The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles,composed of various noble ranks,and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of nobles,and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm. The peerage's fundamental roles are ones of government,peers being eligible to a seat in the House of Lords,and of meritocracy,the receiving of any peerage being the highest of British honours. In the UK,five peerages or peerage divisions co-exist,namely:
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour,often hereditary,in various European countries,either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically,the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight,but lower than a viscount or count. Often,barons hold their fief –their lands and income –directly from the monarch. Barons are less often the vassals of other nobles. In many kingdoms,they were entitled to wear a smaller form of a crown called a coronet.
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children,former wives and other close relatives of a peer,as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not themselves hold substantive titles. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.
The Peerage Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits women peeresses and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
Douglas Martin Hogg,3rd Viscount Hailsham,Baron Hailsham of Kettlethorpe,is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food from 1995 to 1997,and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2010.
A Lord of Parliament was the holder of the lowest form of peerage,entitled as of right to take part in sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Since that Union in 1707,it has been the lowest rank of the Peerage of Scotland,ranking below a viscount. A Lord of Parliament is said to hold a Lordship of Parliament.
Lord Elphinstone is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created by King James IV in 1510.
Lord Reay,of Reay in the County of Caithness,is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Lord Reay is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay,whose lands in Strathnaver and northwest Sutherland were known as the Reay Country. The land was sold to the Earls of Sutherland in the 18th century. Lord Reay also refers to a legendary magician in Caithness folklore.
Francis David Ormsby-Gore,6th Baron Harlech,was a peer in the United Kingdom.
Malcolm Newton Shepherd,2nd Baron Shepherd,Baron Shepherd of Spalding,was a British Labour politician and peer who served as Leader of the House of Lords under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan and member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Ivon Anthony Moore-Brabazon,3rd Baron Brabazon of Tara,,is a British Conservative politician.
Clan Mackay is an ancient and once-powerful Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands,but with roots in the old Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. In the centuries that followed they were anti-Jacobite. The territory of the Clan Mackay consisted of the parishes of Farr,Tongue,Durness and Eddrachillis,and was known as Strathnaver,in the north-west of the county of Sutherland. However,it was not until 1829 that Strathnaver was considered part of Sutherland when the chief sold his lands to the Earls of Sutherland and the Highland Clearances then had dire consequences for the clan. In the 17th century the Mackay chief's territory had extended to the east to include the parish of Reay in the west of the neighbouring county of Caithness. The chief of the clan is Lord Reay and the lands of Strathnaver later became known as the Reay Country.
Malcolm Ian Sinclair,20th Earl of Caithness,,is a Scottish Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords as one of the remaining hereditary peers. He is also 20th Lord Berriedale,15th Baronet,of Canisbay,Co. Caithness,and chief of Clan Sinclair. He is the Chief Executive of the Clan Sinclair Trust.
Rodney Elton,2nd Baron Elton,is a British Conservative politician and former member of the House of Lords.
Donald James Mackay,11th Lord Reay,,in the Netherlands known as Donald Jacob,Baron Mackay,Lord of Ophemert and Zennewijnen,was a Dutch-born British administrator and Liberal politician.
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the (landed) gentry. The nobility of its four constituent home nations has played a major role in shaping the history of the country,although now they retain only the rights to stand for election to the House of Lords,dining rights there,position in the formal order of precedence,the right to certain titles,and the right to an audience with the monarch. More than a third of British land is in the hands of aristocrats and traditional landed gentry.
Donald Mackay,1st Lord Reay,14th of Strathnaver was a Scottish soldier and member of Parliament. He played a prominent role in the Thirty Years' War,raising a regiment of 3,000 men,which served in both the Danish and Swedish forces. He was later an unwilling Covenanter. He was the fourteenth chief of Clan Mackay,a Highland Scottish clan.
Julian Pascoe Francis St Leger Grenfell,3rd Baron Grenfell,Baron Grenfell of Kilvey,is a Labour hereditary peer,life peer,and former member of the House of Lords known for his strong Europhile views.
Geoffrey Robert James Borwick,5th Baron Borwick is a British businessman,hereditary peer and member of the House of Lords.
Aeneas Simon Mackay,15th Lord Reay,Baron Mackay,a Scottish lord and Dutch nobleman,is a British corporate financier who is also hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay. In the Netherlands he is Lord of Ophemert and Zennewijnen,with castle Ophemert.
