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PEERAGE
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See also:custom." Of the See also:sovereign's will and See also:pleasure the appropriate method of announcement is by See also:warrant under the sign-See also:manual, or letters patent under the See also:great See also:seal
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But, although the See also:Crown has at all periods very frequently conceded See also:special privileges of See also:rank and See also:place to particular persons, its interference with the See also:scale of See also:general See also:precedence has been rare and exceptional
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In 1540 it was provided by warrant from See also: 15 . 2 Patent Rolls, loth Jac., pt. x. mem . 8 . It is commonly stated that the bannerets here referred to could be made by the See also:prince of See also:Wales as well as by the king . But the See also:privilege was conferred by James I. on Henry, the then prince of Wales, only (See also:Selden, Titles of Honor, pt. ii. p . 750) . 3 Ibid., 14th Jac., See also:part ii. mem . 24; Selden, Titles of Honor, part ii. p . 752 . ' Cited by Sir Charles Young, Order of Precedence, with Authorities and Remarks, p . 27 (See also:London, 1851).executing the See also:office of earl marshal; and the " See also:Roll of the King's Majesty's most Royal Proceeding through London " from the See also:Tower to See also:Whitehall on the See also:eve of the coronation of James I., also arranged by the commissioners for executing the office of earl marshal . On many isolated points, too, of more or less importance, special declaratory decisions have been from See also:time to time propounded by the earls marshal, their substitutes and deputies; for example, in 1594, when the younger sons of See also:dukes were placed before viscounts; in 1625, when the rank of knights of the See also:Bath and their wives was fixed; and in 1615 and 1677, when the eldest sons of the younger sons of peers were placed before the eldest sons of knights and of baronets . It is from these See also:miscellaneous See also:sources that the precedence among others of all peeresses, the eldest sons and their wives and the daughters of all peers, and the younger sons and their wives of all dukes, marquesses and earls is ascertained and established . And further, for the purpose of proving continuity of practice and disposing of See also:minor questions not otherwise and more conclusively set at See also:rest, the See also:official programmes and accounts preserved by the heralds of different public solemnities and processions, such as coronations, royal marriages, state funerals, See also:national thanksgivings and so on, have always been considered to be of great See also:historical and technical value.5 1.-General Precedence of Men . The sovereign; (I) prince of Wales; (2) younger sons of the sovereign; (3) grandsons of the sovereign; (4) See also:brothers of the sovereign; (5) uncles of the sovereign; (6) nephews of the sovereign;6 (7) ambassadors; (8) See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury, See also:primate of all See also:England; (9) lord high See also:chancellor of Great See also:Britain or lord keeper of the great seal; (Io) archbishop of York, primate of England; ? (II) See also:prime See also:minister; (12) lord high treasurer of Great 5 Selden, Titles of Honor, pt. ii. p . 753 . 6 The precedence of the members of the royal See also:family depends on their relationship to the reigning sovereign and not on their relation-See also:ship to any of the predecessors of the reigning sovereign . It is provided by 31 See also:Hen . VIII. c. lo that no person, " except only the King's See also:children," shall have place " at the See also:side of the See also:Cloth of See also:Estate in the Parliament Chamber," and that " the King's Son, the King's See also:Brother, the King's See also:Nephew, or the King's Brother's or See also:Sister's Sons," shall have place before all prelates, great officers of state and peers . Lord See also:Chief See also:Justice See also:Coke was of See also:opinion that the king's nephew meant the king's See also:grandson or See also:nepos (Institutes, vol. iv. ch . 77) . But, as Mr Justice See also:Blackstone says, " under the description of the King's children his grandsons are held to be included without having recourse to Sir Edward Coke's See also:interpretation of nephew " (Commentaries,vol. i. ch . 4) .
