Marquess of Abergavenny

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox nobility title Marquess of Abergavenny (pronounced AbergennyTemplate:Cn) in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created on 14 January 1876, along with the title Earl of Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"), in the County of Sussex,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> for the 5th Earl of Abergavenny, a member of the Nevill family.

The 6th and present Marquess is Christopher George Charles Nevill (b. 23 April 1955), son of Lord Rupert Nevill and Lady Anne Camilla Evelyn Wallop. He succeeded to the title in 2000 on the death of his uncle the 5th Marquess, who had no surviving sons.

The family seat is Eridge Park, near Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

History

Medieval origins

The incumbent Marquess of Abergavenny is the current head of the House of Neville, a noble house of early medieval origins, notable for its central role in the Wars of the Roses.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Lord Abergavenny's ancestor, Edward Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny, was a younger son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Abergavenny in the Marquess's title derives from the market town in Wales in which this branch of the Nevill family inherited Abergavenny Castle, much of the family's ancestral lands and title of Baron Bergavenny by virtue of the marriage between the suo jure peeress Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Baroness Bergavenny, and Edward Neville in 1424.Template:Cn

Subsidiary titles

Subsequent Nevill Barons Bergavenny have been raised to higher ranks within the peerage. The 1st Marquess's ancestor, the de facto 17th (de jure 2nd) Baron Bergavenny, was created Earl of Abergavenny, in the County of Monmouth, and Viscount Nevill, of Birling in the County of Kent, in the Peerage of Great Britain on 17 May 1784.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> The Barony of Bergavenny was held by his successors, the Earls and Marquesses of Abergavenny, until 1938, when it passed into abeyance between the two daughters of the 3rd Marquess. The 5th Earl of Abergavenny was elevated to the title of Marquess of Abergavenny along with the subsidiary title of Earl of Lewes on 14 January 1876, following his role in the foundation of the modern-day Conservative Party with Disraeli and Lord Salisbury.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Coat of arms

The heraldic blazon for the coat of arms of the Marquesses of Abergavenny is: Gules, a saltire argent charged with a rose of the field (barbed and seeded proper).<ref>Blazon per Debrett's Peerage, 1968, which gives no tinctures for rose, which are however given as stated in brackets for Neville Barons Braybrooke</ref> These are the ancient arms of Neville differenced by a rose, the symbol of a 7th son, in reference to Sir Edward Neville, 1st Baron Bergavenny (d.1476), 7th son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. The blazon can be translated as "On a red background, a white saltire with a red rose, naturally coloured, upon it."

Earl of Abergavenny (1784)

Other titles (1st Earl onwards): Viscount Nevill (GB 1784), Baron Bergavenny (GB 1724)

George Nevill, 1st Earl of Abergavenny (1727–1785)
Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny (1755–1843)
- Henry George Nevill, Viscount Nevill, (1785–1806)
- Ralph Nevill, Viscount Nevill (1786–1826)
John Nevill, 3rd Earl of Abergavenny (1789–1845)
William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenny (1792–1868)
William Nevill, 5th Earl of Abergavenny (1826–1915) (created Marquess of Abergavenny in 1876)