for himself, one esquire, one chamberlain, and four grooms; as also hay, oats, horse-shoes and nails for six horses, descended

JOHN CONWAY, Esq., of Potrithan, in the county of Flint, whose son,

SIR HUGH CONWAY, received the honour of knighthood at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, consort of King Henry VII., having been previously a zealous supporter of the interests of that monarch, and master of his wardrobe. From this Sir Hugh lineally sprang,

EDWARD CONWAY, Esq., one of the gentlemen ushers of the chamber to King Henry VIII., whom. Anne, daughter and heiress of Richard Burdett, Esq., of Arrow, in the county of Warwick, and was 8. by his son,

SIR JOHN CONWAY, Knt., who being in the great expedition made into Scotland in the 1st year of Edward VI., distinguished himself so highly as to be made a BANNERET. Sir John m. Catherine, daughter of Sir Ralph Verney, Knt., and was 8. at his decease, some time in the reign of Edward VI. by his son,

ŞIR JOHN CONWAY, who was made governor of Ostend, by Robert, Earl of Leicester, in the year 1586. He m. Elene, daughter of Sir Fulke Greville, of Beauchamps Court, in the county of Warwick, and dying in the 1st year of King James I., was 8. by his son,

SIR EDWARD CONWAY. This gallant person received the honour of knighthood from Robert, Earl of Essex, at the sacking of Cadix, where he commanded a regiment in 1596. After which he served in the Netherlands, and was governor of the Brill. In the 20th James I. he was constituted one of the principal secretaries of state, and elevated to the peerage on the 22nd March, 1624, as BARON CONWAY, of Ragley, in the county of Warwick, a manor acquired by purchase towards the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign. His lordship was appointed captain of the Isle of Wight in the December following, and being again secretary of state in the 1st King Charles I., was advanced to the IRISH VISCOUNTY OF KILLULTAGH, in the county of Antrim, in 1626, in which year, on the 6th June, he was created VISCOUNT CONWAY, OF CONWAY CASTLE, in the county of Caernarvon. His lordship filled afterwards the high office of PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, and was accredited upon some occasion ambassador extraordinary to the court of Vienna. His lordship m. Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Tracy, Knt., of Lodington, in the county of Gloucester, and widow of Edward Bray, Esq., by whom he had issue, EDWARD, his successor; Thomas (Sir), a lieutenant-colonel in the army in the wars in Germany, and Ralph; with four daughters, viz.

Frances, m. to Sir William Pelham, Knt., of
Brocklesby, in the county of Lincoln.
Brilliana, m. to Sir Robert Harley, Knt., of
Brampton Bryan, in the county of Hereford.
Heligawrth, m. to Sir William Smith, Knt., of
the county of Essex.
Mary.

The viscount d. in 1630, and was s. by his eldest

son,

EDWARD CONWAY, second Viscount, who had

been summoned to parliament in the 4th of Charles I., in his father's BARONY of CONWAY. His lordship m. first, Frances, daughter of Sir Francis Popham, Knt., of Littlecot, in the county of Somerset, by whom he had two surviving sons, Edward and Francis, and two daughters, Dorothy, m, to Sir George Rawdon, Bart., of Moira, in the county of Down, (ancestor of the Lords Moira, of Ireland ;) and Anne. His lordship m. secondly, Katherine, daughter of Giles Heicriblock, of Ghent, but had no issue. He d. in 1655, and was 8. by his eldest surviving son,

