was buried at Wimbledon, where she is commemorated by a monument; administration of her goods was granted in March 1814 and August 1842.

2nd Earl of Lucan, 1819

Bingham, Richard (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan. Only son of Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan, and his wife Margaret, daughter of James Smith of Canonsleigh (Devon) and St. Audries (Som.), born 4 or 6 December 1764. Educated at Westminster, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1781) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1784). MP for St Albans, 1790-1800, on the interest of his brother-in-law, Earl Spencer. He was styled Lord Bingham from 1795 until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Lucan, 29 March 1799, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish Peer, 1801-39. In 1800, when the Irish Parliament was abolished with the passing of the Act of Union, he received £15,000 compensation for the disenfranchisement of the borough of Castlelbar. He was an officer of the Royal Spelthorne Legion (Maj., 1803). In 1793 he eloped to Wales with Lady Elizabeth (1770-1819), third daughter and co-heir of Henry Belasyse (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg of Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR) and wife of Bernard Edward Howard, later 12th Duke of Norfolk, who divorced her on his account in May 1794 and secured £1,000 in damages for 'criminal conversation'. He and Elizabeth were married, 26 May 1794 at St Marylebone (Middx), and then lived ‘in close retirement’ with her at Washingley Hall (Hunts) until 1799, though by 1804 the couple had separated. They had issue:

(1) Lady Elizabeth Bingham (1794-1838), born 16 July and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 13 August 1794; married, 27 May 1815 at St James, Piccadilly, as his first wife, George Granville Venables-Harcourt (later Vernon-Harcourt and Harcourt) (1785-1861), MP for Lichfield, 1806-31 and Oxfordshire, 1831-61, and had issue one daughter (later the wife of the 6th Earl of Abingdon); died in Milan (Italy) 9 September 1838 where she was initially buried, but her body was returned to England and reburied at Stanton Harcourt (Oxon), 25 November 1838;

(2) Lady Charlotte Bingham (1796-1805), born 28 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 24 March 1796; died young, 16 March, and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 20 March 1805;

(3) Lady Anne Bingham (1797-1850), born 22 February and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 21 March 1797; married, 18 July 1816 at the British embassy in Paris (France), Alexander Murray (1789-1845) of Broughton (Wigtowns.), MP for Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 1838-45, but had no issue; died 28 October 1850;

(4) Lady Louisa Bingham (1798-1882), born 1 March and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 8 April 1798; married, 22 August 1817 at British embassy in Paris, Francis Wemyss-Charteris-Douglas (1795-1883), 9th Earl of Wemyss and 5th Earl of March, and had issue four sons and three daughters; died 16 April 1882;

(5) Lady Georgiana Bingham (1799-1849), born 19 April 1799; married, 15 June 1821 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, Charles Nevill (1791-1848) of Nevill Holt Hall (Northants), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died at Livorno (Italy), 1 July 1849.

(6) George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(7) Hon. Richard Camden Bingham (1801-72), born 2 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 18 June 1801; diplomat who served as Secretary of Legation, Bavaria, 1831-1839; Secretary of Legation, Sardinia-Piedmont, 1839-52; Secretary of Legation, Portugal, 1852; Secretary of Legation, Two Sicilies, 1852; Charge d’Affaires, Venenzuela, 1852-1858; married, 11 December 1848 (sep. c.1865), at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London, Maria, daughter of Charles Thomas, but had no issue; in old age he became eccentric and had no fixed address, but took to carrying a good deal of plate and jewellery about with him; he died, 23 January 1872, at the home of a female friend who was subsequently prosecuted for the theft of some of his property; he died intestate and administration of his goods was granted to his widow.

He inherited the Castlebar estate from his father in 1799. In 1803 he purchased land at Laleham (Middx) and built Laleham House to the designs of J.B. Papworth, which he further altered in c.1824-29, when he also built a small new house at Castlebar. He let Laleham from 1829. After their separation, his wife lived with her sister Anne at Stowlangtoft Hall (Suffk) and then with another sister, Charlotte, at Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR); she also owned or rented Rose Hill Cottage at Wargrave (Berks), which was designed by Robert Lugar.

He died 30 June 1839 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 September 1839. His estranged wife died in Paris, 24 March 1819.

3rd Earl of Lucan

Bingham, Field Marshal George Charles (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan. Elder son of George Charles Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan, and his wife Elizabeth, third daughter and co-heir of Henry Belasyse, 3rd Earl Fauconberg of Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR) and formerly wife of Bernard Howard (later 12th Duke of Norfolk), born 16 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 5 June 1800. Educated at Westminster School. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1816; Lt., 1818; Capt., 1822; Maj., 1825; Lt-Col., 1826; Col., 1841; Maj-Gen., 1851; Lt-Gen., 1858; Gen., 1865; Field Marshal, 1887), whose progression to Lt-Col. was achieved by purchase, although he was regarded as an effective officer; he was on half-pay from 1837-54 but returned to active soldiering to command a cavalry division in the Crimean War, being appointed without reference to the overall commander, Lord Raglan. He was one of the commanders responsible for the infamous 'Charge of the Light Brigade' at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, where he was himself wounded. He was blamed by Lord Raglan for the heavy losses sustained by the Light Brigade and ordered to return to England, where he defended himself in a speech to the House of Lords which seems to have been largely successful in restoring his reputation. He was Colonel of the 8th Hussars, 1855-65 and 1st Life Guards, 1865-88. Tory MP for Co. Mayo, 1826-30, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1840-88. He held several foreign orders, being a Chevallier of the French Legion d'honneur; a knight 1st class of the Ottoman Order of Medjidie; and a Knight 2nd class of the Russian Order of St. Anne (which he was awarded after holding a staff appointment with the Russian army in Bulgaria in 1826). He succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of Lucan, 30 June 1839. He was Lord Lieutenant of Co. Mayo, 1845-88 and Gold Stick in Waiting, 1886-88. He gained a reputation as a ruthless landlord during the Great Famine of the 1840s in Ireland, when he attempted to modernize the family holdings by creating large farms using new agricultural techniques and machinery; he also evicted many tenants and pulled down their houses. Lucan also clashed with his land agent, accusing him of corruption and taking him to court for alleged poaching, where his uncontrolled outbursts during the trial led to his being removed from the bench of magistrates. His stubbornness and hectoring manner caused widespread offence and led to the breakdown of his marriage. He married, 21 February 1829 (sep. c.1850), Anne (1809-77), seventh daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan, and had issue:

(1) George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(2) Lady Augusta Bingham (1832-88), born 7 February 1832; married, 10 September 1853, as his first wife, her cousin, Henry Gerald Sturt MP (1825-1904), later 1st Baron Alington, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 3 July 1888 and was buried at Cranbourne (Dorset);

(3) Lady Elizabeth Bingham (1833-57), baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq, St Marylebone, 10 July 1833; died unmarried at Pau (France), 5 November 1857;

(4) Lady Lavinia Bingham (1835-64), born 2 May and baptised at Laleham, 7 June 1835; married, 10 April 1856 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-94), 2nd Viscount Hardinge, and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 15 September 1864 and was buried at Fordcombe (Kent);

(5) Lady Anne Sarah Bingham (1840-55), baptised at Laleham, 3 May 1840; died young, 26 August 1855 and was buried at Laleham;

(6) Rear-Adm. the Hon. Richard Bingham (1847-1924), born 6 January and baptised at Laleham, 28 March 1847; joined the Royal Navy, 1860 (Lt., 1869; Cdr., 1884; Capt., 1891; retired 1897; Rear-Adm., 1904); married 1st, 26 September 1877 at St Michael, Chester Sq., Westminster, Mary Elizabeth (c.1841-1908), youngest daughter of Edward Henry Cole (d. 1858) of Stoke Lyne (Oxon), and had issue two daughters; married 2nd, 30 April 1914 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Ida Louisa (1871-1925), daughter of Charles Arthur Galton, Madras civil servant; died following an operation, 12 November 1924 and was buried at Hove Cemetery (Sussex); his will was proved 19 December 1924 (estate £11,133).

He inherited Castlebar House and Laleham House from his father in 1839, and made additions to the latter soon afterwards. After their separation, his wife lived at Sion House, Richmond (Surrey).

He died in London, 10 November 1888, and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved 23 January 1889 (effects £59,918). His wife died 2 April 1877; administration of her goods was granted 9 July 1877 (effects under £600).

4th Earl of Lucan
Image: National Portrait Gallery. 

Bingham, George (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan. Elder son of Field Marshal George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan, and his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan, born 8 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 1 June 1830. Educated at Rugby. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1848; Ensign & Lt., 1851; Lt. & Capt., 1854; Brev-Maj., 1855; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1859; retired 1860); ADC to his father in the Crimean War. Conservative MP for Co. Mayo, 1865-74. Vice-Adm. of Connaught, 1889; Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Co. Mayo, 1901-14; JP and County Alderman for Middlesex, 1888-1914. He was styled Lord Bingham from 1839 until he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Lucan, 10 November 1888. He sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1889-1914 and was made a Knight of St Patrick, 1898. He was also a Chevallier of the Legion d'honneur and was awarded the Turkish Order of Medjidie (5th class), 1857. He came perilously close to bankruptcy in 1898, when he made an arrangement with his creditors, and again in 1913, and he handed his estates over to his eldest son in 1900. He married, 17 November 1859 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Lady Cecilia Catherine (1838-1910), fifth and youngest daughter of Charles Gordon Lennox (1791-1860), 5th Duke of Richmond, and had issue:

