The first Mosley baronetcy, of Rolleston, in the County of Stafford, was created in the Baronetage of England on 10 July 1640 for Edward Mosley, of Rolleston Hall, a grandson of Sir Nicholas Mosley of Hough End Hall (who acquired the Manor of Manchester in 1596 and was Lord Mayor of London in 1599), and nephew of the lawyer Sir Edward Mosley (the youngest son of Sir Nicholas and his first wife Marjorie, née Whitbroke). Sir Edward was a lawyer who had been knighted by King James I of England in 1614; appointed a justice of the peace and Attorney-General for the Duchy of Lancaster; and elected as a Member of Parliament for Preston in 1614, 1620–1622, and 1624–1625. It was Sir Edward who first acquired the properties of Rolleston Hall that became the family seat. Sir Edward (1569–1638) died unmarried and without issue, and his estates were inherited by his nephew—the Edward Mosley who was to become the 1st Baronet.
The 1st Baronet's father was Rowland Mosley (1558–1616), another son of the aforesaid Sir Nicholas and his wife Marjorie.
The second Mosley baronetcy, of Rolleston, in the County of Stafford, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain on 18 June 1720 for Oswald Mosley, a third cousin once removed of the second Baronet of the 1640 creation. The title became extinct on the death of the third Baronet in 1779.
In 1966, Mosley's son from his first marriage, author Nicholas Mosley, succeeded his mother's elder sister, Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, in the Ravensdale barony, but didn't use the title. On his father's death in 1980, he also inherited the baronetcy of Ancoats, and became the seventh Baronet. On his death in 2017, he was succeeded in both titles by his grandson, Daniel Mosley, who became the 4th Baron Ravensdale and the 8th Baronet.[b] He is an elected member of the House of Lords.
The heir apparent to both the barony and the baronetcy is the present holder's eldest son, the Hon. Alexander Lucas Mosley (born 2012).
Arms
The arms of the 2nd Baronet are blazoned: Quarterly—1st and 4th, sable a chevron between three battle axes argent; 2nd and 3rd, or a fesse between three eagles displayed sable. Crest—An eagle displayed ermine. Motto—Mos legem regit.[3]
^ abcSir John Mosley, 1st Baronet, of Ancoats, was adopted by Sir Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet (of the 1720 creation; 1705–1757),[2] his childless second cousin and godfather, after his father died in 1734/5.
^ abThe Mosley baronetcy of Ancoats effectively serves as a subsidiary title of the Ravensdale barony, but if the line of the 3rd Baron (author Nicholas Mosley) would fail, the titles would go separate ways. The baronetcy would continue in the Mosley family, but the barony would fall to a male-line descendant of Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, younger sister of Lady Cynthia Mosley, the 3rd Baron's mother. As of February 2024[update], that descendant is entrepreneur Julian Metcalfe (born 1959), eldest son of David Metcalfe (1927–2012), only son of Lady Alexandra. If the line of David Metcalfe also fails, the barony becomes extinct.
^Edmund Lodge, The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage and Baronetage: Containing the Family Histories of the Nobility. Hurst and Blackett, 1859.
Sources
Mosley, Sir Oswald (2nd Baronet Ancoats). Family Memoirs. Printed for private circulation, 1849.