I forbear troubling your Lordships farther the anfwer, which the Judges fubmit to your Lordships, is, that fuppofing the claimant to have proved himself to be one of the co-heirs of the barony of Beaumont, he is not entitled of right to fuch barony, according to the state of the pedigree laft delivered in on his

pa

The House of Lords refolved and adjudged, " that 6 June 1795

"it did not appear, that the petitioner was then en"titled to the honour, title, and dignity of Baron "Beaumont."

§ 173. Mr. Stapleton prefented another petition to his Majefty, representing that, having established by evidence that he was the fole heir of Joan Lady Stapleton, and one of the co-heirs of Henry firft Baron Beaumont; and that, though not exclufively entitled to the faid barony, he had proved himself to be one of the rightful heirs of the faid barony: But, the faid barony being in abeyance, the fame was in his Majesty's disposal: the petitioner therefore prayed, that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to declare, allow, and confirm to him and his heirs the faid barony of Beaumont.

This petition was also referred to the AttorneyGeneral, and afterwards to the House of Lords; where it was refolved by the committee of privileges, 13 March 1798. that the barony of Beaumont was vested in William Viscount Beaumont, by defcent from his father, John Lord Beaumont, (who was fummoned to and fat in parliament 11 Hen. 6.) as a barony in fee; that the faid VOL. III. T barony

Length of Time does not bar a

barony remained in abeyance between the co-heirs of the faid William, defcended from his fifter Joan; and that the petitioner was one of thofe co-heirs*.

§ 174. Dignities are not within the ftatute of limitations, and may therefore be claimed at any distance of time: for, as a dignity cannot be aliened, furrendered, or extinguished, so neither can it be loft by the Collins, 323. negligence of any perfon entitled to it.

Claim to a
Dignity.
Skin Rep.
437.

§ 175. In the cafe of Mr. Berkley, relpecting the barony of Botetourt, it is faid: There remains only "to obferve, that it is an undoubted maxim with "regard to honours, that they cannot be extinguished, otherwife than by forfeiture or by act of "parliament. Claims to baronies, which have long "been dormant, are difficult to be made out; but, "whenever the right happens to be clearly proved, "the fafety and dignity of the peerage are both con"cerned, that no length of time fhould bar, or even "prejudice, the title. Most of the ancient baronies "are fo merged by the intermarriages of the great "milies, or fo expofed to the objection of forfeiture,

fa.

Notwithstanding the refpect, which is justly due to the very learned opinion of the Judges in this cafe, yet it may be obferved, that, as the doctrine of abeyance was originally founded on the impartibile or indivifible nature of a dignity; and as all power of inheriting the barony of Beaumont, by one of the co-heirs, is deftroyed by the attainder, by which Mr. Stapleton is become the only perfon capable of enjoying it; he must be allowed to have a ftronger claim on the crown for a confirmation of the dignity, than perhaps ever existed in a co-heir to a barony.

"that

"that very few inftances have occurred of claims of "the like nature. But, in all those which have oc"curred, the length of time, during which the "honour has remained dormant, never has formed a

ground of objection. The barony of Fitzwalter "was allowed in 1669, after it had been dormant for 66 400 years. The barony of Clifford was allowed "to the Earl of Thanet in 1691; the ancestor, "from whom he claimed, having died in 1605. The

ઃઃ

66

barony of Willoughby de Broke was allowed by the "Houfe of Lords, upon a reference from the crown "in 1695; though the honour had been dormant among co-heirs from the year 1522, upwards of 170 years. The barony of Berners was, in like "manner, allowed in 1720; though it had been "dormant for almost 200 years, no perfon having "been fummoned or fat in parliament by that title "from the year 1539. The barony of Clinton was, "in like manner, allowed in 1721; though it had "been merged in a higher title from the year 1572, "and had been for a confiderable time in abeyance.

"These are inftances, where the honour has been "claimed by a fole heir, upon the determination of "the abeyance.

"There are others, where the barony has been "allowed, upon the determination of the abeyance, "by the crown, in favour of one coheir. The cafe "of the barony of Le Defpenfer, 2 Jac. 1., revived, allowed, and confirmed to Lady Mary Fane, after "it had lain dormant above 200 years, is a prece

"dent; which appears by the record to have paffed, upon very deliberate confideration and advice of the "Lords.

"The barony of Mowbray was revived in 15 Ch.1. "in favour of the family of Howard, after it had lain "dormant from the 39 Edw. 3., the date of the last "fummons to any perfon as Baron Mowbray, and in "abeyance from 17 Edw. 4., between the families of "Berkley and Howard. It is in right of this revival, "that the Duke of Norfolk claims to be the Premier "Baron of England.

"The barony of Ferrers of Chartley was first re"vived in 2 Edw. 4. in favour of Walter Devereux, "though there had been no perfon fummoned under "that title from the 5 Edw. 2. On the extinction of "the male line of the Devereux family, in 1646, it "remained in abeyance till 1677; when King Cha. 2. "thought fit to determine the abeyance in favour "of Sir Robert Shirley, by whose defcendants it has "fince been enjoyed.

"From all these inftances, this obfervation naturally "arifes; that length of time, during which an honour

66

may have been in abeyance, can neither bar the " right of a fole heir, claiming upon the determina❝tion of the abeyance, by the natural extinction of "the other heirs, nor the right of the crown to revive "the barony by an act of prerogative, determining the "abeyance in favour of one coheir."

§ 176. It

§ 176. It is faid in the printed cafe of the Duchess Dowager of Athol, claiming the office of Great Chamberlain of England, that length of time is not a bar to the claim of an honour or dignity, as it is of lands.

That the Journals of the House of Lords are replete 2 Bro. Parl. with instances of baronies in fee having been claimed, Ca. 167, 168. and the claim admitted, after they had been feveral centuries in abeyance. And that, whenever the right to a dignity or honour happens to be clearly proved, the safety and dignity, even of the peerage itself, are both concerned, that no length of time shall bar, or even prejudice, the title.