Baron Saye and Sele
Encyclopedia
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
. It is thought to have been created by letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
in 1447 for James Fiennes
James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele
James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele was an English soldier and politician, son of Sir William Fiennes and wife Elizabeth Batisford ....
for his services in the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. The patent creating the original barony was lost, so it was assumed that the barony was created by writ, meaning that it could descend to heirs-general, and not only heirs-male. However, several authorities, including Burke's Peerage, agree that the assumption was erroneous, and that the original creation was by patent. His son, the second baron, was summoned to Parliament but killed at the Battle of Barnet
Battle of Barnet
The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV...
in 1471. His son, the de jure third Baron, was known as Lord Saye and Sele but was never summoned to Parliament. The peerage is therefore considered to have become dormant (unclaimed) on the death of the second Baron. His great-great-great-grandson, Richard Fiennes, the de jure seventh baron, claimed the title in 1573. For years, he remained unsuccessful, but in 1603 James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
granted him letters patent confirming his right to the title. The patent confirmed that the barony created in 1447 belonged to Richard Fiennes, but on the condition that, for the purposes of precedence
Precedence
Precedence may refer to:* Message precedence of military communications traffic* Order of precedence, the ceremonial hierarchy within a nation or state* Order of operations, in mathematics and computer programming...
or seniority, it would be considered as having been created in 1603, and also provided that no future Baron Saye and Sele would assert the precedence of 1447. The patent, furthermore, allowed the title to pass to heirs-general, based on the erroneous assumption that the barony was created by writ.
His son, the eighth Baron, was created Viscount Saye and Sele in 1624. On the death of his son, the second Viscount, the two titles separated. The barony fell into abeyance
Abeyance
Abeyance is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly...
between the late Baron's daughters Hon. Elizabeth, wife of John Twisleton, and Hon. Frances, wife of Andrew Ellis. The Viscountcy could only be passed on to male heirs and was inherited by the Baron's nephew, the third Viscount. He was the son of Nathaniel Fiennes
Nathaniel Fiennes
Nathaniel Fiennes was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659...
, second son of the first Viscount. When his son, the fourth Viscount, died, this line of the family also failed. He was succeeded by his cousin, the fifth Baron. He was the son of John Fiennes, third son of the first Viscount. He was in his turn succeeded by another cousin, the sixth Viscount. On his death in 1781 there were no more male heirs left of the first Viscount, and the title became extinct.
By 1715, all of the coheirs to the Barony of Saye and Sele had died save one; Cecil Twisleton, de jure tenth Baroness Saye and Sele. She was the daughter of the aforementioned Hon. Elizabeth, daughter of the second Viscount Saye and Sele. However, the barony was only formally called out of abeyance in favour of her great-grandson, Thomas Twisleton, who became the thirteenth Baron Saye and Sele. He was a General in the Army. His son, the fourteenth Baron, assumed the additional surnames of Fiennes and Eardley in 1825. He was succeeded by his son, the fifteenth Baron, who in his turn was succeeded by his cousin, the sixteenth Baron. In 1849 he assumed the additional surnames of Wykeham-Fiennes (the first Viscount Saye and Sele was a descendant of the sister and heiress of William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham was Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of England, founder of Winchester College, New College, Oxford, New College School, Oxford, and builder of a large part of Windsor Castle.-Life:...
). His grandson, the eighteenth Baron, served as Comptroller of the Household
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...
from 1912 to 1915 in the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
government of H.H. Asquith. As of 2007 the title is held by his grandson, the twenty-first Baron. In 1965 he relinquished the additional surnames of Twisleton and Wykeham.
Another member of the Fiennes family was Eustace Edward Fiennes, second son of the seventeenth Baron, who represented Banbury
Banbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Banbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a strongly Conservative seat.The constituency was created January 26, 1554 through the efforts of Henry Stafford and Thomas Denton...
in Parliament and also served as Governor of the Leeward Islands. In 1916 he was created a Baronet, of Banbury in the County of Oxford. this title is held by his grandson, Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, of Banbury
Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE , better known as Ranulph Fiennes, is a British adventurer and holder of several endurance records. He is also a prolific writer. Fiennes served in the British Army for eight years including a period on counter-insurgency service while...
. Actors Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
and Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes is an English film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth, Commisar Danilov in Enemy at the Gates, Martin Luther in Luther, Merlin in Camelot, and his portrayal of Mark Benford in the...
are from a cadet branch
Cadet branch
Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...
of the family, being descended from Frederick the sixteenth Baron.
Through the marriage of the second Viscount to a daughter of Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon was an English military and naval commander.-Life:The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain...
, the family descends from William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, as well as the Plantagenet Kings of England.
Barons Saye and Sele (1447)
- James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and SeleJames Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and SeleJames Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele was an English soldier and politician, son of Sir William Fiennes and wife Elizabeth Batisford ....
(c. 1395–1450) - William Fiennes, 2nd Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1428–1471)
- Henry Fiennes, 3rd Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1460–1476)
- Richard Fiennes, 4th Baron Saye and Sele (1471–1501)
- Edward Fiennes, 5th Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1500–1528)
- Richard Fiennes, 6th Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1520–1573)
- Richard Fiennes, 7th Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1557–1613)
- William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, 8th Baron Saye and SeleWilliam Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and SeleWilliam Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele was born at the family home of Broughton Castle near Banbury, in Oxfordshire. He was the only son of Richard Fiennes, seventh Baron Saye and Sele...
(1582–1662) - James Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and Sele, 9th Baron Saye and SeleJames Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and SeleJames Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and Sele was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1660....
(c. 1603–1674) (barony abeyant 1674; see below for continuation); succeeded in the viscountcy only by his brother NathanielNathaniel FiennesNathaniel Fiennes was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659...
's son - William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1641–1698)
- Nathaniel Fiennes, 4th Viscount Saye and Sele (1676–1710)
- Laurence Fiennes, 5th Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1690–1742)
- Richard Fiennes, 6th Viscount Saye and Sele (1716–1781)
Barons Saye and Sele (1447; continued)
- Cecil Twisleton, de jure 10th Baroness Saye and Sele (d. 1723) (became sole heir in 1715)
- Fiennes Twistleton, de jure 11th Baron Saye and Sele (1670–1730)
- John Twisleton, de jure 12th Baron Saye and Sele (1698–1763)
- Thomas Twisleton, 13th Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1735–1788) (abeyancy terminated in his favour)
- Gregory William Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes, 14th Baron Saye and Sele (1769–1844)
- William Thomas Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes, 15th Baron Saye and Sele (1798–1847)
- Frederick Benjamin Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 16th Baron Saye and Sele (1799–1887)
- John Fiennes Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 17th Baron Saye and Sele (1830–1907)
- Geoffrey Cecil Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 18th Baron Saye and SeleGeoffrey Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 18th Baron Saye and SeleGeoffrey Cecil Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 18th Baron Saye and Sele , was a British soldier and Liberal politician...
(1858–1937) - Geoffrey Rupert Cecil Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 19th Baron Saye and Sele (1884–1949)
- Ivo Murray Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 20th Baron Saye and Sele (1885–1968)
- Nathaniel Thomas Allen Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and SeleNathaniel Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and SeleNathaniel Thomas Allen Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele is a British nobleman and businessman.Nathaniel Thomas Allen Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on 22 September 1920, the son of Ivo Murray Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, later 20th Baron Saye and Sele, whom he succeeded in 1968.Despite a family...
(b. 1920)