Burke's Landed Gentry (originally titledBurke's Commoners) is a reference work listing families in Great Britain and Ireland who have owned rural estates of some size. The work has been in existence from the first half of the 19th century, and was founded by John Burke. He and successors from the Burke family, and others since, have written in it on genealogy and heraldry relating to gentry families.[1]
It has evolved alongside Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. The two works are regarded as complementing each other. Since the early 20th century, the work includes families that historically possessed landed property.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the names and families of those with titles (specifically peers and baronets, less often including those with the non-hereditary title of knight) were often listed in books or manuals known as "Peerages", "Baronetages", or combinations of these categories, such as the "Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage". As well as listing genealogical information, these books often also included details of the right of a given family to a coat of arms.[citation needed] They were comparable to the Almanach de Gotha in continental Europe.[2]
In the 1830s, John Burke, the author of Burke's Peerage, expanded his market and his readership by publishing a similar volume for people without titles. The title of the first edition in 1833 expressed its scope clearly: A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank, but uninvested with Heritable Honours. It looked at both the family history and the arms of selected families who owned land or occupied important posts in the United Kingdom, but did not hold inherited titles.
At the time the series started, the group it covered had considerable political, social and economic influence in their localities and in some cases nationally. During the 20th century, the power of rural landowners and the public's interest in buying books about them largely disappeared. Few of the families in the books still own country estates, a rare example being the Fulfords of Great Fulford near Dunsford in Devon who were mentioned in the 2012 TV series "Country House Rescue" and were described in Burke's Landed Gentry as having lived there since the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199).[3]
Until 1914, possession of landed property was a strict requirement. If a family sold or lost its estates, it was no longer included in Burke's Landed Gentry. Illustrating this point, at least half of the families included in 1861 were omitted from the 1914 edition. Following the alienation of families from their land after World War I, the editors considered that such a strict policy was no longer productive, and in recognition of historical and genealogical value many pedigrees appeared titled (family name) 'formerly of' or 'late of' (place).[4]
Landed Gentry used to limit itself to owners of domains that could properly be called "stately" (i.e. more than 500 acres or 200 hectares). Now it has lowered the property qualification to 200 acres (0.81km2) for all British families whose pedigrees have been "notable" for three generations. Even so, almost half of the 5,000 families listed in the new volume are in there because their forefathers were: they themselves have no land left. Their estates are mere street addresses, like that of the Molineux-Montgomeries, formerly of Garboldisham Old Hall, now of No. 14 Malton Avenue, Haworth.[5]
Uses
Owing to the characteristic prose style developed by John Burke, the publication's founder, the material included in Burke's Landed Gentry, often based on work by many earlier authorities, was made more readable than had previously been the case, a style maintained by his successors.[6] This prose style, when subsequently employed by John Burke's son, Ulster King of Arms Sir Bernard Burke, took a turn towards flowery wording in keeping with the literary tastes of the Victorian period in which he wrote.[1]
Families were arranged in alphabetical order by surname, and each family article was headed with the surname and the name of their landed property, e.g. "Capron of Southwick Hall". There was then a paragraph on the owner of the property, with his coat of arms illustrated, and all his children and remoter male-line descendants also listed, each with full names and details of birth, marriage, death, and any matters tending to enhance their social prestige, such as school and university education, military rank and regiment, Church of England cures held, and other honours and socially approved involvements. Cross references were included to other families in Burke's Landed Gentry or in Burke's Peerage and Baronetage: thus encouraging browsing through connections. Professional details were not usually mentioned unless they conferred some social status, such as those of civil service and colonial officials, judges and barristers. After the section dealing with the current owner of the property, there usually appeared a section entitled Lineage which listed, not only ancestors of the owner, but (so far as known) every male-line descendant of those ancestors.
The widespread inclusion of family legends which, due to the large number of families included in each edition, the Burke family were unable to comprehensively check, resulted in some criticism of the accuracy of information contained in the volumes. Accordingly, more recent editions are more scrupulously checked and rewritten for accuracy. Advertisements for the 1894 edition stated: "Apocryphal statements, which had crept into former editions, have been expunged, erroneous particulars and incorrect descents discovered and omitted..."[7]
This dedication to accuracy reached its peak under the chief editorship, from 1949 to 1959, of L. G. Pine – who was very sceptical regarding many families' claims to antiquity: 'If everybody who claims to have come over with the Conqueror were right, William must have landed with 200,000 men-at-arms instead of about 12,000',[8] – and Hugh Massingberd (1971–83).[4]
A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank, but uninvested with Heritable Honours
14th edition, re-issue of 1921 edition, with Supplement
A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, ed. Alfred T. Butler
1937
15th "Centenary" edition
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H.
1
1939
16th edition
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry including American Families with British Ancestry, ed. L. G. Pine et al.
