M'Lord (or Lady)

I promised a dive into the British peerage system for this post, and we'll get to it in just a bit. 

Before that, I ran across a bit of a surprise as I began looking into some of the documents about my closer family members while taking advantage of a trial membership on Ancestry.com. In one of the censuses, I found out that in 1930, my dad's family lived in Hoboken, NJ. Hoboken, y'all. I can remember when it used to be popular to make jokes about the city. 

Hoboken, by the way, is where Frank Sinatra was born, six years before my father, so he would have been in high school -- if he went to high school; I don't know his history -- while my father was in elementary school. 

Dad and family wound up in the Bronx, and I remember in my early years how people would comment on his accent. I can remember him saying "deese" and "dose" (pronounced "doze") and "dat." After spending about half or more of his life in Texas, though, the accent had softened but still confused people who didn't know where he grew up. That Texas/Bronx accent was special.

Back to the peerage. As I've mentioned, my maternal grandmother's great-grandma is the richest source for stories that connect to history I can use for these posts. Depending on which branch you follow, you will run into a number of individuals with peerage titles, the most common of which are earl and baron. 

The peerage system as we know it has it's beginning in the Norman conquest of England by William I, known as "the conqueror." William split up the kingdom and appointed barons over the various areas. These barons convened from time to time at the request of the king to provide advice. This group evolved into the peerage, which has five titles, or ranks, and eventually the House of Lords. 

These were initially solely hereditary, with the title usually passing to the first-born son. Modern times saw the creation of lifetime peerages, which do not survive the title holder's death.

I will refer to the titles as ranks, but this refers more to preferred position or importance than to the kind of authority given military ranks. In turn the older the title, the more preferred the position. 

The first rank is duke, and the first dukedom was Cornwall, held today by Prince Charles. A duke is addressed as "Your Grace." His wife is a duchess, also addressed as "Your Grace," and their children are customarily called Lord or Lady, though the eldest may be referred to by the title Marquess or Earl but still addressed as Lord or Lady. Dukedoms seem to have historically been reserved for children of the royal, but some dukes were granted the title without being part of the immediate royal famil. 

The second rank is Marquess, from a French word for "march," which basically means border. His wife is a marchioness, and they and their children are addressed as Lord or Lady. The eldest son may use one of the subsidiary titles

Next we have earls. The term relates back to the Germanic and Norse title "jarl," given to warrior leaders. The earls wife is a countess, and you address her as Lady. Their sons are addressed as the Honourable (using the English spelling), and their daughters are addressed as Lady. The eldest son may use the title viscount and be addressed as Lord. 

Following the earls are the viscounts, from a Latin term that can be translated as vice-count. His wife is a viscountess, and they are addressed as Lord and Lady. Their children are addressed as the honourable,

Finally we have barons. The wife is a baroness, but neither are generally referred to by title, being simply Lord and Lady. Their children are addressed as the honourable. 

You may have noticed that Lord and Lady are used for almost all the titles, which generally gives you no clue as to their standing. Rest assured they all know where they stand, and if you don't, at least you're pretty safe using Lord or Lady. Just look out for the dukes and duchesses.

James I created the title baronet and sold baronetcies to raise cash for a war against Ireland. Subsequent monarchs found this concept useful and continued to sell the title, but baronets are not part of the peerage. They do, however, rank above knights (or sirs) and dames, who are granted their position by the monarch. 

Monarchs created all the titles. Some of the more important ones used to be accompanied by an elaborate investiture ceremony, but eventually, many hundreds of years ago, monarchs settled for issuing letters patent, a public document issued by the monarch declaring the appointment. All new hereditary peerages are only granted by the monarch to members of the royal family -- often upon marriage, which you may remember from your binges on the recent royal marriage. 

What good are these peerages? Well they make the holder eligible to serve in the House of Lords, where they review and comment on the actions of the House of Commons. They cannot, however, directly undo the actions of the lower house. Today, members of the peerage are not automatically members of the House of Lords and are generally appointed. All the life peers are appointed. 

Beyond that, and I don't cite anything other than my subjective opinion here, the prime benefit seems to be snob value. Peers don't seem to necessarily have more lands or money than other rich people. They are important because a monarch conveyed a title on one of their ancestors. This can look good on a corporate letterhead or gain admission to a high society fete, but I see little other value. 

If you want a deeper dive into the peerage with a bit more respectful take, check out https://debretts.com/peerage/ranks-and-privileges-of-the-peerage/

Next time we'll look at a revolutionary who lost her life because of her stand.