Medieval origins The incumbent Marquess of Abergavenny is the current head of the
House of Neville, a
noble house of early medieval origins, notable for its central role in the
Wars of the Roses. Lord Abergavenny's ancestor,
Edward Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny, was a younger son of
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and
Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.
Abergavenny in the Marquess's title derives from the market town in Wales in which this branch of the Nevill family inherited
Abergavenny Castle, much of the family's ancestral lands and title of
Baron Bergavenny by virtue of the marriage between the
suo jure peeress
Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Baroness Bergavenny, and
Edward Neville in 1424.
Subsidiary titles Subsequent Nevill Barons Bergavenny have been raised to higher ranks within the peerage. The 1st Marquess's ancestor, the
de facto 17th (de jure 2nd) Baron Bergavenny, was created
Earl of Abergavenny, in the County of Monmouth, and
Viscount Nevill, of Birling in the County of Kent, in the
Peerage of Great Britain on 17 May 1784. The
Barony of Bergavenny was held by his successors, the Earls and Marquesses of Abergavenny, until 1938, when it passed into abeyance between the two daughters of the 3rd Marquess. The
5th Earl of Abergavenny was elevated to the title of
Marquess of Abergavenny along with the subsidiary title of
Earl of Lewes on 14 January 1876, following his role in the foundation of the modern-day
Conservative Party with
Disraeli and
Lord Salisbury. ==Coat of arms==