Barony de Ros
Arms of Maxwell, Barons de Ros: Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Argent, a saltire gules (Fitzgerald) 2nd and 3rd: Gules, three water bougets argent (de Ros)[1]
Creation date	6 February 1288/89, with a precedence to 24 December 1264[2]
Created by	King Henry III
Peerage	Peerage of England
First holder	William de Ros
Present holder	Peter Trevor Maxwell, 27th Baron
Heir apparent	The Hon. Finbar James Maxwell
Remainder to	Heirs of the body
Motto	Crom a boo ("Crom forever")[1]

Baron de Ros (/ruːs/ ROOSS) of Helmsley is the premier baron in the Peerage of England, created in 1288/89 for William de Ros, with precedence to 24 December 1264.^[1] (The spelling of the title and of the surname of the original holders has been rendered differently in various texts. The word "Ros" is sometimes spelt "Roos", and the word "de" is sometimes dropped.) Premier baron is a designation and status awarded to the holder of the most ancient extant barony of the Peerage of England. Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Prior of the Order of St John in England was deemed the premier baron.^[3]

On 24 December 1264 Robert de Ros (died 1285) was summoned to Simon de Montfort's Parliament in London,^[4][5] and for some time it was considered that the barony was created by writ in that year, giving it precedence over all other English titles unless certain doubtful contentions concerning the title of the Earl of Arundel were accepted. The only older peerage titles in the British Isles are: Baron Kerry and Lixnaw (1181, held by the Marquess of Lansdowne), Baron Offaly (1199, later creation held by the Duke of Leinster), and Baron Kingsale (c. 1223) in the Peerage of Ireland, and Earl of Mar (predates 1115) and Earl of Sutherland (1230) in the Peerage of Scotland.

According to The Complete Peerage:

In 1616 the barony of De Ros was allowed precedence from this writ [of 24 December 1264], a decision adopted by the Lords in 1806 (Round, Peerage and Pedigree, vol. i, pp. 249-50); but these writs, issued by Simon in the King's name, are no longer regarded as valid for the creation of peerages.^[6][7]

Whenever a man holds the title, he is considered the premier baron of England. However, whenever a woman holds the title, the holder of the next-highest barony held by a man is known as the premier baron. For instance, when Georgiana Maxwell, the most recent female to hold the title, was baroness, the Baron Mowbray, Segrave, and Stourton was considered the premier baron.

The Barony may pass to heirs-general rather than just heirs-male, unlike most British titles. The barony may pass to daughters only if there are no sons. Under inheritance law, sisters have an equal right to inherit; there is no special inheritance right due for the eldest sister, as there is for the eldest son. Thus, it is possible that two or more sisters (and their heirs after their deaths) have an equally valid claim to the title; in such a case, the title goes into abeyance. The abeyance ends either when there is only one remaining claimant due to the deaths of the other claimants, or when the Sovereign "terminates" the abeyance in favour of one of the heirs. The peerage has been held by a woman six times, more than any other peerage except that of Baron Willoughby de Eresby.

The title was originally held by the de Ros family until the death of the tenth Baron in 1508, when it was inherited by his nephew, the 11th Baron. His son, Thomas, inherited the barony and was later created Earl of Rutland. The barony and earldom remained united until the death of the third Earl, Edward Manners. The barony was then inherited by his only daughter, Elizabeth Cecil, while the earldom passed to a male heir, his younger brother. Upon the death of Elizabeth's only son, William Cecil, the title returned to the Manners family, being inherited by the sixth Earl of Rutland.

Again, upon the sixth Earl's death, the barony and earldom were separated (the earldom being inherited by a distant cousin, the great-nephew of the 2nd earl), as the barony was inherited by the Earl's daughter Katherine, who had married George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Katherine's son George inherited both the barony and the dukedom, but upon his death the dukedom became extinct and the barony went into abeyance.

The barony had been in abeyance for over a century when Charlotte Boyle-Walsingham who was later to marry Lord Henry FitzGerald, a son of the 4th Duke of Leinster) petitioned King George III to terminate the abeyance in her favour in 1790. (She was the daughter of Robert Boyle-Walsingham by his wife Charlotte, daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams by his wife Frances, daughter of Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby by his wife Frances, daughter of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham, son of William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham by his wife Frances, daughter of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland who was a younger brother of the 14th Baron de Ros.^[8]) The King referred the matter to the House of Lords, which recommended that the barony remain in abeyance. However, in 1806, George III terminated the abeyance in her favour on the recommendation of his Prime Minister.^[9] Charlotte and her heirs then took the additional surname of "de Ros" after "FitzGerald".

The title eventually went into abeyance again upon the death of the 25th Baroness, in 1939. The abeyance was terminated in favour of her eldest daughter, Lady Una Mary Ross (née Dawson) in 1943, and again went into abeyance upon her death in 1956. Two years later, the barony was called out of abeyance again for Una Ross's granddaughter, Georgiana Maxwell (née Ross). As of 2017^[update] the title is held by her son the 27th Baron, the first man to hold the title in over three-quarters of a century, who succeeded his mother in 1983.