(1) Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(2) Maj-Gen. the Hon. Sir Cecil Edward Bingham (1861-1934), kt., born 7 December 1861; educated at Wellington; an officer in the army (Lt., 1882; Capt., 1892; Maj., 1898; Lt-Col., 1906; Col.; Brig-Gen., 1910; Maj-Gen., 1915; retired 1920), who served in the Boer War and First World War, when he commanded the Cavalry Corps, 1915-18 (mentioned in despatches four times and knighted (KCMG)); ADC to HRH the Duke of Connaught on his Indian tour, 1903; a Commander of the Legion d'honneur; he married 1st, 28 June 1884 at All Saints, Margaret St., St Marylebone (Middx), Rose Ellinor (1863-1908), daughter of James Alexander Guthrie of Craigie (Angus), banker, and had issue two sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 3 February 1911 at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster, Alys Elizabeth (1870-1953), daughter of Col. Henry Montgomery Carr of Louisville, Kentucky (USA) and widow of Samuel Sloan Chauncey of New York (USA); died 31 May 1934 and was buried at Laleham; will proved 30 June 1934 (estate £9,934);

(3) Maj-Gen. the Hon. Sir Francis Richard Bingham (1863-1935), kt., born 5 July and baptised at St Marylebone, 5 August 1863; an officer in the Royal Artillery (Lt., 1883; Capt., 1892; Maj., Lt-Col., 1910; Col., 1913; Brig-Gen., 1915; Maj-Gen, 1917); ADC to Commander-in-Chief, Madras, 1893-95, 1896-98; Chief Instructor, School of Gunnery, 1911-13; War Office, 1913-16 (Asst Director, 1913-15; Deputy Director, 1915-16); member of council, Ministry of Munitions, 1916-19; Chief of British Section at Military Inter-Allied Control Commission for Germany, 1919-24; Lt-Governor of Jersey, 1924-29; Hon. Col. of Royal Militia of Jersey, 1925; JP for Buckinghamshire, 1932; appointed KCB and KCMG and held various foreign orders and decorations; married, 10 June 1896 at Ootacamund (India), Kathleen (1870-1963), daughter of Gen. Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke (1839-1932), 3rd bt., of Dunham Lodge (Norfk), and had issue one son; died 5 November 1935 and was buried at Burnham (Bucks); will proved 30 December 1935 (estate £7,819);

(4) Hon. Alexander Frederic Bingham (1864-1909), born 3 August and baptised at St Marylebone, 29 August 1864; joined mercantile marine (2nd mate, 1884; master mariner, 1890); married, 19 September 1894 at Christ Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Olwin Lavinia Truscott (d. 1904), a professional singer, daughter of John Leslie, but had no issue; died 26 May 1909; administration of goods granted to his eldest brother, 5 August 1915 (estate £1,553);

(5) Hon. Albert Edward Bingham (1866-1941), born 30 June and baptised (when the Prince of Wales stood sponsor) at St Marylebone, 9 August 1866; stockbroker with Percy G. Belfour & Co. from 1889; received into the Roman Catholic church, 1898; emigrated to southern Africa in 1914; married, 3 September 1892 at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), Christine Graham (1865-1966), daughter of Archibald Smith, but had no issue; died at Cape Town (South Africa), 6 November 1941, and was buried at Plumstead Cemetery, Wynberg, Cape Town, where he is commemorated by a gravestone;

(6) Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (1869-1958), born 26 February and baptised at St Luke, Westminster, 20 April 1869; granted freedom of city of Belfast, 1935; created DBE, 1936; honorary associate of Order of St. John; awarded honorary degree by Queens University, Belfast, 1944; married, 1 November 1894 at St Paul, Wilton Place, Knightsbridge (Middx), Rt. Hon. James Albert Edward Hamilton KG KP (1869-1953), 3rd Duke of Abercorn, MP for Londonderry, 1900-13 and Governor of Northern Ireland, 1922-45, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 18 January 1958; administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 28 April 1958 (estate £5,363);

(7) Hon. Lionel Ernest Bingham (1876-1927), born 4 November and baptised privately, 27 November 1876; educated at The Ridgeway College, Wimbledon; an officer in the army (Lt., 1914; Capt., 1917; retired 1919), who served in the First World War (wounded twice); emigrated to Bulawayo (Rhodesia); died unmarried in Bulawayo, 26 July 1927; will proved 1 November 1928 (estate in England, £12).

He inherited Castlebar House and Laleham House from his father in 1888.

He died 5 June 1914 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved in Dublin, 13 August 1914 (estate £251). His wife died 5 October 1910 and was buried at Laleham.

5th Earl of Lucan in 1943. 
Image: National Portrait Gallery. 

Bingham, Brig-Gen. George Charles (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan. Eldest son of George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan, and his wife Lady Cecilia Catherine, youngest daughter of Charles Gordon Lennox (1791-1860), 5th Duke of Richmond, born 13 December 1860 and baptised at All Souls, Langham Place, St Marylebone (Middx), 2 March 1861. Educated at Harrow and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. An officer in the Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia (2nd Lt., 1878) and later in the Rifle Brigade (2nd Lt., 1881; Lt., 1881; Capt., 1891; retired 1896), who served in Bechuanaland Expedition, 1884-85. He joined the 1st London Rifle Volunteers (Maj., 1900; Lt-Col., 1901; Col., 1912; Hon. Brig-Gen., 1917; retired 1919) and served in the First World War (mentioned in despatches). High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1902-03; JP and DL for Middlesex and DL for Co. Mayo; Conservative MP for Chertsey, 1904-06. Chairman of City of London Territorial Army and Allied Forces Association, 1914-41; Colonel of The Artists Rifles; Hon. Col. of 5th Battalion, London Regiment, 1923-46; ADC to HM King George V, 1920-28. He was known by the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from 1888 until he succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Lucan, 5 June 1914, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1914-49; he was also created Baron Bingham of Melcombe Bingham in the UK peerage, 26 June 1934, giving him a seat in the Lords in his own right, and he served as a Lord in Waiting (Government Whip in House of Lords), 1920-24, 1924-29 and Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms, Jan-Jun 1929, 1931-40. He was appointed CB, 1919 and KBE, 1920. He married, 30 November 1896, Violet Sylvia Blanche OBE (1877-1972), only daughter of Joseph Spender Clay of Ford Manor (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Col. George Charles Patrick Bingham (1898-1964), 6th Earl of Lucan, born 24 November 1898 and baptised at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster (Middx), 6 January 1899; educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the Coldstream Guards (Lt. by 1919; Capt., 1926; Maj., 1934; Lt-Col., 1941; retired as Col., 1947), who served in the First World War (wounded; awarded MC, 1919); ADC to Governor-General of South Africa, 1924-26; Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General for London district, 1937-40; Deputy Director of Ground Defence, Air Ministry, 1942-45; known by the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from 1914 until he succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Lucan and 2nd Baron Bingham of Melcombe Bingham, 20 April 1949; a socialist in politics, he joined the Labour government as Captain of Yeomen of the Guard, 1950-51; Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Commonwealth Relations Office, June-Oct 1951; Opposition Chief Whip in House of Lords, 1954-64; married, 23 December 1929, Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne (d. 1985), only child of Capt. the Hon. Edward Stanley Dawson RN, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 21 January 1964; will proved 20 April and 4 June 1964 (estate £94,479);

(2) Lady Barbara Violet Bingham (1902-63), born 17 August and baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq., St. Marylebone (Middx), 18 September 1902; married, 18 January 1927 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Col. John Henry Bevan CB MC (1894-1978), stockbroker and a senior military intelligence officer, who planned the successful deception operation that concealed the site of the D-Day landings in the Second World War, youngest son of David Augustus Bevan of Rowney Priory, Ware (Herts), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 17 December 1963; will proved 13 February 1964 (estate £59,821);

(3) Hon. John Edward Bingham (1904-92), born 29 February and baptised at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster, 31 March 1904; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1922; BA 1925); a stockbroker and an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1927; Lt., 1930; retired 1933; returned to colours, 1939; Capt., 1940; retired as Maj., 1946) who served in the Second World War in North Africa and with the SAS; married, 7 November 1942 at St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh, Dorothea Blanche Delacour (1913-2000), younger daughter of Rev. John Kyrle Chatfield, and had issue three sons; died 20 September 1992 and was buried at Udimore (Sussex); 

(4) Lady Margaret Diana Bingham (1905-77), born 16 September and baptised at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster, 17 October 1905; Vice-Chairman of Women's Voluntary Service; JP (from 1956) and DL (from 1970)* for Berkshire; appointed GBE, 1954; married, 14 October 1931 at Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric Alexander (1891-1969) KG, GCMG, GCB, OM, MC, DSO, CSI, PC, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, of Tyttenhanger, Cranbourne Grange, Windsor and Winkfield Lodge (Berks), and had issue two sons and one daughter, and adopted one daughter; died 17 August 1977 and was buried at Ridge (Herts); her will was proved 1 December 1977 (estate £55,643).

His father handed over the family estates to him in 1900, and he vested them in the Lucan Estate Co. in the 1920s, which sold Castlebar in c.1924 and Laleham in 1928.

He died 20 April 1949 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved 19 October and 31 December 1949 (estate £133,616). His widow died aged 94 on 31 January 1972, and was buried at Laleham; her will was proved 8 March 1972 (estate £26,433).

* She was the first female Deputy Lieutenant appointed anywhere in the country.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 2421-23; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, p. 44; J. Lodge & M. Archdall, The peerage of Ireland, vol. 7, 1788, pp. 104-08; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd edn., 1988, pp. 41, 61-62, 223-24; E.M. Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 182-88; C. O'Brien, I. Nairn & B. Cherry, The buildings of England: Surrey, 2nd edn., 2022, p. 479;

Location of archives

Bingham of Laleham House, Earls of Lucan: deeds, estate and family papers, 1765-20th cent. [The London Archives, Acc/0493]

Coat of arms

Azure, a bend cotised between six crosses patée or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide a painting or drawing of Castlebar House before it was destroyed in the Irish rebellion of 1798?
• Can anyone provide portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 March 2026 and updated 12 April 2026.

(598) Norreys and Bertie of Rycote and Wytham Abbey, Barons Norreys and Earls of Abingdon - part 2

This post has been divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of my introduction to the family and its property, and a description of the houses they owned. This second part gives the biographical and genealogical details of the family. 

