Baron Hastings is a title that has been created three times. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1290, and is extant. The second creation was in the Peerage of England in 1299, and became extinct on the death of the first holder in c. 1314. The third creation was in the Peerage of England in 1461, and has been in abeyance since 1960.
106-491: John Hastings was summoned to Parliament as Lord Hastings in 1290. He was the son of Henry de Hastings , who had been created Baron Hastings by Simon de Montfort in 1263. Since the first Baron's title does not appear to have been recognised by the King, although his son John Hastings is sometimes referred to as the second Baron Hastings, the majority of historians enumerate John as 1st Baron Hastings. John Hastings's grandson,
212-601: A British peerage from being held by a foreign citizen (although such peers cannot sit in the House of Lords, while the term foreign does not include Irish or Commonwealth citizens). Several descendants of George III were British peers and German subjects; the Lords Fairfax of Cameron were American citizens for several generations. A peer may also disclaim an hereditary peerage under the Peerage Act 1963 . To do so,
318-425: A child born legitimate, not legitimated by a later marriage. An example of this can be seen in the film director Christopher Guest , who bypassed his older half-brother Anthony to became the 5th Baron Haden-Guest as the 4th Baron Haden-Guest was not married to Anthony's mother at the time of his birth. Normally, a peerage passes to the next holder on the death of the previous holder. However, Edward IV introduced
424-471: A course of descent are invalid, though the same is not true for the letters patent creating peers in the Peerage of Scotland . The House of Lords has ruled in certain cases that when the course of descent is not specified, or when the letters patent are lost, the title descends to heirs-male. It is generally necessary for English patents to include limitation to heirs "of the body", unless a special remainder
530-475: A court decided in favour of Grey. Hastings immediately appealed, and at the coronation of Henry V in 1413, he claimed the right to carry the spurs before the King, which Lord Grey de Ruthyn had done undisputed in 1399 at the coronation of Henry IV . Hastings was later ordered to pay the costs of the trial. When he refused, he was imprisoned in 1417. He remained imprisoned until 1433, but refused to buy his release by abandoning his claims. No final decision regarding
636-403: A foregone conclusion, and often hard-fought at the canvassing stage even when the contest was not carried to a poll. Elections were held at a single polling place, Norwich, and voters from the rest of the county had to travel to the county town to exercise their franchise. It was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll, making
742-551: A fraction of these could vote: the highest recorded turnouts in Norfolk were at the 1802 and 1806 elections , at each of which under 12,000 votes were cast, even though each voter could cast two votes. Norfolk's electorate was predominantly rural, partly as an effect of the Norwich freeholders voting in the city rather than the county. It has been estimated from the pollbooks that in the early 19th century only around one in six of
848-483: A hundred Irish peers left). In the early 19th century, Irish creations were as frequent as this allowed; but only three have been created since 1863, and none since 1898. As of 2011, only 66 "only-Irish" peers remain. The law applicable to a British hereditary peerage depends on which Kingdom it belongs to. Peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom follow English law; the difference between them
954-572: A limitation on the Crown's power. It sought to permit no more than six new creations, and thereafter one new creation for each other title that became extinct. But it did allow the Crown to bestow titles on members of the Royal Family without any such limitation. The Bill was rejected in its final stage in the Lords, but it was passed in the Lords when it was reintroduced in the next year. Nonetheless,
1060-670: A month after the death of his father Frederick, Prince of Wales . The Dukedom of Cornwall is associated with the Duchy of Cornwall ; the former is a peerage dignity, while the latter is an estate held by the Duke of Cornwall. Income from the Duchy goes to the Duke of Cornwall, or, when there is no duke, to the sovereign (but the money is then paid to the heir to the throne under the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 ). The only other duchy in
1166-478: A peerage. The last instance of a man being summoned by writ without already holding a peerage was under the early Tudors; the first clear decision that a single writ (as opposed to a long succession of writs) created a peerage was in Lord Abergavenny 's case of 1610. The House of Lords Act 1999 also renders it doubtful that such a writ would now create a peer if one were now issued; however, this doctrine
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#17327732570371272-436: A procedure known as a writ of acceleration , whereby it was possible for the eldest son of a peer holding more than one peerage to sit in the House of Lords by virtue of one of his father's subsidiary dignities. A person who is a possible heir to a peerage is said to be "in remainder". A title becomes extinct (an opposite to extant , alive) when all possible heirs (as provided by the letters patent) have died out; i.e., there
1378-480: A process that accelerated in the 18th century: 16 different families represented Norfolk in the 22 Parliaments from 1660 to 1746, but only 7 in the 18 Parliaments from 1747 to 1832. The minor gentry could not expect to secure election for themselves, only to choose between the candidates of the major families. The Cokes of Holkham were generally regarded as the champions of the independent freeholders, and were frequently elected. Elections in Norfolk were therefore rarely
