Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 1.djvu/257

BANBURY. 235 VII. 1776. 7. Thomas Woods (Knollys), Earl of Banbury, &c, br. ami h. b. in Hawkmore street 6 Dec. 1727 and bap. at Cowley, Oxon., 15 Jan. 1727-8. He was an officer in the 3rd Reg. of Foot. He m. 30 March 1761, at St. Thomas', Winchester, Mary, da. of William PoRTEtt of Winchester, Attorney at Law. He d. 18 March 1793, at his house in Winchester, and was bur. the 27th in the Cathedral there. Will pr. Sep. 1793. His widow d. 22 March 1798. VIII. 1793. 8: William (Knollys), Earl of Banbury, &c, s. and fa. bap. 2 March 1763 at St. Thomas', Winchester. Ensign 3rd Reg. Foot Guards, 1778 ; Lieut. 1788 ; Lieut. Col. 1793 ; Col. (brevet) 1795 ; Major Gen. 1S02 ; Lt. Gen. 1808 ; subsequently General and Governor of Limerick. In 180G by the style of " William, Earl of Banbury" he petitioned the Crown for his writ which was referred to the Attorney Gen. (Sir Vieary Gibbs) whose report thereon, 17 Jan. 1808, was that, in his opinion, the resolution of the House of Lords iu 1692-3 was " not a conclusive judgment " against the Peerage ; that no steps had been taken to upset the judgment of the lung's Bench, which if erroneous "might have been removed by a writ of error to the House of Lords and there reversed," but that, though the birth during marriage is proved, " the legitimacy of Nicholas is left in a considerable degree of doubt." The petition was referred to the House. After five years' discussion the Committee for privileges, on a division of 21 to 13, reported " that the Petitioner hath not made out his claim, to the title, honour, and dignity of Earl of Banbury." Whereupon, on the 15 March 1813, the House resolved/ 1 ) (a much more comprehensive resolution) " that the Petitioner it not entitled to the title, &c.,of Earl of Banbury." A "forcible and eloquent " protest(s) drawn up by Lord Erskine and signed by himself and ten other Peers was entered on the Lords' Journal. After this decision the Petitioner discontinued the usage of the title. Ho m. 23 June 1795, Charlotte, da. of Ebenezer Blackwell of London, Banker. She d. before him. Gen. Knollys (as he was subsequently called) d. at Paris 10 March 1834. IX. 1831. 9. Rt. Hon. Sir William Thomas Knollys, K.C.B., who, till 1813 (but nut afterwards), was styled Viscount Walling- ford, and who in his will styles himself " by hereditary descent and by the law of the laud Earl of Banbury, Viscount Wallingford and Baron Knollys of Greys, co. Oxon,"( h )s. and h. He was 6. 1 Aug. 1797, ed. at Harrow and at Sand- hurst College.^') In Dec. 1813 he joined the Scots Fusilier Guards serving in the Peninsular War. He subsequently became General in the army. Col. 62ud 0 "How far this Resolution is a conclusive judgment and whether it does or does not bar the heir of the Petitioner from prosecuting his claim are grave constitutional questions." See Nicolas' " Treatise, &c.," p. 530. See also ante p. 233, note " c." ( B ) " Upon this protest Lord Erskine observed, in a letter to Gen. Knollys, the late [1836j Claimant, dated 21 July 1813 — The protest ijives them every fact and all their arguments, but, giving them both, leave them without a single voice in Westin. Hall, from one end to the other." See Nicolas' "Treatise, &c," p. 530, note 2. The "Protest " itself is printed p. 531 to 551 of that work. ( u ) Letter sigued " William Wallingford Knollys, Lieut. Col. H. P., claiming to be Earl of Banbury, &c," in " the Times " newspaper, 25 Aug. 1S83. In this the writer makes "a public protest against the decision [of 1692-3] by no means final" and recites a passage iu a letter of liis father to the Morning Post, dated 7 March 1863, as follows—" But the law of the land cannot be changed, or constituted, by such a vote of one branch of the Legislature, aud the voice of Westm. Hall, from Lord Coke and Chief Justice Holt, to the present day, has repudiated, with some rare exceptions, being governed by the law as thus laid down." (')The order book of Sandhurst College in 1813 contains the following note :— Uentlemen Cadet Viscount Wallingford will henceforth be designated as Gentleman