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Peerages in the United Kingdom |
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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 ranks of the Peerage of Great Britain are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, all peers of Great Britain could sit in the House of Lords.
Some peerages of Great Britain were created for peers in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Ireland as they did not have an automatic seat in the House of Lords until the Peerage Act 1963 which gave Scottish Peers an automatic right to sit in the Lords.
In the following table of peers of Great Britain, holders of higher or equal titles in the other peerages are listed. Those peers who are known by a higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in italics.
The ranks of the peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. [1]
Marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons are all addressed as 'Lord X', where 'X' represents either their territory or surname pertaining to their title. Marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses and baronesses are all addressed as 'Lady X'. Dukes and duchesses are addressed just as 'Duke' or 'Duchess' or, in a non-social context, 'Your Grace'.
The last non-royal dukedom of Great Britain was created in 1766, and the last marquessate of Great Britain was created in 1796. Creation of the remaining ranks ceased when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed; subsequent creations of peers were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The last 8 (6 non-royal and two royal) people who were created hereditary peers (from 1798 to 1800) were:
Grantee | Date of creation | Title(s) | Noted for |
---|---|---|---|
Sir Horatio Nelson | 6 October 1798 (extinct) | Baron Nelson | Military peerage–Navy |
Prince Edward | 23 April 1799 (extinct) | Duke of Kent and Strathearn Earl of Dublin | Fourth son of King George III |
Prince Ernest Augustus | 23 April 1799 (suspended) | Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale Earl of Armagh | Fifth son of King George III |
Sir John Scott | 18 July 1799 | Baron Eldon | He was the incumbent Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. |
John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare | 31 August 1799 (extinct) | Baron FitzGibbon | He was the incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Ireland. Also he had an imperial peerage in the House of Lords as Irish Peers were not allowed to sit in the Lords. |
Alexander Hood, 1st Baron Bridport | 16 June 1800 | Viscount Bridport | Military peerage–Navy |
Charles Cadogan, 3rd Baron Cadogan | 27 December 1800 | Earl Cadogan Viscount Chelsea | |
James Harris, 1st Baron Malmesbury | 29 December 1800 | Earl of Malmesbury Viscount FitzHarris |
Shield | Title | Creation | Grantee | Reason | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 1711 | James Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton [note 1] | His descendants sat in the House of Lords until 1963. [note 2] | Queen Anne | |
| 28 April 1719 | Charles Montagu, Earl of Manchester | King George I | ||
| 22 October 1766 | Hugh Percy, Earl of Northumberland | Former Viceroy of Ireland. | King George III | |
| 24 April 1799 | Prince Ernest Augustus | Currently suspended | ||
Shield | Title | Creation | Grantee | Reason | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 December 1784 | William Petty, Earl of Shelburne | Former Prime Minister. | King George III | |
| Marquess of Stafford | 1 March 1786 | Duke of Sutherland in the Peerage of the United Kingdom . | ||
| 31 October 1787 | George Townshend, Viscount Townshend | Military peerage–Army. | ||
| Marquess of Salisbury | 18 August 1789 | James Cecil, Earl of Salisbury | Incumbent Lord Chamberlain of the Household. | |
| Marquess of Bath | 24 August 1789 | Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth | Incumbent Groom of the Stool. | |
| Marquess of Abercorn | 15 October 1790 | Duke of Abercorn in the Peerage of Ireland . | ||
| 5 July 1793 | Francis Seymour-Conway, Earl of Hertford | Former Lord Chamberlain of the Household. | ||
| 21 March 1796 | John Stuart, Earl of Bute | |||
Shield | Title | Creation | Grantee | Reason | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 July 1712 | The Rt Hon. Henry St John, MP | Incumbent cabinet minister. [note 2] | Queen Anne | |
| 2 July 1716 | Held by the Viscount Bolingbroke in the Peerage of Great Britain since 1751 . [note 2] | King George I | ||
| 2 July 1717 | Held by the Earl of Harrington in the Peerage of Great Britain since 1967 . [note 2] | |||
| 23 May 1718 | Richard Temple, Baron Cobham | Military peerage–Army. [note 2] | ||
| 9 June 1720 | Hugh Boscawen, Esq, MP | Former Member of Parliament for the Whig Party. | ||
| 11 June 1720 | Earl of Portsmouth in the Peerage of Great Britain. | |||
| 21 September 1721 | The Rt Hon. Sir George Byng, Bt., MP | Military peerage–Navy. | ||
| Viscount Leinster | 21 February 1747 | Duke of Leinster in the Peerage of Ireland . | King George II | |