1484-543: A rank something more than an earl and something less than an earl, respectively. When Henry III or Edward I wanted money or advice from his subjects, he would order great churchmen, earls, and other great men to come to his Great Council (some of these are now considered the first parliaments ); he would generally order lesser men from towns and counties to gather and pick some men to represent them. The English Order of Barons evolved from those men who were individually ordered to attend Parliament, but held no other title;
1590-505: A request from the king for a personal loan ( benevolence ). Which men were ordered to council varied from council to council; a man might be so ordered once and never again, or all his life, but his son and heir might never go. Under Henry VI of England , in the 15th century, just before the Wars of the Roses , attendance at Parliament became more valuable. The first claim of hereditary right to
1696-461: A result of the Peerage Act 1963 , all peers except those in the peerage of Ireland were entitled to sit in the House of Lords . Since the House of Lords Act 1999 came into force only 92 hereditary peers, elected from all hereditary peers, are permitted to do so, unless they are also life peers. Peers are called to the House of Lords with a writ of summons . Not all hereditary titles are titles of
1802-723: A seat in the House of Lords. Since the start of the Labour government of Harold Wilson in 1964 , the practice of granting hereditary peerages has largely ceased except for members of the royal family . Only seven hereditary peers have been created since 1965: four in the royal family (the Duke of York , the Earl of Wessex , the Duke of Cambridge , and the Duke of Sussex ) and three additional creations under Margaret Thatcher 's government (the Viscount Whitelaw [had four daughters],
1908-410: A writ comes from this reign; so does the first patent , or charter declaring a man to be a baron. The five orders began to be called peers. Holders of older peerages also began to receive greater honour than peers of the same rank just created. If a man held a peerage, his son would succeed to it; if he had no children, his brother would succeed. If he had a single daughter, his son-in-law would inherit
2014-404: A writ, what constituted proof of sitting, and which 13th-century assemblages were actually parliaments. Even a writ issued in error is held to create a peerage unless the writ was cancelled before the recipient took his seat; the cancellation was performed by the now obsolete writ of supersedeas . Peerages created by writ of summons are presumed to be inheritable only by the recipient's heirs of
2120-486: Is applied retrospectively: if it can be shown that a writ was issued, that the recipient sat and that the council in question was a parliament, the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords determines who is now entitled to the peerage as though modern law had always applied. Several such long-lost baronies were claimed in the 19th and 20th centuries, though the committee was not consistent on what constituted proof of
2226-417: Is by the rules of male primogeniture , a mechanism whereby normally, male descendants of the peer take precedence over female descendants, with children representing their deceased ancestors, and wherein the senior line of descent always takes precedence over the junior line per each gender. These rules, however, are amended by the proviso whereby sisters (and their heirs) are considered co-heirs ; seniority of
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#17327732570372332-399: Is created Prince of Wales ; at the same time as the principality is created, the duke is also created Earl of Chester . The earldom is a special case, because it is not hereditary, instead revesting or merging in the Crown if the prince succeeds to the Crown or predeceases the monarch: thus George III (then the grandson of the reigning monarch) was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester
2438-420: Is determined by the method of its creation. Titles may be created by writ of summons or by letters patent . The former is merely a summons of an individual to Parliament and does not explicitly confer a peerage; descent is always to the heirs of the body , male and female. The latter method explicitly creates a peerage and names the dignity in question. Letters patent may state the course of descent; usually, this
2544-402: Is nobody in remainder at the death of the holder. A title becomes dormant if nobody has claimed the title, or if no claim has been satisfactorily proven. A title goes into abeyance if there is more than one person equally entitled to be the holder. In the past, peerages were sometimes forfeit or attainted under Acts of Parliament, most often as the result of treason on the part of
2650-550: Is only to male heirs, but by a special remainder other descents can be specified. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 regulates acquired gender and provides that acquiring a new gender under the Act does not affect the descent of any peerage. A child is deemed to be legitimate if its parents are married at the time of its birth or marry later; only legitimate children may succeed to a title, and furthermore, an English, Irish, or British (but not Scottish) peerage can only be inherited by
2756-450: Is similarly affected. No further hereditary peerages may be conferred upon the person, but life peerages may be. The peerage remains without a holder until the death of the peer making the disclaimer, when it descends normally. A title held by someone who becomes monarch is said to merge in the Crown and therefore ceases to exist, because the sovereign cannot hold a dignity from himself. The Dukedoms of Cornwall and of Rothesay , and
