The la Zouche family descended from Alan la Zouche (), 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 ( – 14 May 1238) who was the father of
Alan la Zouche (1205–1270) and Eudo (or Odo) la Zouche.
Alan la Zouche and the Barony of Ashby 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 la Zouche and the Barony of Haryngworth Eudo was a professional soldier; late in life, he married Millicent de Cantilupe (), 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.
Revival of the Barony of Zouche of Haryngworth In 1815 the Barony of Zouche was called out of abeyance in favour of
Cecil Bishopp, 8th Baronet (), 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 () 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. Harriet-Anne and Robert's son, the Honourable
Robert Curzon, became the 14th Baron. He was notable for his collection of Coptic manuscripts (also known as the White Monastery manuscripts) which were bequeathed by his daughter Darea (in 1917) the 16th Baroness to the British Museum. On Robert's death the title first passed to a son, Robert Nathaniel Cecil George Curzon the 15th Baron, and then to a daughter, the aforementioned Darea. Darea never married and was succeeded by her second cousin, Mary Cecil Frankland the 17th Baroness, who was the granddaughter of a younger son of the 13th Baroness. Mary was succeeded by her grandson, James Assheton Frankland the 18th Baron, who in 1944 had already succeeded his father as the
12th Frankland Baronet of Thirkleby. James's son, William Thomas Assheton Frankland (born 23 July 1984), succeeded as the 19th Baron Zouche and 13th Baronet Frankland of Thirkleby in September 2022.
The Barony Zouche of Mortimer A granddaughter of the original Alan la Zouche, Joyce la Zouche, married Robert Mortimer of Richard's Castle; one of her younger sons, William la Zouche, adopted his maternal surname of la Zouche and bought the reversion of the manor of Ashby-de-la-Zouch from Alan in 1304, the latter to hold it until his death (1314). On 26 December 1323, he was created by writ
Baron Zouche of Mortimer. This peerage became abeyant in 1406. ==Barons la Zouche of Ashby (1299)==