Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1884 — Ancient Nobility. [ARTICLE]

Ancient Nobility.

Whenever there is any special interest in the House of Lords, articles appear in the papers in regard to the composition of this body, and mnch stress is always laid upon the extremely modern origin of the existing peerages, and it is stated that the ancient nobility are “a mere handful." It has been said that the number who can date their nobility back to the days of the later Tudors does not exceed a score. These statements are not true, and the error has probably arisen from ignoring the fact that many ancient baronies and earldoms are merged in recently created titles of a higher grade. For example, when the earldom of De La Warr was conferred upon the family of West, in 1761, three ancient baronies were merged, one of which had been enjoyed by the family in an unbroken male line since 1342, in the reign of Edward TTT, At the present time the House of Lords consists of 26 spiritual and 483 temporal peers, including 6 princes, 16 Scotch representative peers chosen for each Parliament, and 28 Irish representative peers elected for life. There are also 7 peeresses, 9 minors, and 91 Scotch and Irish peers who have no seat in the House. The total nobility of the United Kingdom numbers 580, of whem 39 strictly English peers are in possession of titles enjoyed by their ancestors prior to the death of Queen Elizabeth, in 1603; 15 Irish peers and 35 Scotch peers can date their honors back to the same period, some of them very ancient. All of the Scotch peers, 84 in number, were created prior to the union with England in 1707. It may be stated here that with the exception of a few old baronies by writ, and a few special remainders, all of the English and Irish patents are to “him and the heirs male of his body,” while the Scotch remainders are much more comprehensive, and thus a Scotch title rarely becomes extinct. During the reigns of the four Stuart kings of England—l6o3-1688—66 of the existing English peerages were created, and 24 of the Irish. Several of these were conferred upon scions of royalty and of the ancient nobility. Of 389 peerages of Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom conferred upon commoners since 1688, about a score have been given to scions of noble houses, a considerable number of “ancient gentlemen,” and the vast majority to successful politicians, soldiers, merchants, etc., at least 150 of whom are sprung from families that were comparatively obscure 150 years ago. Many of the founders of “noble houses” (?) in Ireland were rascally English adventurers, and the peerage of Ireland is not particularly reputable.—Boston Transcript.