Laurence family

The Laurence family were English nobility. In the early 19th century, the head of the family held title as the eleventh Earl of Allendale, and was addressed as Lord Allendale.

The wife of the eleventh earl, the Countess of Allendale, was addressed as Lady Allendale. Their estate was Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire.

Their eldest son and heir, George Laurence, was married. It is not known whether he held a courtesy title such as Viscount. By late 1805 or early 1806, he and his wife Elizabeth had three sons and one daughter (the youngest child). In late 1807 or early 1808, he assumed the duties of his father, who was incapacitated by illness.

Lord and Lady Allendale's second son entered the Church. Their third son, William Laurence, was intended for this profession as well, but ran away to sea and joined the Royal Navy, reaching the rank of Captain before unexpectedly harnessing Temeraire and transferring to the Aerial Corps.

History

The eleventh earl of Allendale was distantly descended from King Edward III of England (1312-1377) via "several contortions and one leap through the Salic [female] line".

The Earldom of Allendale was created in 1529, during the reign of Henry VIII. In the previous generation after the Wars of the Roses, Henry VII had carefully eliminated most of his potential rivals from the House of York. It can be therefore be assumed that in that era, the Laurence family's ancestors supported the Houses of Lancaster and Tudor.

The "leap through the Salic line" (i.e., a female descendant of the Plantagenets marrying into the Laurence family) may not occurred before the Earldom of Allendale was created.