Baron de Ros

(originally created during the reign of King Henry III in 1264)

Peter Trevor Maxwell, 28th Baron de Ros, Premier Baron of England.

Arms: Quarterly: 1st and 4th, argent a saltire gules (FitzGerald); 2nd and 3rd, gules three water-bougets argent (de Ros).

Crest: 1st - On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a peacock in pride proper (de Ros) 2nd - A monkey statant proper environed round the loins and chained or (FitzGerald).

Supporters: Two falcons, wings expanded and inverted proper.

The Barony of de Ros is one with a colorful history. This Barony is one created by writ and can pass to either male or female heirs. When there is no surviving male heir, this peerage reverts to the next surviving male or female within the family (i.e. cousins). If there are more than one surviving female heir, the title is in abeyance until there is only one surviving female heir, or until the abeyance is terminated in favor of one surviving female heir, or until a single male heir is produced. The de Ros Barony has been placed in abeyance on more than one occasion, and has been held by quite a few women. Those women who held the title were styled as "Baroness de Ros, in her own right."

Predating the Barony of de Ros, one Robert de Ros Furfan, was a Feudal Lord in the time of King Richard I. He was imprisoned in Normandy and forced to pay a considerable sum for his freedom. But, under King John he regained the Barony of his great-grandfather, Walter Espec. During the troubles in King John's reign, he was the leader of the Baronial Army and one of the 25 Barons appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Carta.

Two generations later, Robert de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros, while taking an active part against King Henry III, was one of the Chief Barons who was summoned to Parliament as Baron de Ros on December 14, 1264. This is the point where the present Barony of de Ros begins.

The one bad turn, which seems to be a constant among the most senior peerages, involved Thomas, the 10th Baron de Ros. His Lordship was attainted in 1461 and beheaded in 1464, at which time all of his honors were forfeited; but his son, Edmund, obtained a reversal of the attainder in 1485 and became the 11th Baron de Ros. Edmund died without a male heir and the title then fell into abeyance between his three sisters.

Other titles that have crossed paths with the de Ros Barony include Earldom of Rutland, the Dukedom of Leinster, and Dukedom of Buckingham. In 1791, Charlotte Boyle Baroness de Ros, married Lord Henry FitzGerald, 3rd son of the 1st Duke of Leinster, which explains the quartering of the de Ros arms with those of FitzGerald.

The present Baron de Ros is the 28th holder of this honorable and most ancient title.

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