In issuing the third volume of this work, the authors are much concerned at the long delay that has occurred in its preparation, and they feel that an apology is due to their subscribers as well as to the general public who are interested in the subject. The protracted interval between Volumes II. and III. has been due to a variety of causes more or less connected with the extensive and complex character of the work, the numerous branches that sprang from the parent stock - many of them never before dealt with - and the many sources, public and private, from which they endeavoured to elicit authentic information. These and other causes tended to delay the appearance of the volume to an extent that was never anticipated by the authors. Though the volume is in the main genealogical, it is not entirely so.