Reading the Regency

The Nobility

The nobility refers to those of noble rank. Another collective term you might be familiar with is the Peerage. The different levels—or ranks—of peers are:

Duke
Marquess
Earl
Viscount
Baron

Only the title holder is a Peer of the Realm. Their spouse and children are technically commoners. Unlike some of the old European kingdoms, the noble rank did not extend to anyone else in the family. Although the majority of peers were men, a small number of titles were able to pass through the female line, in which case the holder is a peeress.

It was possible, and not uncommon, for a peer to hold more than one rank, as they were usually granted their titles in return for services to the king or queen. Over multiple generations, a family with a barony might later be granted a viscountcy or an earldom, but they didn't have to be given titles in rank order, like promotions. A baron didn't have to be made a viscount before he could become an earl.

One example of this was the family of the Duke of Devonshire. William Cavendish was made a baron in 1605. (Baron Cavendish of Hardwick) The same man was later made the first Earl of Devonshire in 1618. Less than a hundred years later, in 1694, the fourth earl was made Marquess of Hartington and Duke of Devonshire at the same time, in recognition of his service to the then king and queen, William & Mary.

You could also receive or inherit two titles of the same rank, e.g. two baronies or two earldoms. The Duke of Hamilton, for example, holds two dukedoms, two marquessates, three earldoms, a barony and three Scottish Lordships.

Inheriting the title

"Great was my surprise one morning, when sitting down to breakfast, to be told that I was no longer Master Willy, but Lord William, and that my elder brother, instead of being Master Charles, was henceforth to be called the Earl of March."
[Lord William Pitt Lennox, My Recollections from 1806 to 1873, vol. 1, pub. 1874, describing the day his father succeeded as the 4th Duke of Richmond]

Noble titles pass to the heir (or next-in-line) on the death of the titleholder. A peer cannot choose his heir, and cannot leave his title to someone in his will.

There is no one rule for inheriting a peerage. It all depends on what manner of succession was agreed at the time the title was created, and what limitations were placed upon it.

The most common option was inheritance by direct male heirs of the body; those who can trace a male-line descent back to the original titleholder. In the case of English, Irish or British titles, the heirs also had to be legitimate, i.e. born after their parent's marriage. Only in Scotland could an illegitimate child be made legitimate by his parents later marriage.

So if a peer dies without sons, they would go back to his father's generation. If the father has surviving brothers then the eldest surviving will inherit. If there are no surviving brothers, but there are nephews, then the nephew whose father was the eldest would inherit. If there were no brothers or nephews they would look a generation back to the grandfather's generation and search for surviving brothers' sons and grandsons. They will continue looking for a valid heir to the title, right back to the sons of the original titleholder. (but not the brothers of the original holder)

There are two types of heir. The first is the heir apparent, which means their place in the line of succession, and their right to inherit, cannot be changed by the birth of another person. An example of this would be the eldest son, and the eldest son of an eldest son.  They can only lose their place in the line of succession by their own death.