The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-03-29
BY La MARauIsE DE FoNTENoY

II
that hopes of his recovery have
been abandoned. holds an earldon
which In olden times was held by
Robert Fitzooth. familiar to old and
years, under the name Of Robin
| Hood" He was buried in 124T IN
kirkless Abbey. Yorkshire. the epitaph
on his tomb describing him as Rob
! ert, Earl of Huntington, whom the
people call Robin Hood Previously
the earldom had been held by princes
| OF the reignng house OF Scotland. and
King William the Lion is on record
as having resi~ned the title to his
brother David. the companion-in-a arms
of King Richard of England. Cour de
| Lion. both of whom have been i'm
mortalized BY Sir Walter Scott in The
/ of Earl OF Huntingdon. however was
| Tosti. the Dane, long prior to the Nor
man Conquest.
The earldom OF Huntingdon of the
old line became extinct in the reign
of Henry VII, on the death OF the
seventeenth lord. and the title was re-
| vived by Henry VIII. who conferred
| the earldom on the third Lord Hast
ings, chief of a house that was found.
ed by Robert OF Hastings. Portgrave OF
Hastings and principal lord steward to
| William the Conquerer. Tho present
Lord Hastings is the fourteenth earl
of this new line. II. In addition to his
patronymic of Hastings, he bears the
name of Plantagenet, 1t Is because he
! has royal Plantagenet blood in his
veins. being descended on the distatf
| side from George Plantagenet. Duke Of
Clarence, brother of Edward ".
To such an extent were the Hast
! ings at one time regarded as forming
| part and parcel of the royal family
| of England that Car John of Russia,
| in the siXteenth century, sent an am
bassador to England. in the person OF
Feodor Pissemstoie. in order to re-
quest the hand of Lady Mary Hastings.
daughter of the second of the Hastings
Earls of Huntingdon. Lady Mary. how
| ever. who was one of the beauties of
the court of Queen Elizabeth. was so
| terrified by the barbarous manners of
the Muscovite envoy and of the mem
hers of his suite that she declined to
become Czarina OF Russia, and the
| Russian mission was forced to return
home and to inform Emperor John that
| his offer Of marriage had been re-
| jected.
Like so many other English peer
lagos, the title of Earl of Huntingdon
lis neither entirely clear nor uncon-
tested claimant thereto makes his
home in this country, and is furni-
ture dealer in Dean Street, Brooklyn.
IN. Y. where he goes by the name of
George Plantagenet Hastings.
The tenth Earl of Huntingdon died a
little over 100 years ago. without male
issue, the estates passing into the pos
session of his sister. Countess of Mora.
| through whom they went by marriage
to the Esarls of Loudoun. who now
hold them The earldom Of Hunting
don remained in allegiance for twenty
years, when claim was put forward
to 1t by a granduncle of the furniture
dealer In Brooklyn. He was a rela-
tltiYely poor man, and it required a con-
siderable amount of money to carry on
the legal proceedings TO recover Dos
session of the peeragc in England. IN
his case it involved the obtaining OF
4, certified copies of marriage, birth and
death certificates in parishes all over
! the United Kingdom. proving his direct
descent from Sir George Plantagenet
earl, who died as far back as 1641. This
would have r-tailed very heavy eX-
pense. The Countess Of MORA. heiress
OF the Huntingdon estates. fearing that
the earldom he might likewise demand
(possession of the extensive estates. re-
solved to put UP a rival claimant 70
the earldom and to pay AL the eN
Of his descent, on the stipulation tina,
p pc ssssnln Of the estates. The count;
ess's husband, namely, the Earl o.
MORA, was one of the most influential
members OF the Committee or Privi,
leges of the House OF Lords. which had
to sit in judgment upon the auestlon
Hence it Is not surprising tnat the
. committee, finding itself confronted BY
Lady Moira's candidate, who had al
his papers ready to prove his descent
from the second Earl OF HastlnEs
should have pronounced Judgment n
his favor. ignoring the claims OF tht
! pretender, who. as stated above. lack
, ed the means to obtain the various
documents needed to show his dessen J,
from the younger brother of the fittf
earl. The defeated claimant. nsap,
pointed, and having spent al MS means
in endeavoring to push his claims
came to this country, along Win nis
younger brother, and It Is the latters
5 grandson who Is to day the, repre-
sentative of the rights which he pos
sessed to the earldom of Huntington
It must be thoroughly understood ;,
that We're the furniture dealer II
Brooklyn to be able to-day to prove
to the satisfaction of the House q
J Lords his title to tho earldom of Hunt
) lingdon it would at best be a barrel
honor, for, according to law passed
during the reign of Queen Victoria
t tier estates have been for certain
time in the possession of a family. they
can no longer be recovered by process
: of law, even though the original titl'
az the holder is defective.
The successful claimant lived NOR
, | ar less as a dependent on the bount,
az his patroness, the Countess Of MORA
and ii is his grandson who Is the pres
, ent Earl Of Huntingdon, Having NJ
, fortune whatsoever by Inheritance. b.
! His nevertheless, comfortably off
J through his. Australian wife. daughte