The Dickinson press., 1889-03-16
ENGLISH NOBILITY.
SHADES IN THE RANKS OF THE
PEERAGE OF GREAT BRITAIN.

How Titles Are Conferred and What They
Sisnify-Lords and uonorablcs by Cour-
tesy--What tho Wives and Daughters
Are Callcd-Some of the Notables.
In no country in the world is so great a
social and political influence welded by SO
small n number of persons as tho British
peers. In this peerage are five grades
dukes, marquiSes, earls, viscounts and barons.
The highest title, that of duke, is held by six
royal princes and by twenty-one others 1t
is derived from the Latin dux, a leader and
is found on the continent of Europe es we'll
as i'll England. The Oldest dukedom is that
of Norfolk, which was created in 1883 As
duke has passed through the lower grades
OF the pecrage he holds all tn, lower
titles rs we'll The eldest son of duke is
called by the second title of his father, and
Is thus usually Il marquis, but this is only a
courtesy" and not a real title, as the cour-
teSy title confers no substantive rank on its
possessor. To take examples: The head of
the Cavendish family is the Duke Of Devon
shire and sits under this title in the house of
lords. His eldest son is Mr.. Caven6isl, com
monty called by courtesy by his fathers sec
ond title, the Marquis of Harrington, but he
is i'll the eye of tho law only private gen
tielnan and accordingly sits in tho house of
commons, which he could not do if he were
actually peer. Tho other SONS of the duke
are called by the family nalne as Lord
Arthur Cavendish, while the daughters are
called the Lady Mary Cavendish, the Lady
Gwendolen Cavendish, and so on. The fam
lily name of the Duke of Marlborough is
Spencer Churchill and tho eldest son is tho
courtesy Marquis of Blandford, while u
younger son is Lord Randolph Churchill,
who is also member of tho lower house,
HISTORY OF SOME TITLES.
The coronet of the duke, which on great
occasions is carried Oh II cushion i'll front of
him, is surrounded by strawberry leaves,
and hence Il man who is hanl;crng after Il
duncdo" is said 10 be wanting the straw
berry leaves" The next titc, that of mar
quis, or marques, is derived from the word
marches" and meant a noble whose duty it
was to protect with his retainers the marches
or frontiers of England and Wales, or Eng
land and Scotland, from enemies. The cld-
est son of n marquis takes his fathers second
title by courtesy, while the younger SONS are
called Lord Henry -, or Lord John -.
The daughters are called Lady Caroline -,
etc. Tho title is held by fewer persons than
nineteen ma.quiscs The Oldest marquisate
is that of Winchester, created in l55l
The title earl is derived from the old Saxon
word 'corl," meaning elder, u root which,
survives also in alderman Tho eldest son of
an earl takes by courtesy his fathers second
title, while the younger sons nre called the
Hon. Edgar -, etc All the daughters are
called Lady Anne, Lady Augusta, etc There
are IA carls of tho United Kingdom, the old
est creation being tho carldom of Derby,
which bears dato 1855. Tho eldest son Of
Earl Nelson is called from his ancestors ia
nous victory Viscount Trafalgar. The Latin
equivalent of earl is "comes," companion
or count, but though there are no counts in
England an carls wifo is called IL countess
Tho heirs to the earldoms of Albcmarle and
Amherst are already peers in thier own
right under thotitles of Viscount Bury and
and Niscount IIolmesdue. On succeeding
to the earldoms the lower title will merge in
the higher, but will still be borne by the
eldest son. Several carls' SONS arc members
of Parliament, but on succeeding to tho peer
age they will have to leave the lower house
and ascend to tho dull respectability of that
of the lords The viscount is tho vicecomcs.
or ono in tho place of count or earl His
Ii.
James -, "the Hon. Kathleen - etc.
between tho viscounts and the barons como
the bishops, who sit in the house of lords as
Spiritual peers, all the others being temporal
peers, except the two archbishops of Canter-
bury and York, who rank at the head of tho
dukes There are twenty-four spiritual peers,
but alas for human vanity tho wife of a
bishop has no precedence at all; her husband
bn | Riclo
but she IL plain Mrs =" and her SONS
and daughters arc not honorables.
EMINENT NAMES TO BE FOUND.
The lowest title in the peerage is baron, a
title Of Saxon origin. OF barons there are
200, the wives of whom are ladies and the
SONS and daughters honorables. Among the
viscounts, of whom there arc twenty-six, the
oldest creation is the viscounty of Hereford,
dated l55o BY far the Oldest existing titles
in England are tho Baron De Ross and tho
Baroness LIE DE Spencer, which both bear tho
date l2G4. But some of those now bearing
higher titles in the peerase Lave had older
patents which have become merged in newer
earldoms, marquisatcs, dukcdoms, C. g.: the
earldom of Arundel, now merged in tho
dui:edom OF Norfolk, bears the duto ll3O.
Among the barons are to he found several
names of eminent lawyers. Baron ST. Leon
ards, whose family name is Sugdcn Baron
Westbury, family name Bethcll aud Baron
Thurlow, descendant of Lord Chancellor
Thurlow. The lord chancellor is always
created a baron, and sometimes an earl
Such peers arc called Claw lords, and hear
the cases which como before the house of
lords Us the final appellate court. The holders
Of the more ancient dignities sometimes nf-
feet certain contempt for these newer cre-
atoms, for among British peers hereditary
titles are esteemed mare honorable than
earned ones.
All the peers are called indiffrrently lords,
and their wives ladies. Earl Cairns would
usually be spoken of as Lord Cairns, aud tho
countess as Lady Cairns. There are seven
peeresses in their own right, one of whom
holds very ancient title, the Baroness Le
De Spencer whose patent is dated .1l. Miss
BurdcttCoutts. whose munifccnt charity is
50 we'll known, was mule Il baroness in ISL !,
but she has no heir to whom the tito can de-
scend. Lord Henry CavendI.i!- Be,ii!cl, is
the heir to two peerages, the Laro:iy' Of Bo-
lower, now held by Mary Cavcnd.slBcn-
timex, peeres, in her own right, ;.i!,, tho
duKedoM Of Portland
Besides these peers Of tho United Kingdom
there are sixteen Scottish representative
peers and twenty-ei2ht Irish Representative
peers, and Scotland and Ireland have pee
ages of their own, many barons of the emit
Kingdom being Scotch or Irish viscounts
cGrls. The Scotch Duke of Buccleuch-pr,.-
Eounccd Buccloo-sits in the house of lord
as Earl Doncaster and votes under thar
name. The Scotch Earl Of Abcrcorn is Il
marquis Of the United Kingdom AID an irl:l.
duke, but sits in the house of lords as the
English Marquis of Abercorn.-Cor San
Francisco Chronicle.
a string Of gold beads coiled and knottcd
on the top, with largo diamond placed i'll
the center Of the knot. is one Of tho newest
brooches.
TIM ooop Pucciop col1ar vo;r.a,1 l;,.o , ,.oc&