Furnivall (1295) barony in abeyance

[colinp]

FURNIVALL (1295)

Baroness Furnivall (19th in line) (Mary Frances Katherine Dent) d 1968 when the barony fell into abeyance between her two daughters.  Present co-heirs are:-

1. Hon Rosamond Mary Dent (Sister Ancilla OSB) (1/2 share) b 1933 unm

2. Hon Patricia Mary Bence (1/2 share) b 1935 m.  Heir elder son Francis Walton Petre Hornsby b 1958 unm

Either of the co-heirs can petition for termination of abeyancy but barony will in any event come out of abeyancy on death of elder daughter.

[Henry W]

Sister Ancilla DENT died 15 October 2025

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/QL7hci3OVXU

Patricia Mary Bence succeeded on her death and is now 20th Baroness Furnivall.

[marquess]

This has to be one of the most interesting terminations, I mean for the mother of the current holder who was 12 years old at the time. Does anyone have any further information on the 1913 termination and also is this the only instance of an abeyance being terminated in favour of a minor?

[Henry W]

For the 1913 termination see: https://www.ukelections.info/leigh_rayment/peersF3.htm#furnivall-19

Essentially the peerage had been abeyant since 1777 with two co-heirs who were already peers themselves until 1908 when 14th Baron Petre died leaving a daughter.  Baron Petre went to his brother (15th Baron), but his daughter did not succeed. Terminating the abeyance in her favour allowed her to have her own peerage.

[marquess]

Thank you very much for the information. 

[pyvery]

I think that the Barony Of Beaumont was terminated in 1896 in favour of a two year old.

[pyvery]

A similar case to the ending of the abeyance of the Furnivall Barony will arise when Hon Marcia Miller aka Anthea Lycett dies as she is recorded as childless and is the elder co-heir of the Fauconberg and Conyers Baronies.Born in 1954 her sister Beatrix is married with two sons

[malcolm davies]

The new Lady Furnivall is 90.There aren’t too many peers who have succeeded at that age.

Nobody has said anything about whether Lady Furnivall’s sons have heirs-does anybody know?

[gorgo...@gmail.com]

It looks like heir's name is Walton Francis Petre Hornsby.

[gorgo...@gmail.com]

New heir's profile https://www.23es.com/barrister/walton-hornsby/

I hope the family has plans to establish their right to the title.

[https:/www.LeighRayment.com.au]

Someone in the UK could just contact the "heir" and ask if he is married with children !! I don't see that being too personal.. 

[Dapifer de Truchsess]

Colleagues, Patricia Mary Bence has been dead for 10 years. https://www.swetenham.org/getperson.php?personID=I58933&tree=1

The heir is the Lord. Walton Francis Petre Hornsby is the 20th Lord Furnivall. He would appear unmarried, and his heir would appear to be his half-brother, Richard William Petre Bence, likewise unmarried. As a result, we will have the same issue falling between the two female heiresses, their sisters. Clare Mary Petre Hornsby, married Harbord & Katherine Rosamund Petre Bence, married Hayden-Slater. 

[Richard R]

Thanks for this but the link is behind a firewall. Can you post details of her death?

[bx...@yahoo.com]

For what it's worth, the last print edition of DPB gives his name as "FRANCIS WALTON PETRE.

Brooke

[Richard R]

The above bio link refers to him as Walton Hornsby and his birth registration is as Walton P HORNSBY (mother DENT) b 1958 reg Q2 Willesden

[bx...@yahoo.com]

I didn't find anything in the GRO index, going back to 2010, under the names "Patricia DENT" or "Patricia BENCE"  with a birth year of 1935.

Brooke

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Nothing on ancestry either.

Can anyone else find anything about her death?

Brooke

[Dapifer de Truchsess]

This is what the website shows me. It is not behind a paywall for me. 

[Dapifer de Truchsess]

These give more information. 

He goes by the name Walton Hornsby. 

https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/barristers-register/4AB3DCDBB12F55300BCC4B42EC39FA16.html

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Now that I'm thinking about it, if Patricia had died more than a decade ago, wouldn't that have resulted in her late sister,  Sister Ancilla, succeeding as Lady Furnivall at the time?

Brooke

[Dapifer de Truchsess]

Unannounced and unrecognised yes. 

