Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 4.djvu/726

 704 APPENDIX H raised by the doctrine were brought under discussion, and the law on several important points was stated. Chronologically arranged, the following petitions and events show the growth of the idea that a sole female heir was entitled to succeed to, or to transmit, a barony by writ. 1 59 1. When Lady Ros died in 1591, the Commissioners for the office of Earl Marshal ordered that her infant son William (see 1616 below) should be proclaimed Lord Ros at the funeral. I 596/7. Margaret, wife of Samson Lennard, and sole heir of her brother, Gregory Fiennes, Lord Dacre (of the South), petitioned for the Barony of Dacre, and in Feb. 1 596/7 Lords Burleigh and Howard, who had been appointed Commissioners to examine Margaret's claim, reported that the Queen might " at her good pleasure allow unto her the name stile and dignity of the said baronie."(*) The Queen did nothing; therefore soon after James I's accession the petition was again presented, and Margaret's right to the barony was declared, 8 Dec. 1 604, by the Commissioners for hearing Marshal causes.C") It should be noted that there was in this case no heir male opposing the petitioner. 1599. The case of Lady Fane, who claimed the Barony of Abergavenny against the heir male, on whom the estates were entailed, was reported on very favourably by the judges, but she failed. See post^ sub Despenser in Peerage Cases. 1606. The right of Anne Clifford (Countess of Dorset) to succeed to the Barony of Clifford was set forth in a petition by her mother, Margaret. Anne herself petitioned in 1628, and again in 1663, without success. See post, sub Abeyance. 1 6 1 6. Sir Thomas Knyvett's claim to the Barony of Berners was favour- ably reported on, as we have seen, ante, pp. 701-2. 1 61 6. William Cecil, heir general of the Barony of Ros (who had been proclaimed Lord Ros 1591), prevailed against the claim of the Earl of Rutland, the heir male. See post, sub Peerage Cases. [1626. Ogle. Catherine, the surviving of the two daughters of Cuthbert, Lord Ogle {d. s.p.m. 1596/7), received letters patent J confirming the barony to her in 1628. The grant was said to be de gratia nostri speciali, which shows that the Crown considered the barony at its disposal because it had descended to coheirs. This case is referred to again under the heading of Abeyance.] (*) The Families of Lennard and Barrett, by T. Barrett Lennard, 1908, p. 235. ('') Idem, p. 237. The original report is in Mr. Barrett Lennard's possession.