Baron Moynihan, of Leeds in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

. It was created on 19 March 1929 for the surgeon Sir Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baronet

Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan

Berkeley George Andrew Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan, KCB, KCMG, , known as Sir Berkeley Moynihan 1st Baronet, from 1922 to 1929, was a noted British abdominal surgeon....

, the son of the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

 recipient Andrew Moynihan

Andrew Moynihan

Andrew Moynihan, VC was by birth an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

. Sir Berkeley had already been created a Baronet, of Carr Manor

Carr Manor

Carr Manor is a Victorian grade II listed house in Meanwood, Leeds, England, designed by Edward Schroeder Prior and built for Thomas Clifford Allbutt M.D. . In 1881 it replaced Carr Manor House, though retaining the 1796 stable block...

, in 1922. The titles became dormant on the death of his grandson, the third Baron, in 1991.

There followed a complex dispute between his two sons, born separately by his fourth and fifth wives; the 3rd Baron had believed that the eldest boy, Andrew, was not his son, and favoured the younger, Daniel. They were joined in the dispute by Colin Moynihan

Colin Moynihan

Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan PC is a former Olympic coxswain who became a businessman, politician and sports administrator.-Early life:...

, younger half-brother of the 3rd Baron; in March 1994 Colin Moynihan applied for a writ of summons thereby challenging the legitimacy of both sons and claiming the title for himself. In 1996 the Family Division of the High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 ruled that the 3rd Baron's divorce from his fourth wife Editha Eduarda had been obtained by fraud, meaning that his fifth marriage to Jinna Sabiaga had been bigamous

Bigamy

In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...

 and his son by that marriage illegitimate.

After this action had been decided, the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 ordered DNA testing of Andrew Moynihan, which found that the 3rd Baron was not his father. The Committee therefore decided in favour of the petition from Colin Moynihan, summing up their decision by saying:

...that neither of the two sons purporting to be the sons of the Third Baron can, in fact, be an heir to the peerage. In the case of the elder, Andrew, the committee was shown overwhelming genetic evidence that he cannot be the son of the late Lord Moynihan; and so far as the younger, Daniel, is concerned, the evidence clearly shows that he is the child of a bigamous marriage and is therefore illegitimate. In those circumstances, it is clear beyond doubt that the petitioner, Colin Moynihan, must be the rightful heir and that his Petitions must succeed.

Barons Moynihan (1929)

• Berkeley George Andrew Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan
  Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan
  Berkeley George Andrew Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan, KCB, KCMG, , known as Sir Berkeley Moynihan 1st Baronet, from 1922 to 1929, was a noted British abdominal surgeon....
  
   (1865–1936)
• Patrick Berkeley Moynihan, 2nd Baron Moynihan
  Patrick Berkeley Moynihan, 2nd Baron Moynihan
  Patrick Berkeley Moynihan was a British politician and noble.Moynihan studied law and became a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. He then became a stockbroker, moving to New York, where he was active during the Wall Street Crash, then joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1932. In 1931, he married...
  
   (1906–1965)
• Antony Patrick Andrew Caines Berkeley Moynihan, 3rd Baron Moynihan
  Antony Moynihan, 3rd Baron Moynihan
  Antony Patrick Andrew Cairne Berkeley Moynihan, 3rd Baron Moynihan was an English hereditary peer.-Biography:Moynihan was born on 2 February 1936 to Patrick Moynihan and his wife Irene Helen Candy. Patrick Moynihan later that year became the 2nd Baron Moynihan. Patrick's father Berkeley Moynihan...
  
   (1936–1991) (dormant 1991)
• Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan
  Colin Moynihan
  Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan PC is a former Olympic coxswain who became a businessman, politician and sports administrator.-Early life:...
  
  (b. 1955) (claim proved 1997)