EDWARD CONWAY, 4th Viscount, who was created EARL OF CONWAY, on the 3rd December, 1679, and was for some time secretary of state. His lordship m. first, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Heneage Finch, Serjeant at Law, and Recorder of London, and sister of the Lord Chancellor, Heneage, (Finch,) first Earl of Nottingham, by whom he had an only son, Heneage, who died in infancy. He m. secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Booth, Earl of Warrington, and thirdly, Ursula, daughter of Colonel Stawel, but had no surviving issue. He died in 1683, when all his HONOURS became EXTINCT; but the principal part of his extensive estates passed, by his lordship's will, to the sons of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., of Bury Pomeroy, by his second wife, Lettice, daughter of - Popham, Esq., of Littlecote, with the injunction, that the inheritor should assume the surname and arms of CONWAY. This fortune was first inherited by POPHAM SEYMOUR, Esq., who assumed, of course, the name of Conway, but that gentleman falling in a duel with Colonel Kirk, 4th June, 1699, and dying unmarried, it passed to his brother, FRANCIS SEYMOUR, Esq., who assumed likewise the surname of Conway, and was afterwards created BARON CONWAY, of Ragley, which BARONY now merges in the MARQUISATE OF HERTFORD.

ARMS.-S. on a bend cotised ar. a rose betw. two annulets gules.

COPSI EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND.

Conferred by William the Conqueror, anno 1068.

Lineage.

The EARLDOM of the county of NORTHUMBERLAND, was held at the time of the conquest, by

MORKAR, younger son of Algar, Earl of the county of Chester, and he was left undisturbed in the dignity, until he rose in rebellion against the new monarch, when he forfeited the earldom, which was then conferred upon

COPSI, (uncle of Tofti, a very distinguished Earl of Northumberland under the Saxon rule,) in consideration of the high character he had attained in council. The new earl immediately expelled from his territory, Osulph, whom Morkar had placed there as his deputy, but that chief collecting a force, compelled Earl Copsi to seek shelter in the church of Newburne, which being fired, the Earl of Northumberland was seized by his opponent in an attempt to escape, and was decapitated at the door of the church, on the fourth Ides of March, in the

fifth week after he had the administration of those parts committed to him; but in the very next autumn, Osulph himself was slain by a robber, with whom he came casually into conflict.

CORBET-BARONS CORBET.

By Writ of Summons, dated 23rd June, 1295, 23 Edward I.

Lineage.

In the time of William the Conqueror,

The brothers,

{

ROGER sons of CORBET, and held of Roger de

ROBERT, J Montgomery, divers

lordships in the county of Salop, and were munificent benefactors to the church. From the younger descended

ROBERT CORBET, Lord of Caus, &c., in the county of Salop, who in the 22nd of Henry II., paid twenty marks for trespassing in the king's forests. And in the 6th of Richard I., upon the collection of the scutage for that monarch's redemption, answered four pounds, as also twenty shillings more, for one knight's fee. This Robert, was 8. by his son,

THOMAS CORBET, who, siding with the barons in the latter end of the reign of John, had his castle of Caus seized, but making his peace and doing homage, it was restored in the 2nd Henry III. This feudal lord d. in three years afterwards, and was 8. by his son,

THOMAS CORBET, who in the 17th of Henry III., was compelled with other barons marchers to give a pledge to the crown for his good conduct. This Thomas was cast, in the 20th of the same reign, in a law-suit, which he had with Avice and Lucie, the daughters and heiresses of Roger de Say, for a wood at Ambaldeston. In the 22nd of Henry III., he had summons as a baron marcher, to attend the king at Oxford, to consult touching certain proceedings of Lewelin, Prince of Wales. In the 32nd of this same monarch, he was constituted sheriff of the counties of Salop and Stafford, and he held that office for two years and a half. In a few years afterwards, he attended the king in his expedition into Wales, and had command to aid Hamon le Strange, in driving the Welch from Montgomery. He was subsequently engaged several times in the Welch wars. This feudal lord m. Isabell, daughter of Reginald, and sister of Roger Valletort, Baron of Huberton, and had issue, PETER, his successor.

Alice, m. to Robert de Stafford, and had issue,
Nicholas de Stafford, whose son,

Edmund de Stafford, was father of

RALPH, LORD STAFFORD.

