Baron de Ros

The title of Baron de Ros (pronounced "Roose") is the most ancient baronial title in the Peerage of England. (The spelling of the title and of the surname of the original holders has been rendered differently in various texts. The word "Ros" is sometimes spelt "Roos," and the word "de" is sometimes dropped.)

The Barony was created by writ in 1264; no other English title predates it unless one accepts certain doubtful contentions about the title of Earl of Arundel. The only older peerage titles in the British Isles are: Baron Kerry and Lixnaw (1181, held by the Marquess of Lansdowne), Baron Offaly (1199, held by the Duke of Leinster), and Baron Kingsale (circa 1223) in the Peerage of Ireland, and Earl of Mar (predates 1115) and Earl of Sutherland (1230) in the Peerage of Scotland.

The Barony may pass to heirs-general rather than just heirs-male, unlike most British titles. The barony may pass to daughters only if there are no sons. Under inheritance law, sisters have an equal right to inherit; there is no special inheritance right due for an eldest sister, as there is for an eldest son. Thus, it is possible that two or more sisters (and their heirs after their deaths) have an equally valid claim to the title; in such a case, the title goes into abeyance. The abeyance ends either when there is only one remaining claimant due to deaths of the other claimants, or when the Sovereign "terminates" the abeyance in favour of one of the heirs.

Whenever a man holds the title, he is styled the Premier Baron of England. However, whenever a woman holds the title, the holder of the next-highest barony held by a man is known as the Premier Baron. For instance, when Georgiana Maxwell, the most recent female to hold the title, was Baroness, the Lord Mowbray, Segrave, and Stourton was considered the Premier Baron.

The title was originally held by the de Ros family until the death of the eleventh Baron in 1508, when it was inherited by his nephew, Sir George Manners. His son, Thomas, inherited the barony and was later created Earl of Rutland. The barony and earldom remained united until the death of the third Earl, Edward Manners. The barony was then inherited by his only daughter, Elizabeth, while the earldom passed to a male heir. Upon the death of Elizabeth's only son, William Cecil, the title returned to the Manners family, being inherited by the sixth Earl of Rutland.

Again, upon the sixth Earl's death, the barony and earldom were separated, as the barony was inherited by the Earl's daughter Katherine, who would later marry George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Katherine's son George inherited both the barony and the dukedom, but upon his death the dukedom became extinct and the barony went into abeyance.

The barony had been in abeyance for over a century when Charlotte Boyle (who was later to marry Lord Henry FitzGerald, a son of the 4th Duke of Leinster) petitioned King George III to terminate the abeyance in her favour in 1790. The King referred the matter to the House of Lords, which recommended that the barony remain in abeyance. However, in 1806, Prince Regent terminated the abeyance in her favour on the recommendation of his Prime Minister. Charlotte and her heirs then took the additional surname of "de Ros" after "FitzGerald".

The title eventually went into abeyance again upon the death of Mary Dawson (née Fitzgerald-de Ros), the 25th Baroness, in 1939. The abeyance was terminated in favour of her eldest daughter, Una Ross (née Dawson) in 1943, and again went into abeyance upon her death in 1956. Two years later, the barony was called out of abeyance again for Una Ross's granddaughter, Georgiana Maxwell (née Ross). Upon Georgiana Maxwell's death, it was inherited by Peter Maxwell, the first man to hold the title in over three-quarters of a century.

Barons de Ros (1264)

• Robert de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros (d. 1285)
• William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros (d. 1316)
• William de Ros, 3rd Baron de Ros (d. 1343)
• William de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros (c. 1326-1352)
• Thomas de Ros, 5th Baron de Ros (d. 1384)
• John de Ros, 6th Baron de Ros (c. 1360-1394)
• William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros (c. 1369-1414)
• John de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros (d. 1421)
• Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros (c. 1405-1431)
• Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros (c. 1427-1464) (forfeit 1464)
• Edmund de Ros, 11th Baron de Ros (d. 1508) (restored 1485)
• George Manners, 12th Baron de Ros (d. 1513)
• Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 13th Baron de Ros (d. 1543)
• Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, 14th Baron de Ros (1526-1563)
• Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland, 15th Baron de Ros (1549-1587)
• Elizabeth Cecil, 16th Baroness de Ros (c. 1572-1591)
• William Cecil, 17th Baron de Ros (1590-1618)
• Francis Manners, 18th Baron de Ros (1578-1632)
• Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham, 19th Baroness de Ros (d. 1649)
• George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros (1628-1687) (barony abeyant 1687)
• Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 21st Baroness de Ros (1769-1831) (abeyance terminated 1806)
• Henry William FitzGerald-de Ros, 22nd Baron de Ros (1793-1839)
• William Lennox Lascelles FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros (1819-1873)
• Dudley Charles FitzGerald-de Ros, 24th Baron de Ros (1827-1907)
• Mary Frances Dawson, 25th Baroness de Ros (1854-1939) (abeyant 1939)
• Una Mary Ross, 26th Baroness de Ros (1879-1956) (abeyance terminated 1943; abeyant 1956)
• Georgiana Angela Maxwell, 27th Baroness de Ros (1933-1983) (abeyance terminated 1958)
• Peter Trevor Maxwell, 28th Baron de Ros (b. 1958)

Heir Apparent: The Hon. Finbar James Maxwell (b. November 14 1988)