Norreys family of Rycote and Wytham, Barons Norreys

Henry Norreys (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys 

Norreys, Henry (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys. Only son of Sir Henry Norreys (d. 1536) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre of the South, born about 1525. His father had been accused of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn, summarily executed, and posthumously attainted, but in 1539 an Act of Parliament restored him in blood and returned such of the family's property as had not been forfeited to the Crown. He was an official of the royal stables by 1546; gentleman of the privy chamber by 1547; and butler of the port of Poole, 1553. His career accelerated after the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, who honoured his father for his defence of her mother's honour. He was JP for Berkshire from 1558 and for Oxfordshire, 1561-91; High Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxfordshire, 1562-3; MP for Berkshire, 1547-52 and for Oxfordshire, 1571-72; Ambassador to France, 1566-70; Porter of the Outer Gate and Keeper of the Armoury at Windsor Castle from about 1580; an officer in the Queen's bodyguard (Capt., 1588) and Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and Oxfordshire, 1587-99. He was knighted in 1566, raised to the peerage as Baron Norreys by writ of summons, 6 May 1572, and fully restored in blood by a second Act of Parliament in 1575/6. He married, by 1544, the Hon. Margaret (1521-99), daughter and co-heiress of Sir  John Williams (d. 1559), 1st Baron Williams of Thame, and had issue:

(1) Hon. Sir William Norreys (c.1545-79) (q.v.);

(2) Hon. & Rt. Hon. Sir John Norreys (1547-97), born 1547; the most acclaimed English soldier of his day, participating in the Wars of Religion in France, in Flanders during the Eighty Years' War of Dutch liberation from Spain, in the Anglo-Spanish War, and above all in the Tudor conquest of Ireland, where he became infamous for the massacre of women and children on the island of Rathlin in 1575; MP for County Cork, 1585 and for Oxfordshire, 1589; a member of the Privy Council of Ireland; died of gangrene at the house of his brother, Sir Thomas, in Mallow (Co. Cork), 3 Jul 1597 and was buried at Yattendon (Berks); administration of his goods was granted in October 1597;

(3) Hon, Sir Edward Norreys (c.1550-1603), born about 1550; MP for Oxford, 1572 and for Abingdon, 1584-85, 1588-89; fought in the Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal; knighted 1586; sewer of the household, 1590; Governor of Ostend, 1590-99, when he was recalled to comfort his parents, whose other sons had all been killed; clerk of the petty bag by 1600; JP for Berkshire, 1598-1603 and Oxfordshire, 1601-03; custos rotulorum for Berkshire, 1601-03; married, 1600, Elizabeth (d. 1621) (who m3, 1604, Thomas Erskine (1566-1639), 1st Viscount Fenton and later 1st Earl of Kellie), daughter of Sir John Norreys (d. 1612) of Fyfield (Berks) and widow of Thomas? Webb of Salisbury (Wilts); died 8 September 1603 and was buried at Englefield (Berks);

(4) Hon. Catherine Norreys (b. c.1553-1602); married, c.1583, Sir Anthony Paulet (1562-1600), Governor of Jersey, and had issue at least two sons and three daughters; died 24 March 1602 and was buried at Hinton St. George (Som.);

(5) Hon. Sir Henry Norreys (c.1554-99), born about 1554; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1571); fought with his brothers John and Edward in the Netherlands 1586, knighted after the Battle of Zutphen 1586; MP for Berkshire 1589, 1597-98; served in Ireland as Col-General of Infantry 1595 and in the campaign in Munster 1599, where he died following the amputation of a wounded leg, 21 August 1599; his corpse was brought to Bristol in May 1600 and perhaps buried at Rycote;

(6) Hon. Thomas Norreys (1556-99), educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1571); MP for Limerick, 1585-86; knighted 1588; granted 6,000 acres in Munster, 1588; President of Munster and Lord Justice of Ireland, 1597; married Bridget Kingsmill, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill of Sydmonton (Hants), and had issue one daughter; died at his house in Mallow from a wound in the neck, 16/20 August 1599; his corpse was brought to Bristol in May 1600 and perhaps buried at Rycote;

(7) Hon. Maximilian Norreys (c.1557-93); served in Brittany under his brother John, where he was killed, September 1593.

He inherited the Rycote, Weston Manor and Wytham estates in right of his wife in 1559, and Yattendon (Berks) in 1588 under the will of his uncle, Sir John Norreys (d. 1563). He purchased Cumnor Place in 1574.

He died 27 June 1601 and was buried at Rycote, 10 August 1601, but is commemorated by a colossal freestanding monument, some 24 feet high, in Westminster Abbey, which was erected by his grandson after 1606; his will was proved in July 1601. His wife died in December 1599.

Norreys, Hon. Sir William (c.1545-79). Eldest son of Henry Norreys (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys, and his wife Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame, born c.1545. He was a soldier (Capt. of Horse) who campaigned in Ireland, 1573-76 and again in 1579; Marshal of Berwick. Receiver for Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex and the City of London, 1579. He married, 1576 (settlement 1 June), Elizabeth (d. 1611), daughter of Sir Richard Morrison of Cassiobury (Herts), and had issue:

(1) Francis Norreys (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire (q.v.).

He died of a fever while on campaign in Ireland in the lifetime of his father, 25 December 1579. His widow married 2nd, after 1586, as his second wife, Henry Clinton (1540-1616), 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and died about 4 July 1611.

Portrait, said to be of Francis Norreys,
1st Earl of Berkshire, from a stained glass 
panel formerly at Wytham Abbey.
Image: Bodleian Library.

Norreys, Francis (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire. Only child of the Hon. William Norreys (c.1550-79) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Morrison of Cassiobury (Herts), born 6 July and baptised at Wytham, 19 July 1579. In February 1597/8 he went to France in the train of Sir Robert Cecil, Ambassador Extraordinary. In August 1599 he was serving in the fleet hurriedly assembled to repel a threatened Spanish invasion. He proclaimed the accession of King James I at Oxford in 1603, and journeyed to the Scottish borders to accompany Queen Anne of Denmark to London. Between 1603 and 1605 he accompanied an English embassy to Spain, but his return to England was delayed by a serious illness which kept him in Paris for some months. He was present at the investitures of Prince Henry and Prince Charles as Princes of Wales in 1610 and 1616, and was Cupbearer at the installation of the Elector Palatine as a Knight of the Garter, 1615. He seems to have possessed an impetuous and quarrelsome disposition, and quarrelled both with his wife and with the Hon. Sir Peregrine Bertie (1585-1639). In 1612 he fought a duel with Bertie in which the latter was seriously wounded in the shoulder; after he had recovered, the two men fought again in 1613, leading King James I to issue a proclamation against duelling. In 1615 the two men were involved in an affray in a churchyard in which he killed a man called Winwood, servant to Bertie's father, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and he was convicted of manslaughter, but pardoned by the king. In February 1620/1 he was imprisoned in the Fleet prison for an insult offered to Lord Scrope in the presence of the Prince of Wales. He succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Baron Norreys, 27 June 1601, was made a Knight of the Bath, January 1604/5, and was promoted in the peerage to be Viscount Thame and 1st Earl of Berkshire*, 28 January 1620/1. He married, about 28 April 1599 at Chenies (Bucks) (but sep. 1606), with £8,500, Lady Bridget (1584-1631?), daughter and co-heir of Edward de Vere (1550-1604), 17th Earl of Oxford, and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Norreys (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys (q.v.).

He also had a mistress, Sarah Rose (who later married Samuel Hayward), and had issue by her:

(X1) Sir Francis Rose (later Norreys) (1609-69), inherited the manors of Weston-on-the-Green and Yattendon from his father in 1622 and came of age in 1631; knighted 1633; High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1635-36; MP for Oxfordshire, 1656-58; married Hester, daughter of Sir John Rouse (d. 1645), kt., and had issue; died 1669.

He inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from his grandfather in 1601, and £3,000 from his grandmother, Bridget, Countess of Bedford, in 1603. His title to his estates was challenged by his uncle, Sir Edward Norreys, but the latter died in 1603, whose estates also passed to Lord Norreys.

He committed suicide with a crossbow in the Fleet Prison, 29 or 31 January 1621/2, when his earldom and viscountcy became extinct, and his barony devolved upon his only legitimate child; an inquisition post mortem was held 9 October 1623, and his will was proved 11 January 1623/4.  His widow appears to have died between December 1630 and May 1631.

* It was reported on 13 January 1620/1 that 'Lord Norris is to be Earl of Thame, on marrying his daughter and assuring his land to Wray of the Bedchamber', so his promotion in the peerage was evidently due to Wray and his influence with the Duke of Buckingham, who was at this time Wray's close friend.

Norreys, Elizabeth (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys. Only legitimate child of Francis Norreys (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire, by his wife Lady Bridget, daughter and co-heir of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, born about 1600. She succeeded as Baroness Norreys suo jure, after her father committed suicide, 29 January 1621/2, leaving her one of the richest and most sought-after heiresses at court. Christopher Villiers, brother of the Duke of Buckingham, sought her hand with royal encouragement, and to avoid being forced into a marriage with him she eloped with and married, 27 March 1622 at St Mary Aldermary, London, Edward Wray (1589-1658)*, groom of the bedchamber to King James I and MP for Oxfordshire, 1625, third son of Sir William Wray, 1st bt., of Glentworth (Lincs). They had issue:

(1) Bridget Wray (1627-57), Baroness Norreys (q.v.).

She inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from her father in 1622, and carried them in marriage to Edward Wray.

She died shortly before 10 October 1645 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 28 November 1645. Her husband died at Fritwell (Oxon) on 20 March, and was buried at Wytham, 29 March 1658; administration of his goods was granted 10 July 1658.

* As a result of the king's displeasure, Wray was dismissed from the bedchamber and imprisoned for some months, his release being reported on 15 February 1622/3.

