of HENRY XXIV., Count of REUSS-EBERsdorf, had several children; 1. his successor, the present Duke of SAXE-COBURG-SAALFELD, the father of PRINCE ALBERT; 2. Sophia Frederica, who married the Count of Mensdorf;' 3. Juliana, who married the late Grand Duke Constantine; 4. Ferdinand, whose eldest son, Ferdinand, is married to the Queen of Portugal; 5. MARIA LOUISA VICTORIA, DUCHESS of KENT, the mother of Our Most Gracious Sovereign QUEEN VICTORIA; 6. Leopold, whose first wife was the Princess Charlotte of Wales, and who is now King of the Belgians.

Prince Albert's father, ERNEST ANTHONY CHARLES LEWIS, the reigning Duke of SAXE-COBURG-SA ALFELD, succeeded his father in 1806, and by his first wife and cousin, DOROTHY LOUISA, daughter of AUGUSTUS, Duke of SAXE-ALTENBURG, by LOUISA CHARLOTTE, the daughter of FREDERICK, Duke of MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN, he was father of Ernest Augustus Charles, hereditary Prince of Saxe-CoburgSaalfeld, and of ALBERT FRANCIS AUGUSTUS CHARLES EMANUEL, born August 26th, 1819, who was married February 10th, 1840, to his first cousin, VICTORIA, QUEEN of GREAT BRITAIN, and the result of this union of real affection, was the birth of

7 A second daughter should be here inserted, who married the Duke of Wirtemburg.

Y

a daughter, November 21, 1840, who was named VICTORIA after her illustrious mother, her other names being ADELAIDE, after the Queen Dowager, MARY, after Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, and LOUISA, after Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and also after the Queen of the Belgians, who were the sponsors of the royal child.

It remains now to notice some of the noble families of our own country, which have intermarried with the Royal Houses of England, and from whom Her Majesty is descended.

"Red De Clare, stout Gloster's Earl." MARMION.

"This tattered ensign of my ancestors Which swept the desert shore of that dead sea, Whereof we got the name of Mortimer."

KIT MARLOWE'S PLAY OF EDWARD II.

The HOUSES of De Clare, De Burg, and

MORTIMER.

DWARD IV. was descended from the great

EDW

HOUSES of MORTIMER, DE BURG, and DE CLARE. LIONEL, Duke of Clarence, married ELIZABETH, heiress of WILLIAM de BURG, Earl of Ulster, whose mother was ELIZABETH, daughter of GILBERT de CLARE and the Princess JOAN of Acre. PHILIPPA, daughter of Lionel, by her marriage with EDMUND MORTIMER, conveyed the title to the throne of England into that family, in right of whom EDWARD IV., their great grandson, obtained the crown. As these three families formed many great alliances,

and made a considerable figure in the history of their country, some account of their origin may be acceptable.

I. The House of DE CLARE derives from RICHARD I., Duke of Normandy, whose son GEOFFREY was father of Gislebert, or GILBERT de Crespon, Earl of Brionne in Normandy; his son, RICHARD-FITZ-GILBERT, accompanied the Conqueror to England, and for the aid he supplied towards the invasion, and for his services at and after the battle of Hastings, he was rewarded with several lordships, and was created by William, Earl of Clare in the county of Suffolk.' He married ROSE, or Rohesia, daughter of Walter GIFFARD, Earl of Longueville, and Earl of Buckingham, whose father of the same name and titles was one of William's great captains in Normandy, where he defeated King Henry of France; he likewise brought to the assistance of his kinsman, the Con

1 Richard Fitz-Gilbert is often called, by Hume and other writers, Richard de Bienfaite, from a lordship of that name which he possessed in Normandy. He was also Grand Justiciary of England, co-jointly with William de Warrenne. A daughter of Richard de Bienfaite married William Montfitchet, son of Gilbert de Montfitchet, who accompanied the Conqueror, and their descendant was one of the twenty-five barons of Magna Charta.

2 The mother of the first Walter Giffard was Dunerina, a sister of Gunora, the duchess of Richard the Fearless. The

queror, "XXX ships and C men-at-arms" at the invasion, and for his services he was created Earl of Buckingham, and Marshal of England.3

Richard Fitz-Gilbert died in the reign of Henry I., although his death is placed by some writers in 1090, and was succeeded in the earldom of Clare by his son, GILBERT de CLARE, who is often called de Tonbruce, or Tunbridge, from his having obtained the castle of that name from the archbishop of Canterbury in exchange for the castle of Brionne in Normandy. He became Lord Marshal of England, and by his marriage with ISABEL de BELLOMONTE or Beaumont, daughter of ROBERT, Earl of LEICESTER, he had a son, RICHARD de CLARE, who was Earl of Clare, and of Hertford; he was also Earl Marshal, and Earl of Pembroke, and is often mentioned in history as Richard Strongbow, and Earl of Strigul. He was the chief instrument of establishing the English con

5

arms borne by Walter Giffard were, "Gules, three lions passant argent." GLOVER AND HEYLIN.

3 Edmondson.

4 Richard Fitz-Gilbert's fifth son Robert, was Steward to Henry I.; he married a daughter of the famous Waltheof and the Conqueror's niece Judith, and their son Walter Fitz-Robert was father of Robert Fitz-Walter, one of the twenty-five barons of Magna Charta.

5 The arms of Bellomonte were, "Gules, a cinquefoil ermine, pierced of the field."

HEYLIN.