CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Baron Arundell of Wardour

extinct barony in the Peerage of England

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 24, 2025
Entity authorityQ4862115 ↗
Source-derived summary

Baron Arundell of Wardour, in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1605 for Thomas Arundell, known as "Thomas the Valiant", son of Sir Matthew Arundell (died 1598) and grandson of Sir Thomas Arundell (executed 1552) and of Margaret Howard, a sister of Queen Katherine Howard. According to Agnes Strickland, Margaret Howard, Lady Arundel had been a Lady Attendant to Katherine Howard, her sister, during the time she was queen. Arundell had already been created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire by Rudolph II in December 1595 (see below). He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron, who fought as a Royalist in the Civil War and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Stratton in 1643. His son, the third Baron, was implicated in the Popish Plot and imprisoned in the Tower of London for six years. However, after the accession of James II he was restored to favour and served as Lord Privy Seal from 1687 to 1688. His great-great-great-grandson, the eighth Baron (the title having descended from father to son), was an avid collector of art and accumulated immense debts in building and furnishing New Wardour Castle.

He had no sons and was succeeded by his cousin, the ninth Baron. He was the son of the Hon.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Baron Arundell of Wardour” is extinct barony in the Peerage of England. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Baron, Arundell and Wardour, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1605, 1598, 1552, 1595—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1605-05-04. For this dossier, Baron, Arundell and Wardour is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “extinct barony in the Peerage of England” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4862115. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1605, 1598, 1552 and 1595.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Baron Arundell of Wardour”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Baron Arundell of Wardour primary sources, Baron Arundell of Wardour archive and Baron research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Baron Arundell of Wardour”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Baron Arundell of Wardour” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.