Australian peers

Peers of the Realm have been associated with Australia since early in its history as a British settlement. Many peers served as governors of the Australian colonies ( states following Federation), and in the days when the practice of appointing British governors-general was current, the great majority were peers.

Australians themselves were previously eligible to receive British Imperial Honours. Such honours, in appropriate cases, included peerages and baronetcies. In other cases, already-extant peerages and baronetcies devolved upon persons who emigrated to Australia, or whose ancestors had emigrated to Australia.

Peerage titles bestowed included some distinctly Australian titles, such as Viscount Bruce of Melbourne. Imperial Honours were recommended to the sovereign by the Prime Minister of Australia, an Australian state premier, or sometimes by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Some Australians have been awarded peerages in recognition of services rendered in the United Kingdom, rather than Australia.

The practice of awarding British Imperial Honours for services rendered in Australia generally came to a halt when Malcolm Fraser, the last Australian prime minister to make nominations for Imperial Honours, lost the 1983 election to Bob Hawke, who discontinued the practice in favour of nominations solely for the Australian Honours System. (There had previously been a brief hiatus in the recommendation of Imperial Honours under Gough Whitlam, 1972–75.) Despite the discontinuance of nominations on a federal level, individual states such as Queensland and Tasmania continued to recommend Imperial Honours until 1989. Australians based in the United Kingdom and other realms which continue to make nominations for Imperial Honours (such as Papua New Guinea) continue to be eligible for nomination to Imperial Honours, including peerages, and already-extant peerages and baronetcies continue to be inherited according to the instrument of their creation.

Not all recommendations for peerages have been accepted. Malcolm Fraser's recommendation of a peerage for Sir John Kerr was not supported by the British prime minister, James Callaghan.

Australians with hereditary peerages

The following hereditary peers are or were Australians by birth or residence.

Duke

* Manchester: Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester, was born in Australia in 1962, making him an Australian citizen from birth; however, he has long resided in California. He succeeded to his father's dukedom in 2002. His younger brother, Lord Kimble Montagu, is also an Australian citizen and is the heir presumptive to the dukedom. Lord Kimble is an academic at Monash University.

Marquess

* Sligo: Sebastian Browne, 12th Marquess of Sligo (born 1964), is a peer in the Peerage of Ireland. As Baron Monteagle he is also a peer in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He emigrated to Australia in 1997, where he is a residential real estate agent.

Earl

* Brooke and Warwick: Guy David Greville, 9th Earl Brooke and 9th Earl of Warwick, resides in Perth, Western Australia, and inherited his father's titles in 1996.
* Dunmore: Malcolm Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore, was born in Tasmania in 1946, and has lived there all his life.
* Lincoln: Robert Fiennes-Clinton, 19th Earl of Lincoln, the head of a branch of the Fiennes-Clinton family, is resident in Perth, Western Australia.
* Loudoun: Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun, was born in Australia in 1974. In 2004, the television documentary ''Britain's Real Monarch'' presented evidence that his father, the 14th Earl, was the rightful King of England. He lives in Wangaratta, and Melbourne, Victoria. He succeeded his father in 2012.
* Portarlington: The 7th and current Earl of Portarlington maintains an address in Sydney as well as an address in Melrose, Scotland.
* Portland: Timothy Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, was born in Tasmania in 1953 while his father Henry Bentinck, later the 11th Earl, was working as a jackaroo on a sheep station there.
* Stradbroke: Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke, lives in Victoria, after having left England at the age of 19. His grandfather, the 3rd Earl, had been Governor of Victoria from 1921 to 1926.
* Wilton: Francis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton, lives in Victoria and is a board member of the Victorian Opera. Like his kinsmen, many of whom assumed the surname Egerton-Warburton, he is in remainder to the Egerton baronetcy (created 1617).

Viscount

* Bolingbroke and St John: Nicholas St John, 9th Viscount Bolingbroke, lives in Sydney. He is also 10th Viscount St John and 13th Baronet of Lydiard Tregoze.
* Bruce of Melbourne: Stanley Bruce became Prime Minister in 1923, holding the office for six and a half years until he lost not only the 1929 election but also his own seat of Flinders. He later became High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and served there for thirteen years. In 1947 he became Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, of Westminster Gardens in the City of Westminster. He was childless and the viscountcy became extinct at his death.