1952
17th edition, 1954 Supplement, also ed. L. G. Pine
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, ed. L. G. Pine
1965–1972
18th edition
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Vol. 1 & 2 1965–9, ed. Peter Townend; Vol. 3 1972 (with Index to all three Volumes) ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd
3
2001–2006
19th edition
Burke's Landed Gentry: (Vol 1: The Kingdom of Scotland, 2001 ed. Peter Beauclerk Dewar; Vol. 2: The Ridings of York, 2005 ed. Charles Mosley; Vol 3 & 4: The Principality of Wales and the North West, 2006 ed. Charles Mosley)
4
Irish supplement
The early editions of Burke's Landed Gentry were "of Great Britain and Ireland". After 1899, to allow the authors to cover the topics in more depth, there was a Great Britain edition and an Ireland edition. The Ireland edition is important for genealogists, because it includes not only the Old English (12th century onward arrivals) and the New English families (16th century onward arrivals), but also some of the leading elements of the Gaelic Irish families who previously ruled vast swathes of Ireland and maintained some influence, including the O'Briens, the O'Conors, the MacCarthys, the Kavanaghs, and more.
↑ A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Colonial Gentry, Sir Bernard Burke, ed. Ashworth P. Burke, Harrison & Sons, London, 1895, p. 878 (end matter p. 2)
↑ Time magazine, 'Twentieth Century Squires', 10 December 1951
Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. His first publication, a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom, was updated sporadically until 1847, when the company began publishing new editions every year as Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage.
The landed gentry, or the gentry, is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is the British element of the wider European class of gentry. While part of the British aristocracy, and usually armigers, the gentry ranked below the British peerage in social status. Nevertheless, their economic base in land was often similar, and some of the landed gentry were wealthier than some peers. Many gentry were close relatives of peers, and it was not uncommon for gentry to marry into peerage. With or without noble title, owning rural land estates often brought with it the legal rights of the feudal lordship of the manor, and the less formal name or title of squire, in Scotland laird.
Sir John Bernard Burke, was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms, who helped publish Burke's Peerage.
Clan Hay is a Scottish clan of the Grampian region of Scotland that has played an important part in the history and politics of the country. Members of the clan are to be found in most parts of Scotland and in many other parts of the world. However, the North East of Scotland, i.e. Aberdeenshire (historic), Banffshire, Morayshire and Nairnshire Nairn (boundaries), is the heart of Hay country with other significant concentrations of Hays being found in Perthshire, especially around Perth, in the Scottish Borders, and in Shetland.
Sir Robert Way Harty, 1st Baronet was a British politician and Whig Member of Parliament representing Dublin City for a few months in 1831.
Denis Daly of Carrownakelly and Dunsandle Castle, Loughrea, County Galway, was an Irish landowner and politician.
The High Sheriff of Tipperary was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Tipperary. Initially an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judicial importance, he had ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs.
Sir William Leece Drinkwater was a First Deemster of the Isle of Man.
John Burke was an Irish genealogist, and the original publisher of Burke's Peerage. He was the father of Sir Bernard Burke, a British officer of arms and genealogist.
Hugh John Massingberd, originally Hugh John Montgomery and known from 1963 to 1992 as Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, was an English journalist and genealogist. He was chief editor of Burke's Peerage/Burke's Landed Gentry from 1971 to 1983.
Carter-Campbell of Possil is a branch of Clan Campbell, a Scottish clan. The Campbells of Possil were originally located in Argyll; and the Carters were an Irish family: the Carter-Campbell name was first used in 1864, following marriage.
There have been two baronetcies- both extinct- granted to the Willises of Fen Ditton, both in the Baronetage of England.
Buckland in the parish of Braunton, North Devon, England, is an ancient historic estate purchased in 1319 by Godfrey II de Incledene of Incledon, the adjoining estate about 1/2 mile to the north-west, whose family, is first recorded in 1160. It is situated half a mile north-west of St Brannock's Church in Braunton. Buckland House, a grade II* listed mansion remodelled in the 18th century, is still occupied in 2014 by descendants of the Incledon-Webber family, formerly prominent in the political and commercial life of nearby Barnstaple and North Devon. The owner of the estate in 1937, William Beare Incledon-Webber was also lord of the manor of nearby Croyde and Putsborough.
Ingram Ord Capper was a British sports shooter. He competed in the 100 m running deer event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Joshua Dawson (1660–1725) was an Anglo-Irish public servant, land developer and politician of the Kingdom of Ireland.
John Goddard Richards was an Irish barrister, justice of the peace, and High Sheriff of Wexford for 1824. He was the eldest son and heir of the leading surgeon Solomon Richards and his wife Elizabeth Groome, daughter of the Reverend Edward Groome. He owned land on the Roebuck Estate in County Dublin and the Ardamine Estate in County Wexford.
Thomas William Goff was an Irish Conservative politician.
The Bundfamily of Wick Episcopi owned estates in Worcestershire since the fifteenth century; from this armigerous landed gentry family came several individuals of note in the fields of law, local government and literature.
Armorial of the speakers of the House of Commons is displayed at the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster. Speakers customarily take a grant of arms while in office, if they are not armigerous already. Their shields of arms are painted on the interior walls of Speaker's House, and after their elevation to the peerage they are displayed on the windows along the peers' staircase in the House of Lords.
Lt.-Gen. Frederick Hamilton PC JP was a Scottish born Irish general and politician who served in the Parliament of Ireland.
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