Painting from old photographs by Jill Buckingham, commissioned by the Lousadas of Bedfordshire, of Isaac 1783-1857 #92 the first English Lousada Duke. In 1848, with evident panache, he assumed the title of the Spanish Duque de Losada 1706-83 who died without leaving direct successors. Isaac had no tangible link with the Duque nor any right of succession. The 5 English Dukes called themselves Duke de Losada y Lousada, a bizarre cocktail of Spanish and Portuguese. There appears to be no official record of this reinstatement in Madrid or in his eldest son's papers in the Molyneux-Seel collection at the Lancashire Record Office (ref 34 and as discussed to the right). Two subsequent well-qualified Spanish applicants for the title were unsuccessful because the title was Italian (ref 164) and not because the title had expired or because the Lousadas already had it!   Isaac's son Emanuel 1809-85 #93 the second English Lousada Duke - this image is from his pass to the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1867. The Molyneux-Seel collection contains the very odd title document and a very odd family tree contained therein. Click here to see an image of his 1862 passport from the same collection and here for many insights into his life by a great-great-granddaughter of Isaac - she thought the title was dubious and that Emanuel was obsessed by it. Also click here for other documents from his Paris life, here for his will, and here for evidence of the declining profitability of the Carlisle plantation in Jamaica. A French version 'L'Honneur me Guide' of the Spanish motto 'El Honor es mi Guia' can be seen on some Lousada crests - was this because Emanuel lived in France? Emanuel's notes on the Dukedom contain what appears to be the original handwritten version of the Burke's Peerage entry and a document headed 'Traduit d'Espagnol' which means 'Translated from Spanish' and is the only thing Spanish about it. There is an absence of receipts from Spain for fees paid upon succession to the title.