Wray, Bridget (1627-57), Baroness Norreys. Only child of Edward Wray (1589-1658) of Rycote Park and his wife Elizabeth (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys, only legitimate child of Francis Norreys, 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire, born 12 May and baptised at Hackney (Middx), 15 June 1627. She succeeded her mother as Baroness Norreys suo jure, October 1645. She married 1st, 24 December 1645, Hon. Edward Sackville (d. 1646), second son of Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, and 2nd, between 1646 and 1652, as his second wife, Montagu Bertie (c.1608-66), 2nd Earl of Lindsey, and had issue:

(2.1) James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(2.2) Hon. Edward Bertie (b. c.1654), born about 1654; died young;

(2.3) Lady Mary Bertie (1655-1709), born 1 September 1655; married, between 1678 and 1680*, as his second wife, Charles Dormer (1632-1709), 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, of Ascott House (Bucks), but had no issue; died 30 June 1709;

(2.4) Hon. Henry Bertie (c.1656-1734), born about 1656; educated at University of Padua (Italy) (admitted 1674); an officer in the army (Capt., 1678-85); Tory MP for Westbury, 1678-80, 1701-15, New Woodstock, 1681, and Oxford, 1685-87, 1689-95; deputy Constable of the Tower of London, 1702-05; inherited Nutley manor, Long Crendon (Bucks) from his father; married 1st, by 1687, Philadelphia (d. 1701), daughter of Sir Edward Norreys (1634-1713)**, kt., of Weston-on-the-Green (Oxon) and had issue three sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 1716 (licence 28 Sept.), Catherine (d. 1736), daughter of Sir Heneage Fetherston (1627-1711), 1st bt., of Stanford-le-Hope (Essex), but had no issue; died at Boulogne (France), 5 December 1734 and was buried at Chesterton (Oxon); will proved in the PCC, 19 December 1734.

She inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from her mother in 1645 and came into possession on her marriage a few weeks later.

She died 24 March 1656/7 and was buried with her mother in Westminster Abbey. Her first husband was killed at the Battle of Kidlington, 11 April 1646, and was buried at Wytham (Berks), 18 May 1646. Her second husband died at Campden House, Kensington (Middx), 25 July 1666, and was buried at Edenham where he and his father are commemorated by a double monument erected by his sons; his will was proved 31 July 1666. 

* Lord Carnarvon's first wife died 15 or 30 July 1678, and Mary signed a book in her possession as 'M. Carnarvon', 1 October 1680.

** Son of Sir Francis Rose alias Norreys (1609-69) (q.v.), the illegitimate son of the 1st Earl of Berkshire.

Bertie family of Rycote and Wytham Abbey, Earls of Abingdon

1st Earl of Abingdon, by Kneller 

Bertie, James (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (c.1608-66), 2nd Earl of Lindsey, and his second wife, Bridget, Baroness Norreys, daughter of Edward Wray and Elizabeth, Baroness Norreys, baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 16 June 1653. He was known as the Hon. James Bertie until he succeeded his mother as 5th Baron Norreys, 24 March 1656/7. After coming of age, he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Norreys of Rycote, 1675, and was promoted in the peerage to the Earldom of Abingdon, 30 November 1682. Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, 1674-87 and High Steward of Oxford, 1687. In 1688 he was active in inviting Prince William of Orange to mediate between King James II and his people, and contributed £30,000 to the Prince's expenses. However, on discovering William intended to seize the throne, he opposed him, and exerted all his influence against declaring the throne vacant; but after William and Mary were crowned he seems quickly to have been reconciled to the new regime, and resumed his post as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, 1689-97. Chief Justice in Eyre south of the Trent, 1693-97. His political career was materially assisted by his close friendship with his half-sister's husband, Sir Thomas Osborne (later Duke of Leeds), who often visited him at Rycote for the hunting on that estate, and he was more vulnerable to attacks by the Whig junto after the Duke was dismissed from office in 1695. By then he was in increasingly poor health, probably due either to asthma or a heart condition. His portrait was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. He married 1st, 1 February 1671/2 at Adderbury (Oxon), Eleanor (1658-91), eldest daughter and eventual sole heiress of Sir Henry Lee (1637-58), 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), and 2nd, 1698 (licence 15 April), probably at Stanwell (Middx), Catherine (c.1659-1742), eldest daughter and co-heir of the Rev. Sir Thomas Chamberlayne (c.1635-82), 2nd bt., of Wickham (Oxon), and widow of Richard Wenman (1657-90), 4th Viscount Wenman and 1st Viscount Wenman of Tuam, of Thame Park (Oxon), and had issue:

(1.1) Montagu Bertie (later Venables-Bertie) (1673-1743), 2nd Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Hon. James Bertie (1674-1735) (q.v.);

(1.3) Hon. Henry Bertie (1675-1735), born 4 May 1675; he was ‘bred to the understanding of trade and merchandise’ under the merchant Sir Joseph Herne, but did not embark on a career in business; freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1702 and a freeman of Hertford, 1703; Tory MP for Beaumaris (Anglesey), 1705-27; a commissioner for the public accounts, 1711-14; he acquired (when is unclear, but probably not until the 1720s) Sir William Berkeley's share in the ownership of the Carolina colony, as one of the eight Lords Proprietors, and sold this to the Crown in 1729; married 1st, 17 July 1708, Annabella Susanna (1667-1708), daughter of Hugh Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Glenawly, and widow of Sir John Magill (d. 1700), 1st bt. of Gill Hall (Co. Down) and of Marcus Trevor (1669-1706), 3rd Viscount Dungannon, but had no issue; he married 2nd, 3 October 1712 (with £10,000), his cousin Mary, second daughter and co-heiress of Hon. Peregrine Bertie of Waldershare Park (Kent) and widow of Anthony Henley (1667-1711) of The Grange (Hants), and had issue one daughter; died at Boulogne (France), 18 December 1735;

(1.4) Hon. Robert Bertie (1677-1710), born 28 February 1676/7; lived at Benham Valence (Berks); married, 1709 (licence 13 January 1708/9), Hon. Catherine (d. 1736) (who m2, Sir William Osbaldiston (c.1687-1736), 4th bt., of Chadlington and Nethercote (Oxon)), eldest daughter of Richard Wenman (1657-90), 4th Viscount Wenman and 1st Viscount Wenman of Tuam, of Thame Park (Oxon), but had no issue; died 6 August, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 10 August 1710; his nuncupative will was proved in the PCC, 15 September 1710;

(1.5) Vice-Adm. the Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1678-1709), born 2 February 1677/8; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1697; Capt., 1701; Vice-Adm. of the Red, 1707); captured at the Battle of the Lizard, 10 October 1707 and died unmarried while a prisoner of war in France, May 1709;

(1.6) Rev. the Hon. Charles Bertie (c.1679-1747); educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1695; BA 1699; MA 1703) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1700); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford from 1703-27 (BCL 1706; DCL 1711); Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Oxford, 1720-41*; rector of Kenn (Devon), 1726-47 and also of Holborough (Devon), 1739-47 and Honiton (Devon), 1740-47; married Elizabeth (d. 1759), daughter of Rev. John Cary, rector of Tredington (Worcs), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 15 February and was buried at Kenn, 26 February 1746/7; will proved in the PCC, 30 September 1747;

(1.7) Lady Bridget Bertie (1681?-1753), said to have been born 13 March 1680/1; married, 13 February 1702/3, with £8,000, Richard Bulkeley (1682-1724), 4th Viscount Bulkeley of Cashel, of Baron Hill (Anglesey), Tory MP for Anglesey, 1704-15, 1722-24 and Jacobite sympathiser, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died 13 June, and was buried at Beaumaris (Anglesey), 11 July 1753;

(1.8) Lady Anne Bertie (1682?-1734?), said to have been born 7 March 1681/2; married, 20 July 1704, Sir William Courtenay (1675-1735) of Powderham Castle (Devon), de jure 6th Earl of Devon, and had issue five sons and seven daughters; administration of her goods was grannted to her husband, 26 March 1734;

(1.9) Lady Mary Bertie (d. 1718); died 31 October 1718 and was buried at Powderham, where she is commemorated by a monument.

He inherited the manors of Rycote, Albury, Wendlebury, Chesterton, Dorchester, Thame, Beckley and Horton (all Oxon), and Wytham, Cumnor and Frilsham (Berks) from his mother in 1657 and came of age in 1674. His first wife brought him an interest in the estates of the Danvers family, and after legal disputes, a partition of the estates was agreed in 1681 which left him and his wife as sole owners of West Lavington, Marden and Patney (Wilts), and with shares in the manors of Westbury and Bradenstoke (Wilts). In 1688 he bought Littleton Pannell (adjacent to West Lavington).

He died of a fever at his house in Westminster, 22 May, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 29 May 1699; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 February 1699/1700. His first wife died 31 May and was buried at West Lavington, 6 June 1691, where she is commemorated by a monument. His widow married 3rd, Francis Wroughton (d. 1733) of Estcourt (Wilts), died 9 February 1741/2, and was buried at Long Newnton (then Wilts but now Glos); her will was proved 5 March 1741/2.

* Thomas Hearne records that he was a legal scholar and had no particular expertise in natural philosophy. He was appointed to this chair to provide him with an income from which he could repay All Souls College money defrauded from it by the man he had installed to deputise for him as bursar of the college, Barzillai Jones.