[David Beamish]

Ancilla would not have succeeded as her sister had children. But I am doubtful about this source: the date of death given is 9 October 2015 and the only corresponding entry in the GRO index is Patricia Margaret Hornsby (NB the surname of her first husband, and middle name Margaret not Mary). Electoral roll entries on ancestry.co.uk suggest that Patricia Margaret was the wife of John Sylvanus Hornsby, and it looks to me as if her maiden name was Mills. So I suspect that the creator of the Swetenham family history may have got the wrong person.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

There is nothing in the GRO index for 2015 (and within 2 years), for "Patricia DENT", "Patricia HORNSBY" or "Patricia BENCE" with a birth year of 1935.

If she had died in England ,as the website claims, wouldn't she appear in the GRO index?

Brooke

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Hi David.

Thanks for your reply.  

I'm a little confused, so I would appreciate your expertise.  

I'm asking this question under the assumption  that what the website said was correct, that Patricia had died in 2015,  predeceasing her older sister  As I understood it, the two women had an equal half-share in succession rights.  So wouldn't the termination of the abeyance be in favor of the surviving sister, before the son of Patricia could succeed?

Thanks for your help.

Brooke

[Tim]

Dear all,

I suspect this family tree might be a red herring, as they can be on occasion (I was recently tripped up by one; see my post of 26 December 2025: https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/a_TFQvxwREA/m/lPFMqgdKAwAJ). A Patricia M BENCE was listed on the open register of electors in the GU28 postcode area of West Sussex from 2014-2025. This is the same area in which she was listed as resident in DPB 2019. This makes me inclined to think that the details on this family tree might not be correct.

Regarding your question about the abeyance, Brooke: Sir David is correct. The barony would have remained in abeyance even if Mrs BENCE had passed away before her sister. Mrs BENCE's half-share of the barony would have been inherited by her elder son (not passing to her sister), so the barony would have remained in abeyance (with Sister Ancilla and Mr HORNSBY as co-heirs, each with a 50% share of the barony) either until Sister Ancilla passed away or the Crown terminated the abeyance in favour of either claimant.

Tim

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Hi Tim.

I had no doubt that Sir David was correct, but I just needed to understand.  You have done a fabulous job explaining it, and now, it makes complete sense.

Only I suspect, as you do, that this situation is really a hypothetical, as it's apparent  that family tree has "issues", and the new Lady Furnivall, is thankfully, alive and well.

The remaining question, if you will, is if her heir has a family of his own, but I guess we will find out in due course.

Thanks again.

Brooke

[Tim]

Many thanks for your kind comments about my explanation, Brooke. Yes, thank goodness that Lady Furnivall seems to be alive and well - and, as you say, we look forward to details of her heirs as these become public knowledge (or, indeed, if any of us discover details that are already public knowledge).

I was also intrigued by Malcolm's comment about peers who succeeded in their nineties and thought I would look up some further information about this for anybody else who might be interested. All the below information is drawn from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, which his successor is doing a superb job of maintaining. It appears that Lady Furnivall is one of only five peers (whose dates of birth are known) who succeeded to a title aged at least 90. In descending order of age at succession, they are as follows:

6th Viscount Exmouth - born 26 April 1828, succeeded 16 August 1922 (aged 94 years, 112 days), died 4 February 1923
3rd Baron Parmoor - born 4 July 1885, succeeded 12 May 1977 (aged 91 years, 312 days), died 5 October 1977
11th Countess of Kintore - born 20 September 1874, succeeded 25 May 1966 (aged 91 years, 247 days), died 21 September 1974
6th Baron Churchill - born 11 October 1926, succeeded 17 October 2017 (aged 91 years, 6 days), died 18 October 2020
20th Baroness Furnivall - born 4 April 1935, succeeded 15 October 2025 (aged 90 years, 194 days)

Additionally, I only came across three peers (again, whose dates of birth are known) who were raised to the peerage or had further titles created for them when they were aged at least 90. In descending order of age at creation, they are as follows:

1st and only Baron Maenan - born 9 July 1854, raised to the peerage 23 June 1948 (aged 93 years, 350 days), died 22 September 1951
7th Earl of Longford - born 5 December 1905, created a Life Peer as Baron Pakenham of Cowley 16 November 1999 (aged 93 years, 346 days), died 6 August 2001
1st Earl of Stockton - born 10 February 1894, raised to the peerage 24 February 1984 (aged 90 years, 14 days), died 29 December 1986

Tim