Lords Dingwall (1583-1584)

1^st Lord Dingwall, Andrew Keith, b.?, a.1583-1584, d.1603

Son of Robert Keith, Abbot of Deer (b.?, d.1551), a younger brother of William Keith, 4^th Earl Marischal. He was a Commissioner for the marriage of James VI to Anne of Denmark in 1589. He served for 18 years in the army of Sweden under King Erik XIV and was sent by Erik to England to negotiate for marriage between himself and Elizabeth I, though obvisouyl without success. He died unmarried and the title became extinct.

Lords Dingwall (1609)

1^st Lord Dingwall, Richard Preston, b.?, a.1609, d.1628

A scion of the Preston family of Craigmillar and latterly Whitehill, Sir Richard Preston was a favourite of James VI and became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. He accompanied James to England in 1603 and was made a Knight of the Bath. He married Elizabeth Butler, only surviving child of Thomas Butler, 10^th Earl of Ormonde (in the Peerage of Ireland). When the earl died, Dingwall took possession of the estates of Ormonde in Ireland, with the backing of the King, in place of the rightful heir Walter Butler, 11^th Earl of Ormonde. His only child, Elizabeth Butler, was intended to marry George Fielding, nephew of George Villiers, 1^st Duke of Buckingham, son of that man’s sister Susan Villiers and William Feilding, 1^st Earl of Denbigh. In preparation for the great event, Dingwall was created 1^st Earl of Desmond in the Peerage of Ireland in 1619 with remainder to his intended son-in-law. However the deaths of both Buckingham, assassinated, and Dingwall, drowned travelling between Dublin and Holyhead, put paid to the wedding plans.

2^nd Lord (Lady) Dingwall, Elizabeth Butler, b.1615, a.1628, d.1684

Daughter of the 1^st Lord and Elizabeth Butler. She was married off at the age of fourteen to the James Butler (b.1610, d.1688), grandson and heir of Walter Butler mentioned above, bringing the dispute between the families to an end. The lordship passed to their grandson James Butler, 2^nd Duke of Ormonde.

Dukes of Ormonde (1661)

1^st Duke of Ormonde, James Butler, b.1610, a.1661, d.1688

In 1632 James succeeded his grandfather as 12^th Earl of Ormonde and the following year was appointed head of government in Ireland by Thomas Wentworth, 1^st Earl of Stafford, the Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1641 the Irish Catholic gentry rebelled against the crown in protest against unfair treatment and Butler became commander in chief of the Royalist forces, operating out of his base in Dublin, with other Protestant strongholds in Derry and Cork. The Catholics formed their own government, the Catholic Confederacy, based in Kilkenny. Though the Confederacy controlled most of the land area, Butler, with the help of a Scottish Covenanter Army that landed at Carrickfergus in 1642, managed to negotiate a ceasefire in 1643. At the outbreak of the English Civil War, Butler was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and had to deal with several different factions while trying to supply troops to aid the King. This task ultimately proved impossible and he was forced to negotiate with the English Parliamentarians in order to provide fresh troops to take on the Confederacy. He returned to Ireland in 1648 and successfully negotiated peace with the Confederates. When Charles I was executed, Butler took control of all the Royalist forces in Ireland but couldn’t halt Cromwell’s invasion. When the English and Protestant Royalist troops defected in 1650, Butler was forced from command and joined Charles II in exile. After the Restoration he was made Lord Steward of the Household and a Privy Counsellor and in 1661 he was created 1^st Duke of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland and Lord High Steward of England, recovering all the estates he had lost during the Act of Settlement in 1652. He continued to represent the King in Ireland for many years, not always successfully, and died in retirement in England.

2^nd Duke of Ormonde, James Butler, b.1665, a.1714, d.1745

Grandson of the Lady Dingwall and James Butler, 1^st Duke of Ormonde, and son of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory (b.1634, d.1680) and Lady Amelia de Nassau (b.?, d.1684), daughter of an illegitimate son of Maurice von Nassau-Dillenburg, Prince of Orange (b.1567, d.1625). Born in Ireland and educated at Christ Church College Oxford, Ormonde succeeded his father shortly before the Glorious Revolution. Throwing his weight behind William of Orange, he was made colonel of a regiment of horse-guards and fought at the Battle of the Boyne. In 1691 he moved to the continent to fight for William and fought for the Anglo-Dutch coalition in the Wars of the Spanish Succession. He was then made a Privy Counsellor and Viceroy of Ireland in 1703 and Captain-General in 1711. His loyalties torn between his Jacobite leanings and his responsibilities at Court, he was finally impeached in 1715 and left for France, from where he supported the Jacobite Rebellion. After this failure he was forfeited and attainted, and he settled in Spain, fading from political life. He was not immediately recognised as 3^rd Lord Dingwall and had to make a claim to the House of Lords, and he was finally admitted such in 1714.

