Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 2.djvu/399

 398 CRAMOND. Thomas Richardson, Knt., s. and h. [ap.] of the said Ch. Justice and his heirs male(") [i.e. those of his body], whom failing to the heirs male of the body of the said Sir Thomas Richardson, the father. This lady was the 1st da. of Sir Thomas Beaumont, of Stoughton, co. Leicester, by Catharine, da. and h. of Thomas FaRNHA.m, of Bedworth, in the same co. She »i. firstly, Sir J' Am Ashburnham, of Ashburnham, Sussex, who d. 29 June 1620, aged 48, and was bur. at St. Andrew's, Holborn. M.I. She m. secondly, 14 Dec. 1626, at St. Giles-in-the-fields, Sir Thomas Richardson, and was, about a year afterwards, raised to the Peerage as afsd. ller second husband above- named (to whom she was the second wife), was s. of William Richardson, and Agnes his wife, and was bap. 3 July 1569, ( b ) at Hardwick, near Shelton, co. Norfolk. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, and became a Barrister, 1695 ; Under Steward to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich ; Recorder of Bury, and subsequently of Norwich ; purchased the estate of Houingham, Norfolk, about 1600 ; Serjeant-at-Law and Reader of Line Inn, 1614 ; Chancellor to the Queen Consort ; M.l. for St. Alban's, 1620-23 ; being chosen Speaker for that Pari (1620/1-1621/2) but never re-elected. Knighted at Whitehall, 25 March 1621 ; Ring's Serjeant, 20 Feb. 1625 ; Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 22 Nov. 1626,( c ) marrying, a few weeks afterwards, the Lady, for whom he obtained a Peerage within 15 months, as abovenamed.( d ) Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 24 Oct. 1631, till his death. He m. firstly, 20 July 1595, at Barham, Suffolk, Ursula, 3rd da. of John Southwell, of Barham Hall, by Margaret, da. of Edmond Crofts, of West Stow, Suffolk. She, who was bap. 5 Oct. 1567, at Barham, was bur. 13 June 1624, at St. Andrew's, Holborn. The Judge d. at his house in Chancery Lane, Holborn, 4 Eeb 1634/5, in his 65th year, and was bur. in Westm. Abbey. M.I. Will dat. 16 Jan. 1634/5, pr. 15 April 1635. Fun. certin. at Dominum, <tc. Here you have the distinction between greater and lesser Barons emphasized." From a letter, March 1885, from R. R. Stodart, Lyon Clerk Depute. " To these instances of the word Baron used in the English sense (all of which are subsequent to the final exclusion of the lesser Barons from Pari, in 1587), may be added the case of Spynie. On 6 May 1590, Alexander Lindsay had a charter erecting certain church lands into the Barony of Spynie, with the title and rank of a free Baron to himself his heirs, and assignees, to be called Barons of Spynie, the investiture taking place on 4 Nov. following. It was contended (wrongly, I believe) by Lord Mansfield, and his contention was eventually acquiesced in by the claimant of the Spynie peerage in 1785, that this was not a grant of a hereditary peerage." Ex inform. G. Burnett, Lyon. It appears therefore that there are only, apparently, about half a dozen cases where the word " Baron " occurs in the creation of a Scotch peerage, and that it is subordinate to " Lord of Parliament." ( a ) " Suisque hceredibus masculis, quibus deficientibus hajredibus masculis de corporc, dicti Domini Thoma; Richardson, patris." This is one of the strongest examples of " heirs male " being indiscriminately used in patents as " heirs male of the body " for else, the extended limitation of the dignity to the heirs male of the body of the father would be utter nonsense, when the son had the dignity to "heirs male," if such last expression be tantamount to "heirs male general." ( b ) There is a MS. insertion in the margin of the parish Registry that " This gentleman, Thomas Richardson, was Lord Chief Justice, &c." On 7 April 1572, William, son of the same parents, is bap. There is nothing to indicate the position of the father, who is generally said to be "Dr. Thomas Richardson," a clergyman of Mulbarton, near Norwich. At Mulbartou, on 6 April 1582, occurs the burial of Agnes, wife of William Richardson, and on 20 Nov. 1587 that of William, s. of Wm. and Agnes Richardson ; also the baptism of 5 children (Jean, Elizabeth, William, Ann, and Robert) of William and Joan Richardson, 1585 to 1602. In no case is the rank of this " William " indicated, which, had he been in Holy Orders or a Doctor in any of the Faculties, is very unlikely. Ex inform. W. H. Richardson, M.A., F.S.A. ( c ) Not without suspicion that its acquisition cost him £17,000, besides having to appoint a royal nominee to the profitable office of " Clerk of Hell," i.e. to a Clerkship of the Treasury. See " Fobs." ( d ) Lord Campbell considers that this was attained by another good round sum of money. It gave occasion to many gibes and pasquinades for the amusement of Westm. Hall.