THE PEERAGE.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 138, 16 July 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE PEERAGE.

The lowest order in the Peerage is that of Baron, which is one of the oldest. Originally the dignity was attached to the possession of certain lands held according to the feudal system, and the possessor was, therefore, a Baron by tenure. In the reign of King John, the greater Barons were specially summoned to the council of the nation, and hence arose the Barons by writ, in place of Barons by tenure. The practice of creating Barons by letters patent, by which the rank was converted into a mere title of honour, was first introduced by Richard 11., who. in 1387, created John Beauchamp, of Holt Castle, Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster. Viscount was first introduced as a hereditary title into the Euglish Peerage by Henry VI., who made John, sixth Baron Beaumont, Viscount Beaumont, by letters patent, in 1440. Previously, the name V iscomes had been used by the sheriff of a county as the deputy of the Earl. Of the five titles to which we are now drawing attention, Earl is the only one with a Saxon name, and it is a curious linguistic faet this characteristic only applies to the man himself, as his wife is styled a Countess. The synonymous names Earl and Count had a fight foi a time, but the former survived as the fitter of the two. There were different descriptions of Earldoms, but they were each, as the word ‘ Comes’ would show, intimately connected with the county. In course of time this was changed, and Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wiginore, on the Welsh march, created Earl of March in 1328, waa the first Earl whose dignity was unconnected with a shire. The custom of adopting titles taken from counties and towns was extended to villages aud private estates, and m some instances family names have even been used instead of place names, lhe original Maiquises were guardians of the fioutier marches, but the first English Marquisate in the modern sense was conferred in 13S(i upon Robert de \ ere, .Eail of Oxford, who was created Marquis of Dublin by Richard 11. The Earl of Somerset was made Marquess of Dorset by the same kim', but the title was taken f i otn him in the nextTreign. The House of Commons petitioned that it might be restored, but the Earl did not wish for the higher honour, as it was considered an innovation. At one period in the reign of George 111. there was only only one Marquis on the roll of the Peerage. Dukes, in the older European sense of Governors of Dukedoms, do not appear to have been known iu England. Edward the Black Prince, who was created Duke of Cornwall in 1335, was the. first English Duke, and for a time this rank was confined to the royal family. Although others afterwards obtained the title, they were very few, aud it was not until the reigns of W illiam 111. aud Aune that its general character was changed. Although all holders of these titles take precedence according to their relative rank, they sit as peers or equals iu the House of Lords, fho eldest son of a Duke, of a Marquis, or of an Earl, although he remains a commoner, bears one of the titles of his father by courtesy. These are sometimes chauged, but usually the same title is used for several generations. The sou of a Duke is commonly a Marquis, of a Marquis an Earl, and of an Earl a Viscovut; but this is not always the case ; for instance, the Marquis of Salisbury’s second title is Earl of Salisbury ; so, in order to obviate confusion, his eldest sou is forced to take the third title, which is Viscount Cranburry.—‘Temple Bar.’