2nd Earl of Abingdon

Bertie (later Venables-Bertie), Rt. Hon. Montagu (1673-1743), 2nd Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Eleanora, daughter of Sir Henry Lee, 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), born 4 February 1673. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (admitted 1685). A precocious political career, founded upon his father's influence as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, saw him made a Freeman of Woodstock, 1686; freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1687, 1689; freeman of Chester, 1712; high steward of Malmesbury, 1699-1701 and of Oxford and Woodstock, 1701-43; Tory MP for Berkshire, 1689-90 and Oxfordshire, 1690-99; JP for Berkshire and Oxfordshire from 1701. He took the additional surname Venables by royal licence after his first marriage, 10 November 1687 and was known as Lord Norreys from 1682 until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Abingdon, 22 May 1699. A member of the Privy Council, 1702-07, 1711-14, and 1714-43. Constable and Lord Lieutenant of the Tower of London, 1702-05; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1701-02, Oxfordshire, 1702-06, 1712-15 (DL from 1689); Chief Justice in Eyre south of the Trent, 1702-06, 1710-15, and one of the Lords Justices of the Realm between the death of Queen Anne and the arrival of King George I from Hanover, 1714. In 1736 he conveyed some of his real estate to trustees who were charged with the payment of his debts. He married 1st, 22 September 1687, Anne (1674-1715), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne, 1702-05, 1712-14,  daughter and sole heir of Peter Venables (d. 1679) of Kinderton (Ches.), and 2nd, 13 February 1716/7 at Beaconsfield (Bucks) or West Lavington (Wilts)*, Mary (1677-1757), daughter of James Gould of Minterne (Dorset) and widow of Gen. Charles Churchill MP (1656-1714) (brother of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough), and had issue:

(2.1) James Bertie (1717-18), Lord Norreys, born 14 November and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 26 November 1717; died in infancy of smallpox in the lifetime of his father, 25 February 1717/8, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote.

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his father in 1699. He bought the manor of Godstow (Oxon) in 1702 but sold it in 1710 to the Duke of Marlborough. Later, he bought the manor of Littleton Auncells (Wilts) adjacent to his estate at West Lavington, and in 1738 he sold Bradenstoke (Wilts). His second wife had houses at Minterne and Dorchester (Dorset). He settled his remaining real estate on his nephew for life and thereafter on his great-nephews in order of seniority in 1736, and by his will he excluded any who did not conform to the Church of England.

He died 16 June, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 27 June 1743; his will was proved in the PCC, 1 July 1743. His first wife died 28 April 1715 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote; administration of her goods was granted 25 June 1715. His widow is said to have accidentally burnt to death, 10 January 1757 and was buried at St Peter, Dorchester (Dorset); by her will, proved 20 June 1757, she left her real and personal estate (estimated at £70,000) to her kinsman Nicholas Gould of Frome (Dorset).

* The marriage appears in the register of both parishes, and also in that of Rycote.

Bertie, Hon. James (1674-1735). Second son of James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Eleanora, daughter of Sir Henry Lee, 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), born 4 February and baptised 13 March 1673/4. Tory MP for New Woodstock, 1695-1705 and for Middlesex, 1710-34. Freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1695 and a freeman of Hertford, 1704. A Commissioner for Sewers in Tower Hamlets, 1710, and for the Trent Navigation, 1714, as well as being one of the Commissioners for building 50 new churches, 1711-15; Duchy of Lancaster steward of Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle, 1714-20. He married 1st, 5 January 1691/2 at Stanwell (Middx), Elizabeth (1673-1715), only surviving daughter and eventual sole heir of George Willoughby (1638-74), 7th Baron Willoughby of Parham, and 2nd, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. George Calvert (d. 1696) of Stanwell (Middx), and had issue:

(1.1) Willoughby Bertie (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Edward Bertie (1694-1733), born 25 November 1694 and probably baptised at Stanwell; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1712; BA 1716; MA 1719) and Grays Inn (called 1727); barrister-at-law; died unmarried, 21 September and was buried at St James, Paddington (Middx), 22 September 1733;

(1.3) Elizabeth Bertie (1695-96), baptised at Stanwell, 23 December 1695; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 24 January 1695/6;

(1.4) Bridget Bertie (1696-1734), born 13 December and baptised at Stanwell, 14 December 1696; married, before 1719, Robert Coetmor (c.1691-1725) of Coetmor and Bodwrda (Caernarvons.), and had issue one son and two daughters; buried 9 August 1734;

(1.5) Elizabeth Bertie (b. & d. 1701), baptised at Stanwell, 22 January 1700/1; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 25 January 1700/1;

(1.6) James Bertie (b. & d. 1702), baptised at Stanwell, 14 January 1701/2; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 29 January 1701/2;

(1.7) Peregrine Bertie (1703-08), baptised at Stanwell, 10 January 1702/3; died young and was buried at Stanwell, 19 June 1708;

(1.8) Richard Bertie (1704-13), baptised at Stanwell, 11 May 1704; died young and was buried at Stanwell, 30 March 1713;

(1.9) Rev. the Hon. William Bertie (1705-67), baptised at Stanwell, 13 January 1705; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1723; BA 1727; MA 1730; BD 1742; DD 1752); rector of Albury (Oxon), 1740-57 and Wytham (Berks), 1742-57; married his first cousin, Hon. Anne Bulkeley  (d. 1778), third daughter of Richard Bulkeley, 4th Viscount Bulkeley, and had issue; died August 1767 and was buried at Albury; will proved in the PCC, 14 March 1767/8;

(1.10) George Bertie (1707-08), baptised at Stanwell, 15 May 1707; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 17 March 1707/8;

(1.11) Henry Bertie (1709-43), born and baptised at Stanwell, 20 April 1709; educated at Westminster; died unmarried and was buried at Bombay (India), 26 August 1743; will proved in the PCC, 3 December 1746;

(1.12) Anne Bertie (1710-11), baptised at Stanwell, 17 June 1710; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 7 December 1711;

(1.13) Rev. John Bertie (1711-74), born 22 November and baptised at Stanwell, 3 December 1711; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1731; BA 1735; MA 1738); ordained deacon, 1737 and priest, 1738; rector of Yattendon (Berks), 1744-47 and Kenn (Devon), 1747-74, and prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, 1763-74; married, 7 May 1734 (a clandestine marriage in London), Mary (c.1720-1803), daughter of Clark Nichols or Nicholas, and had issue; died 'of a mortification in his feet', 1 February and was buried at Kenn, 3 February 1774;

(1.14) Peregrine Bertie (b. & d. 1715), born and baptised at Stanwell, 26 September 1715; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 12 October 1715.

He lived at Stanwell, in which his first wife inherited a life interest under the (disputed) will of her great-uncle, John Cary. She gained possession after a decision of the House of Lords in her favour in 1698. On her death in 1715, the estate passed to Viscount Falkland, and Bertie lived subsequently in Westminster.

He died 18 October 1735; his will was proved in the PCC, 17 March 1735/6. His first wife died 26 September and was buried at Stanwell, 2 October 1715. His second wife's date of death is unknown.

3rd Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Willoughby (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Hon. James Bertie (1674-1735) of Stanwell (Middx) and his wife Elizabeth, only surviving daughter and eventual sole heir of George Willoughby, 7th Baron Willoughby of Parham, born at Lindsey House, Westminster (Middx), 28 November 1692 and probably baptised at Stanwell. Said to have been educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford or Cambridge (matriculated 1707), but does not appear in the Alumni volumes for either university. A Tory in politics, in 1715 he stood for Parliament in the Westbury constituency, where his family had a strong interest, and although initially declared elected, the result was overturned on petition, and he never stood for Parliament again. He went abroad for his health in the 1720s and lived in Florence (Italy), c.1722-27, while also visiting Rome and Naples and returning to England through Switzerland. At the time of his marriage he allegedly had 'a very weakly decayed constitution', but he survived for more than thirty years and produced a large family. He declined to join the Oxfordshire association in defence of the Hanoverian succession at the time of the 1745 uprising, and may therefore have had Jacobite leanings. He succeeded his uncle as 3rd Earl of Abingdon, 16 June 1743. High Steward of Abingdon and Wallingford, 1743. In Florence, he was closely associated with John Collins*, a Scottish Catholic who 'keeps a publick house in this town for the English Gentlemen that travel', and whose 'very pretty' daughter, Anna Maria (d. 1763), he subsequently married. The service is said to have been performed by a Church of England minister in Switzerland (and not in Florence), about August 1727. They had issue:

(1) Lady Elizabeth Bertie (1728-1804), said to have been born in 1728; married, 23 February 1763 at St James, Westminster (Middx) (but later sep.), Giovanni Andrea Battista Gallini (k/a Sir John Gallini) (1728-1805), an Italian dancer, choreographer and impresario resident in London, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died in London, 17 August 1804;

(2) Lady Jane Bertie (1732-91), born 23 March 1731/2 and baptised at St Anne, Soho, Westminster, 29 March 1732; married, 29 September 1760 at St George the Martyr, Bloomsbury (Middx), as his third wife, Thomas Clifton (1728-83) of Lytham Hall (Lancs), and had issue one son and three daughters; died 14 February and was buried at Lytham, 18 February 1791;

(3) Lady Bridget Bertie (1734-60), born 9 January and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 18 January 1733/4; died unmarried, 9 December, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 15 December 1760;

(4) James Bertie (1735-45), Lord Norreys, baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 25 September 1735; known as Lord Norreys from 16 June 1743 until he was killed in the fire which burned down Rycote House, 12 November 1745; buried in the chapel at Rycote, 14 November 1735;

(5) Lady Anne Eleanora Bertie (1738-1804), baptised at Gainsborough, 15 July 1738; married, 7 July 1766 at St Marylebone (Middx), Philip Wenman (1742-1800), 4th Viscount Wenman, of Thame Park (Oxon), MP for Oxfordshire, 1768-96, but had no issue; died in London, 19 April 1804 and was buried in the chapel at Thame Park;

(6) Willoughby Bertie (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(7) Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1741-90), born 13 March and baptised at Gainsborough, 16 April 1741; educated at Westminster; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1759; Cdr., 1762; Capt., 1762); MP for City of Oxford, 1774-90; inherited Weston-on-the-Green and Chesterton (Oxon), Notley Abbey (Bucks) and Yattenden and Hamstead Norris (Berks) from Norreys Bertie (d. c.1766); married, May 1790 at Frilsham (Berks), Elizabeth Hutchins (d. 1833) of Yattendon (Berks); died without issue at his seat at Frilsham, 20 August, and was buried at Weston-on-the-Green, 28 August 1790; will proved in the PCC, 23 September 1790;

(8) Charles Bertie (b. & d. 1742), baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 3 April 1742; died in infancy and was buried at Gainsborough, 24 April 1742;

(9) Lady Mary Bertie (1746-1826), born 12 November 1746; married, 27 April 1772 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, as his second wife, Miles Stapleton (1742-1808) of Clints, Marske (Yorks WR) and Drax (Yorks WR), second son of Nicholas Stapleton (d. 1750) of Carlton (Yorks), and had issue at least two sons and two daughters; died 22 July and was buried at Carlton-by-Snaith (Yorks WR), 28 July 1826;

(10) Lady Sophia Bertie (1748-60), born 6 November 1748; died young, 12 October, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 17 October 1760.

