APPENDIX H 733 has no power to vary the descent ot a Peerage dignity, the decision was wrong, for Lady Fane was entitled to the Barony ot" Abcrgav^cnnv as of right; and as the law is held to operate retrospectively,(*) it may be con- tended that a Barony of Abergavenny has devolved, with that of Despenscr, on Lady Fane's heirs. ROS OR ROOS On the death of Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland and Lord Ros, s.p.m.y 1587, his brother John succeeded to the Earldom, but the Barony devolved on his only daughter, Elizabeth, wife of William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley. On Elizabeth's death, in 1591, the Commissioners for the office of Earl Marshal caused the heralds to proclaim her only son, William, Lord Ros. In 1616 Francis Manners, Earl of Rutland, presented a petition to the King alleging that the Barony of Ros of Hamlake belonged to him, and that when his ancestor, Thomas, was created Earl of Rutland by Henry VIII " the said dignity of lord Roos became inseparably knit to the said earldom, and so was to descend in course therewith," i3'c.{^) He also complained that " some have laboured to entitle the son of the lord Burghley unto the said dignity of Lord Roos," and appealed to the King for redress. His case alleged that the Barony originated in tlie tenure ot Hamlake, of which he was possessed, and that the style had always been Ros of Hamlake. For William Cecil it was claimed that he was lord of the manor ot Ros, from whence Robert de Ros, who was summoned to Parliament 49 Hen. Ill, had both his surname and title ;('^) that he had been acknowledged as Lord Ros by the Commissioners for the office of Earl Marshal, and had been recognised as such by the late Queen and by King James.C^) James I allowed the Barony of Ros to William Cecil, and compensated Francis, Earl of Rutland, by declaring and accepting him as Lord Ros of Hamlake " and his son and heir."(') William Cecil died s.p. in 161 8, when his cousin Francis inherited the ancient Barony. He died s.p.m.s. in 1632, when the Barony ot Ros of Hamlake became extinct, and the Barony of Ros descended to his only surviving child, Katherine, wife of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. (^) Decision in Earldom of Norfolk case (1906). C") Collins, p. 162. ("=) Idem, p. 166. {^)Idem,p.l-Jl. («) Idem, p. 172. Serjeant Roll, in his argument tor the Earl of Kent in the Grey of Ruthyn case, remarked on this award: " I must confess, the manner ot the penning of it is strange, and done with as much advantage in the behalf of the heir general, as might be; and no marvel, for it was drawn by Mr. Secretary Lake, whose daughter was married to the said William Cecil, lord Ross." (Collins, p. 213).
