name of Danvers, after the death (16 April 1655) of his wife's father. Tho' he had joined with (his mother's husband) Viscount Purbeck, as his s. and h. ap., in the sale of some lands, lie, on the Viscount's death, disclaimed the peerage and sat in the House of Commons, in the Conv. Parl. of 1659, as M.P. for Westbury. He was sum. by the House of Lords to answer certain charges, and was compelled to ask pardon thereof for refusing to attend. He, in 1660, levied a fine to the King of all his peerage dignities, in possession and remainder, with a view of extinguishing the same.(a)[1] He retired first to his estate called Etruria, in Knighton, co. Radnor, and subsequently to Calais in France, where he d. about 1675. Admon. 1676 as "Robert Danvers, alias Villiers, Esq." His widow, who was bap. 1 May 1629, at Chelsea, styled herself(b)[2] after his death Viscountess Purbeck. She m. before 19 Oct. 1676, John Duvall, & Col. in the army. She d. in Hatton Garden, St. Andrews Holborn, and was bur, thence 22 Aug. 1709, at Chelsea. Will as "Elizabeth, Viscountess Purbeck," dat. 14 July, and pr. 25 Aug. 1709.
III. 1675. 3. Robert Villiers, otherwise Damvers, s. and h. b. about 1656; assumed the style of Viscount Purbeck &c. on his father's death in 1675, his petition, as to his right thereto, being referred by the King to the House of Lords, where it was opposed both on the ground of the fine levied by his father to bar such right, and on that of the illegitimacy of his said father. The House in 1678(c)[3] resolved against the validity of the fine, and (as to the illegitimacy) petitioned that a bill might be brought in to disable him from claiming the said title. No steps, however, as to that matter were taken by the Crown, tho' no writ of summons was ever issued to him or to any of his descendants. He m. in 1676, Margaret, styled Dow. Viscountess Muskerry (widow of Charles Maccarty, styled Viscountess Muskerry) Only da. and h. of Ulick (de Burgh),
Marquess of Clanricarle [I.] and Earl of St. Albans (E.), by Frances, da, and b. of Sir Francis Walsingham. Having wasted his fortune(d)[4] he went abroad and was killed in a duel by Col. Luttrell at Liege in 1681, aged 28. Admon. as "Robert, Viscount Purbeck, alias Robert Villers, alias Villers, alias Danvers," 5 June 1681, to a creditor. His widow m, thirdly Robert Fielding,(e)[5] Col. in the army, sometime M.P. for Gowran, who d. 12 May 1712. She d. Aug. 1698(f)[6] at Somerhill, near Tunbridge. Admon. to her said husband 2 May 1700.- ↑ (a) “It was upon the occasion of his son's claim to the dignities, that the House of Peers, 18 June 1678, came to the celebrated resolution, that no fino now levied, nor at any time hereafter to be levied to the King, can bar such title of honour, or the right of any person claiming such title under him that levied or shall levy such fine;' thus confirming a similar decision in the case of the claim to the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn, 1 Feb. 1640. Collins's Precedents, p. 256 and 306." [Courthope.] "The Purbeck case in 1678 involved the surrender of an honour to the Crown which was then disallowed [in England], tho' the practise certainly continued in Scotland till the Union." [Riddell, p. 732.]
- ↑ (b) In a letter to her Steward she states that the possession of a title would assist her son to an advantageous alliance.
- ↑ (c) "In 1678 Robert Villiers, son of Robert Wright, who took his wife's name of Danvers, claimed the titles of Barou of Stoke aud Viscount Purbeck, as heir male of John, Viscount Purbeck, but the House of Peers decided against him [see note "a above], on the ground that his father was illegitimate. These titles were afterwards claimed by the Rev. George Villiers, son of Edward, a younger son of the said Robert Wright, alias Danvers, but no proceedings were adopted, and on the death of George, his son, in 1774, s.p., the male line became extinct." [Courthope.]
- ↑ (d) "Lord Purbeck is going to law with his mother about her estate now, on her declared marriage to Mons. Du Val." [Letter of Lady Chaworth, 19 Oct. 1676.] "He makes what haste he can to consume his lady's fortune by gaming and all other extravagance." [Ibid., Jan. 1676/7.]
- ↑ (e) The well known "Beau Fielding."
- ↑ (f) See vol. ii, p. 251, note "e," sub "Clancarty," as to her character,