He leased the east wing of Gainsborough Old Hall (Lincs) from 1733 until he inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his uncle in 1743. Rycote burned down in 1745 and he reconstructed it to a modified design. By 1764 he was evidently in financial difficulties, and his trustees sold the manors of Wendlebury and Chesterton (Oxon) and Marden and Patney (Wilts).

He died 10 June, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 16 June 1760; his will was proved in the PCC, 9 July 1760. His widow died of a stroke while visiting the Venetian ambassador at his residence in London, 21 December 1763; her will was proved in the PCC, 17 March 1764.

* The humble origins of John Collins (c.1689-1763) were carefully obscured by the family to make him appear a gentleman. He is said to have been a Scottish Catholic who obtained a post as valet to the Florentine ambassador in London. The ambassador arranged a pension for him from the Grand Duke on his recall to Italy. This enabled Collins to set up his hotel in Florence, which also became the home of the first masonic lodge in Italy. He may well have been a Jacobite. On his monument at Rycote he is described as Sir John Collins, and if this was a not wholly fictional dignity, it may signify a Jacobite knighthood. He was buried in a leather coffin with sword and armour resting on it, suggesting a possible military career before entering Florentine service. He is sometimes identified as John Collins of Chute Lodge (Hants), but had no connection with that family.

4th Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Willoughby (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Willoughby Bertie (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sir John Collins, born 16 January and baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 18 February 1739/40. Educated at Westminster School, Geneva and Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1759; created MA 1761), where he was one of three students chosen to address the Earl of Westmorland on his installation as Chancellor of the University, 1759. He was known as Lord Norreys from the death of his elder brother in 1745 until he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Abingdon, 10 June 1760. He came of age and took his seat in Parliament, 1761, and was appointed High Steward of Abingdon and Wallingford in the same year. In 1763-66 he went on a Grand Tour with his brother Peregrine, and is known to have visited Rome (twice) - where his portrait was painted by Batoni - Naples, Turin, and Florence, but he spent much of his time in Geneva (Switzerland), where the French resident described him as 'a very petulant young man', who had been taught nothing except hunting and music. After a brief return to England he was again in Geneva in 1766-67, and he was in Florence again in 1770. In 1769 he funded the construction of the Swinford Toll Bridge (probably designed by Sir Robert Taylor) across the River Thames near Eynsham (Oxon), and obtained an Act of Parliament prehibiting the construction of new bridges within three miles of it, and making the income from tolls tax-free*. He became a noted patron of music, was in contact (through his brother-in-law, Sir John Gallini) with J.C. Bach and C.F. Abel, and was encouraged by Haydn to compose; he is the author of 120 known works, and was an accomplished performer on the flute and violin. That was one side of his character, but he seems also to have been a rather wild young man, prone to extravagant intemperance and eccentric behaviour. He had the reputation of being a political maverick, defending the liberties of the American colonies, but condemning the  French Revolution as a threat to "the Peace, the Order, the Subordination, the Happiness of the whole habitable Globe", and arguing that the movement for the abolition of the slave trade was simply the result of a "new philosophy" inspired by the new French republic. An obituarist noted that "his frequent speeches in the House of Peers were peculiarly eccentric", and Lord Charlemont in his memoirs calls him "a man of genius, but eccentric and irregular almost to madness". Horace Walpole found him "not quite devoid of parts, but rough and wrong-headed, extremely underbred but warmly honest" in 1777. He eventually dissipated his family fortune so much that he was obliged to sell the furniture from Rycote in 1779, as well as much of his property at Westbury (Wilts), to reduce his debts. Although he retained ownership of the burgages in Westbury, and thus control of the town's parliamentary seats, he sold the nomination of members there at each election after 1786 to gain extra income. In 1794-95 he was convicted of libelling a Mr. Sermon of Grays Inn, who had been his solicitor, fined £100, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. He was insolvent at the time of his death. He married, 7 July 1768, Charlotte (1749-94), daughter and co-heir of Adm. Sir Peter Warren (1703-52), kt., of Warrenstown (Ireland), MP for Westminster, and had issue: 

(1) Lady Charlotte Bertie (1769-99), born 12 October and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 2 November 1769; died unmarried, 11 January 1799, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(2) Lady Amelia Bertie (1774-84), born 6 January 1774; died young and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 22 May 1784;

(3) Willoughby Bertie (b. & d. 1779), Lord Norreys, born 8/10 February and was baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 20 February 1779; but died in infancy later the same day, 20 February 1779;

(4) Willoughby Bertie (b. & d. 1781), Lord Norreys, born 9 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 17 April 1781; died in infancy and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 May 1781;

(5) Montagu Bertie (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(6) Lady Louisa Anne Maria Bertie (b. & d. 1786), born 8 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 6 April 1786; died in infancy and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 May 1786;

(7) Hon. Willoughby Bertie (1787-1810), born 24 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 26 July 1787; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., by 1808; Cdr., 1810); married, 26 November 1808 in Guernsey, and again 10 October 1810 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Catherine Sloane Saunders, an actress known as Miss Fisher or 'the Young Roscia', and had issue one son (born posthumously and died in infancy); drowned when his vessel, HMC Satellite, was wrecked in the English Channel off Cherbourg (France), 19 December 1810; commemorated with his son by a monument in Salisbury Cathedral; will proved 21 June 1811;

(8) Lady Caroline Bertie (1788-1870), born 18 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 3 November 1788; married, 23 January 1821, Charles John Baillie-Hamilton (1800-65), MP for Aylesbury, 1839-47, second son of Ven. Charles Baillie (later Baillie-Hamilton) (1764-1820), Archdeacon of Cleveland, and had issue including two sons and two daughters; died in Genoa (Italy), 12 March 1870; will proved 14 April 1870 (effects under £1,500);

(9) Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1790-1849), born 30 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 September 1790; educated at Westminster and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1811; MA 1815); evidently emigrated to the United States of America, where he died unmarried, 17 October 1849 and was buried at Philadelphia (USA);

(10) Rev. the Hon. Frederic Bertie (1793-1868), born 12 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 April 1793; educated at Westminster and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1814; MA 1816); ordained deacon, 1816 and priest, 1817; rector of Wytham (Berks), 1817-68, perpetual curate of South Hinksey (Berks), 1820-68; rector of Albury and Wheatley (Oxon), 1820-68; JP for Oxfordshire; married, 17 October 1825 at Shiplake (Oxon), his brother's sister-in-law, Lady Georgina Anne Emily Kerr (1806-81), second daughter of Vice-Adm. Lord Mark Robert Kerr, and his wife Charlotte, Countess of Antrim suo jure, and had issue five sons and four daughters; died 4 February 1868; will proved September 1868 (effects under £7,000).

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his father in 1760 and came of age in 1761. He sold West Lavington (Wilts) in 1761 and Frilsham (Berks) in 1762, and most of his remaining Wiltshire estate in a series of sales after 1777. In 1790 he inherited Weston-on-the-Green (Oxon) from his brother Peregrine, but it was entailed on his younger sons and eventually passed to the Rev. and Hon. Frederic Bertie (1793-1868).

He died 26 September 1799 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 May 1800. His wife died 28 January, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 8 February 1794.

* The bridge continues to charge tolls to this day, but is no longer owned by the Bertie family.

Bertie, Montagu (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon. Third, but eldest surviving, son of Willoughby Bertie (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Charlotte, daughter and co-heir of Adm. Sir Peter Warren, kt., MP, of Warrenstown (Ireland), born 30 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 8 May 1784. He was known as Lord Norreys until he succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Abingdon, 26 September 1799. Cupbearer at the coronation of King George IV, 19 July 1821; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1826-54; High Steward of Abingdon, 1826. He received an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1810 (DCL). He married 1st, 27 August 1807 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Emily (1776-1838), daughter of Gen. the Hon. Thomas Gage (1719-87) and sister of Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage; and 2nd, 11 March 1841 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Lady Frederica Augusta (1816-64), fifth daughter of Vice-Adm. Lord Mark Robert Kerr and his wife Charlotte, Countess of Antrim suo jure, and had issue:

(1.1) Montagu Bertie (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Lady Charlotte Margaret Bertie (1809-93), born 23 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 19 August 1809; died unmarried, 7 November and was buried at Leamington Spa (Warks), 11 November 1893; will proved 11 January 1894 (effects £21,231);

(1.3) Lady Emily Caroline Bertie (1810-81), born 11 August and baptised at St Marylebone, 19 August 1810; married, 31 July 1830 at Wytham, Rev. the Hon. Charles Bathurst (1802-42), Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and later rector of Siddington St Mary (Glos), fifth son of Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst, but had no issue; died 18 March and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 23 March 1881; will proved 5 April 1881 (effects under £18,000);

(1.4) Hon. Albemarle Bertie (1811-25), born 26 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 October 1811; educated at Eton; died young, 4 February 1825; buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.5) Rev. the Hon. Henry William Bertie (1812-94), born 16 September and baptised at St Nicholas, Brighton, 29 October 1812; educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1830; BA 1833) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1833); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, 1836-94 (BCL, 1840; DCL 1847); ordained deacon, 1836, and priest, 1837; rector of Stanford-on-Teme (Worcs), 1840-44 and of Great Ilford (Essex), 1844-81; died unmarried, 31 December 1894; will proved 2 February 1895 (effects £9,007);

(1.6) Hon. Augusta Georgina Bertie (b. & d. 1815), born 14 April 1815; died in infancy, 4 May 1815 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.7) Hon. Vere Peregrine Bertie (1817-18), born 23 November 1817 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 13 February 1818; died in infancy, 21 March 1818, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.8) Hon. Brownlow Charles Bertie (1819-52), born 19 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 25 September 1819; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1837); an officer in the army (Cornet, 1839; Cornet & Sub-Lt, 1840; Lt., 1846); DL for Berkshire, 1850; died unmarried on board a steamer between Panama and San Francisco (USA), while on his way to participate in an expedition to Japan, 30 December 1852.

