William Cecil, 16th Baron Ros
William Cecil, 16th Baron Ros of Helmsley( May 1590 – 27 June 1618) was an English peer, whose ill- advised marriage to Anne Lake resulted in a major scandal, which dragged on for years after his early death.
He was born at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, only son of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, and baptised on 4 June 1590.
In 1591, he inherited the barony of de Ros from his mother, Elizabeth Cecil, 15th Baroness de Ros. On 13 February 1615/ 6, he married Ann Lake, daughter of Sir Thomas Lake, the Secretary of State, and his wife Mary Ryther, a marriage which soon ended in divorce and a bitter feud between the two families, caused in the first place by the Cecil family's refusal to transfer lands allegedly due to Anne as part of the marriage settlement.
Anne, her mother and other family members made lurid and entirely false allegations against Cecil.
Cecil challenged his brother- in- law Sir Arthur Lake, generally regarded as the prime mover in the affair, to a duel, but Arthur refused the challenge.
The accusations, which included adultery with his grandfather's young second wife Frances Brydges, were so serious that he felt it wiser to leave the country for a time.
He was sent by King James I on a special mission to the Holy Roman Emperor.
Eventually a thorough investigation concluded that all the charges against Cecil had been fabricated by the Lake family, several of whom were severely punished by Star Chamber as a result.
The matter was not finally resolved until 1621, by which time William was dead.
He died aged 28 without issue.
Since his father and grandfather both outlived him, the Earldom of Exeter passed to his first cousin David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter.
His mother's barony passed separately to her next heir, Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland.
Cecil's ex-wife Anne remarried George Rodney of Stoke Rodney, Somerset, and died in 1630.
Dudley FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros
Dudley Charles FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros of Helmsley, (11 March 1827 – 29 April 1907) was a soldier, courtier and the premier Baron of England.
Henry FitzGerald-de Ros, 21st Baron de Ros
Henry William FitzGerald -de Ros, 21st
Baron de Ros( 12 June 1793 – 28/29 March 1839) was a British nobleman, the son of Lord Henry FitzGerald and his wife Charlotte FitzGerald- de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros. Fitzgerald- de Ros briefly served as Member of Parliament for the borough of West Looe from 1816 to 1818.
In 1831, upon the death of his mother, he inherited the Barony of de Ros, the oldest surviving barony in the Peerage of England.
He was an excellent whist player, but was involved in a gambling scandal in 1836.
Lord de Ros was accused of cheating at Graham's Club by the trick of" sauter la coupe", and by marking the cards with his thumbnail.
He sued his accusers for libel, but lost the case.
He died not long after, and was commemorated by Theodore Hook with the punning epitaph," Here lies the premier baron of England, patiently awaiting the last trump."
He died in London, unmarried and without issue.
Mary Dawson, Countess of Dartrey
Mary Frances Dawson, Countess of Dartrey, 24th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley(" née FitzGerald- de Ros")( 31 July 1854 – 4 May 1939) was a British peer.
She was born in London.
Her parents were Dudley FitzGerald- de Ros and Lady Elizabeth Egerton.
Upon her father's death in 1907, Mary succeeded to the title.
The 24th Baroness married Anthony Dawson, 3rd Earl of Dartrey( 1855 – 1933) in London on 2 October 1878.
To them were born three daughters; the Barony of de Ros descended among their issue:
Eleanor Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset
Lady Eleanor Beauchamp, Baroness de Ros and Duchess of Somerset( September 1408 – 6 March 1467) at Wedgenock, Warwickshire, England, was the second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley, daughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley.
Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros
Charlotte Fitzgerald- de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley( 24 May 1769 – 9 January 1831), also known as Lady Henry FitzGerald, was born Charlotte Boyle- Walsingham in Castlemartyr, County Cork, Ireland or in London, where she died.
She was the daughter of the Hon. Robert Boyle, later Boyle- Walsingham( 1736 – 1780) and wife( m. 1759) Charlotte Hanbury Williams( d. 1790), daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams and Lady Frances Coningsby.
Her paternal grandparents were Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon and his second wife Lady Henrietta Boyle.
She spent most of her childhood with her parents at the Boyle Farm mansion in Thames Ditton.
( Her mother, the second daughter of Frances Coningsby, had bought this estate in 1784 from Lord Hertford, who was grieving over the death of his wife there two years earlier.)
Charlotte did much artistic decoration in Boyle Farm and much of it has survived to the present day.
In London on 3/4 August 1791, more than a year after her mother's death, Charlotte married Lord Henry FitzGerald, a member of the Duke of Leinster's family.
After petitioning King George III in 1790, she eventually( in 1806) was able to end the abeyance to the Barony of de Ros, the most ancient baronial title in England, in her favor.
This was accomplished despite her being determined only one of the three co-heirs to the barony with only a twenty- five percent interest whereas another claimant, Sir Henry Hunloke, Bt., had a fifty percent interest and was the heir general of the elder of the two sisters from whom the claims were derived.
No clear explanation for the award was given by the House of Lords except an inference that Charlotte came from( or at least had married into) a better family.
Charlotte legally changed her name by Royal Licence on 6 October of the same year to Charlotte FitzGerald- de Ros.
Members of the de Ros family lived in Thames Ditton for a long while.
They had links with the brightest of society, from the Duke of Wellington downwards.
Henry's younger brother was the notorious Lord Edward FitzGerald.
Charlotte died on 9 January 1831.
Everard de Ros
Everard de Ros( born 1145) was the lord of Hamlake.
Peter Maxwell, 27th Baron de Ros
Peter Trevor Maxwell, 27th Baron de Ros (born 23 December 1958) is the premier baron of England, by virtue of Baron de Ros being the oldest baronial title created in the Peerage of England.
He is the son of Lieutenant-Commander John David Maxwell, RN and of Lady de Ros, a "suo jure" peeress.
The 27th Baron was educated at Headfort School, in Kells, Ireland, as well as Down High School, in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland before going to a boarding school in the Republic of Ireland.
On 5 September 1987, the Lord de Ros married Angela Sián Ross, and they have three children:
Elizabeth Cecil, 15th Baroness Ros
Elizabeth Manners, 15th Baroness Ros of Helmsley ("c".
January 1574/1575 – 19 May 1591) was the daughter and heir of Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland.
On her father's death the Earldom of Rutland devolved upon his brother, the Barony of Ros passed to his daughter, Elizabeth.
In January 1589 she married at Newark Castle William Cecil, Lord Burghley, son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and Dorothy Neville, daughter of John Nevill, 4th Baron Latimer.
Lord Burghley later succeeded as 2nd Earl.
She died in childbirth, in London, at Tower Street, All Hallows, Barking and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
She was succeeded in the Barony of Ros by her son, William.
Their child was:
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland, 14th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG (12 July 1549 – 14 April 1587) was the son of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, whose titles he inherited in 1563.

Question: Who is Elizabeth Cecil, 15Th Baroness Ros's paternal grandfather?