Peerage in the Pierrepont Family – part 2

In an earlier posting, I went through all the peerage titles (Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquess, and Duke) that had been held by various members of the Pierrepont family over 11 generations from 1627 to 1955. English primogeniture rules generally pass property (including titles) to the oldest son. This keeps estates together instead of constantly dividing them among the various children and making them smaller and smaller with each division. But except for younger sons possibly outliving an older brother who had no male children and then becoming the primary heir, they are usually left out of the inheritance chain. But that does not necessarily mean that they get nothing.

One avenue is for them to receive property that came into the family from their mother instead of through their father. Another is to marry into another family where they or their spouse may be the inheritor of property or titles. This latter avenue is usually the only one for daughters.

But in those days, not unlike today, the individuals in the “upper crust” often mingle with others like themselves and not with the “commoners”, so such intermarriages are not uncommon. The same is true in the Pierrepont family. So, I thought it appropriate to look and see what happened to the other children in each generation. Did they not inherit anything? Or did they inherit through other means than by being the oldest son?

In the below, these six generations match with the genealogical charts that I recently acquired that had been written in 1764. In those charts there are different types of crowns for Baron/Viscount/Earl/Marquis/Duke. The children who are indented are the others in that generation and what happened to them.

 

Generation 1

·         Robert (1584-1643) – Created Baron Pierrepont in 1627 and simultaneously created Viscount Newark in the peerage of England. Also created Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1628. The Earl title was “heirs general…”

o   Grace – married Sir George Manners, knight

o   Elizabeth – married Richard Stapleton, Esq.

o   Frances – married Thomas, Earl of Kelly

o   Mary – married Fulk Cartwright of Ossington, Com. Nottingham

 

Generation 2

·         Henry (1606-1680) – inherited all the titles from his father Robert. Also created Marquess of Dorchester in 1645. Survived both his sons, so with no male heirs “of the body” his Marquessate title became extinct with his passing. However, the titles that he had inherited from his father could be passed on to other heirs of his father.

·         William (1607-1678) – as the younger son of Robert, did not inherit any titles and, as he predeceased his older brother, he never got to inherit from him either. However, he did have male children in the next generation.

o   Francis – married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Bray, of Eyam, Com. Derby, Esq.

o   Robert – died unmarried

o   Gervase – died unmarried

o   George – married Mary, daughter of Isaac Jones of Cortenhall, Com. Northampton

o   Frances – married Philip Roleston, Esq.

o   Mary – died young

o   Elizabeth – died unmarried

 

Generation 3

·         Robert (1637-1666) – predeceased his father, William, so never inherited. However, he did have three sons in the next generation.

·         Gervase (1649-1715) – created Baron Pierrepont of Ardglass under the Peerage of Ireland in 1702. Since he was serving in the House of Commons at the time, he could continue to do so as his peerage was not eligible for the House of Lords.  Later also created as Baron Pierrepont of Hanslope under the Peerage of Great Britain in 1714 at which time he became a member of the House of Lords. Had no male heirs so both of these baronies became extinct when he passed away.

o   Henry – died unmarried

o   William – died young

o   George – died unmarried

o   Frances – married Henry, Earl of Ogle, afterwards Duke of Newcastle

o   Eleanor – died young

o   Margaret – died young

o   Grace – married Gilbert, Earl of Clare

o   Gertrude – married George, Viscount and afterwards Marquis of Halifax

 

Generation 4

·         Robert (1660-1682) – oldest son of Robert, inherited all his great-uncle Henry’s titles, never married

·         William (1662-1690) – second son of Robert, inherited the titles of his older brother, died of apoplexy without children

·         Evelyn (1665-1726) – third and youngest son of Robert, inherited the titles of his older brother. In 1706, created Marquess of Dorchester, a title that had been extinct since the passing of his grandfather 26 years earlier. In 1715 created Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull at which time the title of Earl of that same city was reverted, i.e. given up in exchange for the higher title.

o   Gertrude – married Charles, Lord Cheney, Viscount Newhaven

 

Generation 5

·         William (1692-1713) – at age 20 predeceased his father, but not before having two children

o   Mary – married Edward Wortley Montague, Esq.

o   Frances – married John Ereskin, late Earl of Marr.

o   Evelyn – married John, Lord Gorver

 

Generation 6

·         Evelyn (1711-1773) – succeeded his grandfather in 1726 at the age of 15, but spent the next 10 years on a “grand tour” of Europe where he was known for gambling and loose living. Died without issue at which time all his titles became extinct. He had married, but the marriage was later found to be bigamous. His nephews challenged his will, but the bigamy was found not to affect his wife’s inheritance of the property.

·         Frances (1712-1795) – younger sister of Evelyn. As a female, the only title which she would have been eligible for was the Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull as that had been created as “heir general”. But since that title had been reverted nearly 60 years prior when her grandfather became a duke, she did not inherit any titles. However, her son Charles was able to be titled in the next generation. Married Philip Meadows, son of Sir Philip Meadows.

 

Summary

Of the 23 other children in these six generations, 4 died young and 5 never married. But the other 14 all married individuals in the higher levels of society. Seven married those in the peerage (1 Duke, 1 Marquis, 3 Earls, 1 Viscount, 1 Baron/Lord). And the remaining seven married others who were notable (1 knight, 4 lawyers {Esq.), and 2 city leaders (Com.)).

 

Prior Generation and the New England Pierpont Family

What is interesting is to go one generation prior, i.e. to the father of Robert (1584-1643) above. Robert’s father was Sir Henry (1545-1609). He was one of seven children of Sir George (-1564). Of the other six children of Sir George, four were daughters (Annora, Elizabeth, Isabel, and Ann) and all of them married Commissioners (of Nottingham or Leicester) or Knights (of Derby). They were not part of a peerage family and so could not marry above them. Sir Henry’s next brother, Gervase, did not have any children. Sir Henry and Gervase were called “recusants” due to their support of the Catholics. The negative attitudes toward them became a positive when King Charles I ascended to the throne and married a Catholic. Then having been supporters, the children of Sir Henry fought for King Charles I, and this resulted in the awarding to Robert of the first peerage title in the Pierrepont family.

But Sir Henry’s youngest brother, William, did not follow his brothers in their proclamation of the Catholic faith and he chose to become what were later called Puritans and he passed this faith on to his sons. Thus, he was an outcast of the family and got the “short end of the stick” – both from an inheritance perspective, and from a religious perspective when Charles I became king. This later led to his son, James, and two of James’ sons, Robert and John, being among those to left England and went to the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1640 where they because the progenitors of the Pierrepont/Pierpont family in New England. This is summarized in a book by Robin Brackenbury, “Brothers at War – The Story of the Pierrepont Family in the Civil War.”

 

“William and Henry Pierrepont were the sons of Robert Pierrepont and Gertrude Talbot. Robert was the son of Sir Henry Pierrepont and Frances Cavendish. In 1628 Robert was created earl of Kingston upon Hull and Henry became the Viscount Newark. In 1630 Henry married Cecilia Bayning, daughter of Viscount Bayning. In the 1630s, Henry's brother, William, was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Harris. He held estates in Shropshire. In 1642 Henry took the side of King Charles I and William took the side of the Puritan controlled Parliament. Their father, Earl of Kingston was killed in 1643 and Henry became the second Earl of Kingston; shortly thereafter he was created the Marquess of Dorchester. After the fall of Charles I, Henry lived quietly in London while William lived in Nottingham, neither man taking part in Cromwell's dictatorship. After the restoration Henry received his former prominence. The children of both Henry and William married into prominent families.”