Baron Strange

Baron Strange is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1326, had only one holder each, upon whose deaths they became extinct. Two of the creations, that of 1299 and that of 1628, are extant. The surname Le Strange was Latinized as Extraneus (i.e. "Foreigner, Stranger"). The arms of Le Strange of Knockin Castle in Shropshire were: Gules, two lions passant argent.

All four baronies of Strange were created by writ, which means that they can also pass through female lines. Following the passing of the Peerage Act 1963, Elizabeth Frances Philipps, 14th Baroness Strange (of the 1299 creation), became the first female to take her seat in the House of Lords by virtue of an hereditary peerage.

The first creation came in 1295 when Roger le Strange "of Salop" (i.e. Shropshire) was summoned to the Model Parliament by writ addressed to Rogero Extraneo, by which he is deemed to have become Lord Strange. He was a younger son of John le Strange III of Knockin Castle in Shropshire, Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire in 1236. On his death in 1311 the title became extinct.

The second creation came in 1299 when John le Strange V was summoned to the House of Lords by a writ directed to Johanni Lestraunge de Knokyn, by which he is deemed to have become Lord Strange. This creation is referred to as Baron Strange de Knokyn or Baron Strange of Knokyn (aliter Knokin or Knockin, etc.), named after his seat of Knockin Castle in Shropshire, which thus distinguishes it from the earlier 1295 barony, which was still extant on its creation. He was the eldest son and heir of John le Strange IV of Knockin, the eldest son of John le Strange III of Knockin, and was therefore the nephew of the baron of the 1295 creation. Hamo le Strange, younger brother of the 2nd Baron, founded the family of Le Strange of Hunstanton, Norfolk (which ancestral manor was given to him by the 2nd Baron in 1309), and bore his paternal arms differenced by a bendlet sable. (See L'Estrange baronets of Hunstanton, created in 1629, which male line continued until 1762)). Joan le Strange, suo jure 9th Baroness, daughter and heiress of the 8th Baron who died without male issue, married George Stanley, 9th Baron Strange, son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, who was summoned to Parliament as Lord Strange in her right. Her son Thomas Stanley succeeded as both 2nd Earl of Derby and 10th Baron Strange.

The titles remained united until the death of his great-grandson, the fifth Earl and 13th Baron, in 1594. The earldom was inherited by his younger brother, the sixth Earl, while the barony of Strange (as well as the baronies of Mohun of Dunster and Stanley, also held by the Earl) fell into abeyance between the late Earl's three daughters Lady Anne, Lady Frances and Lady Elizabeth (however, the sixth Earl of Derby erroneously assumed the barony of Strange - see below). The barony of Strange remained in abeyance for the next 327 years.

However, the abeyance was terminated in 1921 in favour of Elizabeth Frances Philipps, Viscountess St Davids, who became the fourteenth Baroness. She was the second wife of John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids. The abeyance of the ancient baronies of Hungerford and de Moleyns was terminated at the same time in her favour. On 31 July 1963, the Peerage Act 1963 came into effect, which, among other things, enabled women to sit and vote in the House of Lords by virtue of an hereditary peerage. Following the passage of the Act, Lady St Davids applied for a writ of summons to the House of Lords in right of her Strange barony, which was subsequently issued to her, and she took her seat in the House on 19 November 1963 as the first female peer to do so under the provision of the Peerage Act 1963. On her death in 1974 the titles were inherited by her son, the fifteenth Baron Strange, who had already succeeded his father as second Viscount St Davids. As of 2013 the titles are held by the second Viscount's grandson, the fourth Viscount and seventeenth Baron Strange.

The third creation came in 1326 when Sir Eubulus le Strange was summoned to Parliament as Lord Strange. However, the title became extinct on his death in 1335. His nephew Roger le Strange, 4th Baron Strange of Knockyn, was his heir.

In 1594 William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby (1561-1642), following the death of his elder brother the 5th Earl of Derby, incorrectly assumed the title Baron Strange (created in 1299) (see above). In 1628 his son and heir apparent, James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration as Lord Strange. When it was discovered that his father's assumption of the barony was erroneous, it was deemed that there were two baronies of Strange, one created in 1299 then in abeyance, and another created "accidentally" in 1628. James Stanley later succeeded his father as 7th Earl of Derby.