2862-473: Is specified (see below). The limitation indicates that only lineal descendants of the original peer may succeed to the peerage. In some very rare instances, the limitation was left out. In the Devon Peerage Case (1831) 2 Dow & Cl 200 , the House of Lords permitted an heir who was a collateral descendant of the original peer to take his seat. The precedent, however, was reversed in 1859, when
2968-684: Is that peerages of England were created before the Act of Union 1707 , peerages of Great Britain between 1707 and the Union with Ireland in 1800, and peerages of the United Kingdom since 1800. Irish peerages follow the law of the Kingdom of Ireland , which is very much similar to English law, except in referring to the Irish Parliament and Irish officials, generally no longer appointed; no Irish peers have been created since 1898, and they have no part in
3074-443: Is the present holder's son Hon. Jacob Addison Astley (b. 1991) The co-heirs are the descendants of the 20th Baroness: Hereditary peer#Writs of summons The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom . As of November 2024, there are 801 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses , 189 earls , 109 viscounts , and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary titles ). As
3180-577: Is through the male line only. Some very old titles, like the Earldom of Arlington , may pass to heirs of the body (not just heirs-male), these follow the same rules of descent as do baronies by writ and seem able to fall into abeyance as well. Many Scottish titles allow for passage to heirs general of the body , in which case the rules of male primogeniture apply; they do not fall into abeyance, as under Scots law, sisters are not treated as equal co-heirs. English and British letters patent that do not specify
3286-506: The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. His wife (given to him in marriage by King Edward I) was Isabel, suo jure Countess of Menteith , a Scottish title, and on his seal appended to the Barons' Letter of 1301 he displayed the arms of the early Earls of Menteith: Barry wavy of six or and gules . Sir William Hastings (c. 1430–1483) served as Lord Chamberlain and as Ambassador to France . He
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3392-642: The British royal family . The most recent grant of a hereditary peerage was in 2019 for the youngest child of Elizabeth II , Prince Edward , who was created Earl of Forfar ; the most recent grant of a hereditary peerage to a non-royal was in 1984 for former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan , who was created Earl of Stockton with the subsidiary title of Viscount Macmillan. The hereditary peerage, as it now exists, combines several different English institutions with analogues from Scotland and Ireland. English earls are an Anglo-Saxon institution. Around 1014, England
3498-1040: The Conservative administrations of Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home as a government whip from 1961 to 1962 and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Local Government from 1962 to 1964. The Astley Baronetcy , of Hillmorton in the County of Warwick, had been created in the Baronetage of England on 25 June 1660 for Jacob Astley . He represented Norfolk in House of Commons for many years. His great-grandson, Edward Astley , also represented Norfolk in Parliament. He married Rhoda Delaval , daughter of Francis Blake Delaval, of Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland , and sister of John Delaval, 1st Baron Delaval . Through this marriage
3604-815: The Dukedom of Albany (together with its subsidiary peerages, the Earldom of Clarence and the Barony of Arklow ), the Dukedom of Cumberland and Teviotdale (along with the Earldom of Armagh ) and the Viscountcy of Taaffe (along with the Barony of Ballymote ). Under the Titles Deprivation Act, the successors to the peerages may petition the Crown for a reinstatement of the titles; so far, none of them has chosen to do so (the Taaffe and Ballymote peerages would have become extinct in 1967). Nothing prevents
3710-556: The Earldom of Carrick , are special cases, which when not in use are said to lapse to the Crown : they are construed as existing, but held by no one, during such periods. These peerages are also special in that they are never directly inherited. The Dukedom of Cornwall was held formerly by the eldest son of the King of England, and the Dukedom of Rothesay, the Earldom of Carrick, and certain non-peerage titles ( Baron of Renfrew , Lord of
3816-501: The Earldom of Roberts (to a daughter and her heirs-male), the Barony of Amherst (to a nephew and his heirs-male) and the Dukedom of Dover (to a younger son and his heirs-male while the eldest son is still alive). In many cases, at the time of the grant the proposed peer in question had no sons, nor any prospect of producing any, and the special remainder was made to allow remembrance of his personal honour to continue after his death and to preclude an otherwise certain rapid extinction of
3922-599: The Empress Matilda , nine earls were created in three years. William the Conqueror and his great-grandson Henry II did not make dukes; they were themselves only Dukes of Normandy or Aquitaine . But when Edward III of England declared himself King of France, he made his sons dukes, to distinguish them from other noblemen, much as royal dukes are now distinguished from other dukes. Later kings created marquesses and viscounts to make finer gradations of honour:
4028-537: The First and Second Parliaments of Oliver Cromwell 's Protectorate, however, there was a general redistribution of seats and Norfolk elected ten members, while the two smallest of the county's boroughs (Castle Rising and Thetford) lost their seats. The traditional arrangements were restored from 1659. At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, Norfolk had a population of approximately 390,000, though only