Emme, m. to Sir Bryan de Brampton, and had,

Walter de Brampton, father of

Sir Bryan de Bramptom, who left two daughters, co-heiresses,

Margaret, m. to Robert Harley,
Esq., ancestor of the Earls of
Oxford.

His lordship d. in 1273, and was s. by his son, PETER CORBET, who having distinguished himself in the wars of King Edward I., was summoned to parliament as a BARON by that monarch, from the 23rd June, 1295, to 26th September, 1300. In the 27th of the same reign, his lordship was found by inquisition, to be one of the next heirs to Roger de Valletort. He d. in 1300, and was 8. by his second, but eldest surviving son,

PETER CORBET, second Baron Corbet, summoned to parliament from 13th September, 1302, to 14th March, 1322. His lordship m. Beatrix, daughter of John, Lord Beauchamp, of Hacche, but died without issue, in 1322, when he was 8. by his

brother,

JOHN CORBET, third Baron, at whose decease, s. p., the BARONY OF CORBET, became EXTINCT, while (the descendants of the deceased lord's aunts,) Ralph, Lord Stafford, and Sir Robert Harley, became his heirs.

ARMS.-Or. a raven ppr.

CORBET VISCOUNTESS CORBET, OF LINCHDALE, IN THE COUNTY OF SALOP.

By Letters Patent, dated anno 1679. The dignity for life only.

Lineage.

DAME SARAH CORBET, widow of Sir Vincent Corbet, Bart., of Moreton Corbet, in the county of Salop, (a descendant of the old Lords Corbet, of Caus Castle,) and daughter of Sir Robert Monson, of Carlton, in the county of Lincoln, was elevated to the peerage, by letters patent, dated in 1679, for life only, as VISCOUNTESS CORBET, OF LINCHDALE. Her ladyship's son, Sir Vincent Corbet, second Baronet, left a son, Sir Vincent Corbet, third Baronet, at whose decease, s. p., in 1688, the baronetcy became extinct. The peerage EXPIRED Of course, with the viscountess.

NOTE. Upon the demise of Sir Vincent Corbet, in 1688, the estates of the family reverted to that gentleman's great uncle, Richard Corbet, Esq., of Shrewsbury, whose lineal descendant, Andrew Corbet, Esq., was created a BARONET, in 1808, and is the present SIR ANDREW CORBET, of Moreton Corbet.

20th of Richard II., when, being retained to serve the king during his life, he obtained a grant of 100 marks per annum. In the 2d of Henry IV., Sir John, having deported himself with great gallantry in justing against a Frenchman at York, in the presence of the king, won the heart of that monarch's sister, Elizabeth, widow of John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, whose hand he soon afterwards obtained, and with her considerable grants from the crown to enjoy during the lady's life, with a rent charge of 400 marks per annum for his own. In five years afterwards he was again distinguished at a tournament held in London, where he triumphed over a Scottish knight; and he was subsequently one of the companions in arms of the gallant Hen. V. at the glorious battle of AGINCOURT. In the 5th of the same reign, he was constituted one of the commissioners to treat with the captain of the castle of Caen for the surrender of that fortress; and upon the departure of his royal master from France, he was left behind for the defence of those parts; for all which important services, and in consideration of his connection with the house of Plantagenet, Sir John Cornwall was advanced by King Henry VI., in open parliament, to the dignity of a BARON of the realm, under the title of BARON FANHOPE, of Fanhope, in the county of Hereford, on the 17th July, 1433, and created, on the 30th January, 1442, BARON MILBROKE, to bear that title as a free denizen of this realm, &c.; but he was always summoned to parliament as " Johanni Cornewayll Chevalier." In the 12th of Henry VI., his lordship was made governor of the town of St. Selerine, then won by assault; shortly after which he had a grant of the custody of Charles, Duke of Orleans, during the time of the restraint of that prince in England.

