Baron Arlington

Baron Arlington is a title in the Peerage of England. In 1664, it was created for Sir Henry Bennet, younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston, with a special remainder allowing it to descend to male and female heirs, rather than only male heirs, as was customary with most peerages. In 1672, he was made Earl of Arlington and "Viscount Thetford", and was regranted the title of "Baron Arlington", with the same special remainder.

The first Earl died without male heirs, so the titles went to his daughter Isabella, Duchess of Grafton. At age four, Isabella was married off to the nine-year old Duke of Grafton, an illegitimate son of King Charles II. After the death of the couple, Charles Fitzroy, their son, came to hold both the Arlington and Grafton titles. The two sets of titles continued united until the death of the ninth Duke in a racecar accident in 1936. The dukedom passed to a cousin, while all of the Arlington titles fell into abeyance between his two sisters, neither of whom petitioned the Sovereign to terminate the abeyance. After the death of the elder sister, her elder daughter Jennifer did petition the Crown, and the abeyance of the barony of Arlington created in 1664 was terminated in her favour. The earldom of Arlington created in 1672, however, remains abeyant, along with the viscountcy of Thetford. These titles offer the one of the few examples of a peerage other than a barony falling into abeyance, another case being that of the Earldom of Cromartie in 1893.

Barons Arlington (1664)

*Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618-1685)
*Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington (c. 1668-1723)
*Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton (1683-1757)
*Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (1735-1811)
*George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (1760-1844)
*Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton (1790-1863)
*William FitzRoy, 6th Duke of Grafton (1819-1882)
*Augustus FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton (1821-1918)
*Alfred FitzRoy, 8th Duke of Grafton (1850-1930)
*John FitzRoy, 9th Duke of Grafton (1914-1936) (abeyant 1936)
*Jennifer Forwood, 11th Baroness Arlington (b. 1939) (abeyance terminated 1999)

Her heir apparent, her elder son, Hon. Patrick John Dudley Forwood (b. 1967); his heir presumptive, his brother, Hon. James Roland Nelson Forwood (b. 1969)

Co-heirs to the earldom of Arlington and the viscountcy of Thetford

*Jennifer Forwood, 11th Baroness Arlington (b. 1939)
*Juliet Sally Cholmeley, Lady Cholmeley (b. 1940)
*Lady Mary-Rose Williams (b. 1918)

ee also

*Baron Ossulston