4134-673: The Hobart Earls of Buckinghamshire , the Earls Cholmondeley and the Lord Suffield , but these magnates remained divided, with contention between support for the "court" and "country" factions within the Whigs as well as between Whigs and Tories. Consequently, the independent voters generally held the balance of power. But this did not prevent the various leading families from monopolising the representation between them,
4240-422: The House of Lords Act 1999 it was possible for one of the peer's subsidiary titles to be passed to his heir before his death by means of a writ of acceleration , in which case the peer and his heir would have one vote each. Where this is not done, the heir may still use one of the father's subsidiary titles as a " courtesy title ", but he is not considered a peer. The mode of inheritance of an hereditary peerage
4346-538: The King's speech that they would bring in legislation to abolish the remaining hereditary peers' rights to sit in the House of Lords. Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency) Norfolk was a County constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290 to 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It
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4452-671: The Marquess of Salisbury . (Viscount Cranborne succeeded to the marquessate on the death of his father in 2003.) There are no Scottish peerages created by writ; neither can Scottish baronies go into abeyance, for Scots law does not hold sisters as equal heirs regardless of age. Furthermore, there is only one extant barony by writ in the Peerage of Ireland , that of La Poer , now held by the Marquess of Waterford . (Certain other baronies were originally created by writ but later confirmed by letters patent.) More often, letters patent are used to create peerages. Letters patent must explicitly name
4558-481: The Viscount Tonypandy [had no issue] and the Earl of Stockton [with issue]). The two viscounts died without male heirs, extinguishing their titles. Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton received the earldom customarily bestowed on former prime ministers after he retired from the House of Commons . As for the practice of granting hereditary titles (usually earldoms) to male commoners who married into
4664-552: The 13th century, and Irish parliaments began later in the same century; until Henry VIII declared himself King of Ireland, these parliaments were small bodies, representing only the Irish Pale . A writ does not create a peerage in Ireland; all Irish peerages are by patent or charter, although some early patents have been lost. After James II left England, he was King of Ireland alone for a time; three creations he ordered then are in
4770-630: The Baronies of Hastings and Botreaux were called out of abeyance in favour of Elizabeth (and the Barony of Stanley was called out of abeyance in her favour at the same time). However, the barony of De Moleyns and the barony of Hungerford were called out of abeyance in favour of a different heir (see the Viscount St Davids ). On Elizabeth's death in 1960 the baronies of Hastings, Stanley and Botreaux fell into abeyance between her daughters. As of 2021, they remain in abeyance. The heir apparent
4876-472: The Barony was made at the time, but both families continued to claim the title. The Greys finally abandoned their claim in 1639. After the title had been dormant for 452 years, in 1841 the House of Lords decided that the rightful successor to the third Earl of Pembroke and fifth Baron Hastings was his kinsman John Hastings, de jure 6th Baron Hastings. He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Hastings, younger son of
4982-404: The Crown. A writ of acceleration is a type of writ of summons that enables the eldest son of a peer to attend the House of Lords using one of his father's subsidiary titles. The title is strictly not inherited by the eldest son, however; it remains vested in the father. A writ may be granted only if the title being accelerated is a subsidiary one, and not the main title, and if the beneficiary of
5088-530: The House of Commons rejected the Peerage Bill by 269 to 177. George III was especially profuse with the creation of titles, mainly due to the desire of some of his Prime Ministers to obtain a majority in the House of Lords. During his 12 years in power, Lord North had about 30 new peerages created. During William Pitt the Younger 's 17-year tenure, over 140 new peerages were awarded. A restriction on
5194-426: The House of Commons. Prior to the House of Lords Act 1999, a hereditary peer could not disclaim a peerage after having applied for a writ of summons to Parliament; now, however, hereditary peers do not have the automatic right to a writ of summons to the House. Irish peerages may not be disclaimed. A peer who disclaims the peerage loses all titles, rights and privileges associated with the peerage; his wife or her husband
5300-474: The House of Lords decided in the Wiltes Peerage Case (1869) LR 4 HL 126 that a patent that did not include the words "of the body" would be held void . It is possible for a patent to allow for succession by someone other than an heir-male or heir of the body, under a so-called special remainder . Several instances may be cited: the Barony of Nelson (to an elder brother and his heirs-male),
5406-564: The House of Lords deemed invalid the clause intended to keep the Barony of Buckhurst separate from the Earldom of De La Warr (the invalidation of clause may not affect the validity of the letters patent itself). The patent stipulated that if the holder of the barony should ever inherit the earldom, then he would be deprived of the barony, which would instead pass to the next successor as if the deprived holder had died without issue. Letters patent are not absolute; they may be amended or revoked by Act of Parliament . For example, Parliament amended