The family seat is Old Court, near Strangford, County Down.

• William Ros, 1st Baron Ros (d. 1317)
• William Ros, 2nd Baron Ros (d. 1343)
• William Ros, 3rd Baron Ros (c. 1326–1352)
• Thomas Ros, 4th Baron Ros (1336–1384)
• John Ros, 5th Baron Ros (c. 1360–1394)
• William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros (c. 1369–1414)
• John Ros, 7th Baron Ros (d. 1421)
• Thomas Ros, 8th Baron Ros (c. 1405–1431)
• Thomas Ros, 9th Baron Ros (c. 1427–1464) (forfeit 1464)
• Edmund Ros, 10th Baron Ros (d. 1508) (restored 1485, barony abeyant in 1508)
• George Manners, 11th Baron Ros (d. 1513) (abeyance terminated about 1512)
• Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron Ros (d. 1543)
• Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, 13th Baron Ros (1526–1563)
• Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland, 14th Baron Ros (1549–1587)
• Elizabeth Cecil, 15th Baroness Ros (c. 1572–1591)
• William Cecil, 16th Baron Ros (1590–1618)
• Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, 17th Baron Ros (1578–1632)
• Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham, 18th Baroness Ros (d. 1649)
• George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 19th Baron Ros (1628–1687) (barony abeyant 1687)
• Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros (1769–1831) (abeyance terminated 1806), first to be styled "de Ros"^[10]
• Henry William FitzGerald-de Ros, 21st Baron de Ros (1793–1839)
• William Lennox Lascelles FitzGerald-de Ros, 22nd Baron de Ros (1797–1874)
• Dudley Charles FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros (1827–1907)
• Mary Frances Dawson, Countess of Dartrey, 24th Baroness de Ros (1854–1939) (abeyant 1939)
• Una Mary Ross, 25th Baroness de Ros (1879–1956) (abeyance terminated 1943; abeyant 1956)
• Georgiana Angela Maxwell, 26th Baroness de Ros (1933–1983) (abeyance terminated 1958)
• Peter Trevor Maxwell, 27th Baron de Ros (b. 1958)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Finbar James Maxwell (b. 1988).

v t e Family tree of the Dukes of Rutland, Marquesses of Granby, Earls of Rutland, Viscounts Canterbury, and Barons de Ros

