Baron Arlington

The 11th Baroness Arlington was the last woman to take her seat in the House of Lords under the provisions of the Peerage Act 1963.

The first Earl of Arlington died, as anticipated, without male heirs so the titles went to his daughter Isabella.

At age five, Isabella was engaged to Henry FitzRoy, the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers.

The Grafton dukedom passed to a cousin yet the three Arlington/Thetford titles fell into abeyance under the principle of moieties between his two sisters, neither of whom petitioned the Sovereign to terminate this.

After the death of the elder sister, her eldest child Jennifer petitioned the Sovereign, and the abeyance of the barony of Arlington was terminated in her favour, restoring it upon her, rather than her aunt's descendants.