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and the remaining part of the Westbury estates from his father in 1799 and came of age in 1805. In 1807, he pulled down the main house at Rycote and sold the building materials, reserving some to reuse in remodelling Wytham Abbey, and in 1810 he sold the burgages in Westbury. By 1835 his finances had recovered somewhat and he purchased the manor of North Weston (Oxon) to add to his Rycote and Thame estate.

He died at Wytham Abbey, 16 October, and was buried at Rycote chapel, 24 October 1854; his will was proved in the PCC, 17 May 1855 (effects under £10,000). His first wife died 28 August 1838 and was buried at Rycote. His widow died in London, 26 November 1864.

Bertie, Montagu (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Emily, daughter of Gen. the Hon. Thomas Gage and sister of Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage, born 19 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 30 July 1808. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1827; MA 1829; DCL 1834). An officer in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1827; Capt., 1831; Maj., 1847; retired 1855). Tory MP for Oxfordshire, 1830-31, 1832-52 and for Abingdon, 1852-54. He was known as Lord Norreys until he succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Abingdon, 16 October 1854. High Steward of Oxford and Abingdon; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1855-81 (DL, 1831-55). He married, 7 January 1835 at Nuneham Courtenay (Oxon)*, Elizabeth Lavinia (1815-58), only daughter and heir of George Granville Venables Vernon (later Harcourt) (1785-1861), MP for Lichfield, 1806-31 and Oxfordshire, 1831-61, and had issue:

(1) Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(2) Lady Elizabeth Emily Bertie (1838-1923), born 5 November 1838; was received into the Roman Catholic church, 1874, and lived latterly in Florence (Italy); died unmarried in Livorno (Italy), 4 May 1923; will proved 29 November 1923 (estate in England, £335);

(3) Lady Lavinia Louisa Bertie (1839-1928); married, 16 January 1883 at St Stephen, Kensington (Middx), Robert Bickersteth (1847-1916) of Downgate House, Wadhurst (Sussex), MP for Newport, 1885-86, eldest son of Rt. Rev. Dr. Robert Bickersteth DD (1816-84), Bishop of Ripon, but had no issue; died in Oxford, 5 July 1928; will proved 22 November 1928 (estate £18,237); 

(4) Rt. Hon. Francis Leveson Bertie (1844-1919), 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, born 17 August 1844 and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay (Oxon), 25 March 1845; entered the Foreign Office 1863 (Private Secretary to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1874-80; Acting Second Secretary in the Diplomatic Service at the Berlin Congress 1878; Acting Assistant Clerk at the Foreign Office 1880-81; Assistant Clerk 1881-82; Acting Senior Clerk 1882-85; Senior Clerk 1889-94; Assistant Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1894-1903; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Rome 1903-05 and at Paris 1905-18); Chairman, Uganda Railway Committee 1896-1903; he was sworn of the Privy Council, 1903, and appointed KCB 1902; GCVO 1903; GCMG 1904 and GCB 1908, before being raised to the peerage as Baron Bertie of Thame, 28 June 1915 and promoted to be 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, 2 September 1918; inherited the family's lands in North Weston (sold 1913), Beckley and Horton-cum-Studley (sold 1919); married, 11 April 1874, Lady Feodorowna Cecilia (1840-1920), eldest daughter of Henry Richard Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, and had issue one son; died 26 September 1919 and was buried at Thame (Oxon); will proved 28 November 1919 (estate £15,803);

(5) Rev. & Hon. Alberic Edward Bertie (1846-1928), born 14 November 1846 and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay, 5 April 1847; educated at Merton College, Oxford (matriculated 1865; BA 1869; MA 1873); rector of Albury (Oxon), 1879-87 and Gedling (Notts), 1887-1923; married, 26 April 1881 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, Lady Caroline Elizabeth (c.1855-1930), daughter of Mark Kerr (later McDonnell) (1814-69), 5th Earl of Antrim, and had surviving issue four sons and three daughters; died 20 March 1928 and was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford; will proved 31 May 1928 (estate £8,819);

(6) Lady Frances Evelyn Bertie (1848-1929), born 23 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 May 1848; received into the Roman Catholic church, 1881, and became a nun at the Convent of the Visitation, Harrow-on-the-Hill (Middx) as Sister Frances Magdalen; died 29 August 1929; will proved 18 March 1930 (estate £143);

(7) Hon. George Aubrey Vere Bertie (1850-1926), born 2 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 7 June 1850; an officer in the Coldstream Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1868; Lt. & Capt., 1871; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1881; Maj. & Lt-Col., 1885; retired 1885), who served in the Zulu War, 1879; a keen yachtsman, he was member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, 1900-26; married, 13 October 1885 at Great Bookham (Surrey), Harriet Blanche Elizabeth (1850-1923), daughter of Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar (1810-1900), 3rd bt., and had issue one son and two daughters; died at Nice (France), 8 November 1926, and was buried in the Cimetière Communal de St. Marguerite there; will proved 5 February 1927 (estate £1,319);

(8) Hon. Charles Claude Bertie (1851-1920), born 31 August and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay, 19 October 1851; an officer in the Royal Berkshire Militia (Lt., 1871) and later in the army (Lt.; resigned 1876); married, 29 April 1890, Adelaide (1841-1903), youngest daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Burroughes of Lingwood Lodge (Norfk), but had no issue; died in Oxford, 4 September 1920;

(9) Hon. Reginald Henry Bertie (1856-1950), born 26 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 16 July 1856; educated at Eton; an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (Lt., 1874; Capt., 1883; Maj., 1891; Lt-Col., 1899; retired as Col., 1903) who served in Crete, 1898 and China (mentioned in despatches) where he took part in the relief of Peking, 1900; appointed CB, 1901; married, 18 October 1892, Lady Amy Evelyn (1865-1948), daughter of Henry Reginald Courtenay (1836-98), Lord Courtenay, and sister of Charles Pepys Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon, but had no issue; died 15 June 1950; will proved 3 October 1950 (estate £26,133).

He inherited the Rycote and Wytham Abbey estates from his father in 1854.

He died 8 February and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 13 February 1884; his will was proved 31 March 1884 (effects £36,670). His wife died 16 October 1858 and was buried at Wytham.

* Their marriage was quite an occasion, being celebrated by the Archbishop of York, and with the Dukes of Bedford and Wellington, the Earl of Sandwich and Lord Leveson among the witnesses.

7th Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Montagu Arthur (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Elizabeth Lavinia, only daughter and heir of George Granville Harcourt MP, born 13 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 29 June 1836. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1856; Lt., 1860) and the Royal Berkshire Militia (Lt., 1858; resigned 1860 but re-apptd as Major, 1861; Lt-Col., 1863; retired as Hon. Col., 1880). JP and DL for Berkshire and JP for Oxfordshire. His first wife was a member of a leading recusant family and he was received into the Catholic church in the year of his marriage. He was known as Lord Norreys from 1854 until he succeeded his father as 7th Earl of Abingdon, 8 February 1884. High Steward of Abingdon, 1884-1928, representative of Towneley family among the trustees of the British Museum, 1885-1928, and a Governor of Abingdon School, 1901-15. He married 1st, 10 July 1858 at the Royal Bavarian RC Chapel, Warwick St, Westminster (Middx), Caroline Theresa (1838-73), eldest daughter of Col. Charles Towneley (1803-70) of Towneley Hall (Lancs), MP for Sligo, and 2nd, 16 October 1883 at Portsmouth RC Cathedral, Gwendoline Mary (1867-1942), eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Charlemagne Dormer KCB (1834-93), and had issue:

(1.1) Lady Mary Caroline Bertie (1859-1938), born 11 August 1859; married, 5 August 1879, Sir Edmund Bernard Fitzalan-Howard KG (1855-1947), 1st Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, of Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1921-22, second son of Henry Fitzalan-Howard (1815-60), 14th Duke of Norfolk, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 21 April 1938 and was buried in the RC cemetery at Arundel (Sussex); will proved 12 July 1938 (estate £2,571);

(1.2) Montagu Charles Francis Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie) (1860-1919), Lord Norreys (q.v.);

(1.3) Arthur John Bertie (1861-62), born 26 December 1861; died in infancy, 10 January 1862;

(1.4) Lady Alice Josephine Bertie (1865-1950), of Dyneley, Burnley (Lancs), born 3 March 1865; JP for Lancashire; married 1st, 1 February 1890 at the British consulate and All Saints RC church, Cairo (Egypt), Sir Gerald Herbert Portal KCMG (1858-94), diplomat, second son of Melville Portal (1819-1904) of Laverstoke House (Hants), and 2nd, 5 October 1897, Maj. Robert Florent Joseph Nicolas Ghislain Reyntiens (1853-1913), an officer in the Belgian army, son of Maj. Robert Reyntiens of Brussels (Belgium), ADC to HM King Leopold II of the Belgians, and had issue one daughter; died 7 May 1950; will proved 4 January and 28 February 1951 (estate £114,996);

(1.5) Lady Cecil Josephine Bertie (1873-95), born 22 July 1873; married, 18 July 1895 at Ootacomund (India), Brig-Gen. Paul Aloysius Kenna VC DSO (1862-1915), son of James Kenna of Liverpool (Lancs), but had no issue; died of typhoid fever at Bolarum (India), 3 October 1895;

(2.1) Lady Gwendoline Theresa (k/a Goonie) Bertie (1885-1941), born 20 November 1885; married, 8 August 1908, Maj. John Strange Spencer Churchill DSO (1880-1947) of Holworth House, Warmwell (Dorset), stockbroker, younger son of Lord Randulph Churchill (1849-95) and brother of the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), and had issue two sons and one daughter (Clarissa, later the wife of Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, Prime Minister); died 7 July 1941; administration of goods granted 12 September 1941 (estate £310);

(2.2) Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo Bertie (1886-1957) (q.v.);

(2.3) Lady Elizabeth Constance Mary (k/a Betty) Bertie (1895-1987), born 12 March 1895; appointed OBE, 1938; an officer in the ATS, 1938-42; married 1st, 21 April 1914 at the Brompton Oratory, Maj. Sigismund William Joseph Trafford (1883-1953) of Wroxham Hall (Norfk), eldest son of Edward Southwell Trafford (1838-1912), and had issue one son and three daughters; married 2nd, 5 September 1956 in South Africa, Col. Henry Antrobus Cartwright CMG MC (1887-1957), son of Rev. Arthur Rogers Cartwright of Clevedon (Som.); died 29 July 1987; will proved 8 September 1987 (estate £38,540);

(2.4) Hon. James Willoughby Bertie (1901-66), born 22 September 1901; an officer in the Royal Navy Reserves (Lt-Cdr.), who served in the First World War, 1917-19 and Second World War; a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; married, 12 June 1928 at Mount Stewart (Isle of Bute), Lady Jean DGStJ (1908-95), younger daughter of John Crichton-Stuart (1881-1947), 4th Marquess of Bute, and had issue two sons; died on Malta, 11 May 1966; will proved 11 April 1967 (effects in England, £30,074).

