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 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.
The barony of Camoys was created twice. From 26 November 1313 to 1 April 1335 Ralph de Camoys (d.1336) was summoned to Parliament by writ,and is thereby held to have become Baron Camoys of the first creation. Ralph de Camoys (d.1336) married firstly,Margaret de Brewes,daughter of William de Brewes,1st Lord Brewes (d.1291),and secondly,Elizabeth le Despenser,daughter of Hugh le Despenser,1st Earl of Winchester.
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.
Frederick William Augustus Hervey,8th Marquess of Bristol,is a British peer.
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.
Anthony Fitzhardinge Gueterbock,18th Baron Berkeley,Baron Gueterbock,,otherwise known as Tony Berkeley,is a British aristocrat and Labour parliamentarian.
Ralph Thomas Campion George Sherman Stonor,7th Baron Camoys,was a British peer and banker who served as Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom from 1998 to 2000,and the first Catholic Lord Chamberlain since the Reformation.
Hugh William Mackay,14th Lord Reay,Baron Mackay,was a British politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords. He was the only male Lord of Parliament to sit in the House of Lords following the abolition of the automatic right of all British hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords in 1999,the only female being The Lady Saltoun.
Alastair John Lyndhurst Bruce,5th Baron Aberdare,,is a British nobleman,and since 2009 a crossbench hereditary Lord Temporal.
William James Robert Peel,3rd Earl Peel,,styled Viscount Clanfield until 1969,is a British hereditary peer who was a Conservative peer from 15 May 1973 until October 2006 when,on his appointment as Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household,he became a crossbench (non-partisan) member of the House of Lords.
Valerian Bernard Freyberg,3rd Baron Freyberg is a British hereditary peer,who sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.
Kenneth Peter Lyle Mackay,4th Earl of Inchcape,known as Peter Inchcape,is a British peer,landowner,and business man. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1994 to 1999.
Ralph Francis Julian Stonor,5th Baron Camoys was an English Aristocrat and Lord of Stonor Park who married an American heiress.
Francis Robert Stonor,4th Baron Camoys was a British aristocrat who served as Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria.
John David James Dalrymple,14th Earl of Stair is a British politician who,since 2008,has been a crossbench member of the House of Lords.
Rupert Bertram Mitford,6th Baron Redesdale,Baron Mitford,is a British hereditary peer,Liberal Democrat politician and member of the prominent Mitford family.
By-elections to the House of Lords occur when vacancies arise among seats assigned to hereditary peers due to death,resignation,or disqualification. Candidates for these by-elections are limited to holders of hereditary peerages,and their electorates are made up of sitting Lords;in most cases the electorate are those sitting hereditary peers of the same party affiliation as the departed peer.
Jeffrey Richard de Corban Evans,4th Baron Mountevans,,is a British hereditary peer and shipbroker,who served as Lord Mayor of London from 2015 to 2016.
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.
