Burke's Peerage Limited is a British
genealogical publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genealogist
John Burke began releasing books devoted to the
ancestry
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...
and
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...
of the
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
,
baronetage,
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
age and
landed gentry of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. His first publication, a ''Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom'', was updated sporadically until 1847, when the company began publishing new editions every year as ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'' (often shortened and known as ''Burke's Peerage'').
Other books followed, including ''
Burke's Landed Gentry'', ''
Burke's Colonial Gentry'', and ''
Burke's General Armory''. In addition to its peerage publications, the ''Burke's'' publishing company produced books on
Royal families of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
,
ruling families of Africa and the Middle East,
distinguished families of the United States and
historical families of Ireland.
History
The firm was established in 1826 by
John Burke (1786–1848), progenitor of a dynasty of
genealogists and
heralds. His son
Sir John Bernard Burke (1814–1892) was
Ulster King of Arms (1853–1892) and his grandson,
Sir Henry Farnham Burke (1859–1930), was
Garter Principal King of Arms (1919–1930). After his death, ownership passed through a variety of people.
Apart from the Burke family, editors have included
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies,
Alfred Trego Butler,
Leslie Gilbert Pine,
Peter Townend, and
Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd.
From 1974 to 1983,
Jeremy Norman was chairman of the company, taking the role while Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd was
editor.
His fellow directors included
Patrick, Lord Lichfield, and
John Brooke-Little
John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little (6 April 1927 – 13 February 2006) was an English writer on heraldry, heraldic subjects, and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947, while still a student, Brooke-Little founded the Soc ...
,
Norroy & Ulster King of Arms. Under Norman's chairmanship, new volumes were published on royal families, Irish genealogy, and country houses of the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. In 1984, the ''Burke's Peerage'' titles were separated and sold: ''Burke's Peerage'' itself was acquired by Frederik Jan Gustav Floris, Baron van Pallandt, while ''Burke's Landed Gentry'' and other titles were sold to other buyers.
Criticism
In 1877, the Oxford professor
Edward Augustus Freeman criticised the accuracy of ''Burke's'' and said that it contained
pedigrees that were
purely mythical – if indeed mythical is not too respectable a name for what must be in many cases the work of deliberate invention .. andall but invariably false. As a rule, it is not only false, but impossible ..not merely fictions, but exactly that kind of fiction which is, in its beginning, deliberate and interested falsehood.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
in the play ''
A Woman of No Importance'' wrote: "You should study the Peerage, Gerald. It is the one book a young man about town should know thoroughly, and it is the best thing in fiction the English have ever done!" In 1901, the historian
J. Horace Round wrote of Burke's "old fables" and "grotesquely impossible tales".
More recent editions have been more scrupulously checked and rewritten for accuracy, notably under the chief editorship, from 1949 to 1959, of
L. G. Pine and
Hugh Massingberd (1971–1983).
Pine was particularly sceptical regarding many families' claims to antiquity, saying: "If everybody who claims to have come over with the Conqueror were right,
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
must have landed with 200,000 men-at-arms instead of about 12,000."
["Twentieth Century Squires", ''Time'', 10 December 1951]
See also
* ''
Almanach de Gotha''
* ''
The Complete Peerage
''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''); first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition re ...
''
* ''
Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage''
* ''
Social Register''
* ''
Carnet Mondain''
*
International Register of Arms, formerly ''Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms''
References
External links
*
Burke's Peerage Foundation website
Online editions
1st edition – 1826 – Hathitrust3rd edition – 1830 – Hathitrust4th edition – 1832 – Vol 1 – Hathitrust4th edition – 1832 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust4th edition – 1832 – Vol 2 – Google Books4th edition – corrected to 1833 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust5th edition – 1838 – Google Books6th edition – 1839 – Hathitrust7th edition – 1843 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust10th edition – 1848 – Hathitrust12th edition – 1850 – Hathitrust20th edition – 1858 – Hathitrust22nd edition – 1860 – Hathitrust23rd edition – 1861 – Hathitrust27th edition – 1865 – Google Books30th edition – 1868 – Google Books30th edition – 1868 – Vol 1 – Hathitrust30th edition – 1868 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust31st edition – 1869 – Vol 1 – Hathitrust31st edition – 1869 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust37th edition – 1875 – Vol 2 – Hathitrust40th edition – 1878 – Hathitrust47th edition - 1885 - Hathitrustalso
48th edition – 1886 – University of Dusseldorf
53rd edition – 1891 – University of Dusseldorf
59th edition - 1897 - Archive.org
60th edition - 1898 - Hathitrust
65th edition - 1903 - Archive.org
66th edition - 1904 - Archive.org
74th edition – 1912 – Archive.org
76th edition – 1914 (to page 1274) – Archive.org
77th edition – 1915 – Archive.org
92nd edition - 1934 - Google Books
- covers to 'Lacon'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke's Peerage
Publications established in 1826
Publishing companies established in 1826
British biographical dictionaries
Book series
Society of England
Society of Scotland
Society of Wales
Family history
Genealogy publications
Literature on heraldry
19th-century history books
20th-century history books
21st-century history books
1826 establishments in the United Kingdom
Peerages in the United Kingdom
Baronetcies