Baron Arlington is a title in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in th ...

which was created, on 14 March 1665, for Sir Henry Bennet,Alan Marshall, ‘Bennet, Henry, first earl of Arlington (bap. 1618, d. 1685)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008. younger brother of

John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston (1616 – 11 February 1695) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1663 to 1679. He was created Baron Ossulston in 1682. Life Bennet was the eldest son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Harl ...

. In 1672, he was made Earl of Arlington and Viscount Thetford, and was regranted the title of Baron Arlington, with a special remainder allowing it to pass to both male and female descendants, rather than only heirs male, as was customary with most peerages. Its

territorial designation In the United Kingdom, a territorial designation follows modern Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies. Within Scotland, a territorial designatio ...

is the birthplace of its first holder Harlington, London, which was also known as Arlington. The 11th Baroness Arlington was the last woman to take her seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

under the provisions of the Peerage Act 1963. She became a member of the Lords on 27 May 1999 and remained in the House until 11 November 1999, when the House of Lords Act 1999 took effect.

Co-descent with the dukedom of Grafton

The first Earl of Arlington died, as anticipated, without male heirs so the titles went to his daughter Isabella. At age five, Isabella was

engaged An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

to Henry FitzRoy, the illegitimate son of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

and his mistress

Barbara Villiers Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of En ...

. Henry would be created Duke of Grafton in 1679. As this boy Charles's father was an illegitimate son of King Charles II he, therefore, took the Norman-style surname Fitzroy. Upon the death of his parents, Charles FitzRoy inherited the Arlington and Grafton substantive titles. The two titles continued united until the death of the 9th Duke in a high-speed racecar accident in 1936.

Separation from Dukedom

The Grafton dukedom passed to a cousin yet the three Arlington/Thetford titles fell into

abeyance Abeyance (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. ...

under the principle of moieties between his two sisters, neither of whom petitioned the Sovereign to terminate this. After the death of the elder sister, her eldest child Jennifer petitioned the Sovereign, and the abeyance of the barony of Arlington was terminated in her favour, restoring it upon her, rather than her aunt's descendants. The earldom of Arlington, however, remains abeyant, along with the viscountcy of Thetford.

Abeyance of senior titles

peerages in the United Kingdom The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term '' peerage'' can be used both coll ...

, the earldom of Arlington and the viscounty of Thetford are rare examples of a title with a higher rank than

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

falling into abeyance, another case being that of the earldom of Cromartie in 1893.

Barons Arlington (1672)

* Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618–1685) * Isabella FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton, 2nd Countess of Arlington (c. 1668–1723) * Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, 3rd Earl of Arlington (1683–1757) * Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, 4th Earl of Arlington (1735–1811) * George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, 5th Earl of Arlington (1760–1844) * Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton, 6th Earl of Arlington (1790–1863) * William Henry FitzRoy, 6th Duke of Grafton, 7th Earl of Arlington (1819–1882) * Augustus Charles Lennox FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton, 8th Earl of Arlington (1821–1918) * Alfred William Maitland FitzRoy, 8th Duke of Grafton, 9th Earl of Arlington (1850–1930) * John Charles William FitzRoy, 9th Duke of Grafton, 10th Earl of Arlington (1914–1936) (abeyant 1936) * Jennifer Jane Forwood, 11th Baroness Arlington (b. 1939) (abeyance terminated 1999) **The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's elder son Patrick John Dudley Forwood (b. 1967) ***The next heir-in-line is his younger brother James Roland Nelson Forwood (b. 1969).

Co-heirs to the earldom of Arlington and the viscountcy of Thetford (in abeyance)

Jennifer Forwood, 11th Baroness Arlington Jennifer Jane Forwood, 11th Baroness Arlington (born 7 May 1939 in London, ''née'' Nelson), is the daughter of General Sir John Nelson (died 1993) and Lady Margaret Jane Fitzroy (died 1995), sister of the 9th Duke of Grafton. Life Educated a ...

(b. 1939) * Sir Frederick Sebastian Cholmeley (b. 1968) *Linda Jane Auriol Williams (b. 1947)

References

External links

''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage''

www.parliament.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlington Baronies in the Peerage of England 1665 establishments in England Peerages created with special remainders Noble titles created in 1665