Baron Willoughby de Broke

Baron Willoughby de Broke is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1491 for Sir Robert Willoughby, of the manor of Broke, part of Westbury, Wiltshire, who according to modern doctrine was de jure 9th Baron Latimer. On the death of his son, the two baronies (the recognised barony of Willoughby de Broke and the de jure barony of Latimer) fell into abeyance. Around 1535, the abeyance was naturally terminated when the second Baron's grand-daughter Elizabeth, who had married Sir Fulke Greville, became the only surviving co-heir, passing her claim to her son Sir Fulke Greville, father of the poet of the same name. The title stayed in the Greville family until after the death of the 5th Baron, when it passed to his sister, Margaret Greville, the wife of a Verney. Thereafter it remained in the Verney family. The Barons Willoughby de Broke remain heirs to the ancient Barony of Latimer (a title which predates their recognised Barony by almost two hundred years).