Robert de Ros before 1237–1285 Baron Ros (later de Ros) of Helmsley, 1264 William Ros (Roos) c. 1255–1317 1st Baron Ros 1299–1316 William Ros (Roos) c. 1285–1343 2nd Baron Ros 1317–1342 Edward III 1312–1377 King of England Henry Percy c. 1321–1368 Baron Percy William Ros 1329–before 1352 3rd Baron Ros 1342–1352 Thomas Ros 1335–1384 4th Baron Ros 1352–1384 John FitzAlan c. 1348–1379 Baron Arundel Edmund of Langley 1341–1402 Duke of York Earl of Rutland (1st creation), 1390 Mary de Percy John Ros d. 1393 5th Baron Ros 1384–1393 William de Ros c. 1370–1414 6th Baron Ros 1394–1414 Margaret 1372–1439 Edward of Norwich 1373–1415 Duke of York, 1st Earl of Rutland Richard of Conisburgh 1375–1415 Earl of Cambridge Earldom title disused, 1415 Earl of Rutland (1st creation), restored 1425 John Ros c. 1397–1421 7th Baron Ros 1414–1421 Thomas Ros 1406–1430 8th Baron Ros 1421–1430 Richard of York 1411–1460 Duke of York Earl of Rutland (2nd creation), 1446 Thomas Ros 1427–1464 9th Baron Ros 1430–1464 Anne of York 1439–1476 Duchess of Exeter Edward IV 1442–1483 King of England Edmund 1443–1460 Earl of Rutland Richard III 1452–1485 King of England Barony forfeit 1464 Earldom extinct, 1460 Barony restored 1485 Robert Manners d. 1495 Eleanor Ros d. 1487 Edmund Ros c. 1455–1508 10th Baron Ros 1485–1508 Barony abeyant, 1508 Barony abeyance terminated, c. 1512 George Manners c. 1470–1513 11th Baron Ros c. 1512–1513 Anne St Leger 1476–1526 Earl of Rutland (3rd creation), 1525 Thomas Manners c. 1492–1543 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros Henry Manners c. 1516–1563 2nd Earl of Rutland, 13th Baron de Ros John Manners 1527–1611 Edward Manners 1549–1587 3rd Earl of Rutland, 14th Baron de Ros John Manners c. 1552–1588 4th Earl of Rutland George Manners c. 1572–1623 Elizabeth Cecil c. 1572–1591 15th Baroness Ros 1587–1591 Roger Manners 1576–1612 5th Earl of Rutland Francis Manners 1578–1632 6th Earl of Rutland 17th Baron de Ros 1618–1632 George Manners 1580–1641 7th Earl of Rutland Frances Manners 1588–1643 William Cecil 1590–1618 Earl of Exeter 16th Baron Ros 1591–1618 Katherine Villiers 1590–d. 1649 Duchess of Buckingham 18th Baroness de Ros 1632–1649 Francis Willoughby 1614–1666 Baron Willoughby of Parham John Manners 1604–1679 8th Earl of Rutland Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 1703 George Villiers 1628–1687 2nd Duke of Buckingham 19th Baron de Ros 1649–1687 Elizabeth Jones c. 1633–1695 Countess of Ranelagh John Manners 1638–1711 1st Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 9th Earl of Rutland Barony de Ros abeyant, 1687 Frances Coningsby d. 1715 Countess Coningsby John Manners 1676–1721 2nd Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 10th Earl of Rutland Frances (Coningsby) Hanbury Williams 1707/8–1781 John Manners 1696–1779 3rd Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 11th Earl of Rutland Charlotte (Hanbury Williams) Boyle-Walsingham 1738–1790 John Manners 1721–1770 styled Marquess of Granby Lord George Manners-Sutton 1723–1783 Baron de Ros, abeyance terminated, 1806 Baron Manners of Foston, 1807 Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros 1769–1831 20th Baroness de Ros 1806–1831 John Manners 1751–1760 styled Lord Roos Charles Manners 1754–1787 4th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 12th Earl of Rutland Charles Manners-Sutton 1755–1828 Thomas Manners-Sutton 1756–1842 1st Baron Manners 1807–1842 Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford, 1835 Henry FitzGerald-de Ros 1793–1839 21st Baron de Ros 1831–1839 William FitzGerald-de Ros 1797–1874 22nd Baron de Ros 1839–1874 John Henry Manners 1778–1857 5th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 13th Earl of Rutland Charles Manners-Sutton 1780–1845 1st Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1835–1845 Baron Roos of Belvoir, 1896 Henry FitzGerald-de Ros 1827–1907 23rd Baron de Ros 1874–1907 Charles Cecil John Manners 1815–1888 6th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 14th Earl of Rutland John James Robert Manners 1818–1906 7th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 15th Earl of Rutland, 1st Baron Roos of Belvoir Charles John Manners-Sutton 1812–1869 2nd Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1845–1869 John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton 1814–1877 3rd Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1869–1877 John Manners-Sutton 1818–1864 2nd Baron Manners 1842–1864 Mary Dawson 1854–1939 Countess of Dartrey 24th Baroness de Ros 1907–1939 Henry John Brinsley Manners 1852–1925 8th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 16th Earl of Rutland, 2nd Baron Roos of Belvoir Henry Manners-Sutton 1839–1914 4th Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1877–1914 Graham Edward Henry Manners-Sutton John Manners-Sutton 1852–1927 3rd Baron Manners 1864–1927 Barony abeyant, 1939 Barony abeyance terminated, 1943 Una Mary Ross 1879–1956 25th Baroness de Ros 1943–1956 Robert Charles John Manners 1885–1894 styled Lord Haddon John Henry Montagu Manners 1886–1940 9th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 17th Earl of Rutland, 3rd Baron Roos of Belvoir Henry Frederick Walpole Manners-Sutton 1879–1918 5th Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1914–1918 Charles Graham Manners-Sutton 1872–1941 6th Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford 1918–1941 Francis Henry Manners 1897–1972 4th Baron Manners 1927–1972 Barony abeyant, 1956 Barony abeyance terminated, 1958 Viscountcy extinct, 1941 Georgiana Angela Maxwell 1933–1983 26th Baroness de Ros 1958–1983 Charles John Robert Manners 1919–1999 10th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 18th Earl of Rutland, 4th Baron Roos of Belvoir John Robert Cecil Manners 1923–2008 5th Baron Manners 1972–2008 Peter Trevor Maxwell b. 1958 27th Baron de Ros 1938–present David Charles Robert Manners b. 1959 11th Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby, 19th Earl of Rutland, 5th Baron Roos of Belvoir John Hugh Robert Manners b. 1956 6th Baron Manners 2008–present Finbar James Maxwell b. 1988 Charles John Montague Manners b. 1999 styled Marquess of Granby John Alexander David Manners b. 2011

Coat of arms of Peter Maxwell, Baron de Ros of Helmsley

Coronet A Coronet of a Baron Crest Crom A Boo (I will burn) Helm First: On a chapeau gules, turned up, ermine, a Peacock in its pride, proper (de Ros). Second: A Monkey, statant, proper, environed round the loins and chained, or (For FitzGerald). Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Argent a Saltire Gules (Fitzgerald); 2nd and 3rd, Gules three Water Bougets Argent (de Ros) Supporters On either side a Falcon wings expanded and inverted proper

• Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. London: Dean & Son. p. 284.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1949). The Complete Peerage, edited by Geoffrey H. White. Vol. XI. London: St. Catherine Press.
• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) ISBN 144996639X