Baron

* Baden-Powell: Michael Baden-Powell (born 1940) is the 4th and current holder of the Baden-Powell barony (and the baronetcy of Bentley), and is the son of the 2nd Baron and the brother of the 3rd Baron. He migrated to Australia in 1965, and lives in Camberwell, Victoria. He is active in the Victorian Scouts movement.
* Baillieu: Sir Clive Baillieu was born in Australia and educated at Camberwell Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, before moving to the UK, where he continued his studies at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was granted an hereditary peerage in 1953, as 1st Baron Baillieu, of Sefton in the Commonwealth of Australia and of Parkwood in the County of Surrey. He died in Melbourne in 1967 and was succeeded by his son William as 2nd Baron Baillieu. The current holder, James William Latham Baillieu, 3rd Baron Baillieu, maintains addresses in both London and Melbourne.
* Chesham: Charles Cavendish, 7th Baron Chesham, was born in Sydney and was educated at The King's School, Parramatta before moving to the United Kingdom.
* Clifford of Chudleigh: Lewis Clifford, 12th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, was born in New Zealand and later lived in Tasmania and Victoria. He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne and later moved to the United Kingdom.
* Dufferin and Claneboye: John Blackwood, 11th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, resides in Orange, New South Wales.
* Huntingfield: William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield, was born in Gatton, Queensland, in 1883, and grew up there until the age of 14, when he moved to England. He inherited the barony from his uncle in 1915. He was later appointed Governor of Victoria and served in that post from 1934 to 1939.
* Inverchapel: Archibald Clark Kerr, 1st Baron Inverchapel, was born in New South Wales in 1882; his maternal grandfather was Sir John Robertson, five times premier of the colony. He emigrated to England in 1889 and entered the British diplomatic service in 1906. Knighted in 1935 while Ambassador to Iraq, he was raised to the peerage in 1946 as the 1st Baron Inverchapel, of Loch Eck in the County of Argyll, and subsequently served as the British Ambassador to the United States until his retirement in 1948. He died childless in 1951, and his barony became extinct.
* Lindsay of Birker: James Lindsay, 3rd Baron Lindsay of Birker (born 1945), is a former Australian diplomat, serving in Chile, Laos, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Pakistan and Kenya. He succeeded his father to the Barony of Lindsay of Birker in 1994.
* Robinson: Roy Robinson, 1st Baron Robinson (1883-1952), was born in South Australia and died in Canada. He lived mainly in the United Kingdom, where he was knighted for his services to forestry in 1931, and raised to the peerage in 1947 as 1st Baron Robinson, of Kielder Forest in the County of Northumberland and of Adelaide in the Commonwealth of Australia. He had no surviving sons and his barony became extinct on his death.
* Stratheden and Campbell: David Campbell, 7th Baron Stratheden and Campbell, was born in Rockhampton in 1963 and succeeded his father in 2011. He lives at the Sunshine Coast.

Australian peeresses by marriage

The following Australian women are not or were not the holders of peerages themselves but became peeresses by virtue of marrying a hereditary peer.

* Dartmouth: Fiona Campbell, an Australian born in Melbourne, is the current Countess of Dartmouth since her marriage in June 2009 to William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth.
* Furness and Kenmare: Enid Maude Lindeman (died 1973), born and raised in Sydney, was twice a peeress by marriage, the first time by her third marriage in 1933 to the 1st Viscount Furness, who predeceased her, and the second time by her fourth marriage in 1943 to the 6th Earl of Kenmare, who also predeceased her. Her son from her second marriage, Frederick Cavendish, became the 7th Baron Waterpark in 1948 following the death of his uncle, the 6th Baron.
* Harewood: Patricia Lascelles, Dowager Countess of Harewood (1926–2018), was an Australian violinist and fashion model who became the second wife of George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood on their marriage in Connecticut in 1967. She had previously borne him a son, the Hon. Mark Lascelles, in 1964. She was widowed in 2011 and the 8th Earl is the 7th Earl's son by his first wife.
* Tryon: Dale "Kanga" Tryon, Baroness Tryon (1948–1997), born in Melbourne, was employed in Qantas' London office following her graduation. In England she met and later married Anthony Tryon, Baron Tryon. She was a close friend of Prince Charles, and was the founder of fashion label "Kanga" and couture line "The Dale Tryon Collection".

Hereditary peerages with Australian associations

A number of hereditary titles have been created for Britons that are associated with places in Australia.

* Barony of Birdwood (1938): Sir William Birdwood was a British military commander prominent at Gallipoli. After retirement from the army in 1930, Birdwood made a bid to become Governor-General of Australia. However, the Australian Prime Minister James Scullin insisted that his Australian nominee Sir Isaac Isaacs be appointed. The King ultimately felt bound to accept the advice of the Prime Minister, but he did not disguise his reluctance and displeasure.

:In 1938 Birdwood was raised to the peerage, taking the title Baron Birdwood, of Anzac and of Totnes in the County of Devon. He died in 1951. The barony became extinct in 2015 on the death of his grandson, the 3rd Baron Birdwood.

* Barony of Gowrie (1935) and Viscountcy of Ruthven of Canberra (1945): These two titles were created for Alexander Hore-Ruthven, who was Governor of South Australia (1928–1934), Governor of New South Wales (1935–1936) and then Governor-General of Australia