This gallant nobleman outlived his wife, the Princess Elizabeth, by whom he had no issue,* and died in 1443, when the BARONIES OF FANHOPE AND MILBROKE became EXTINCT. His lordship left two illegitimate sons, JOHN and THOMAS, for whom he provided in his will.

ABMS.-Erm. a lion rampant, gu. crowned or. within a bordure sa. bezantée.

tranquillity at that unhappy period by the firmness, moderation, and humanity which governed his councils. In 1804, the marquess had the honour of being placed a second time at the head of the government of India, as governor-general, and died there on the 5th October, in the following year. His lordship m., in July, 1768, Jemima, daughter of James Jones, Esq., and had issue,

CHARLES, his successor.

Mary, m. in 1785, to Mark Singleton, Esq., M. P., principal store-keeper to the ord

nance.

The marquess, who was a KNIGHT of the GARTER, was s. by his eldest son,

CHARLES CORNWALLIS, third earl and second marquess, born 19th October, 1774, m. 17th April, 1797, Louisa, fourth daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon, and had issue,

Jane, m. to Richard, third and present Lord
Braybroke.

Louisa.

Jemima, m. to Lord Eliot, eldest son of the Earl of St. Germans.

Mary, m. to Charles Ross, Esq.

Elizabeth.

His lordship d. in 1823, when the MARQUISATE of CORNWALLIS EXPIRED; but the EARLDOM and other honours reverted to his uncle, John, Lord Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, and are extant in his lordship's son, James, present EARL CORNWAL

LIS.

ARMS.-Sa. guttee d'eau, on a fesse ar., three Cornish choughs ppr.

COSPATRICK - EARL OF NORTH. UMBERLAND.

Conferred by William the Conqueror, anno 1069. Lineage.

Upon the death of Robert Comyn, Earl of Northumberland,

COSPATRICK, son of Maldred, son of Crinan, (which Maldred was progenitor to the second dynasty of the great family of Neville, still represented by the earls of Abergavenny,) obtained the earldom of the county of Northumberland from the Conqueror for a large sum of money; but soon afterwards becoming dissatisfied with the sway of the new ruler, his lordship, with other northern chiefs, fled into Scotland, taking with them young EDGAR ATHLING, Agitha, his mother, and Margaret and Christian, his sisters, and were well received by King Malcolm.

From Scotland the earl made several hostile incursions into England, and was deprived of the earldom for those repeated treasons. He subsequently obtained Dunbar, with the adjacent lands in Loudon, from the Scottish monarch for his subsistence, but died soon afterwards, leaving three sons and a daughter,

Julian, whom King Henry II. gave in marriage to Ranulph de Merley, of Morpeth, a great Northumberland baron.

ARMS.-Gules, a saltier ar.

FRANCIS COTTINGTON, Esq., fourth son of Philip Cottington, Esq., of Godmanston, in the county of Somerset, having held the office of clerk of the council in the reign of King James I., and being secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales, was created a BARONET by that monarch on the 16th February, 1623. After the accession of King Charles I., Sir Francis Cottington was constituted chancellor and under treasurer of the exchequer; and being accredited ambassador to the court of Madrid, for the purpose of negociating a peace, he was elevated to the peerage on the 10th July, 1631, as LORD COTTINGTON, Baron of Hanworth, in the county of Middlesex. His lordship was next commissioned to exercise the important office of lord treasurer during the king's absence in Scotland, in the 9th Charles I., and was constituted master of the wards upon his majesty's return. During the civil wars, Lord Cottington remained faithfully attached to his royal master, and eventually went into exile with King Charles II., from which he never returned. His lordship married Anne, daughter of Sir William Meredith, Knt., and widow of Sir Robert Brett, by whom he had a son and four daughters, all of whom predeceased him unmarried. He d. at Valladolid, in 1653, when the the BARONY OF COTTINGTON became EXTINCT, and his estates passed to his nephew, CHARLES COTTINGTON, Esq., who had his lordship's remains brought over to England, and interred in Westminster Abbey, where he erected a stately monument. ARMS.-Az. a fesse between three roses, or.