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#17327732570375512-651: The Irish Government. Scotland evolved a similar system, differing in points of detail. The first Scottish earldoms derive from the seven mormaers , of immemorial antiquity; they were named earls by Queen Margaret. The Parliament of Scotland is as old as the English; the Scottish equivalent of baronies are called lordships of Parliament . The Act of Union 1707 , between England and Scotland, provided that future peerages should be peers of Great Britain , and
5618-581: The Irish Patent Roll, although the patents were never issued; but these are treated as valid. The Irish peers were in a peculiar political position: because they were subjects of the King of England, but peers in a different kingdom, they could sit in the English House of Commons, and many did. In the 18th century, Irish peerages became rewards for English politicians, limited only by the concern that they might go to Dublin and interfere with
5724-452: The Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland ) by the eldest son of the King of Scotland . Since those titles have been united, the dukedoms and associated subsidiary titles are held by the eldest son of the monarch. In Scotland, the title Duke of Rothesay is used for life or until ascension. In England and Northern Ireland , the title Duke of Cornwall is used until the heir apparent
5830-690: The Seaton Delaval estate came into the Astley family when Rhoda's brother did not produce a male heir. Their son, Sir Jacob Henry Astley, was also Member of Parliament for Norfolk. The latter was the father of the sixth Baronet, who succeeded as Baron Hastings in 1841. The family seat was Seaton Delaval Hall , now in the possession of the National Trust . Edmund Hastings of Inchmahome (anciently Inchmacholmok ) in Perthshire, Scotland,
5936-461: The Sovereign create one new Irish peerage for each extinction. There were no restrictions on creations in the Peerage of the United Kingdom . The Peerage continued to swell through the 19th century. In the 20th century, there were even more creations, as Prime Ministers were again eager to secure majorities in the House of Lords. Peerages were handed out not to honour the recipient but to give him
6042-466: The United Kingdom is the Duchy of Lancaster , which is also an estate rather than a peerage dignity. The Dukedom of Lancaster merged in the Crown when Henry of Monmouth, Duke of Lancaster became King Henry V. Nonetheless, the Duchy of Lancaster continues to exist, theoretically run by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (which is normally a sinecure position with no actual duties related to
6148-500: The barony. The decision was in favour of Sir Jacob Astley, 6th Baronet, who was summoned to the House of Lords the same year as Lord Hastings. He was a descendant of the aforementioned Elizabeth, sister of the de jure 15th Baron. Lord Hastings had previously represented West Norfolk in the House of Commons . As of 2010 the titles are held by his great-great-great-grandson, the twenty-third Baron and thirteenth Baronet, who succeeded his father in 2007. The twenty-second Baron served in
6254-405: The beginning of each new parliament, each peer who has established his or her right to attend Parliament is issued a writ of summons. Without the writ, no peer may sit or vote in Parliament. The form of writs of summons has changed little over the centuries. It is established precedent that the sovereign may not deny writs of summons to qualified peers. By modern English law, if a writ of summons
6360-691: The body. The House of Lords has settled such a presumption in several cases, including Lord Grey's Case (1640) Cro Cas 601 , the Clifton Barony Case (1673), the Vaux Peerage Case (1837) 5 Cl & Fin 526, the Braye Peerage Case (1839) 6 Cl & Fin 757 and the Hastings Peerage Case (1841) 8 Cl & Fin 144. The meaning of heir of the body is determined by common law. Essentially, descent
6466-468: The chosen representatives, on the other hand, became the House of Commons . This order, called a writ , was not originally hereditary, or even a privilege; the recipient had to come to the Great Council at his own expense, vote on taxes on himself and his neighbours, acknowledge that he was the king's tenant-in-chief (which might cost him special taxes), and risk involvement in royal politics – or
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#17327732570376572-415: The cost of a contested election substantial. Contested elections were therefore the exception rather than the rule, potential candidates preferring to canvass support beforehand and usually not insisting on a vote being taken unless they were confident of winning; at all but 8 of the 29 general elections between 1701 and 1832, Norfolk's two MPs were elected unopposed, with only two contests after 1768. But this
6678-480: The county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all. Except during the period of the Commonwealth , Norfolk had two MPs elected by the bloc vote method, under which each voter had two votes. In the nominated Barebones Parliament of 1653, five members represented Norfolk. In
6784-462: The county; they gradually became honours, with a stipend of £ 20 a year. Like most feudal offices, earldoms were inherited, but the kings frequently asked earls to resign or exchange earldoms. Usually there were few earls in England, and they were men of great wealth in the shire from which they held title, or an adjacent one, but it depended on circumstances: during the civil war between Stephen and
6890-603: The creation of new peerages, the Royal Warrant of 2004 , explicitly apply to both hereditary and life peers. However, successive governments have largely disowned the practice, and the Royal Household website currently describes the King as the fount of honour for "life peerages, knighthoods and gallantry awards", with no mention of hereditary titles. In 2024, the Starmer Labour government announced in
