Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 1.djvu/162

 112 COMPLETE PEERAGE almond ALMARAZ See " Hill of Almaraz and of Hawkestone, Salop, " Barony (Hill), cr. 1 8 14, extinct 1842. See " Hill of Almaraz and of Hardwicke, Salop, " Barony (Hill), cr. 18 16. ALMOND i.e. " Livingston of Almond, " Barony [S.] {Livingston), cr. 1633. Also "Livingston and Almond," Barony [S.], cr. 1641 with the F.ARLDOM OF Clarendon ^?^, forfeited 171 5, which see. ALMOND TITULAR I. Donna Victoria Davia-Montecuculi (") was cr. EARLDOM by James II, when In exile, (warrant 3/13 Jan. 1688/9) L 1689. COUNTESS OF ALMOND for life. C) TITULAR I. " Signor Virgilio Davia, Senator of Bologna," EARLDOM [S.] was cr. by James II (when in exile at St. Germain) I. 1698. EARL OF ALMOND, VISCOUNT OF MON- EYDIE and BARON DAVIA "in our ancient Kingdom of Scotland. " Drafts of the warrant and letters patent (in Latin and English), dat. 9 and 12 Apr. 1698, are still in existence. The preamble states that the honour was conferred on account of his own services to the Queen, but chiefly on account of the " extraordinary merits " of his wife " Donna Victoria Davia-Montecuculi, and her having attended on the person of our said dearest Consort even from her infancy with great zeal and fidelity, and particularly her having waited on our said dearest Consort in her hazardous passage out of England into France at the beginning of the late Revolution, and shared in all the many and great dangers and difficulties of her evasion, and that, as the misfortunes of our Royal Family increased, she has redoubled her endeavours to be still more and more usefuU in performing all the duties of a faithfuU servant, " ^c. ('^) The maiden name of this Lady appears to have been " Anna Victoria Montecuculi ; " she was " the companion (°) For a list of " Jacobite Peerages, " 1 689-1 760, see Appendix F at the end of this volume. C) " A tall, well made woman, with a great deal of wit, much appreciated at our Court. " (St. Simon.) V.G. (") See Stuart Papers, Hht. MSS. Com., vol. i, p. 130, where also, pp. 127-8, is the preamble given in the text above. C) The Rev. W.D. Macray, M.A., F.S.A., &c., has kindly furnished an epitome of the above, which is in full at fF. 469-474 of vol. 180 of the Nairne Papers, in Carte's collection in the Bodleian Library.