3^rd Duke of Ormonde, Charles Butler, b.1671, a.1745, d.1758

Younger brother of the 2^nd Duke. Operating under the shade of his older brother, Charles was created 1^st Earl of Arran, 1^st Viscount of Tullogh and 1^st Baron of Cloughgrenan in the Peerage of Ireland and 1^st Baron Butler of Weston, Hunts, in the Peerage of England in 1693. He was Lord of the Bedchamber to William III from 1699 to 1702 and rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant-General in 1708. Although he was a Jacobite, in fact being created 1^st Duke of Arran in the Jacobite Peerage, he was never attainted, and managed to buy back his brother’s estates. It was later ruled by the British Parliament that the attainder of his brother only applied to English and Scottish titles and so be succeeded to his brother’s Irish titles, though of this he was unaware at his death. As he had no children, the dukedom became extinct and the earldom of Ormonde passed to a distant relative, although it was not until 1791 that this claim was recognised. Any claim to his father’s barony of Butler of Moore Park, Herts, and the Dingwall lordship passed via his sister Henrietta Butler (b.?, d.1724) to the Earls Cowper. She married her cousin Henry de Nassau, 1^st Earl of Grantham and their daughter Henrietta Nassau d’Auverquerque (b.?, d.1747) (her surname taken from the Dutch estates of the family) married William Clavering-Cowper, 2^nd Earl Cowper.

Baronets Cowper of Ratlin Court (1642)

1^st Baronet Cowper, William Cowper, b.1582, a.1642, d.1664

A Royalist who was imprisoned for his loyalty to Charles I.

2^nd Baronet Cowper, William Cowper, b.?, a.1664, d.?

Grandson of the 1^st Baronet and Martha Master, and son of John Cowper and Martha Hewkley. He was MP for Hertford.

3^rd Baronet Cowper, William Cowper, b.c.1665, a.?, d.1723

Son of the 2^nd Baronet and Sarah Holled (b.c.1643, d.1718-1719). He was Keeper of the Great Seal in 1705 and was a Commissioner for the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland. He was created 1^st Baron Cowper of Wingham, Kent, in 1706 in the Peerage of England and was Lord High Chancellor in 1707. He was made Lord High Steward in 1716 for the trials of the Jacobites and in 1717-1718 was created 1^st Earl Cowper and 1^st Viscount Fordwich in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was also Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.

Earls Cowper (1717-1718)

1^st Earl Cowper, William Cowper, b.c.1665, a.1717-1718, d.1723

2^nd Earl Cowper, William Clavering-Cowper, b.1709, a.1723, d.1764

Son of the 1^st Earl and Mary Clavering (b.1685, d.1723-1724). He was Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and Lord of the Bedchamber to King George II. He was also godfather to George John Spencer, 2^nd Earl Spencer.

3^rd Earl Cowper, George Nassau Cowper, b.1738, a.1764, d.1789

Son of the 2^nd Earl and Henrietta Nassau d’Auverquerque, mentioned above. He was created Prince of Nassau d’Auverquerque in the Peerage of the Holy Roman Empire, a title that was recognised by King George III.

4^th Earl Cowper, George Augustus Cowper, b.1776, a.1789, d.1799

Son of the 3^rd Earl and Hannah Anne Gore (b.?, d.1826). He died young and unmarried.

5^th Earl Cowper, Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Cowper, b.1778, a.1799, d.1837

Younger brother of the 4^th Earl. He was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

6^th Earl Cowper, George Augustus Frederick Cowper, b.1806, a.1837, d.1856

Son of the 5^th Earl and Emily Mary Lamb (b.1787, d.1869), daughter of Peniston Lamb, 1^st Viscount Melbourne. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Kent.

7^th Earl Cowper, Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, b.1834, a.1856, d.1905

Son of the 6^th Earl and Anne Florence de Grey (b.1806, d.1880), 6^th Baroness Lucas of Crudwell, daughter of Thomas Philip Robinson, 2^nd Earl de Grey of Wrest. He served in the House of Lords under Gladstone and was Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms (that is, Government Chief Whip) from 1871 to 1874. He was also invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1865 and was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1880 to 1882. He was also was Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire from 1861 to 1905. In 1871 he obtained a reversal of attainder of the lordship of Dingwall and became its 4^th holder. In 1880 he also succeeded his mother as 8^th Baron Lucas of Crudwell. On his death without children, the British titles became extinct, as did the barony of Cowper.

Lords Dingwall (1609, continued)

4^th Lord Dingwall, Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, b.1834, a.1871, d.1905

5^th Lord Dingwall, Auberon Thomas Herbert, b.1876, a.1905, d.1916

Nephew of the 4^th Lord and son of that man’s sister Lady Florence Amabell Cowper (b.c.1837, d.1886) and Auberon Edward William Molyneux Herbert (b.1838, d.1906), son of Henry John George Herbert, 3^rd Earl of Carnarvon. He was educated at Bedford Grammar School and Balliol College Oxford and then fought in the Boer War. He was Under-Secretary of State for War from 1908 to 1911 and then for the Colonies, and in 1912 was made a Privy Counsellor. He fought in the First World War, gaining the rank of Captain in the Hampshire Yeomenry, and was later a Flight Commander in the Royal Flying Corps. He was killed in action after being shot down behind enemy lines.

6^th Lord (Lady) Dingwall, Nan Ino Herbert, b.1880, a.1916, d.1958

Younger sister of the 5^th Lord.

7^th Lord (Lady) Dingwall, Anne Rosemary Cooper, b.1919, a.1958, d.1991

Daughter of the Lady Dingwall and Lieutenant-Colonel Howard Lister Cooper.

8^th Lord Dingwall, Ralph Matthew Palmer, b.1951, a.1991

Son of the 7^th Lady Dingwall and Major Robert Jocelyn Palmer (b.1919), son of Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3^rd Earl of Selborne. He is also 12^th Baron Lucas of Crudwell.

(Last updated: 19/02/2010)