In a message dated 02/09/2007 04:44:01 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Can someone tell me if Raby is in Durham. Does Ralph 4th Lord Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland still have descendants there. Le Briefly, Yes, and No. Raby is part of Co Durham, both before and after he 1974 boundary changes. Raby itself is really just Raby Castle, just outside Staindrop, in whose parish it is. The Neville family, which had owned Raby (and another massive Co Durham Castle at Brancepeth) for centuries, lost it after their participation in the Rising of the Northern Earls (the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland) in 1569. That had been a Roman-Catholic inspired attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the Throne of England. Eventually the Crown granted Raby to a branch of the widespread Co Durham Vane family and it still belongs to them, the present head of that branch having the title of Lord Barnard. Raby Castle is still the home of Lord Barnard and still stands in its full mediaeval magnificence, complete with deer-park (and deer), moat and all other accoutrements of a mediaeval strong-point. It is open to the public - I was there earlier this summer - and it is thrilling to go into the large room, later used as a library, where the guide assures one that it was there that the 1569 Rising was plotted. If you believe that the Nevilles rank amongst your own ancestors, I would urge you to read up about them in almost any serious book on the history of England at the time. Please do not simply accept the hilariously useless "information" given on eg the IGI, which solemnly assures us the "Lord Neville" married "Lady Neville" at "Raby" in some year during the 14th century. While that may well be true, and anyone can guess that it is, it hardly tells us anything about the people concerned! The origin of the Neville family is a fascinating one, and it seems likely that they have a direct male-line descent from Crinan of Dunkeld, an 11th century Scotsman who was Lay-Abbott of Dunkeld Abbey and who was so well placed within the Scottish Royal family that he would have had a good claim to the Throne if he had not been technically, an Abbot. They share that descent with the Kings of Scotland (up to Alexander III), the Earls of Dunbar, and probably also the Washingtons of Washington (and hence with the rebel who became the first president of the USA), as well as, it is claimed, the Metcalfes of Nappa in Wensleydale and a few other short-lived Northumberland families, their relationship to each other having been masked initially by the lack of hereditary surnames and then by different branches adopting different surnames. I call them all "Crinanites". Crinan himself would have said that he was "of the kin of St Columba", as the Scottish Royal family always claimed. If true then the male line probably goes back to the local "Kings" of the Irish tribe which became the Scots. There is only one way to truly appreciate Raby Castle, and that is to visit it personally. Geoff Nicholson