He inherited the Rycote, Cumnor and Wytham Abbey estates from his father in 1884, but sold parts of the Cumnor estate from the 1880s, Rycote in 1911 and Wytham Abbey in 1919. He lived at different times at Wytham, Cumnor Place (sold in 1909) and Oaken Holt, Cumnor. According to his great-grandson, he burnt through his inheritance with an "après moi, le déluge" attitude, but lived long enough to be swept up in the flood! His widow lived at Oaken Holt, Cumnor (Berks).

He died aged 91 at Oaken Holt on 10 March, and was buried at Abingdon, 14 March 1928; his will was proved 12 May and 5 July 1928 (estate £226,970). His first wife died 4 September 1873. His second wife died 16 September 1942; her will was proved 19 April 1943 (estate £6,360).

Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie), Montagu Charles Francis (1860-1919), Lord Norreys. Elder and only surviving son of Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Caroline Theresa, eldest daughter of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall (Lancs), born 3 October 1860. An officer in the army (Capt.) and later in the territorials (Capt.) who served in the Imperial Yeomanry in the Boer War, 1899-1900, and as commandant of a prisoner of war camp, 1915-19. JP and DL for Berkshire and JP for Oxfordshire. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 25 July 1885 at St Raphael's RC Church, Kingston-upon-Thames (Surrey), Hon. Rose Riversdale Glyn (1860-1933), daughter of Vice-Adm. Hon. Henry Carr Glyn (1829-84) and sister of the 3rd and 4th Barons Wolverton, and had issue:

(1) Montagu Henry Edmund Cecil Bertie (1887-1963), 8th Earl of Abingdon and later 13th Earl of Lindsey (q.v.);

(2) Lady Alexandra Rose Alice Bertie (1886-1952), born 17 October 1886; granted rank of an earl's daughter, 1928; died unmarried, 21 April 1952; will proved 23 July 1952 (estate £16,052).

He died of heart failure resulting from illness contracted during his wartime employment, in the lifetime of his father, 24 September 1919; his will was proved 15 May 1920 (estate £19,090). His widow died 21 December 1933; her will was proved 13 February 1934 (estate £4,590).

Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie), Montagu Henry Edmund Cecil (1887-1963), 8th Earl of Abingdon and 13th Earl of Lindsey. Only son of Montagu Charles Francis Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie) (1860-1919), Lord Norreys, and his wife the Hon. Rose Riversdale (d. 1933), daughter of Vice-Adm. Hon. Henry Carr Glyn (1829-84) and sister of the 3rd and 4th Barons Wolverton, born 2 November 1887. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Royal Anglesey Engineers (2nd Lt., 1905; Lt., 1905). He is said to have intended to become a Roman Catholic priest, and was in his novitiate when war broke out in 1914, after which he returned to the army, joining the Grenadier Guards (Lt., 1915; Capt., 1918; wounded; retired 1919) and also serving in the Royal Naval Air Service (temp Flight Sub-Lt., 1916). He was employed briefly in Egypt after the First World War. He took the courtesy title Lord Norreys after the death of his father in 1919 and succeeded his grandfather as 8th Earl of Abingdon, 10 March 1928, and his distant kinsman, as 13th Earl of Lindsey, 2 January 1938. High Steward of Abingdon from 1928. He also succeeded his father as representative of the Towneley family among the trustees of the British Museum, 1928-63. He is said to have renounced the Roman Catholic church shortly before his marriage in a registry office, 11 August 1928, to Elizabeth Valetta (k/a Bettine) (1896-1978), a Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur, daughter of Maj-Gen. the Hon. Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley CB CMG DSO MVO (1857-1934) and divorced wife of Capt. Alastair Edward George Grant (1892-1947). They had no issue.

He lived at 3 Seymour St., St. Marylebone in 1939 and later at 2 Curzon Place, Mayfair.

He died 11 September 1963, and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery (Surrey); his will was proved 8 November 1963 (estate £165,700). His widow died 24 October 1978 and her will was proved 19 January 1979 (estate £1,665,508).

Bertie, Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo (1886-1957). Elder son of Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon, and his second wife, Gwendoline Mary, eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Charlemagne Dormer KCB, born 29 September 1886. Educated in Austria and at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1904). Honorary Attaché at Petrograd (Russia). He served in the First World War as an officer in the Rifle Brigade (Maj., 1917; acting Lt-Col. commanding 11th Battn, 1918) (twice wounded and twice mentioned in despatches) and in the Second World War with the South African Defence Force and the Control Commission for Germany, 1945-48; awarded the DSO, 1917 and MC, 1918. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married 1st, 15 May 1929, in Rhodesia, Aline Rose (1888-1948), elder daughter of George Arbuthnot-Leslie of Warthill (Aberdeens.) and widow of Hon. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay MC (1885-1926), and 2nd, 7 May 1949, Lilian Mary Isabel (1902-2000), eldest daughter of Charles Edward Cary-Elwes (1869-1947) of Staithe House, Beccles (Suffk) and widow of Lt-Cdr. Frank Dayrell Montague Crackenthorpe RN (1900-44), and had issue:

(1.1) Richard Henry Rupert Bertie (b. 1931), 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.).

He lived at Selwood, Mells (Som.) and later at Crepping Hall, Stutton (Suffk).

He died 1 February, and was buried at St Mary's RC church, East Bergholt (Suffk), 6 February 1957; his will was proved 30 May 1957 (estate £6,037). His first wife died 5 July 1948 and her will was proved 9 March 1949 (estate £2,434). His widow died aged 98 on 25 September 2000; her will was proved 31 October 2000.

Bertie, Richard Henry Rupert (b. 1931), 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon. Only child of the Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo Bertie (1886-1957) and his first wife, Aline Rose, elder daughter of George Arbuthnot-Leslie of Warthill (Aberdeens.) and widow of the Hon. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay MC, born 28 June 1931. Educated at Ampleforth. He succeeded his cousin as 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon, 11 September 1963. After service in the army (2nd Lt., 1952; Lt., 1954; retired 1957) he became a broker and an underwriting member of Lloyds, 1958-96;  Chairman, Dawes and Henderson (Agencies) Ltd, 1988–92; Chairman of the Anglo-Ivory Coast Society, 1974-77. High Steward of Abingdon since 1963. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 5 January 1957 at St Mary's RC Church, Cadogan Sq., Westminster (Middx), Norah Elizabeth (b. 1932), younger daughter of Mark Oliver (later Farquhar-Oliver) OBE of Edgerston, Jedburgh (Roxburghs), and had issue:

(1) Henry Mark Willoughby Bertie (b. 1958), Lord Norreys, born 6 June 1958; educated at Eton and Edinburgh University; styled Lord Norreys from 11 September 1963, and heir apparent to his father in the earldoms of Lindsey and Abingdon; a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1995; a Knight of Justice in Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, 1998; and a Knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1998; he and his wife ran a gallery in Andalucia (Spain) for twelve years before moving to The Old Dairy, Gilmilnscroft; he married, 8 December 1989, Lucinda Sol (b. 1960), shoe designer, second daughter of Christopher Stewart Moorsom, and has issue two sons; now living;

(2) Lady Annabel Frances Rose Bertie (b. 1969), born 11 March 1969; educated at St Mary's, Ascot and Edinburgh University (MA 1991); interior designer; now living;

(3) Hon. Alexander Michael Richard Bertie (b. 1970), born 8 April 1970; educated at Eton and Queen's College, Oxford (BA 1992); marketing consultant; married, 17 April 1998, Catherine Davina (k/a Katy), daughter of Prof. Gordon Campbell Cameron (1937-90), Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and has issue one son and one daughter; now living.

He lived at Gilmilnscroft House, Sorn (Ayrshire), a seat of his wife's family, until it was sold in 2011 and now at Blairston Mains (Ayrshire).

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 2348-52; A. Collins, Peerage of England, 1812, vol. 3, pp. 628-36; J. Ingamells, British and Irish travellers in Italy, 1701-1800, 1997, pp. 2, 85-86; personal communications from Lord Norreys, 2024-25.

Location of archives

Bertie, Earls of Abingdon: deeds, estate and household papers, 1639-1919 [Bodleian Library, MS DD Bertie]; estate papers, 1760-80 [Royal Berkshire Archives, D/EDb]; deeds and papers relating to Notley Abbey, Long Crendon (Bucks), 17th-18th cents [Buckinghamshire Archives, D52]

Coat of arms

Argent, three battering rams fesswise in pale proper, headed and garnished azure.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further or more precise information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 March 2025 and updated 8 August 2026. I am grateful to Lord Norreys for his assistance with this family, and to James Heald for corrections.