Besides, if grandson is to be understood by nephew, the king's grand-son would be placed after the king's brother
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The prince of Wales is not specifically mentioned in the See also:statute " for the placing of the Lords "; but, as he is always, whether the son or the grandson of the sovereign, the See also:heir-apparent to the Crown, he is ranked next to the sovereign or the See also:queen-See also:consort
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With the exception of the prince of Wales, all the male relations of the sovereign are ranked first in the order of their degrees of See also:consanguinity with him or her, and secondly, in the order of their proximity to the See also:succession to the Crown; thus the members of the several See also:groups into which the royal family is divided take precedence according to their own seniority and the seniority of their fathers or mothers, the sons of the sons or brothers of the sovereign being preferred to the sons of the daughters or sisters of the sovereign among the sovereign's grandsons and nephews
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' By 31 Hen
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VIII. c
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To, the king's vicegerent " for See also:good and due ministration of justice in all causes and cases touching the ecclesiastical See also:jurisdiction " is placed immediately before the See also:arch-See also:bishop of Canterbury
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The office of vicegerent or See also:vicar-general was then held by See also:
18
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But the last See also:appointment to the lord keepership was that of Sir See also:Robert See also:Henley, afterwards Lord Henley, lord chancellor, and earl of See also:Northington, in 1757, and the office is not likely to be revived
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Britain; (13) lord president of the privy council; (14) lord keeper of the privy seal;' (15) lord great chamberlain of England; (16) lord high constable of England; (i7) earl marshal; (18) lord high See also:admiral; (i9) lord steward of the household; (2o) lord chamber-lain of the household;2 above peers of their own degree; (21) dukes;' (22) marquesses; (23) dukes' eldest sons;' (24) earls; (25) marquesses' eldest sons; {26) dukes' younger sons; (27) viscounts; (28) earls' eldest sons; (29) marquesses' younger
' The lord president of the council and the lord privy seal, if they are peers, are placed by 31 Hen
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VIII. c. io before all dukes except dukes related to the sovereign in one or other of the degrees of consanguinity specified in the act
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And, since the holders of these offices have been and are always peers, their proper precedence if they are commoners has never been determined
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2 It is provided by 31 Hen
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VIII. c. to that " the Great Chamber-lain, the Constable, the Marshal, the Lord Admiral, the Grand See also:Master or Lord Steward, and the King's Chamberlain shall sit and be placed after the Lord Privy Seal in manner and See also:form following: that is to say, every one of them shall sit and be placed above all other person-ages being of the same estates or degrees that they shall happen to be of, that is to say the Great Chamberlain first, the Constable next, the Marshal third, the Lord Admiral the See also:fourth, the Grand Master or Lord Steward the fifth, and the King's Chamberlain the See also:sixth." The office of lord high steward of England, then under See also:attainder, is not mentioned in the act for the placing of the Lords, " because it was intended," Lord Chief Justice Coke says, " that when the use of him should be necessary he should not endure longer than hac See also:vice " (Inst. iv
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77)
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But it may be noted that, when his office is called out of See also:abeyance for coronations or trials by the House of Lords, the lord high steward is the greatest of all the great officers of state in England
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The office of lord great chamberlain of England is hereditary in the coheirs of the last duke of Ancaster, who inherited it from the De Veres, earls of See also:Oxford, in whose See also:line it had descended from the reign of Henry I
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The office of lord high constable of England, also under attainder, is called out of abeyance for and pending coronations only
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The office of earl marshal is hereditary in the Howards, dukes of Norfolk, premier dukes and, as earls of See also:Arundel, premier earls of England, under a See also: The office of lord high admiral, like the office of lord high treasurer, is practically See also:extinct as a dignity . Since the reign of Queen See also:Anne there has been only one lord high admiral, namely, William, duke of See also:Clarence, afterwards William IV., for a few months in the See also:Canning See also:administration of 1827 . The lord steward and the lord chamberlain of the household are always peers, and have seldom been under the degree of earls . We may here remark that both the Scottish and Irish Acts of Union make no reference to the precedence of the great officers of state of See also:Scotland and Ireland . Not to mention the prince of Wales, who is by See also:birth steward of See also:Scot-See also:land, the earl of See also:Shrewsbury is hereditary great See also:seneschal of Ireland; the duke of See also:Argyll is hereditary master of the household; the earl of Errol is hereditary lord high constable of Scotland; but what places they are entitled to in the scale of general precedence is altogether doubtful and uncertain . In Ireland the great seneschal ranks after the lord chancellor if he is a commoner, and after the archbishop of Dublin if the lord chancellor is a peer, and in both cases before dukes (" Order of precedence," Dublin See also:Gazette, See also:June 3, 1843) . Again, on See also:George IV.'s visit to See also:Edinburgh in 1821, the lord high constable had place as the first subject in Scotland immediately after the members of the royal family . At every coronation from that of George III. to that of Queen See also:Victoria, the lord high constable of Scotland has been placed next to the earl marshal of England, and, although no rank has been assigned on these occasions to the hereditary great seneschal of Ireland, the lord high constable of Ireland appointed for the ceremony has been at all or most of them placed next to the lord high constable of Scotland, It is worthy of See also:notice, however, that Sir George See also:Mackenzie, See also:writing when lord See also:advocate of Scotland in the reign of Charles II., says that " the Constable and Marischal take not place as Officers of the Crown but according to their creation as Earls," and he moreover expresses the opinion that "it seems very See also:strange that these who ride upon the King's right and See also:left See also:hand when he returns from his Parliaments and who guard the Parliament itself, and the Honours, should have no precedency by their offices " (Observations, &c., p . 