6996-545: The creation of peerages, but only in the Peerage of Ireland, was enacted under the Acts of Union 1800 that combined Ireland and Great Britain into the United Kingdom in 1801. New creations were restricted to a maximum of one new Irish peerage for every three existing Irish peerages that became extinct, excluding those held concurrently with an English or British peerage; only if the total number of Irish peers dropped below 100 could
7102-579: The duchy and is used to appoint a minister without portfolio ). The Duchy of Lancaster is the inherited property that belongs personally to the monarch, rather than to the Crown . Thus, while income from the Crown Estate is turned over to the Exchequer in return for a Sovereign grant payment, the income from the duchy forms a part of the Privy Purse , the personal funds of the Sovereign. At
7208-454: The dukedom was allowed to pass to the Duke's daughters; Lady Henrietta , the Countess of Sunderland , the Countess of Bridgewater and Lady Mary and their heirs-male – and thereafter "to all and every other the issue male and female, lineally descending of or from the said Duke of Marlborough, in such manner and for such estate as the same are before limited to the before-mentioned issue of
7314-496: The earldom reverted to the Crown, who might re-grant it (often to the eldest son-in-law); in the 17th century, it would not be inherited by anybody unless all but one of the daughters died and left no descendants, in which case the remaining daughter (or her heir) would inherit. After Henry II became the Lord of Ireland , he and his successors began to imitate the English system as it was in their time. Irish earls were first created in
7420-535: The end of the Wars of the Roses , which killed many peers, and degraded or attainted many others, there were only 29 Lords Temporal; but the population of England was also much smaller then. The Tudors doubled the number of Peers, creating many but executing others; at the death of Queen Elizabeth I, there were 59. The number of peers then grew under the Stuarts and all later monarchs. By the time of Queen Anne's death in 1714, there were 168 peers. In 1712, Queen Anne
7526-402: The family lands, and usually the same peerage; more complex cases were decided depending on circumstances. Customs changed with time; earldoms were the first to be hereditary, and three different rules can be traced for the case of an earl who left no sons and several married daughters. In the 13th century, the husband of the eldest daughter inherited the earldom automatically; in the 15th century,
7632-545: The first Baron. His successor should have been his great-nephew, the aforementioned Hugh Hastings, de jure 7th Baron Hastings. The next holder should have been his younger brother, the aforementioned Edward Hastings, de jure 8th Baron Hastings. On the death of the latter's great-great-great-grandson, the de jure 15th Baron, the peerage technically fell into abeyance between the Baron's sisters Anne and Elizabeth. The House of Lords decision meant that there were three co-heirs to
7738-440: The half blood". However, the claim was contested by Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn , as "heir of the whole blood". Lord Grey de Ruthyn claimed the Barony in right of his grandmother Elizabeth, daughter of the second Baron Hastings by his first wife. On the early death of Hugh Hastings in 1396 the claim passed to his younger brother Edward Hastings (1382–1438) (later deemed the de jure 8th Baron Hastings; see below). In 1410
7844-470: The holder. The blood of an attainted peer was considered "corrupted", consequently his or her descendants could not inherit the title. If all descendants of the attainted peer were to die out, however, then an heir from another branch of the family not affected by the attainder could take the title. The Forfeiture Act 1870 abolished corruption of blood; instead of losing the peerage, a peer convicted of treason would be disqualified from sitting in Parliament for
7950-411: The letters patent creating the Dukedom of Marlborough in 1706. The patent originally provided that the dukedom could be inherited by the heirs-male of the body of the first duke, Captain-General Sir John Churchill . One son had died in infancy and the other died in 1703 from smallpox . Under Parliament's amendment to the patent, designed to allow the famous general's honour to survive after his death,
8056-406: The line is irrelevant when succession is through a female line. In other words, no woman inherits because she is older than her sisters. If all of the co-heirs but one die, then the surviving co-heir succeeds to the title. Otherwise, the title remains abeyant until the sovereign "terminates" the abeyance in favour of one of the co-heirs. The termination of an abeyance is entirely at the discretion of
8162-474: The peer must deliver an instrument of disclaimer to the Lord Chancellor within 12 months of succeeding to the peerage, or, if under the age of 21 at the time of succession, within 12 months of becoming 21 years old. If, at the time of succession, the peer is a member of the House of Commons , then the instrument must be delivered within one month of succession; meanwhile, the peer may not sit or vote in
8268-400: The peerage in most of the United Kingdom are, in descending order of rank, duke , marquess , earl , viscount and baron ; the female equivalents are duchess, marchioness, countess, viscountess and baroness respectively. Women typically do not hold hereditary titles in their own right, except for certain peerages in the peerage of Scotland. One significant change to the status quo in England
8374-411: The peerage. For instance, baronets and baronetesses may pass on their titles, but they are not peers. Conversely, the holder of a non-hereditary title may belong to the peerage, as with life peers . Peerages may be created by means of letters patent , but the granting of new hereditary peerages has largely dwindled; only seven hereditary peerages have been created since 1965, four of them for members of