| 29 June 1747 | Earl of Radnor in the Peerage of Great Britain. | |||
| 3 April 1761 | Earl Spencer in the Peerage of Great Britain. | King George III | ||
| Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort | 5 March 1781 | Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in the Peerage of Great Britain. | ||
| Viscount Hamilton | 8 August 1786 | Duke of Abercorn in the Peerage of Ireland . | ||
| Viscount Hood | 1 June 1796 | Samuel Hood, Baron Hood, MP | Military peerage–Navy. | |
| 26 October 1796 | Earl of Lonsdale in the Peerage of the United Kingdom . [note 2] | |||
Shield | Title | Creation | Extinct | Grantee | Reason | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baron King | 29 May 1725 | 31 January 2018 | Sir Peter King | Incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. | King George I |
| Baron Lovel and Holland | 7 May 1762 | 6 November 2011 | John Perceval, Earl of Egmont, MP | His descendants sat in the House of Lords until 1999. | King George III |
Title | Monarch |
---|---|
Barons | |
Baron Brownlow | King George III |
Baron Hawke | King George III |
Currently none
Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, in the County of Aberdeen, in the County of Meath and in the County of Argyll, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 4 January 1916 for John Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen.
A marquess is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife of a marquess is a marchioness or marquise. These titles are also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in Imperial China and Imperial Japan.
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.
The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisions of Peerages in the United Kingdom. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. As of 2016, there were 135 titles in the Peerage of Ireland extant: two dukedoms, ten marquessates, 43 earldoms, 28 viscountcies, and 52 baronies. However, these titles have no official recognition in Ireland, with Article 40.2 of the Constitution of Ireland forbidding the state conferring titles of nobility and stating that an Irish citizen may not accept titles of nobility or honour except with the prior approval of the Irish government.
The Peerage Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits female hereditary peers and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
Duke of Atholl, named after Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of his father, the 1st Marquess.
The Peerage of Scotland is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England were combined under the name of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent titles were created.
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.
Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English marquessate of Winchester is older. The Marquess holds the following subsidiary titles: Lord Gordon of Strathaven and Glenlivet and Earl of Aboyne, and Baron Meldrum, of Morven in the County of Aberdeen.
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 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.
The history of the British peerage, a system of nobility found in the United Kingdom, stretches over the last thousand years. The current form of the British peerage has been a process of development. While the ranks of baron and earl predate the British peerage itself, the ranks of duke and marquess were introduced to England in the 14th century. The rank of viscount came later, in the mid-15th century. Peers were summoned to Parliament, forming the House of Lords.
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh awarded for life to Prince Edward in 2023, all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 with the rank of baron and entitle their holders to sit and vote in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable", although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Prior to 2009, life peers of baronial rank could also be so created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges.
Earl of Clanricarde is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, first in 1543 and again in 1800. The former creation became extinct in 1916 while the 1800 creation is extant and held by the Marquess of Sligo since 1916.
A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, is a type of writ of summons that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with more than one peerage to attend the British or Irish House of Lords, using one of his father's subsidiary titles, during his father's lifetime. This procedure could be used to bring younger men into the Lords and increase the number of capable members in a house that drew on a very small pool of talent.
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 the hereditary peerage now 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.
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
The order of precedence in Ireland was fixed by Royal Warrant on 2 January 1897 during Ireland's ties to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.