COVENTRY-BARONS COVENTRY,
OF AYLESBOROUGH, IN
THE COUNTY OF WOR-
CESTER.

By Letters Patent, dated 10th April, 1628.
Lineage.

This family rose first into importance through

JOHN COVENTRY, an opulent mercer of the city of London, who filled the civic chair in 1425, and was one of the executors of the celebrated Sir Richard Whittington. From this worthy citizen descended

THOMAS COVENTRY, Esq., an eminent lawyer, temp. Elizabeth and King James I. In the 38th of the former reign, he was chosen autumnal reader by the society of the inner Temple, but was obliged to postpone the fulfilment of his task to the ensuing Lent, owing to the plague then raging in London. He was soon afterwards advanced to the dignity of the coif, and, in the 3d year of King James, was appointed king's serjeant; before the close of which year, being constituted one of the judges of the court of common pleas, he took his

THOMAS, his successor.

William, of Ridmarley, in the county of
Worcester.

Walter, from whom the present Earls of Co-
ventry derive.

Joan, m. to- Rogers Esq., of Surrey.
Catherine, m. to William Child, Esq.
Anne, m. to George Frampton, Esq.
He was s. by his eldest son,

THOMAS COVENTRY, Esq., who, having adopted the learned profession of his father, attained the very highest honours of the bar. His advancement commenced with the recordership of London; he was then appointed solicitor-general, and honoured with knighthood, and, in the 18th of James I., succeeded to the attorney-generalship. In the first of King Charles I., Sir Thomas was constituted LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL, and elevated to the peerage on the 10th April, 1628, as BARON COVENTRY, of Aylesborough, in the county of Worcester. His lordship m. first, Sarah, daughter of Edward Sebright, Esq., of Besford, in the county of Worcester, and had issue, THOMAS, his successor,

Elizabeth, m. to Sir John Hare, of Stow-Bardolph, in the county of Norfolk.

He m. secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of John Aldersey, Esq., of Spurstow, and widow of William Pitchford, Esq., by whom he had

John, m. to Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Coles, Esq., of Barton, in the county of Somerset, and widow of Herbert Doddington, Esq., and had

John, (Sir, K.B.) member of the Long Parliament for Weymouth. The outrage upon this gentleman, and its provocation, which gave rise to the wellknown COVENTRY ACT, arose thus:Upon the occasion of a money grant being carried in the House of Commons, it was proposed by opposition that the supplies for it should be raised by a tax upon playhouses, which being resisted by the court party, upon the plea "that players were the king's servants, and a part of his pleasure," Sir John Coventry asked whether did the king's pleasure lie among the men or the women that acted?-an observation that excited so much indignation in the royal circle, that it was determined to inflict summary punishment upon the utterer. The Duke of York told Burnet that he had said every thing to divert the king from the resolution he had taken, which was to send some guards to watch in the street where Sir John Coventry lodged, and to set a mark upon him." The outrage, by bills of indictment, was found to have been committed by Sir Thomas Sandys, Knt., Charles O'Brien, Esq., Simon Parry,

and Miles Reeves, who fled from justice, not daring to abide a legal trial. "As Coventry was going home," says Burnet," they drew about him: he stood up to the wall, and snatched the flambeau out of his servant's hands; and with that in one hand, and his sword in the other, he defended himself so well, that he got great credit by it. He wounded some of them; but was soon disarmed, and then they cut his nose to the bone, to teach him to remember what respect he owed to the king; and so they left him, and went to the Duke of Monmouth's, where O'Brien's arm was dressed. The matter was executed by orders from the duke, for which he was severely censured, because he lived then upon terms of friendship with Coventry. Coventry had his nose so well needled up, that the scar was scarcely to be discerned. This put the house of commons in a furious uproar: they passed a bill of banishment against the actors of it, and put a clause in it, that it should not be in the king's power to pardon them, and that it should be death to maim any person." This Sir John Coventry died unmarried, and endowed an hospital at Wiveliscomb, in the county of Somerset.

