The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-10-06


iienry n. IN 1865 (thc oldest English
sta sf.an ttss a e snyssa ot ss
hereditary Earl Marshall Of England.
The next IN rank is tho Duke OF
Somerset, his peernge having been ere.
ated In 1547 BY Edward VI. The old
est trnrduess is that OF Winchester, cree
,ated IN 1861, while the Oldest earldom
s(excluding those merged In higher
ny Henry VI. In 1442a The Oldest Wis
county II that OF Hereford. created In
1851, and. Lastly tho premier barony,
that DE Ros created In 1864. There
are yet ex tant fo,ir other bnronieH cre-
5hted III the same year. as well Hs sew
eral created In the thirteenth md
fourteenth centuries. All OF this class
have seats.
The peers or Great Britain consist
OF all the hereditary nobility created
after the union OF the two kingdoms
OF Englnnd and Scotland In 1907. while
those OF the United Kingdom consist
OF ali the hereditary nobility created
after the union OF the Kingdom OF
Great Britain With that OF Ireland tn
1901 down to the present day and form
by far the largest class of all, and
each one OF both these classes have
seats Il W.
The peers o. Scotland are eighty
seven IN number at present, and they
elect sixteen OF their own number to
each Parliament as representative
peers. and these atone POSSESS seats
in the. House Of Lords. Many others,
however, possess either English, Great
britain or United Kingdom peerages
as we'll. In right OF which they have
seats In the House. Many OF the Scot
,tist peerages are very ancient. The
ranking one is the Duke OF Hamilton,
created by Charles l. In 1913, the pre-.
micr mnrquess that u Huntly, created
by James vi. in 1899, while the oldest
Garldom in point OF precedence is that
of Sutherland. created In 1921 by Alex
ander III. (now merged In another
higher peerage):the Earldom of Craw-
ford created In 1898 and possessing
also tile Lordship Of Erclldun, created
before 1l4O and merged therewith; the
Earldom of Enrol. created by James H..
In 1853. and, lastly, the Earldoni of
Mar. generally conceded to have been
created before the year 1914. although
only given precedence from the year
l4o4, the earliest year for whichi docu-
the "Decreet OF Ranking" In the year
1906. This title is therefore probably
the most ancient OF all the peerages
now extant.
The peers OF ireland. OF whom there
are LIS. elect twenty-eight Of their
number for life as representative peers.
and these alone possess seats In the
House OF Lords. Some. however, pos
sess English, Great Britain or United
Kingdom peerages az well. In right of
which they possess seats in the House.
The Oldest Irish peerage Is that OF the
Barony OF Kingsale. created In 1923 by
Henry II. The Earldom OF kildare,
created in 1916 by Edward IL. has
merged in the Dukedom Of Leinster,
which peerage was created in 1866,
lard Is the ranking one. The Earldom
OF Waterford was created in 1446, and
Is possessed by the Earl OF Shrews-
bury and Talbot.
The last class are the life peers who
| ARE law lords or iud ges: OF these .here
are only four They were first APP
pointed in the latter part OF the nine.
teenth century to assist the House In
| Its judicial functions, but most Of these
nave been taken away. When the
House OF Lords acts as the highest
court in the realm nowadays only the
peers who are holding or have held
high judicial Office compose the body
From the reign OF Richard II. to that
iof Henry vi. life peerages had been
tcreated. but this practice fell into dis.
use for some 400 years, and wher
middle OF her reign the House ol
Lords refused to permit him to take
i his seat, declaring that no life peer
could sit in the body.
No minor idiot. insane or bankrup
peer can sit in the House. Nor car
ANY peer be elected to the House O
Commons or take part in any election
thereto. except that the nonrepresen
ttattve Irish peers may be elected from
lany English or Scottish constituency.
The House of Lords is presided Owe
by the Lord Chancellor: three peers
constitute quorum ana can proceed
with legislation as long as they ar,
unanimous. but no division is valid un
Hess thirty participate therein. Prio
to 1865 they possessed the privilege q
voting by proxy. Every peer possesse
the right to be tried by the House o
Lords alone in cases of treason O
felony. except the Scottish and Irisl
peers.
During the fifteenth century neve
more than fifty peers We're sun,mone
to the House. and but twenty-nin
We're summoned to the first Parliamen
Of Henry VII, Charles 1. created thir
ty: Charles II. eighty-seven. In tn
|lreign of Queen Anne the number ros
Etot209. while under George IL the mum
Der had risen to only 229: .but Georg
ltIII. created ga. and by the twentiet
liyenr ofSQueen Victoria the number ha
risen to over 500.s 1t Will thus be see
that the vast majority OF the peerage
| Idate from the reign OF the Hanoyeria
Il soyereigns. and that only q few peer
ages are of very ancient date.
Iirnr lfls1rnInun n1nar