Reading the Regency

Dukes

Although the duke is the highest rank in the peerage, it is also more recent than some of the lower ranks. The oldest dukedom was granted by Edward III when he created the Duke of Cornwall for his eldest son in 1337, and within the peerage fewer dukedoms have been created compared to the other ranks.

The duke is one of the most popular characters in Regency-set stories because many writers see him as the historical equivalent of the "Billionaire Businessman" so loved in modern romance. Dukes often had more than one estate, and therefore held a lot of land, which sometimes provided them with an annual income greater than that of the Royal Family.

Yet to say that all the dukes were richer than any marquess or earl would be wrong. In 1819, one year before the end of the Regency, the top four reputed incomes in the kingdom—over £100,000 per year—belonged to the Duke of Northumberland, the Marquess of Stafford, the Earl Grosvenor and the Earl of Bridgewater.

Creating a Dukedom

Originally a monarch would invest a duke in Parliament by fastening a ceremonial sword to a belt or girdle. After 1615 a dukedom would be created by Letters Patent. Each individual letters patent will specify the rules for who can inherit the title. In most cases it will be passed to "the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten". This means any legitimate male descended from the original title holder.

Dukedoms were always territorial, meaning the title was also a place name from England, Scotland or Ireland. The family did not have to live in, or have any connection to, the location, but it was often the name of a county, town or even a village where they held property.

When the Earl of Manchester was created in 1626, the title was not taken from the large industrial town of Manchester in Lancashire. The Earl's estate - Kimbolton Hall - was in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire) and their title was taken from the nearby town of Godmanchester. As the first Earl thought it would be blasphemous to be addressed as "The Lord Godmanchester", he shortened his title accordingly. His descendant, the 4th Earl, was made Duke of Manchester in 1719.

Between 1795 and 1820 there were less than 30 non-Royal dukes in the whole of England, Scotland and Ireland. Of those, two became extinct (died out from lack of an heir) before 1820, and the Duke of Wellington was newly created in 1814 after his military successes.

Royal Dukes are dukedoms that have been inherited into the Royal Family and are traditionally granted to their younger sons, or their daughters' husbands. They are styled: "His Royal Highness, the Duke of ....."

Royal Dukedoms are hereditary, but if the title becomes extinct it will be absorbed back into the Royal family to be reused at a later date.

During the extended Regency period the Royal Dukedoms were:

Duke of Lancaster, (the King)
Duke of Cornwall, (Prince George, eldest son)
Duke of Rothesay, (Prince George, eldest son)
Duke of York & Albany, (Prince Frederick, second son of the King)
Duke of Clarence & St Andrews, (Prince William, third son of the King)
Duke of Kent and Strathearn, (Prince Edward, fourth son of the King)
Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, (Prince Ernest, fifth son of the King)
Duke of Sussex, (Prince Augustus, sixth son of the King)
Duke of Cambridge, (Prince Adolphus, seventh son of the King)
Duke of Gloucester & Edinburgh, (before 1805, Prince William Henry, brother of the King)
Duke of Gloucester & Edinburgh, (after 1805, Prince William Frederick, husband of Princess Mary, fourth daughter of the King)

Order of Precedence

Dukes were the highest rank within the peerage, but also had their own "order of precedence" - in other words they took their seniority very seriously. A duke's place in the order was decided based on when his dukedom was created, and what part of the country it came from. The earlier the date of the creation, the higher up the order they came. The newer titles came lower down the list.