25, in Guillim's Display of See also:Heraldry, p . 461 seq . ; but see also See also:Wood-See also:Douglas, Peerage of Scotland, i . 557) . ' Both Sir Charles Young and Sir See also:Bernard See also:Burke place " Dukes of the See also:Blood Royal " before dukes, their eldest sons before marquesses, and their younger sons before marquesses' eldest sons . In the " Ancient Tables of Precedence," which we have already cited, dukes of the blood royal are always ranked before other dukes, and in most of them their eldest sons and in some of them their younger sons are placed in a corresponding order of precedence . But in this connexion the words of the act for the placing of the Lords are perfectly See also:plain and unambiguous: " All Dukes not aforementioned," i.e. all except only such as shall happen to be the king's son, the king's brother, the king's See also:uncle, the king's nephew, or the king's brother's or sister's son, " Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts and Barons, not having any of the offices aforesaid, shall sit and be placed after their ancienty assons; (3o) bishops; (31) barons;' (32) See also:speaker of the House of See also:Commons; (33) commissioners of the great seal; 6 (34) treasurer of the household; (35) See also:comptroller of the household; (36) master of the See also:horse; (37) vice-chamberlain of the household; (38) secretaries of state; (39) viscounts' eldest sons; (4o) earls' younger sons; (4i) barons' eldest sons; (42) knights of the Garter; 8 (43) privy councillors; 9 (44) chancellor of the See also:exchequer; (45) chancellor of the duchy of See also:Lancaster; (46) lord chief it hath been accustomed." As Lord Chief Justice Coke and Mr Justice Blackstone observe, the degrees of consanguinity with the sovereign to which precedence is given by 31 Hen . VIII. c. to are the same as those within which it was made high See also:treason by 28 Hen . VIII. c . 18 for any See also:man to See also:contract marriage without the consent of the king . Queen Victoria, by letters patent under the great seal in 1865, ordained that, " besides the children of Sovereigns of these realms, the children of the sons of any of the Sovereigns of Great Britain and Ireland shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the See also:style or attribute of ' Royal See also:Highness ' with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective See also:Christian names, or with their other titles of See also:honour." But, notwithstanding this, their rank and place are still governed by the act for the placing of the Lords . The duke of See also:Cumberland has no precedence as a See also:cousin of the king, being the grandson of a son of George III. and would not be a " Royal Highness " at all if his See also:father had not been, like his grandfather, king of See also:Hanover . In Garter's Roll of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, the official See also:list of the House of Lords, the duke of Cumberland is entered in the precedence of his dukedom after the duke of See also:Northumberland . Under the combined operation of the act for the placing of the Lords and the Acts of Union with Scotland (See also:art . 23) and with Ireland (art . 4), peers of the same degrees, as dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons, severally, have precedence according to priority in the creation of their respective peerages . But peerages of England created before 1707 precede peerages of Scotland created before 1707, peerages of Great Britain created between 1707 and 18oi precede peerages of Ireland created before 1801, and peerages of Ireland created before 18ot precede peerages of the See also:United See also:Kingdom and of Ireland created after 1801, which take precedence in See also:common . The relative precedence of the members of the House of Lords, including the representative peers of Scotland and Ireland, is officially set forth in Garter's roll, which is prepared by the Garter king of arms at the commencement of each session of parliament, that of the Scottish peers generally in the Union Roll, and that of the Irish peers generally in See also:Ulster's Roll, a See also:record which is under the See also:charge of and is periodically corrected by the Ulster king of arms . The Union Roll is founded on the Decreet of Ranking " pronounced and promulgated by a royal commission in 1606, which, in the words of an eminent authority in such matters, " was adopted at once as the roll of the peers in Parliament, See also:convention and all public meetings, and continued to be called uninterruptedly with such alterations upon it as judgments of the See also:Court of Session upon See also:appeal in modification of the precedency of certain peers rendered necessary, with the omission of such dignities as became extinct and with the addition from time to time of newly created peerages—down to the last sitting of the Scottish Parliament on the 1st of May 1707 " (The Earldom of See also:Mar, &c., by the earl of See also:Crawford (25th) and Balcarres (8th), ii. i6) . Eldest sons of peers of any given degree are of the same rank as, but are to be placed immediately after, peers of the first degree under that of their fathers; and the younger sons of peers of any given degree are of the same rank, but are to be placed after peers of the second degree and the eldest sons of peers of the first degree under that of their fathers . Secretaries of state, if they are barons, precede all other barons under 31 Hen . VIII. c . 1o . But if they are of any higher degree their rank is not influenced by their official position . e Under i Will. and See also:Mary, c . 