Baron Zouche

Baron Zouche is a title which has been created three times, all in the Peerage of England.

The la Zouche family descended from Alan la Zouche (d. 1190), lord of the manor of North Molton in North Devon, England, originally called Alain de Porhoët, or Ceoche, who was a Breton nobleman who settled in England during the reign of King Henry II (1154–1189). He was the son of Viscount Geoffrey de Porhoët and Hawise (of unknown origins).

Alan married Adeline (or Alice) de Belmeis, daughter of Phillip de Belmeis and Maud la Meschine, who died at North Molton in 1190. By his marriage he obtained the manor of Ashby in Leicestershire (called after him Ashby-de-la-Zouch). His son was Roger la Zouche (c. 1175 – bef. 14 May 1238) who was the father of Alan la Zouche (1205–1270) and Eudo (or Odo) la Zouche.

Alan (1205–1270) was justice of Chester and justice of Ireland under King Henry III (1216–1272). He was loyal to the king during his struggle with the barons, fought at the Battle of Lewes and helped to arrange the Peace of Kenilworth. As the result of a quarrel over some lands with John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, he was seriously injured in Westminster Hall by the earl and his retainers and died on 10 August 1270. Alan's grandson from the marriage of his son Roger to Ela Longespée, namely Alan la Zouche, was summoned by writ to Parliament on 6 February 1299 as Baron la Zouche of Ashby. He was Governor of Rockingham Castle and Steward of Rockingham Forest. However, this barony fell into abeyance on his death in 1314 without male progeny.

Eudo was a professional soldier; late in life, he married Millicent de Cantilupe (d. 1299), one of the two sisters and co-heiresses of Sir George de Cantilupe (1251–1273), 4th feudal baron of Eaton Bray and Lord of Abergavenny, from whom he inherited several manors including Eaton Bray, Calne and Harringworth and by whom he had three daughters and two sons. Their elder son William la Zouche was summoned by writ to Parliament as Baron Zouche of Haryngworth, on 16 August 1308. His great-great-great-grandson, the fifth Baron, married Alice Seymour, 6th Baroness St Maur, and assumed that peerage in her right. Their son succeeded to both titles; his stepmother, Elizabeth St. John, was an aunt of the future King Henry VII, a connection which proved useful to later members of the family. The seventh Baron was attainted in 1485 for loyalty to King Richard III but was eventually restored to his title and a part of his lands. On the death in 1625 of Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, 12th Baron St Maur, the peerages fell into abeyance between Edward's two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary.

In 1815 the Barony of Zouche was called out of abeyance in favour of Cecil Bishopp, 8th Baronet (d. 1828), of Parham Park, who became the 12th Baron Zouche. Through his mother Susanna Hedges he was a descendant of Elizabeth la Zouche.

Cecil's eldest son Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Bisshopp (d. 1813) pre-deceased his father at age 30 in Ontario, Canada, from wounds received in action against the Americans in the War of 1812. With the deaths of both this Cecil and another son, Lieutenant Charles-Cecil Bisshopp, the Barony of Zouche once again fell into abeyance in 1828.

In 1829, the abeyance was terminated in favour of the 12th baron Cecil's elder daughter, Harriet-Anne Curzon (née Bisshopp), who became the 13th Baroness. She was the wife of Robert Curzon, younger son of Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon.