Peerage Basics

For a quick intro, see John Hopfner's brief primer on titles.

A peer of the realm is one who holds one (or more of five possible) title(s) of nobility and the estate(s) bestowed upon him or his direct ancestor by the monarch. Although other members of his family might be addressed by "Lord This" and "Lady That," none of them are peers; their titles are all courtesy titles, including his wife's (although she is usually called a "peeress")⁽¹⁾. A duke or duchess is addressed as "Your Grace" by social inferiors, and as "Duke" or "Duchess" by social equals^(1a) (unfortunately I have not been able to discover what exactly "social equal" means). All other peers and peeresses are called by "Lord" or "Lady" prefixed to the title, for example, Lord Spencer or Lady Thatcher.

The five titles, in descending order of precedence, or rank, are:

Duke

Marquess (or, in the French and Scottish spelling, Marquis)

Earl

Viscount

Baron⁽²⁾

Baronets and Knights are not peers.

As you'd expect from the ranking, dukes have always been the rarest British noble title. There have never been more than 40 non-royal dukedoms in being at any one time, and ordinarily there have been fewer than that. Today there are about 25 of them.⁽³⁾ Barons, being the lowest rank of nobility, have usually been the most numerous of the five degrees. The next most numerous dignity has usually been that of Earl; Marquesses and Viscounts have always been comparatively less numerous, though not so rare as the dukes.

In 1818, however, there were more earls than barons. There were 25 non-royal dukes, 31 marquesses, 212 earls, 69 viscounts, and 193 barons. These numbers include 21 peeresses in their own right: six countesses and 15 baronesses, but they do not include subsidiary titles (i.e., only the highest-ranking title held by the peer is counted).⁽⁴⁾

	D	M	E	V	B	Total
English	18	17	95	20	106	261
Scottish	6	2	44	2	22	76
Irish	1	12	73	47	65	198
Total	25	31	212	69	193	535

Peers sit in the House of Lords. On 26th January 1996 the House of Lords (excluding Irish peers, whose peerages do not confer a right to a seat in the House of Lords) was composed as follows⁽⁵⁾:

Hereditary Peers (Excluding the 12 hereditary peers of the first creation)	757 (16 of whom are women)
Life Peers and hereditary peers of the first creation ("created peers")	391 (67 of whom are women)
Law Lords	24 (none of whom are women)
Archbishops and Bishops	26 (none of whom are women)
Total	1198

Only a peer may be said to hold a title "in his/her own right." All other titles are courtesy titles⁽⁶⁾.

There are five types of peerages in Great Britain: peers of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom⁽⁷⁾. This makes a great difference in precedence, and in some cases, privilege. The higher the rank, the more likely it is that the peer holds several peerages, which may be distributed throughout the five peerages, depending upon their dates of creation.

Historically, retired prime ministers have been granted a peerage, traditionally an earldom, and then serve in the House of Lords⁽⁸⁾. (Some of them had peerages before they became prime minister, so they would have been elevated.) Churchill was offered, and turned down, the Dukedom of Dover⁽⁹⁾. Anthony Eden was created Earl of Avon,⁽¹⁰⁾ but he had no heirs.⁽¹¹⁾ Harold MacMillan was offered an earldom, but declined;⁽¹²⁾ but later, on his 90^th birthday, he was created Earl of Stockton.⁽¹³⁾ Margaret Thatcher was granted a life peerage as a baroness.⁽¹⁴⁾

Women were not allowed a seat in the House of Lords, even if they held a peerage in their own right, until the 1963 Peerage Act granted them that right.⁽¹⁵⁾ Nonetheless, before then they held all of the other privileges which attended their specific peerage, although often if the peerage carried with it some special office, the office would be fulfilled by the peeress's husband.⁽¹⁶⁾ In addition, wives of peers enjoyed many of the privileges of peers, including a trial in the House of Lords rather than by jury.⁽¹⁷⁾

The Most Stingy Monarch award goes to Elizabeth I, who created only eight peerages in the 54 years of her reign.⁽¹⁸⁾ James I invented the baronetcy, a hereditary knighthood (a "Sir" rather than a Lord, and not a peer), which he sold blatantly to fund his Irish wars;⁽¹⁹⁾ Victoria used the baronetcy to reward persons (often those engaged in Trade) who deserved recognition but should not be cluttering up the House of Lords; in the Georgian era, Irish peerages were most often granted to Englishmen with no connection to Ireland, for much the same reason.⁽²⁰⁾ In our century, creation of titles has had less to do with the monarch and more to do with the prime minister. Some blatantly sold titles; others passed them out as a reward for serving the Party rather than the country.⁽²¹⁾ More than half -- 125 -- of the hereditary baronies existent today were created during this century, most between the end of World War II and 1964, after which the government apparently abandoned hereditary peerages almost altogether in favor of the life peerages which may be created under the 1958 Act.

A baronetcy is a dignity that passes down from generation to generation within a family, like a peerage. But a baronet is not a peer; he does not sit in the House of Lords or enjoy the privileges of peers.⁽²²⁾ In the Table of Precedence, a baronet is below barons and above knights.⁽²³⁾ A baronet's style would be, for example, Sir Adolphus Ware of Rufford, Bart. This is distinct from a peer, who would be styled "Adolphus, Lord Sale" (if a baron, viscount, earl, or marquess) or "His Grace, the Duke of Sale."⁽²⁴⁾ (It is similar to the style of a knight, but unlike a knighthood can be inherited. I need a source on the knighthood.) Baronets and knights are not lords and are never addressed as "my lord"; however, their wives are called "Lady" prefixed to their surnames only, and can be called "my lady."^(24a)

Territorial Titles

There is always a distinction between the name of the peerage and the surname. For almost all peerages above viscounts, they are different, but of course it's very easy to get them confused, especially since there are several exceptions:

Peerage type	uses "of"	surname	or territorial
Barons	never, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g., Baron Holland of Foxley	often, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g., Baron Trevor of Bromham	often (occasionally from another source, e.g., Baron Holland of Foxley)
Viscounts	never, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g., Viscount Leinster of Taplow	often, e.g., Viscount Courtenay	often, e.g., Viscount Melville
Earls	usually (but usually not with a family name)	occasionally (and usually not with "of"): Earl of Coventry Earl of Cowper Earl of Ashburnham Earl Grosvenor Earl Talbot Earl Bathurst Earl Fitzwilliam Earl Waldegrave Earl Stanhope Earl Poulett Earl Spencer	usually
Marquesses	all but: Marquess Camden (territorial) Marquess Douro (territorial) Marquess Wellesley Marquess Conyngham Marquess Townshend	none but: Marquess of Cholmondeley Marquess of Hastings Marquess Wellesley Marquess Conyngham Marquess Townshend	generally
Dukes	always	none but three in the peerage of Scotland: Duke of Hamilton (also Duke of Brandon in England); Duke of Lennox (also Duke of Richmond in England); Duke of Gordon	always (the three surnames to the left are also placenames)

On to Hereditary Peerages, including Royal Titles

If you dispute a fact from these pages, please contact me, and if you can, provide a contradicting source. These pages are a work in progress and I expect them to change in the future, although what I present today is as accurate as I can make it.

Laura A. Wallace
laura@chinet.com
15 December 1997

Peerage Basics
Hereditary Peerages, including Royal Titles
Life Peerages
Courtesy Titles
Rights and Privileges of Peers
Precedence
A Peeress "in her own right"
Dowager Peeresses
Entails, Marriage Settlements, and Dower
Almack's (coming soon!)
Biographical Details of Real Regency People (coming soon!)
Correct Forms of Address
The 1^st Duke of Marlborough
Links to other Sites
Bibliography
Notes