Francis, married thrice, but had issue only by his third wife, Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of John Manning, Esq., of London, and widow of Robert Cæsar, Esq., namely, Francis, who d. unmarried in 1686. Elizabeth, m. to Sir William Keyt, Bart., of Ebington, Gloucestershire.

Westwood, in the county of Worcester. This lady, who was distinguished by her intelligence and piety, was esteemed the author of THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. Thomas, Lord Coventry, died at Durham House, in the Strand, London, 14th January, 1640, and Lord Clarendon says that "he discharged all the offices he went through with great abilities and singular reputation of integrity; that he enjoyed his place of lord keeper with universal reputation (and, sure, justice was never better administered,) for the space of about sixteen years, even to his death, some months before he was sixty years of age." His lordship was 8. by his eldest son,

THOMAS COVENTRY, second baron, who m. Mary, daughter of Sir William Craven, Knt., and sister of William, Earl Craven, by whom he had two sons, George and Thomas. His lordship d. 27th October, 1661, and was 8. by the elder,

GEORGE COVENTRY, third baron, this nobleman m. 18th July, 1653, Margaret, daughter of John, Earl of Thanet, by whom he had surviving issue, JOHN, his successor.

Margaret, m. to Charles, Earl of Wiltshire, afterwards Duke of Bolton, and died 8. p. in 1683.

His lordship, d. 15th December, 1680, and was 8. by his son,

JOHN COVENTRY, fourth baron, at whose decease, unmarried, 25th July, 1685, the title and estates reverted to his uncle,

The Honourable

Henry, one of the privy council of King Charles II., a diplomatist in the beginning of that monarch's reign, and subsequently one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state. He d. a bachelor on the 7th December, 1686.

William (Sir), a privy-councillor, secretary of the admiralty, temp. Charles II. "A man," says Burnet, "of great notions and eminent virtues; the best speaker in the House of Commons, and capable of bearing the chief ministry, as it was once thought he was very near it, and deserved it more than all the rest did." Sir William was, however, forbid the court for sending a challenge to the Duke of Buckingham; after which he resided in private until his decease in 1686, at Minster Lovel, near Whitney, in Oxfordshire. Sir William Coventry d. unmarried. Anne, m. to Sir William Savile, Bart., of Thornhill, in the county of York. Mary, m. to Henry Frederick Thynne, Esq., of Longlete, in the county of Wilts. Margaret, m. to Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury. Dorothy, m. to Sir John Packington, Bart., of

of Pierce Edgcombe, Esq., of Mount Edgcombe, in the county of Devon, and had two surviving sons, Thomas and Gilbert. His lordship m. secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Graham, Esq., (who espoused, after the earl's decease, Thomas Savage, Esq., of Elmley Castle, in the county of Worcester,) by whom he had no issue. He d. on the 15th July, 1699, and was 8. by his elder son,

THOMAS COVENTRY, second earl, who m. Anne, daughter of Henry, Duke of Beaufort, and dying in 1710, was 8. by his only surviving son,

THOMAS COVENTRY, third earl, at whose decease at Eton College, 28th January, 1711-12, the honours and estates reverted to his uncle,

GILBERT COVENTRY, fourth earl, who m. first, Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Keyt, Bart., of Ebrington, in the county of Gloucester, and had an only daughter,

Anne, m. to Sir William Carew, Bart., of
Anthony, in Cornwall.

His lordship m. secondly, Anne, daughter of Sir Streynsham Masters, but had no issue. He d. on the 27th October, 1719, when the EARLDOM AND VISCOUNTY, with the bulk of his estates, passed to his relative, William Coventry, Esq., of the City of London, one of the clerks of the green cloth, ac