Page:The English Reports v1 1900.pdf/870
Henry, was an express and positive authority in favour of the last mentioned claimants, and a direct bar to the present Duke of Ancaster's claim in the character of heir male of the Oxford family; and that the authority of this decision received additional weight from the conduct of the House of Peers upon the subsequent petitions in 1661, and the length of time during which this high office has been enjoyed by those claiming under the heir general of Henry, Earl of Oxford.
The third argument in favour of the present Duke, or rather in favour of the right of his Majesty to grant this office, was, that this office cannot be held by a female.
But in the present instance it was not contended that this office could be executed by a female, but that in the event which had happened, the office descended upon Lady Willoughby of Eresby, as the eldest co-heir of the late Duke of Ancaster, and that her husband was entitled to execute the same. And this claim was well warranted, not only from the authority of the several cases before-mentioned, but also by the opinion of all the judges in the sixth year of King Henry the Eighth, upon a case stated to them relative to the claim of the Duke of Buckingham to the office of Constable of England, by descent from the eldest of the two co-heirs of the Earl of Hereford. (11th Eliz. Dyer, 285.)[1]
It was also alledged, that this office cannot be executed by any person under the degree of a lord of parliament, and that no instance can be produced of any person of an inferior degree having been in the possession of it.
In answer to this it was said, that as this office was granted many centuries ago to the family of the Veres, who were soon afterwards created Earls of Oxford, and continued for many generations in the enjoyment of this office, it was not to be expected that many instances should occur of this office having been enjoyed by a commoner; but that however one such instance is to be met with, for it appears, that in the first year of Henry the Fourth, he granted this office to Sir Thomas de Erpingham, who, by virtue of this grant, claimed to execute the same at the coronation of King Henry the Fourth, and that this claim was allowed, and Sir Thomas de Erpingham executed the same accordingly; which precedent was sufficient to shew, that some of the most honourable and important parts of the service of this office may be executed by a commoner. (Roll of Claims, 1st Henry IV.)
[153] That Lady Willoughby of Eresby being lineally descended from, and one of the co-heirs general of Robert Lord Willoughby, who, in the year 1626, was admitted to this high office as the heir general of Henry then late Earl of Oxford; the claimants Peter Burrell and Lady Willoughby of Eresby, his wife, hoped the House would be fully satisfied of the justice of their several claims to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England, and the liberties and dignities thereof.
- ↑ Coke Littleton, 165, a.—There is a difference between a dignity or name of nobility, and an office of honour. For if a man held a manor of the King to be High Constable of England, and die, having issue two daughters, the eldest daughter taketh husband, he shall execute the office solely, and before marriage it shall be exercised by some sufficient deputy; and all this was resolved by all the Judges of England in the case of the Duke of Buckingham.
[149] (a) Dethick's MS. in the College of Arms, fol. 280. Vincent, B. II. fol. 83, in the College of Arms. Vincent, A. A. 100. Philpot's Baronagium Angliæ, MS. in the College of Arms, 26. (b) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. fol. 88. (c) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. fol. 88. (d) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. fol. 536. Hollingshead, 3. fol. 866. Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. I. 557. (e) Vincent, A. A. 77. Philpot's Baronagium Angliæ, 33. Rymer's Fœd. vol. I. fol. 8. (f) Pedigree, Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 538. (g) Vincent, B. II. 99. (h) W. R. MS. in the College of Arms, 97. Hollingshead's Chron. vol. III. 866. (i) W. R. MS. in the College of Arms, fol. 97. Confirmed by Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. I. 620. b. (k) Vincent, B. II. 57. Hollingshead's Chron. vol. III. 866. (l) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 186. B. Philpot's Baronagium Angliæ, 34. (m) Vincent, B. II. 57. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 187. (n) MS. W. R. 98. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. II. 169. [150] (o) Roll of Services, 1 Rich. II. (p) Vincent, B. II. 11. A. A. 107, 109. (q) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 602 and 607. Selden's Title of Honour, 714. (r) Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 607. (s) Vincent, B. II. 11. (t) Roll in the Tower, 30 Hen. III. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I. 134.
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