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Marquess is a rank of nobility in the peerages of the United Kingdom, ranking below a duke and above an earl. There are currently 35 marquessates.
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Marquess is a rank of nobility in the peerages of the United Kingdom, ranking below a duke and above an earl. There are currently 35 marquessates.
The first marquess in England was Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, who was created Marquess of Dublin by King Richard II of England on 1 December 1385. On 13 October 1386, the patent of this marquessate was recalled, and Robert de Vere was raised to Duke of Ireland. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, the second illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, was raised to the second marquessate as the Marquess of Dorset in September 1397.
In 1399, he was disgraced, and the king revoked his marquessate. The House of Commons of England later petitioned King Henry IV for his restoration, but the King objected, stating "the name of marquess is a strange name in this realm". From that period the title appears to have been dormant until it was revived by Henry VI in 1442. The only woman to be appointed as a marquess in her own right was Anne Boleyn, who was created Marchioness of Pembroke in preparation for her marriage to Henry VIII. The investiture ceremony was held at Windsor Castle on 1 September 1532.
The Marquess of Winchester (created in 1551) is the oldest surviving English or British marquessate, and as a result the holder of the title is considered the "Premier Marquess of England". Since marquessates in England created after 1707 became marquessates of Great Britain and, from 1801, of the United Kingdom, he is now the only English marquess with no higher rank. All other marquesses in the Peerage of England are also dukes and use their title of Marquess as a subsidiary title.
The first marquesses (Irish : marcas) in the Peerage of Ireland were Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645) and Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (1646), both titles created during the Irish Confederate Wars. (The above-mentioned Robert de Vere was created Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland, but both of these were titles in the Peerage of England, not Ireland.)
The Marquess of Waterford (created 1791) is the oldest surviving Irish marquessate, currently held by Henry Beresford, 9th Marquess of Waterford.
The title Marquess was always higher than that of an Earl. In the late 19th and the 20th century many Viceroys of India were created marquesses after their term of office. (It is indicative of the importance of the Indian Empire in British national life that retiring Viceroys were offered marquessates while retiring prime ministers were offered only earldoms). Some of the German relations of King George V were made marquesses in the Peerage of the United Kingdom after renouncing their German princely titles in 1917. Prince Louis of Battenberg, the princely head of the Battenberg family and the maternal grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, became the first Marquess of Milford Haven.
The last marquess created by the British crown was the Marquess of Willingdon in 1936. The creation of new hereditary titles is today confined almost exclusively to members of the royal family, but the creation of new marquessates appears to have ceased entirely. When new Royal Dukes are created (such as the Duke of Cambridge in 2011), the preferred next-highest subsidiary title appears to be that of an earldom. No explanation for this apparent policy of omitting marquessates has been forthcoming.
An English or British marquess is formally styled "The Most Honourable The Marquess of [X]" and less formally styled "Lord [X]', and his wife "Lady [X]". As with dukes, all sons of a marquess have the courtesy style of "the Lord Forename [Surname]" and all daughters have the courtesy style of "the Lady Forename [Surname]". The style for the eldest son, however, is often trumped by a subsidiary title of his father, such as earl or viscount, which is used instead. Especially for signing documents, the signature being only the name of the title, [X]). This form of signature is true for all peers, including peers by courtesy. For example, the Marquess of Salisbury would sign his name merely "Salisbury".
A marquess by courtesy, however (who would always be the heir to a dukedom, since the courtesy title of an heir must always be at least one rank below that of the peer), does not enjoy the style of "Most Honourable", but is merely Marquess of [X], without the definite article. The genuine marquess as a peer, however, is always "The Most Honourable The Marquess of [X]", to differentiate a marquess by courtesy (i.e., the heir to a dukedom) from a marquess in his own right.
The spelling of the title in a few older Scottish cases is "Marquis", particularly when the title was created prior to the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
A British marquess is entitled to a coronet bearing four strawberry leaves (three visible) and four silver balls (or pearls) around the rim (two visible). The actual coronet is worn mostly on certain ceremonial occasions, but a marquess can bear his coronet of rank on his coat of arms above the shield.
Peerages in the United Kingdom form a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various ranks, and within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom form a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system. The British monarch is considered the fount of honour and is notionally the only person who can grant peerages, though there are many conventions about how this power is used, especially at the request of the British government. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titled nobility, and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm.
A viscount or viscountess is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscountcy.
A courtesy title is a form of address and/or reference 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 in law hold the substantive title. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.
Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family. The Marquesses also held the title of Duke of Queensberry from 1684 to 1810, when it was inherited by the Duke of Buccleuch.
Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the British royal family.
Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edward, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage, and as such its holder is the premier peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas. The title, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named after members of the Hamilton family. The ducal family's surname, originally "Hamilton", is now "Douglas-Hamilton". Since 1711, the dukedom has been held together with the Dukedom of Brandon in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the dukes since that time have been styled Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, along with several other subsidiary titles.
Duke of Fife is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that has been created twice, in both cases for the Earl of Fife. In 1889, Lord Fife married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below.
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in the United Kingdom in total. English Peeresses obtained their first seats in the House of Lords under the Peerage Act 1963 from which date until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 all Peers of England could sit in the House of Lords.
The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 3 February 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was held along with the Marquessate of Queensberry until the death of the 4th Duke in 1810, when the Marquessate was inherited by Sir Charles Douglas of Kelhead, 5th Baronet, while the Dukedom was inherited by the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch. Since then the title of Duke of Queensberry has been held by the Dukes of Buccleuch.
Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. It is the oldest of six surviving English marquessates; therefore its holder is considered the premier marquess of England. It is also now the only marquessate in the Peerage of England not being subsidiary to a higher title. The current holder is Christopher Paulet, 19th Marquess of Winchester, whose son uses the courtesy title Earl of Wiltshire.
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself replaced by the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801.
The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898
The titles of Earl of Hertford and Marquess of Hertford have been created several times in the peerages of England and Great Britain.
Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, with the title Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull being a title in the Peerage of England. The earldom was created on 25 July 1628 for Robert Pierrepont, 1st Viscount Newark. The dukedom was created on 10 August 1715 for his great-grandson, Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, who had succeeded as the fifth Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1690. The dukedom became extinct on the death of the second Duke in 1773. Unlike the city to which they refer, Kingston upon Hull, which is usually shortened to Hull, these titles are usually shortened to Duke of Kingston.. They should not be confused with the separate Irish Earldom of Kingston.
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of November 2024, there are 801 hereditary peers: 30 dukes, 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 109 viscounts, and 439 barons.
In the British peerage, a royal duke is a member of the British royal family, entitled to the titular dignity of prince and the style of His Royal Highness, who holds a dukedom. Dukedoms are the highest titles in the British roll of peerage, and the holders of these particular dukedoms are princes of the blood royal. The holders of the dukedoms are royal, not the titles themselves. They are titles created and bestowed on legitimate sons and male-line grandsons of the British monarch, usually upon reaching their majority or marriage. The titles can be inherited but cease to be called "royal" once they pass beyond the grandsons of a monarch. As with any peerage, once the title becomes extinct, it may subsequently be recreated by the reigning monarch at any time.
Duke, in the United Kingdom, is the highest-ranking hereditary title in all five peerages of the British Isles. A duke thus outranks all other holders of titles of nobility.