8480-502: The peerage. However, in all cases the course of descent specified in the patent must be known in common law. For instance, the Crown may not make a "shifting limitation" in the letters patent; in other words, the patent may not vest the peerage in an individual and then, before that person's death, shift the title to another person. The doctrine was established in the Buckhurst Peerage Case (1876) 2 App Cas 1 , in which
8586-601: The period of imprisonment. The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 permitted the Crown to suspend peerages if their holders had fought against the United Kingdom during the First World War . Guilt was to be determined by a committee of the Privy Council ; either House of Parliament could reject the committee's report within 40 days of its presentation. In 1919, King George V issued an Order in Council suspending
8692-511: The period when Norfolk was a constituency, these were not excluded from the county constituency: owning property within a borough could confer a vote at the county election. This was not the case, though, for Norwich.) As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act , which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within
8798-412: The possible exception of those given to members of the royal family, would be created if not upon the advice of the prime minister . Many peers hold more than one hereditary title; for example, the same individual may be a duke, a marquess, an earl, a viscount, and a baron by virtue of different peerages. If such a person is entitled to sit in the House of Lords, he still only has one vote. However, until
8904-415: The present governance of the United Kingdom. Scottish peerage law is generally similar to English law, but differs in innumerable points of detail, often being more similar to medieval practice. Women are ineligible to succeed to the majority of English, Irish, and British hereditary peerages, but may inherit certain English baronies by writ and Scottish peerages in the absence of a male heir. The ranks of
9010-457: The recipient of the title and specify the course of descent; the exact meaning of the term is determined by common law . For remainders in the Peerage of the United Kingdom , the most common wording is "to have and to hold unto him and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten". Where the letters patent specifies the peer's heirs male of the body as successors, the rules of agnatic succession apply, meaning that succession
9116-543: The royal family, the latest offer of such peerage was in 1973 to Captain Mark Phillips (husband of The Princess Anne ) who declined, and the most recent to accept was the Earl of Snowdon (husband of The Princess Margaret ) in 1961. There is no statute that prevents the creation of new hereditary peerages; they may technically be created at any time, and the government continues to maintain pro forma letters patent for their creation. The most recent policies outlining
9222-654: The rules covering the peers should follow the English model; because there were proportionately many more Scottish peers, they chose a number of representatives to sit in the British House of Lords. The Acts of Union 1800 changed this to peers of the United Kingdom , but provided that Irish peerages could still be created; but the Irish peers were concerned that their honours would be diluted as cheap prizes, and insisted that an Irish peerage could be created only when three Irish peerages had gone extinct (until there were only
9328-425: The said Duke, it being intended that the said honours shall continue, remain, and be invested in all the issue of the said Duke, so long as any such issue male or female shall continue, and be held by them severally and successively in manner and form aforesaid, the elder and the descendants of every elder issue to be preferred before the younger of such issue." The number of peers has varied considerably with time. At
9434-460: The second Marquess, also inherited the Earldom of Loudoun from his mother. He married Barbara, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn . On the death in 1868 of their younger son, the fourth Marquess (who had also succeeded his mother as Baron Grey de Ruthyn), the marquessate became extinct, the Scottish earldom of Loudoun passed on to his eldest sister, while the Baronies of Hastings, Hungerford, Botreaux, De Moleyns and Grey de Ruthyn fell into abeyance between
9540-537: The sisters. In 1871 the Baronies of Botreaux, Hungerford, Moleyns and Hastings were called out of abeyance in favour of Edith, Countess of Loudoun (but not the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn, which was called out of abeyance in 1885 in favour of a different heir). On the death of the Countess of Loudoun's son, the 11th Earl, in 1920, the earldom passed to his eldest niece, Elizabeth, while the four Baronies fell into abeyance between Elizabeth and her younger sisters. In 1921
9646-471: The subject of a bitter-fought lawsuit, nominally over the right to the Hastings arms but including the right to the family honours. The barony was claimed by Hugh Hastings (1377–1396) (later deemed the de jure 7th Baron Hastings; see below). He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Hastings, grandson of Sir Hugh Hastings (c. 1307–1347), son of the second Baron by his second wife. Hugh claimed the title as "heir of
9752-427: The third Baron Hastings, was created Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke in 1339. The latter's son, the second Earl of Pembroke , married as his second wife Anne Hastings, 2nd Baroness Manny . Their son, the third Earl and fifth Baron Hastings, succeeded his mother as third Baron Manny. On his death in 1389 the earldom and barony of Manny became extinct, while the barony of Hastings became dormant. It then became
