Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 20, Vol. I, May 17, 1884Various
History
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 20, Vol. I, May 17, 1884
Various
Periodicals
In ‘What is a Peer?’ we dealt with the legal and the courtesy aspect
of titles; we shall here consider the mode of limiting them, their
devolution, &c.; and we shall have one word to say about etiquette—not
that species of etiquette, however, dealt with in books which purport
to be manuals of good manners, but what may be called the etiquette
of bearing titles; and this we hope will not be deemed unworthy of
attention.
And first, the reader is reminded that all hereditary titles of honour
are known to the law by the name of incorporeal hereditaments, a term
explained in ‘What is a Peer?’
A close analogy to the rules of real property law is observable in
those which govern the creation, &c., of titles. Thus, we have heirs
apparent and presumptive to honours as well as to estates; and this
observation will introduce us to one feature in the etiquette of the
peerage worthy of notice. We have shown how a peer may hold several
titles of different grades; and we will now more fully consider a
case of this kind. Suppose that the Marquis of A. is also Earl of B.,
Viscount C., and Baron D., and that he has several sons and daughters.
His eldest son is his heir-apparent, and he may assume, according to
his father’s pleasure, either of the other titles during his lifetime.
It is usual, however, in such cases for the eldest son to take the
earldom as a courtesy title. During the existence of the Marquis and
his eldest son, none of the other sons would be permitted to adopt
the remaining two titles; but all after the Earl would, as sons of a
Marquis, be Lord John or Lord William So-and-so, &c.; and only the
younger sons of Dukes and Marquises are so styled. The daughters,
however, of all noblemen except Viscounts and Barons are styled
‘Ladies,’ with their Christian and surnames following the word ‘Lady;’
but they have no other style similar to that of an eldest son. (The
position of daughters who claim a barony held by their father will be
considered in a subsequent portion of the present paper.) Now, if the
Earl of B. above mentioned were to die in his father’s lifetime, the
second son would succeed to the courtesy title, and so on as to the
rest, in the event of each son dying in his father’s lifetime. Thus,
on the decease, in 1865, of Viscount Cranborne, eldest son of the then
Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Robert Cecil—now Marquis of Salisbury—became
Lord Cranborne. But the rule just mentioned is not absolute as to
any of its features; for it may be remembered that the eldest son
of the late Marquis—who, by the way, was also Earl—of Clanricarde,
Viscount Burke, and Lord Dunkellin—was styled by the baronial title.
On his death in the lifetime of the Marquis, the second son became
Viscount Burke, and not Lord Dunkellin. Again, in 1879, when the
Earl of Tankerville’s eldest son, Lord Ossulston, died, the latter’s
brother, the Honourable G. M. Bennet, became eldest son, not, however,
as Lord Ossulston, but as Lord Bennet; and instances of this might be
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account