21, being the only commissioners for the See also:execution of any office who have precedence assigned to them . The officers of the household who, under Henry VIII.'s warrant of 1540, precede the secretaries of state have been for a long time always peers or the sons of peers, with See also:personal rank higher, and usually far higher, than their official rank . The See also:practical result is, seeing also that the great seal is only very rarely indeed in commission, that the secretaries of state, when they are commoners whose personal precedence is below a See also:baron's, have official precedence immediately after the speaker of the House of Commons . The See also:principal secretaries, for so they are all designated, are officially equal to one another in dignity, and are placed among themselves according to seniority of appointment . 8 During more than two centuries only one commoner has been indebted for his precedence to his See also:election into the order, and that was Sir Robert See also:Walpole, the minister, who at the coronation of George II. in 1727 was placed as a See also:knight of the Garter immediately before privy councillors . The proper precedence of both knights of the See also:Thistle and knights of St See also:Patrick is undecided . 9 Privy councillors of Great Britain and of Ireland take precedence in common according to priority of See also:admission . The chancellors of the exchequer and of the duchy of Lancaster, the lord chief justice justice of England; (47) master of the rolls; (48) lords justices of appeal; ' (49) See also:judges of the High Court of Justice; 2 (5o) knights bannerets made by the sovereign in person; (51) viscounts' younger sons; (52) barons' younger sons; (53) sons of lords of appeal;' (J4) baronets; * (55) knights bannerets not made by the sovereign in person; (56) knights of the first class of the Bath, the Star of See also:India, St See also:Michael and St George;' (57) the See also:Indian See also:Empire, the Royal Victorian Order; (58) knights of the second class of the Bath, the Star of India, and St Michael and St George;° other orders K.C.I.E., &c.; (59) knights bachelors;' (6o) sons of commanders of the Royal Victorian Order; (61) judges of See also:county courts;8 (62) eldest sons of the younger sons of peers; (63) baronets' eldest sons; (64) knights' eldest sons; (65) baronets' younger sons; (66) knights' younger sons;9 of England, the master of the rolls, and the lords justices of appael are always members of the privy council, and have rank and place as privy councillors, if they are not also peers . The lords justices of appeal have precedence among themselves according to seniority of appointment . Until recently they were preceded by the lord chief justice of the common pleas and the lord chief baron of the exchequer (divisions of the High Court of Justice) . But under existing arrangements these offices have fallen into abeyance, although they have not been formally abolished . The vice-chancellors used to follow the lords justices of appeal; but, in spite of the fact that there is still one vice-chancellor remaining, the office of vice-chancellor is extinct and will altogether disappear on his decease . In Ireland all these offices are in existence, but they have no precedence allotted to them in England; as the judges holding them are invariably privy councillors, however, they are ranked accordingly . And it is the same with regard to the lord justice-general and the lord justice-clerk in Scotland . 2 The judges of all the divisions of the High Court of Justice are ranked together according to seniority of appointment .
Neither the senators of the College of Justice in Scotland nor the judges of the various divisions of the High Court in Ireland have any precedence in England
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The precedence of the Scottish judges among them-selves is settled by a royal warrant of Nisbet in his See also:System of Heraldry
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The precedence of the Irish judges among themselves is the same as the precedence of the See also:English judges among themselves used to be before the offices of chief justice of the common pleas and chief baron of the exchequer were suspended
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3 By warrants of the 3oth of See also: Warrant of 1884 . 9 The sons of all persons, when any specified rank is assigned to them, are placed in the precedence of their fathers . Eldest sons of the younger sons of peers were ranked before the eldest sons of knights by order of the earl marshal, the 18th of March 1615, and before the eldest sons of baronets by order of the earl marshal, the 6th of See also:April 1677 . But no precedence has been given to the younger sons of the younger sons of peers, although precedence is given to the younger as well as the eldest sons of baronets and knights by James I.'s See also:decree of 1616 . Moreover, no precedence has been given to either the eldest or the younger sons of the eldest sons of peers . But in practice this omission is generally disregarded, and the children of the eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls, at all events, are accorded the same rank and titles which they would have if their fathers were actual instead of quasi peers of the degree next under that of their grandfathers . Sir Charles Young says that " by decision (See also:Chap . See also:Coll . Arms of 168o) if the eldest son of an earl died in his father's lifetime leaving a son and heir, such son and heir during the See also:life of the earl his grandfather is(67) companions of the Bath, the Star of India, St Michael and St George and the Indian Empire;10 (68) members of the 4th class of the Royal Victorian Order; (69) companions of the Distinguished Service Order; (70) members of the 5th class of the Royal Victorian Order; (71) esquires;11 (72) gentlemen." 2.--General Precedence of See also:Women The Queen;13 (I) queen See also:dowager; (2) princess of Wales; (3) daughters of the sovereign; (4) wives of the sovereign's younger sons; (5) granddaughters of the sovereign; (6) wives of the sovereign's grandsons; (7) sisters of the sovereign; (8) wives of the sovereign's brothers; (9) aunts of the sovereign; (to) wives of the sovereign's uncles; (11) nieces of the sovereign; entitled to the same place and precedence as was due to his father: so had the father been summoned to parliament as the eldest son of a peer the grandson would succeed to the dignity even during the grandf |