Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/51

 Lord Vere of Hanworth. His son succeeded as the fifth duke of St. Alban's in 1787, and this barony still accompanies the dukedom.

The title of Earl of Oxford was conferred by Queen Anne in the year 1711 on her prime minister, the lord treasurer sir Robert Harley; he was slightly connected with the Veres, from his grandmother Brilliana, daughter of Edward lord viscount Conway, having been the sister of Mary wife of Horatio lord Vere of Tilbury. To the title of Oxford was added the equally proud name of Mortimer; and it has been said that this addition was made because rumours were current that some junior branches of the Veres were still existing, and might possibly still assert their claim to the ancient earldom. This, however, has never happened. Alfred, the present and sixth Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, succeeded to the peerage in 1848, and is now the last male survivor of his family.

Five of the Veres earls of Oxford were knights of the Garter, namely, Robert the ninth earl and duke of Ireland, Richard the eleventh earl, John the thirteenth earl, John the fifteenth earl, and Aubrey the twentieth and last earl. Sir Harris Nicolas, in his Synopsis of the Peerage, inserted a correction to his original statement, to the effect that the duke of Ireland was not a knight of the Garter; but the late Mr. Beltz, Lancaster Herald, ascertained the fact of his election, and has inserted a biography of him in his excellent work, "Memorials of the Garter," which comprises biographical notices of the knights during the reigns of the first two sovereigns of the order.

Mr. Doubleday has furnished me with impressions of seals of seven of the earls of Oxford; viz., Aubrey the first earl, Hugh the fourth, Robert the fifth, Robert the sixth, John the seventh (privy seal), Aubrey the tenth (privy seal), and John the thirteenth. They do not differ in character from the seals of their contemporaries; and the only two which require any explanation are the first and the last.

The most remarkable feature in the first is that the earl does not display on his shield the arms of Vere. His shield has a central boss, and a circumambient line which a herald