9858-460: The title was passed to his son, Edward, the second Baron, who married Mary , granddaughter of Robert Hungerford, 3rd Baron Hungerford , who had been attainted in 1461. Mary managed to obtain a reversal of the attainders of the Barony of Hungerford , Barony of Botreaux and Barony of De Moleyns. Their son, the third Baron, inherited the Barony of Hastings from his father and the Baronies of Hungerford, Botreaux and De Moleyns from his mother; in 1513, he
9964-403: The voters lived in towns, with Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn contributing the largest numbers of these. Fittingly for such a constituency, the families of two of the best-known pioneers of the agrarian revolution, Coke of Holkham and "Turnip" Townshend , frequently provided the county's Members of Parliament. Nevertheless, no one or two families controlled the constituency, and competition
10070-413: The writ is the heir-apparent of the actual holder of the title. A total of ninety-four writs of acceleration have been issued since Edward IV issued the first one, including four writs issued in the twentieth century. The only individual who recently sat in the House of Lords by writ of acceleration is Viscount Cranborne in 1992, through the Barony of Cecil which was actually being held by his father,
10176-407: Was summoned to Parliament as Lord Hastings on 26 July 1461. He was a great friend and confidant of King Edward IV and one of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his time. Lord Hastings was summarily beheaded on Tower Hill in 1483 following an accusation of treason by Richard of Gloucester during the events that led to the latter's coronation. However, as he was not attainted for treason
10282-406: Was called upon to create 12 peers in one day in order to pass a government measure, more than Queen Elizabeth I had created during a 45-year reign. Several peers were alarmed at the rapid increase in the size of the Peerage, fearing that their individual importance and power would decrease as the number of peers increased. Therefore, in 1719, a bill was introduced in the House of Lords to place
10388-475: Was created Earl of Huntingdon . On the death of the tenth Earl in 1789 the earldom became dormant, while the baronies of Hastings, Hungerford, Botreaux and De Moleyns passed on to his sister Elizabeth, the wife of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira . Their son, the second Earl of Moira, inherited the four baronies on his mother's death in 1808. In 1816 he was created Marquess of Hastings . Lord Hastings married Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun . Their son,
10494-517: Was divided into shires or counties, largely to defend against the Danes ; each shire was led by a local great man, called an earl; the same man could be earl of several shires. When the Normans invaded England , they continued to appoint earls, but not for all counties; the administrative head of the county became the sheriff . Earldoms began as offices, with a perquisite of a share of the legal fees in
10600-564: Was fostered by the leading families lining up on different sides of the partisan divide. The leading Whig families around the turn of the 18th century were those of Walpole and Townshend , while the most important Tory interests were those of the Wodehouse and Astley families, until Sir Jacob Astley defected to the Whigs before the 1715 election. By the middle of the 18th century, the list of local peerage families who could expect to exert influence at Norfolk elections had grown to include
10706-466: Was in 1532 when Henry VIII created the Marquess of Pembroke title for his soon-to-be wife, Anne Boleyn ; she held this title in her own right and was therefore ennobled with the same rank as a male. In the Scottish peerage, the lowest rank is lordship of Parliament , the male holder thereof being known as a lord of Parliament . A Scottish barony is a feudal rank, and not of the Peerage. The barony by tenure or feudal barony in England and Wales
10812-460: Was issued to a person who was not a peer, that person took his seat in Parliament, and the parliament was a parliament in the modern sense (including representatives of the Commons), that single writ created a barony , a perpetual peerage inheritable by male-preference primogeniture . This was not medieval practice, and it is doubtful whether any writ was ever issued with the intent of creating such
10918-469: Was more frequent than in many other counties of Norfolk's size. Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote. Note on sources: The information for
11024-597: Was represented by two Members of Parliament. In 1832 the county was divided for parliamentary purposes into two new two member divisions – East Norfolk and West Norfolk . The constituency consisted of the historic county of Norfolk in the East of England , excluding the city of Norwich which had the status of a county corporate after 1404. (Although Norfolk contained four other parliamentary boroughs – Castle Rising , Great Yarmouth , King's Lynn and Thetford – each of which elected two MPs in its own right for part of
11130-446: Was similar to a Scottish feudal barony , in being hereditary, but is long obsolete, the last full summons of the English feudal barons to military service having occurred in 1327. The Tenures Abolition Act 1660 finally quashed any remaining doubt as to their continued status. Peerage dignities are created by the sovereign by either writs of summons or letters patent . Under modern constitutional conventions, no peerage dignity, with
11236-470: Was the younger son of Henry de Hastings (c. 1235–c. 1268) of Ashill, Norfolk, (who was summoned to Parliament by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester as Lord Hastings in 1263, but the title was not recognized by King Henry III ). He was thus the younger brother of John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (title created 1290). On 29 December 1299 Edmund Hastings was summoned to Parliament as Lord Hastings . The title became extinct on his death without issue at
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